"It requires a great deal of boldness and a great deal of caution to make a great fortune, and when you have got it, it requires ten times as much wit to keep it."--Emerson.

MOST evil deeds are the result of temptation and, until these temptations are removed or minimized, the evil can not be eliminated.

In recent years we have witnessed the greatest material prosperity the Country has ever known. Everybody had money. Nearly everybody had diamonds or fine furs or an automobile or all three.

The few that did not have these things wanted them because nearly everybody else had them. Those who did not have the ability or the opportunity to earn big money either had to content themselves with the commonest comforts of life or try to get the things they wanted in a dishonest way.

The very spirit of the times has created dishonesty and some of the rest of us are almost equally guilty with those who have done the criminal acts, because we have made these criminal acts possible.

Flaunting rich clothing, diamonds and gorgeous personal adornment in the face of unwise or unfortunate people who are unable to have these things creates a spirit of desire and unrest which too often ends in a criminal act.

Many robberies and even murders have been caused by the exhibition in public places of large sums of money or other evidences of wealth.

Unprotected millions have been carried about the Country. The death of a millionaire and the settlement of his estate recently brought out the fact that his wife was carrying about the Country from place to place more than $250,000 in money and still more than that amount in bonds. The grip which contained these valuables had been carried on trains, left in baggage rooms and check rooms and otherwise exposed to possible loss or theft.

It is only human nature that men steal more when stealing is easy and many men branded as thieves would never have become thieves except for the excessive temptations.

There is no easier way to reduce the thieving and robbery which have been going on than to make stealing unprofitable. The hold-up man who realizes only a few cents or a few dollars will soon learn that earning money is more profitable than stealing money.

When it is no longer possible to "stick-up" almost any man on the street and take a few hundred dollars away from him, then robbery will grow less attractive and the man's moral sense will overcome his evil tendencies.

Eleven men and women fell to discussing this subject while returning home from a party recently; by comparing notes they discovered that, aside from their two automobiles, they were carrying with them loot for thieves totaling $68,000 in money, clothing, jewels and other personal effects. In this little group returning from a modest party which did not call for the expenditure of any money they discovered a total of $9,657 in actual cash.

It must be almost true that in recent years some people have gone money-mad. They have it and their greatest pleasure is derived from showing it and their next greatest pleasure from spending it. Such vulgar display of money would have meant social ostracism a few years ago. If any man had been seen with such large amounts of cash on his person as many people carry today, he would have been considered a crook, as an honest man would not find it necessary to carry thousands or even hundreds of dollars about with him while attending to ordinary matters of business or pleasure.

Banks have been provided in this Country so that money may be deposited in one city and checked out in any other city in the purchase of goods or the payment of obligations.

It should have startled the whole Country when it was announced in 1921 that there was a billion dollars in currency in this Country which was not in the banks. Since this was disclosed bank deposits have increased and some of this money is now practically safe from thieves or loss.

"Money amassed either serves or rules us." -- Horace.

"The way to wealth is us plain as the way to market--it depends on two words, industry and frugality; that is, waste neither time nor money but make the best of both." --Franklin.

SOME merchants, manufacturers and other business men have argued that full prosperity is only possible when people stop saving and spend their money freely. Merchants sometime feel that the banks and the thrift organizations are likely to hurt business through urging people to save their money.

The only saver who hurts business through accumulating too much money is the miser who hides away his money.

Saving money and putting it in the bank where it resumes its place as part of the circulating medium never hurts or hinders business.

To whom would the real estate man sell a home or a vacant lot if no one saved money and no one accumulated funds?

For whom would the building contractor build a house if no one saved money?

And to whom would the lumber man, the cement man, the sash and door man, the dealer in plumbing fixtures and the steam-fitter--to whom would these sell their merchandise if no one accumulated a quantity of money at any one time?

Were it not for the saver, the piano dealer would never make a sale. Even the graphophone dealer and the furniture dealer would seldom if ever have a cash sale if people would not save for a long time looking toward the day when they could have that new graphophone, that dining-room set or that modern kitchen range.

The impression seems to be current that it is the spendthrift who buys the fine merchandise. Nothing could be further from the truth. The spendthrift wastes his money and seldom has value to show for it after it has gone.

Fine merchandise, costly merchandise and the substantial and beautiful things of life are the rewards of the saver, the man who can deny himself the foolish little things of today for the big and joyous things of tomorrow.

Prosperity is never hindered by the man who sets aside a goodly portion of his earnings while getting ready to satisfy the big and wholesome desires of life, whether such desire be a new home, an automobile, a fine watch or an education for one of his children.

Men and women, boys and girls who spend each dollar or each dime as fast as it is acquired do not make prosperity for the Country, for the merchants and least of all for themselves.

Prosperity for all is contingent upon the prosperity of the individual. The piano manufacturer or the dealer can never be prosperous until the masses are prosperous. If the people never saved there never would be a piano sold and the prosperity of the merchants in our own town depends upon the thrift of all of the people. Until more than half of the people in a community are savers, the merchants of that community can never enjoy full prosperity or even a very profitable business.

