Browning chief., 1947-07-11
Story With a Moral

the younger son of a wcll-to-do
farmer. Times were good, prices
were high. 1t was a period of
prosperity for everybody. Appar-
emily, spending had become a habit
with most Of the folks in that COM
munity. At any rate, this son saw
that others we're having a good time
spending money. Since everybody's
doing it, he thought, why shouldn't
I enjoy myself?
So this fine young man who had
all the opportunities one could wish
for, and brilliant future in sight.
kept after his father until one day
"the old man settled him off, with
a good deal of money. This coun-
try boy then went to town and set
out to have himself a better time
than he had ever had before. He
spent more money than he had ever
spent before. Friends were numer-
Gus. Playboy super-de luxe, this
young man had swarms of lady
friends. But they required money
He Achieved Wisdom
Now, you are wondering, if you
have read this far, whether this
misguided and pampered lad ever
quit spending. He did. He quit
spending when a depression set in,
for that was the time when he found
himself unable to obtain any more
money. At this point, our broken
down playboy began to think. Wis
dom was forced upon him and he
learned the hard way. He found
he couldn't even buy a sandwich,
and panhandling was out of the
question. Rather than starve, he
took farm job feeding pigs.
If this lad had done what some
Of our so-called statesmen advocate,
he would have continued to borrow
and spend. But having thought the
matter through, he went to work,
sven though his hunger was scarce
" outdone by that of the pigs he
was sent to feed. He had spent all,
and he was in want. You may read
the rest Of this story in Luke IS,
for 1t is the story of the Prodigal
Son who finally came to his senses.
No Money Mill
Must we as nation spend all
that we have before we come to
our senses, like the Prodigal Son?
With signs of depression approach
Ing, we continue to spend and spend,
apparently from habit. Doing little
Or nothing about our monstrous ma
uonal debt of $3.50, 1000, ,OOO,O 900, we
continue to look around trying to
ind things for which to appropriate
money.
It is easy to justify any and every
expenditure. Constituents in each
and every community represented
by Senator Bloake and Congress-
man Doake can spout a whole book
Of reasons why this or that pet prof.
ect must 60 through. Folks are in
clined to think that the money for the
whole thing is gift, just because
they don't see where it comes from.
But the founding fathers did not
leave at Washington a mill which
flows out perpetual dollars.
Day of Reckoning
Maybe it's not nice thought, but
you can't keep on spending money
without knowing where it's coming
from. This was a fact the Prodigal
Son discovered. Neither can you
safely manufacture currency to car
~ through your spending projects.
Either course will soon lead to dire
results. A day of reckoning will
come to country that spends all
It has, just as it did to the Prodigal
Son. Let US have more wisdom than
the Prodigal, who found that he
could repent only when hard times
struck him.
Our spending, as opposed to saw
ing, has created situation that calls
for the best brand Of intelligent cit
izenship. 1t is already time to go
to work. Without being penny wise
and pound foolish, we ought to
adopt fiscal policies that will cut
down our growing debt. There's no
prospect Of doing this unless we do