What is "Any virtue that is carried to extremes becomes undesirable and no longer a virtue. The thrift that does not make a man charitable sours into avarice. Thrift means better homes, better citizens, more comforts, more enjoyments, little waste, little anxiety-peace. Out of it grows productive energy, steady courage, opportunity, independence, self-respect, aimfulness in life, manhood. It is the one material habit that has no shady side. It is acquired little by little-a steady pressure (in the right direction) until it becomes second nature to save and thrift becomes a habit. Figure how much you can save, Not how much you will have to spend; By the first way you encourage a savings frame of mind, There follow quotations from a thrift talk to men by W. H. Kniffen, vice-president First National Bank, Jamaica, New York. "Before you can practice a virtue you must know what it is. When we speak of thrifty people, we are apt to picture them living on cheap food, in cheap quarters, wearing shabby clothes, having little or no pleasures, and saving every cent possible. What But that is not thrift-far from it. Thrift is a thrift is not. greater virtue than the mere saving of money. Don't forget that. Mr. Knif tion of Thrift. "The prudent man looks ahead and gets ready. The frugal man lives carefully and saves persistently. The economical man spends judiciously, buys wisely and wastes fen's defini- nothing. The industrious man works hard and saves hard; the miser hoards; but the man of thrift earns largely, spends wisely, plans carefully, manages economically and saves consistently. Thrift is all of prudence, economy, frugality and industry-and "then some." Thrift is that instinct of the dog that buries the bone he doesn't want for to-morrow's wants; the instinct of the squirrel that knows nutting is out of season in winter.. . . . . . "To enumerate the benefits of thrift would be equivalent to enumerating the benefits of a sound body, for all that health is to the physical man thrift is to the temperamental Thrift is a and the material. Thrift is conducive to good Good Habit. habits, and inasmuch as good habits make good character, thrift is good character. Thrift, an "Thrift is the antidote of worry, which is the most distressing of human emotions. To worry about the future is common to man, but not to the animals-they work Antidote for the future and plan for it. Thrift avoids the for Worry. worries of life as no other habit can. It is good medicine for the blues. "Thrift does for the individual what thrift does for the nation-it makes for strength. It is the surest foundation upon which a man can build. Note the successful Thrift men of your town. Do they waste their substance? makes for Strength. Do they live beyond their means? Yea, verily, they are the frugal men, the solid men, the thrifty men. have managed well. They "The thrifty man does not live on mush and milk, but on porterhouse-treated right. He does not wear shabby clothes, but well-tailored ones-treated right. He has few amusements, but good ones. He does not go out often, but goes well when he does-and remembers it, because of the quality and the rareness. Theaters every night are bores. Waste, a Habit. "This virtue of thrift is the most important habit you can cultivate, the most profitable and the most satisfactory. You can see what it does it works here, not hereafter. Waste is the most costly evil you can tolerate in your material life. Thrift will get you further up life's ladder than Costly any other quality, and waste will carry you down. faster. Thrift of time will do more to give you an education than all the colleges, and thrift of food will make you better fed than a Broadway habitue. Thrift of money will make you independent of the loan shark, the pawnbroker and the landlord. "First learn to distinguish between luxuries and necessities. You do not need all you think you need, and certainly not all you buy. You want things because you see them-that is what shop windows are for. Second, learn to know good value. Three Learn where and when and how to buy. Learn to know good meat from bad, nourishing from the worthless. Learn to judge clothing and shoes, and buy good material-it pays in the end. Third, keep track of your expenses. Know how much it costs you to live, and how much you spend on various items of the household. Limit your "pleasure money" and choose wholesome pleasures. If you like the theater, learn where to see the good plays at reasonable prices, and go consistently. "You must realize, early or late, that if you have one thing worth while you may have to do without other things not worth while. You must learn that sacrifice means satisfaction. Deny yourself little things to get the big. Save on cigars and drinks and ride in a car. Save on the car and own a home. Saving Means Spending "Saving money is like swimming; you just save, that's all. There is no patent way. You can only do it by spending less than you earn. Twice two makes four, and every little bit added to what you have makes just a little bit more, and once you get the saving habit, you necessarily find a good bank, open account and keep it up-that's all. It's not how hard you work that gets you ahead, it's how