When the saver puts his money in the bank, the bulk of it is borrowed by the manufacturer or the dealer for use in the production of more goods, which means more wealth, because in the production of these goods, whether they are washing machines, automobiles or hogs, more labor is employed and a goodly part of the money is paid back into the community in wages and salaries. This enables these producing workers to buy more merchandise and to save more money to add to their bank accounts. This money then again resumes the rounds as before and travels from the bank to the farmer, from the farmer to the manufacturer, from the manufacturer to his employees and again back to the retail merchant and the bank.

Saving in greater volume is the only road to real prosperity and if it were possible for every person to save half of what he earns, then we would have a greater prosperity than this Country has ever enjoyed. Let each individual learn that thrift on the part of all of the people is the only road to real prosperity for all of the people. Individual prosperity is dependent upon the prosperity of others and, until our neighbors are prosperous, we can never hope for real prosperity.

A few years ago the deposits of all of the banks of the United States were ten billion dollars and now they are more than fifty billion dollars. Somebody saved all of this money. Individuals saved it and corporations saved it and all of them deposited it in the banks. The banks re-loaned the most of it for the development of the Country. They loaned some of it on farm mortgages and then the farmer saved money to pay off the mortgage. When he had saved enough more he built a new house or a new barn or bought a tractor or perhaps an automobile. Through the farmer's saving the building material men and the farm implement dealers and manufacturers and the automobile manufacturers all were enabled to do business and to make money.

Saving money instead of spending each day's income is the thing which creates business and prosperity for everybody. It was the savings of the people that built the railroads and the big buildings and the schools and the hospitals.

Somebody must save or we would never have anything better than a tent to house ourselves and a sheepskin to cover our bodies.

Beware of the man who tells you that you must spend all you earn or you are hindering the business of the Country and destroying prosperity.

When everybody- learns how to live well and at the same time save a reasonable portion of every dollar he gets, then we are assured of complete and permanent prosperity.

After money is spent, it is invested and, when it is invested, it is spent--by the other fellow. That means prosperity.

If we would bring complete prosperity to our Country we must save and then save more. As we save more, our prosperity will increase and, if each of us can save enough, everybody in our community will have everything he wants of the material things of life, which means happiness and ease and contentment for you and for us.

We will never learn to live well until we learn to save--we will never be able to live better until we learn to save more. When saving becomes a habit, the habit becomes a pleasure.

If the water of the brooks were not saved, there would never be a river or a sea.

"All habits gather, by unseen degrees, as brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas." --Dryden.

"It is not from nature, but from education and habit that our wants are chiefly derived." --Fielding.

DURING recent years many habits have been acquired by many people, which must now be broken or the people themselves will be broke.

Prominent among these recently acquired habits is the silk habit. Everything must be of silk whether silk is the best material for the purpose or not; in many cases, cotton or wool would have served better. In a recent year we sent one million dollars across the ocean every day to pay for silk. That was more money than the United States Government collected in import tariff duties for the same year.

And then there is the automobile habit. Some people, who need the exercise of walking in order to keep in good physical shape, will drive their cars if only going three blocks or will hire a taxi if going a half mile.

The travel habit is another habit which must be partly cured if we are to save money and become independent. Traveling for business is necessary and traveling for recreation and education is commendable, but traveling just for the sake of going from one place to another has come to be a habit and an expensive habit of the American people.

The worst habit, the most far-reaching habit and the hardest habit to overcome is the useless buying habit, which is still gripping the majority of the people. Many persons have had more money come into their hands during late years than ever before and a large number of them have gotten into the habit of buying things -- uselessly buying. This habit has grown in some cases almost beyond belief. Among the most prominent examples of useless buying we might mention a man who has twenty-two hats; a woman who has fourteen pairs of low shoes and seven pairs of high boots; a woman who has twenty-two fur neck pieces; a family which owns four pianos in the same house; a workingman who owns a motorcycle and two automobiles and a salesman who says he has fifty-six silk shirts. These are extravagant examples but none of these persons is even well-to-do; no one of them owns his home except the piano fiend with four instruments in the house.

The craze, or whatever it is, of buying just for the pleasure of spending money has already stopped with the man whose income has shrunk. If the man whose income has not yet shrunk will limit his purchases now to the things which he needs or can really use he will be able to save some money.

"If you live according to what nature requires, you will never be poor; if according to the notions of men, you will never be rich." --Seneca.

"If a rich man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it." --Socrates.

THERE is a deal of difference between keeping your money and saving your money. Saving your money through the practice of thrift is a benefit not only to yourself but to your family, your friends, your community and the whole Country.

Keeping your money may prove to be injurious to yourself and everybody else.

An old woman in Dublin died from lack of food and in the house was found more than a thousand pounds sterling in gold hidden away in various places. This woman kept her money and died of starvation.

