The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1921-04-16

| anu tMdt tnO aNCA a60
incompetent and reckless in the
spending OF his cash, are two dis
agreeable facts recently emphasized
by New York banking concerns after
an extensive study Of thrift as 1t does
not appear In this country.
II, as the bankers point out, thrift
does not consist OF boarding resourc-
es, but In their wise use, these facts
really reflect upon our native intel
ligence. instead Of being the most
sagacious people in the world, as we
have thought, 1t seems that almost
any little European nation, like Bel
| GUM or Switzerland, a give US
cards and spades in matters of econ
omy.
without a budget system, our Gov
| eminent squanders money wherever
and whenever the whims Of Congress
| direct 1t, without even bothering al
| ways to keep strictly itemized ac-
| counts, and we. the taxpayers, good
| naturally foot the bills. 1t finances
| the building of remote bridges and
village postofices with amazing prod
igality. and skimps on appropriations
| for education and public health. 1t
pays out immense sums in war pen
| sions. but makes no provision for its
superannuated civil employees. Ac-
cording to the bankers, no European
nation would support such a slipshod
financial system.
And our national waste Is faithful
ly initiated by the Individual. The
majority of American homes have no
budget system. Household expenses
are regulated by the whims of the
family, and the bills are considered
Internationally, long afterward.
Very little preparation is made for
| the hazards of the future. The un-
| educated immigrant who dwelis so
n~umerously in our midst generally
! exhibits much greater skill in spend
ing and saving his earnings than does
the American born citizen. Thous-
ands of the former class return to
Europe every year, with small for
tunes to Ease their declining years.
while thousands of the latter enter
homes for the INDECENT.
The following statistics, quoted
from a publication of the American
Bankers Association, show how pitt
fully few Americans ever achieve a
well-provided-for old age:
YOUR CHANCE OF SUCCESS
"At the age of rs we find in this
country 100 men are all strong and
vigorous. They have started life
physically fit and on a plane of equal
ity.
Ten years later, ten are wealthy,
ten are in fair circumstances, forty
have moderate means, while thirty
five have saved nothing.
At the age Of As, the number Of
wealthy persons has fallen to three;
sixty-fve r merely supporting them
selves, while sixteen have passed into
the discard. They are no longer
self-supporting.
"At the age of SIS, twenty men
AdVO okCds Ohty ia 10 FCAy WEALTHY
only six are self-supporting. while
fifty-four are dependent upon their
children, upon relatives, or upon
charity for support.
Eat the age of rs, note what has
happened: Sixty-three are dead; of
these. sixty left no property at all;
three are well to do; thirty-four are
dependent upon their relatives, child
rem or charity for support; 95 per
cent of these will not have sufficient
e to pay their funeral bills"
One of the reasons why Americans
are less thrifty than Europeans is
that they have been nourished on an
old-fashioned and no longer practical
theory-the theory that this country
possesses boundless resources, that
there is plenty for everybody, that to
every one comes the opportunity to
be wealthy. This may have been
true in the old days when the popula-
ton was thinly scattered over only a
small portion of the land. and a vir-
gin wilderness remained for those
who would claim 1t. Then, perhaps,
1t was only natural that the term
thrift should be ANONYMOUSLY as
ISOLATED with parsimony, stinginess
and miserliness.
But to-day conditions are obvious
ly different. We have a tremendous
population, in proportion to which
our do no seem SO inf
nitely boundless. Furthermore, these
resources, as the bankers have shown,
are o controlled by a few-the 3
per cent who are well to do-and OPP
p~ortunities for the rest have become
limited. Thrift may 10Y be said to
be an u~nrecognized necessity.
The bankers. however. are now do
ing what they can to see that 1t is
recognized. They are endeavoring to
have thrift courses introduced into
the public schools; they are attempt
ing by circulars and by personal ad-