hard you save! Less than you Earn. What "Thrift will bring you success, save you from worry, make you a better husband, father and citizen, a better asset to the state, a benefactor to your country, and most of all, a Thrift will profitable and indispensable employee to the busido for you. ness in which you are engaged and from which you make your living. Your job is to make a good living and make a good living long, and thrift will teach you how." James J. Hill was born on a farm in Ontario. The death of his father when James was very young necessitated his leaving James J. school. He obtained employment in a store and Hill. received four dollars a month for his services. From this modest beginning he became the foremost authority on transportation and was one of the leading financiers of America. His suggestions on thrift will interest Vermont boys and girls. "Thrift is not a virtue of tomorrow, but of today. The young man who puts off until he is earning a larger income or has satisfied some present want, or for any other reason, the effort to spare and accumulate is pretty sure never to begin unless under the pressure of misfortune. And it is really true that only the beginning is difficult. The first fifty or one hundred dollars are slow to gather, and look unimportant even after they have been saved. But there is magic in the fact. The income from investment, however trifling, confers a sense of power and carries a promise that allures. More important than all, a habit of saving has begun to push a sprout through the crust of indifference and self-indulgence. Independence in character His Idea of asserts itself. Purpose strengthens. Possibilities Thrift. appear. Thrift is a rare discipline in self-control. Presently there is a new man and a new force in the world. "Thrift ought to be taught as part of the alphabet of virtue. Unless a young man has learned it before he is thirty years of age the chances are that he will remain all his life among Must Learn the incompetents, the spenders and the wasters. Thrift Every man who has saved a dollar has cut one solid Early. step in the face of a precipice, where he may momentarily stand. Without it he would presently fall into space and be forgotten. Resting on it he can cut another foothold, broader and more secure. And so all heights are scaled. This is an old prescription for material, mental and moral advancement; but it has been the law of the world from the beginning, and there is no reason to think that it will ever be superseded or that it can ever with safety be defied." "By thrift we do not mean the hoarding of money, but the intelligent saving and investing of it. This saving and wise investing this thrift-must not be confined to mere money and other material wealth, but must be applied to the elements of mind and body-for in thrift to make for growth Henry Ford there must be a surplus of human power, and in just on Thrift. such proportion will the income work for your health and your habits, and also lay up a portion of it to have, and to hold, and to use when some of the unlooked-for contingencies of life arrive. "The great street car systems of the country get their power from central stations, direct from generators, but they are also ever storing in batteries a sufficient quantity of An Illustracurrent so that when the producing machinery shall tion. be incapacitated for a season there will be something to draw on so that the wire may at all times be kept alive and the cars moving. "Get a battery for yourself, in the shape of a bank account, and see that day by day something is stored up for the time when either your producing mechanism may be incapacitated or be worn beyond repair." It was in 1732, nearly two hundred years ago, that Benjamin Franklin published his first almanac and began his series of little lessons on thrift that became known as "Poor Richard's" sayings. "Poor Richard's" Sayings. Twenty-five years later, Franklin, to use his own words, "assembled and formed these sayings into a connected discourse as the harangue of a wise old man to the people attending an auction. The piece being universally approved, was copied in all the newspapers of the continent, reprinted in Britain on a broadside to be stuck up in houses, two translations were made of it into French. In Pennsylvania, as it discouraged useless expense in foreign superfluities, some thought it had its share of influence in producing that growing plenty of money which was observable for several years after its publication." Father No single piece of American literature, it may be confidently said, has had the vitality of the address of Father Abraham at the auction. The proverbs are almost as familiar now as they were then. They have been published in every language known to man, and are to-day to be had at the book stores with "Gulliver's Travels" and "Robinson Crusoe". How familiar are: Time enough proves little enough. Drive thy business, let not thy business drive thee. Have you somewhat to do to-morrow, do it to-day. It is hard for an empty bag to stand upright. Now I have a sheep and cow my neighbors bid me good. morrow. Three removes are as bad as a fire. If you would have your business done, go; if not, send. |