An old woman who had been drawing a "poor pension" for many years died in a village in Kent, England, and a search of the shack in which she was living uncovered a large sum in gold contained in three bags which were carefully hidden away. This woman had suffered all of the discomforts of extreme poverty and had been a burden upon her neighbors and her government while she kept enough money in the house to have provided her with the comforts of life for many years.

An old woman begging on the streets of New York, when arrested for begging without a license, was found to have over $1,800 tied around her waist. This woman kept her money and lived the life of a beggar.

Three children found $2,500 in paper bills tied in a handkerchief and placed under the mattress in a home near Kenosha, Wisconsin; they threw the money in the stove to see it burn and the ashes were sent to Washington in the hope that they could be partly identified and replaced. The parents of these children kept their money for the children to build a fire with.

A great politician and a member of the United States Senate died recently and left nearly a quarter of a million dollars in cash in a safe deposit box; he kept his money so it could not possibly be of any benefit to himself or any one else.

Robbers entered a home in a small town in Missouri and stole $2,000 in cash from a retired merchant. He kept his money where it was of no use to any one until the robbers came for it and it is now probably again in circulation; even the original owner may get some indirect benefit from it now but it was of no use to him while it was hidden in the house.

The offices of one of the big chain store companies were robbed of $60,000, some of which was blown to atoms through the use of an explosive. This company kept its money where it was reasonably convenient for the burglars and now what the burglars did not get has been destroyed.

A widow of the owner of one of the best known automobile appliances died last year and in an old valise she had been carrying around was found more than a quarter of a million dollars in money, which has now become the property of the daughter. This woman kept this enormous sum of money where it was of no benefit to herself, her daughter or any one else. The daughter's guardian has now placed the money where it will be returned to circulation and earn for its owner approximately $10,000 a year instead of reposing in a grip in a baggage check-room, where it had been spending most of its time for several years.

Keeping money is not necessarily saving money. Money which is saved should be put in a safe place and made to work for its owner. Temporarily, at least, that safe place is a bank and after a sufficient sum has been accumulated, it may be invested in real estate, in bonds, in mortgages or in other securities or property.

Money saved by one person should benefit that person and every one else. Money kept in the pocket or in a hiding place is of no more value to its owner than the same quantity of sheets of blank paper.

Hoarding and secreting money is evidence that its owner is foolish or weak-minded; saving money is good evidence that its owner is wise, strong-minded and far-seeing and that he is on the road to independence, comfort and contentment.

"A generous-minded man saves himself rich; a narrow-minded man hoards himself poor."

"The taxes are indeed very heavy, and if those laid by the government were the only ones we had to pay, we might more easily discharge them; but we have many others, and much more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our idleness, three times as much by our pride and four times as much by our folly; and from these taxes the commissioners cannot ease or deliver us by allowing an abatement." --Franklin.

WHO is there among us who has not complained of high taxes and yet how many of us can truthfully say that idleness, pride and folly are not costing us more than all of the other taxes that we pay--federal, state and local.

Taxes are a great burden but "Taxes are the sinews of the state."

What we tax ourselves through lost time and opportunity, what we tax ourselves through false pride and in an attempt to outdo all of our neighbors and what we tax ourselves for our follies-- these are not "the sinews of the state" and are not things which serve to build character and position.

It is altogether likely that most of us waste some time every day and decrease our earnings just that much. Even that person who is paid by the month cannot increase his earnings until he increases his earning power. Earning power comes only through more intensive work and the worker's application to the business in hand. "Life is a short day; but it is a working day. Activity may lead to evil but inactivity cannot lead to good."

The taxes which our pride assesses against us are the most burdensome of all. Our piano or phonograph, our dining-room table, our best dresser cover, our shoes and everything we possess must be better than similar things owned by our friends. They must not only be useful and good and beautiful but they must cost more, just as a matter of pride. Pride in the useless spending of money is a poor pride to indulge and such pride taxes the American people untold millions every year.

Those other taxes that our follies assess against us are also as burdensome as they are unnecessary. The buying of entertainment, which we are too sated to enjoy, is the purest folly. The purchase of things for the mere joy of spending money is the commonest and the worst folly.

What house does not contain stored away in the closet or attic things which were bought in a delirious hour of spending and for which real use will probably never be found.

It is not possible for us to prevent the state from assessing taxes against us because the state must have money to maintain itself and protect and serve its people. There is nothing, however, to prevent our wiping out a lot of the taxes we have been paying and prominent among them are the taxes of idleness, the taxes of pride and the taxes of folly.

This should not be laid aside with the thought that it does not concern you personally. There is probably no one in this community who did not pay unnecessary taxes last year through idleness, pride or folly.

The unnecessary taxes which the people of this Country assessed against themselves last year probably amounted to several billions of dollars. It is difficult to foresee what could be accomplished through the expenditure of this sum for better things and more worthy purposes.

"It is not how much we have (or how much we spend) but how much we enjoy that makes happiness."

"Happiness consists in the attainment of our desires and in our having only right desires." -- Augustine.