Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 220, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 September 1911 — Money [ARTICLE]

Money

By Dr. Frank Crane

Since the dawn of preaching we preachers have been threatening rich men with our right sist —and extending to them our left palm. It Is hard-' ly to be wondered atthat we find difficulty in being taken seriously. And our advice has been so confusing that we have not had much effect. For now we exhort the youth to all the virtues, giving as an inducement the assurance that thus they will be enabled to get on; and now again we turn to those that have .gotten on and warn them of the danger of riches. It might as well be asked, if riches be dangerous, why acquire them; and if virtues lead to riches, are they really worth cultivating? It may be well, therefore, to set down a few common sense facts In nt riches and the relation of the same to the moral values. In the first place, money Is simply the token or sign of our common human wants. It means power, power over others, power to make our personality felt No wonder we want lt„ Again it means liberty. Poverty i» a curse. It ties the hands. It binds the mind. It narrows the soul. One who has to sweat ten hours a day for bread has no time nor strength left to develop the higher part of himself. Money means also a full life. We can gratify our cravings, whether they be for beer or art, for Paris gowns or Wagner music. With money we have a chance to grow; without it we are stunted. Money, therefore, Is simply concentrated—we might say canned —human ▼slue. It naturally follows that it is good! or bad, never of Itself, but only as giving opportunity to its possessor. Here, then, we have the moral gist of the whole matter: money is simply—-op-portunity. ' It unlocks the door and bids the cramped and chafing passion go and do its will. It liberates desire. Hence it simply emphasizes a man. If be is* good he can noyr be better, having more scope; if bad he can, and probably will, be worse.-- If Idle and useless, he becomes a living fountain of idleness and uselessness, poisoning others. So, money is like any other gift; as beauty, which adds power to the person; or genius, which multiplies the efficiency of the mind and hand; or position, for kinship magnifies a common man to heroic proportions, in his influence on other men. Now, the sole relation of morals to power of any kind is this: that the moral sense adds to power—responsibility. The root of any genuine moral feeling is altruism. Given any desire. It becomes moral as it takes a direction toward the welfare of other people; it is Immoral exactly in proportion as it disregards /others and looks only to self. Wicked people, therefore, are those who live, think, and do for self aldne; and that whether poor or rich. Whoever says, “I would like to be rich, for I could do so much good with 'my money," should examine himself and ask what good he is doing with the little he has. It’s all a matter of relation. If one is not helpful and liberal on S4O a month, he would not be so on $4,000 a month. In the ultimate realm of morals there are no commandments; there is only one test —do I live for myself or for others; am I altruistic or egocentric. The dawdling smart set, flitting from bridge to matinee, from theater to bedizened restaurant, from - the club* to the horse race, axe wicked; but no wickeder than the better poor who want to lead such a life, and who curse their lot because their selfishness is bound and chained. To the real man, therefore, riches means nothing at All, as to his character; it simply means an opening to give vent to his character. And a clear-eyed soul, that sees and realizes what responsibility means, is, never eager for power and opportunity It is easier to be good in moderate means than in riches for the principal reason that it is easier to bear a small than, a great load of responsibility,,. "It is hard for a rich man to enter the klng- - dom of heaven,** just because a rich man to be moral must be great And. unfortunately, great souls are scarce among great fortunes. The greatness of Jesus was not in* | his wisdom, magnetism, nor ethicaK perception, but in the fact that ho wsa utterly altruistic; that is, he used alt his powers not to advance himself bqt to help others. His tormentors unwittingly told the truth, and stated unknowingly his very secret, wheq, as ha bung on the cross, they wagged their heads at him and cried: “He saved others; himself be cannot save!" “