Scranton Wochenblatt. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1865-1918, 1917-11-15

business men in general, if not
to himself, an unwillingness to
give their best to the nation at
war except under the stimulus
of rich gains, The coal operat-
or and the farmer would present
a clearer case of patriotic in
tention if they published re-
solve to give freely to the gov
ernment whatever surplus
above expenses remained to
them out of the prices they con-
slider fair. And even labor might
improve its case if it concentrat-
ed its forces upon raising the
wages of the unskilled workers,
among whom efficiency is most
visibly reduced by miserable
living. Only a German will
avow a purely selfish motive.
All other men have the ingenui-
ty to find moral or social cloak
for their private interests. We
cling to our money, for reasons
that sound moral and social in
English. How would they sound
in Deutsch?
1t is easy for militant radical
ism to inject a class color into
the contrast between our will
lingness to give lives and our
reluctance to give money. In
the nature of the case, most of
the willingness to give lives is
evinced by the poorer classes;
most of the reluctance to give
money is evinced by the richer
classes. But the contrast runs
along class lines only by accid-
ent. 1t happens that in this
country the self-made man is
still the predominant type
among the rich; and one does
not get ones self made until
long after military age. Even
the sons of the rich are unlikely
to come into their fortunes until
they are beyond the age of max
imum military serviceability.
Such men as are both young
and wealthy, however, have not
been found grudging of their
lives. Men outside of the
wealthy class who are not young
dislike taxes, even such as they
can we'll bear. Evidently, then,
we are dealing here not with
class characteristics, but general
characteristics, when we con-
trast mems willingness to give
their lives with their unwilling
ness to give their money.
Why should the contrast seem
paradoxical, after all? When one
gives his life he yields up the
usufruct of his life's estate. But
he is relieved of the operating
expenses of his life's estate. A
man, let us say, has an income
of $1,000 or $4,000 or $4,000.
By the rule of living to which
most of us submit he has ex-
penses of $1,000 or $4,000 or
$4,000. What is the capital
value of his life's estate? So far
as the precuniary summation is
concerned, it is zero. And the
non-pecuniary items show, with
many, an equally fatal tendency
to balance. Bright days of sun
shine alternate with dreary days
of fog and rain. Saturday holi-
days alternate with Puritan
Sabbaths, or Continental Sun
days with blue Mondays. Low
ers' kisses signal across the
ledger to lovers quarrels.
Die Welt ist rund und muss sich
drehen,
Was oben war, muss unten stehen.
Vein her!
The wine isn't always there,
and if it is, a headache turks in
its rosy bubbles.
But gold?
How beauteous are rouleausl How
charming chests
Containing ingots, bags of dollars,
coins
(Not of old victors, all whose heads
and crests
Weigh not the thin ore where their
visage shines)
But of fine unclipt gold. where DULY
rests
Some likeness, which the glittering
cirque confines,
OF modern. reigning, sterling, stupid
stamp:
Yesl Ready money is Aladdin's
lampi'
Take my life, o Mars, and
perhaps I'll cheat you, neverthe-
less. Perhaps you'll find more
liabilities than assets on my
ledger. Certainly you will find
some liabilities. Take my mo-
ney, income or capital, and you
take only assets.