Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1937-01-30

Last week quoted Richard Saunders,
more commonly known as Poor Richard,
a fictitious character created by Benjamin
Franklin, whose aim in life was to make
mot many men rich, but all men
weIl-tO-dO."
In this day of social unrest i'm this great
nation of ours we feel that the teachings
of Poor Richard should be a part of the
carriculm of the American public schools
Thrift and industry will never be displaced
by a paternal government as the fOunda-
tiOns of a great nation of happy, pros
porous people. This is not the plan OF
the government in its great forward move
ment in social security. Yet there is a
vast number of people who are looking
to the government to provide their jobs,
insure their pay and with 1t insure them
leisure and luxury; others go so far as
to believe that the government should
print money and distribute it feely, so
that none will have to work.
Sooner or later, the people who are
thinking in terms of something for
nothing" are going to awaken to the
realities of life. The teachings of Poor
Richard will, in the last analysis, pro-
vide the greatest measure of happiness.
We arrived at the point i'm Richard
Saunders narrative where he saved the
price Of an OvercOat by continuing to wear
his old one. What was he to do with
the money: carry It around to wear a
BENJAMIN Franklin did not practice
thrift and let it end with mere savings.
This is the greatest of his rules:
MONEY MAKES MONEY, AND THE
MONEY THAT MONEY MAKES, MAKES
MORE MONEY.
We recall a quotation from George
Reynolds, world renowned Chicago banker
who said:
Nobody can make fortune by saving
money from salary, or from wages
1t follows that SAVING Is mere
beginning. We need no better evidence
than the COMPULSORY saving provision
of the social security act. Under this
law each man MUST save something: no
matter how much or how little NJ earns.
The government has long known that
in this prosperous country of ours out
of every 100 average healthy Americans
80 die of preventabIe diseases before
65.
OF the 81 who live
will he rich
will be well-tO-dO
will be earning their own living
"a win be dependent on relatives,
friends charity.
To remedy this, the governv'e-,- s@.".
1T SHALL NOT BE AN AMERICAN
PEPOGATIVE TO BE PENNILESS AT
THE AGE OF 65. Accordingly. so"i"l
security law were passed whereby the
employer is compelled to deduct from
each employers wages q c"rtam DIR
centaCe of his daily wage or monthly
salary, to be turned over to the gov
eminent for safe keeping until the
man or woman is 65 years old. At that
time the government will start giving
the savings back on a monthly basis.
No matter what privatiOns it may
mean, each man MUST save. u my
mean cutting down on Injuries; IL may
moan curtaiment of necessities: it may
mean the difference between silk stock
ings and cotton stockings. The theories
of Poor Richard become hard-fisted law.
1t is a bitter pill for many of us. We
had a college education in this sort of
thing during the depression. Like the
Wall Street broker whose life was ruined
the wags said, when ne was forced to
close ur his expensive Park avenue love
nest and go back home with he wife and
children, all Of us had to do without
things to which we had been accustomed.
The price of things went down to almost
nothing but we couldn't buy-we thought
because we simply couldn't get along
on our meager incomes.
Yet In our organization we watch