Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 November 1878 — Saving and Spending. [ARTICLE]

Saving and Spending.

It is not true that the great Adctories of rife are to the sharp and immoral man, as a rule. Here and there, by sharpness and cunning, men rise into Avealtli, but that wealth is not of a kind to remain. It takes a certain amount of virtue, of self-denial, of morality, to lay up and to keep money. In the lives of nearly all rich men there have been periods of heroic self-denial, of patient industry, of Christian prudence. Circumstances did not make these men rich. The highest moral prudence made them rich. While their companions were dancing away their youth, or drinking away their middle age, these men were devoted to small economies —putting self-indulgence entirely aside. If otir correspondent or our readers will recall their companions, we think the first fact they Avill be impressed with is the measure of equality Avith which they started in the race for competence or wealth. The next fact they will be impressed with is the irregularity of the end. Then, if they make an inquisition into the causes of the widely varying results, they will be profoundly impressed with the insignificant part “circumstances ” have played in those results. Circumstances ? Why, the rich man’s son who had all the “circumstances of the town has become a beggar. The poor, quiet lad, the only son of his mother, and she a Avidow, who could only earn money enough to procure for her boy the commonest education, is a man of wealth and has become a patron of Iris native village. The man who possesses and practices virtue makes his OAvn circumstances. The selfdenying, prudent man creates around himself an atmosphere of safety where wealth naturally takes refuge—provided, of course, that the man has the power to earn it, either in production, or exchange, or any kind of manual or intellectual service.— Scribner.