AS A NATION, WE NEED TO THINK OF USING CAREFULLY AND OF PRESERVING WISELY ALL OF THE GIFTS NATURE HAS GIVEN OUR COUNTRY. SAVING AND CONSERVING "Industry need not wish." "Then plow deep while sluggards sleep And you shall have corn to sell and to keep." "A fool and his money are soon parted." "A rolling stone gathers no moss." "Good health is above wealth." When George asked the meaning of the word "thrifty," his teacher replied: "It means being industrious in whatever you undertake, wasting neither time, money, nor materials. Thrifty people waste nothing and spend wisely." This is a larger and better idea of thrift than most people have. They think only of saving money. Of course, the saving of money is entirely justified in itself, for savings have helped many a family in time of need and have provided pleasures and comforts that could not otherwise have been enjoyed. Moreover, the savings of many people, when brought together and loaned by banks, furnish the money which enables merchants to buy goods and manufacturers to equip plants and railroads to run their trains and extend their lines. Savings provide the capital by means of which our industries are able to flourish. We must not forget that savings also enable our people to give immediate help in great disasters like the Japanese earthquake and to purchase Liberty Bonds when our country itself is in danger. Saving money, proper so far as it goes, is indeed an indication of thrift. But George's teacher was right; saving time, saving strength, saving the materials with which we work, wasting nothing and spending wisely, are the habits which will enable us as a people to be "well-to-do." As a nation. we need to think of using carefully and of preserving wisely all of the gifts nature has given our country. Some of our riches, like coal and oil and the other minerals, when once used, can never be restored. Other natural wealth, like forests that are burned or foolishly wasted, or soil that is allowed to lose its fertility, can be restored only with the greatest difficulty after many, many years. Even the thoughtless destruction of useful birds may allow insect enemies to ruin our orchards and ravage our fields. Indeed. for each of us personally and for the nation as a whole, was!”fulness leads to poverty and suffering, while thrift leads t wealth and happiness. |