LIX.
DRINKING AND SMOKING.
There is food for reflection in a saying of somebody who lived a great many years ago, ’way back in 1878. Here it is:
“Our government land costs one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre, and good whiskey two dollars a bottle. How many men die landless who during their lives have swallowed whole townships—trees and all?”
Alongside of this statement might go this other one, which is equally true:
“The young man who smokes three five-cent cigars a day—and many young men use double the quantity at double the price—puffs away enough money in the course of ten years to give anyone a handsome start in business, or to provide anyone a comfortable home.”
Drink and Tobacco.
From a purely business standpoint, not to say anything about religion or morals—from a purely business standpoint young people drink too much and smoke too much. Every five cents spent for beer is five cents thrown away. Every ten cents spent for whiskey is a total loss. It would bring far better returns if it were put into a savings bank and laid away for a rainy day. As for smoking, it is a silly, senseless, expensive habit. It literally burns money up. The following figures show the expense of smoking two cigars a day at five cents each from the age of twenty to the end of each period of five years up to the age of seventy, 6 per cent compound interest semi-annually being reckoned upon the money:
| Two Cigars a Day at 5 Cents each. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| From the age of: | No. Years. | Principal. | Prin. & Int. |
| 20 to 25 years | 5 | $ 182.50 | $ 209.21 |
| 20 to 30 〃 | 10 | 365.00 | 490.39 |
| 20 to 35 〃 | 15 | 574.50 | 868.25 |
| 20 to 40 〃 | 20 | 730.00 | 1,376.07 |
| 20 to 45 〃 | 25 | 912.50 | 2,058.44 |
| 20 to 50 〃 | 30 | 1,095.00 | 3,094.99 |
| 20 to 55 〃 | 35 | 1,277.50 | 4,367.46 |
| 20 to 60 〃 | 40 | 1,460.00 | 6,078.73 |
| 20 to 65 〃 | 45 | 1,642.50 | 8,378.52 |
| 20 to 70 〃 | 50 | 1,825.00 | 11,469.25 |
Boys, I am glad to be able to put these figures down where you can see them, and study them for yourselves. I want you to reflect upon them. It is not what you make, but it is what you save that makes you rich. If you ever expect to be even well-to-do men, not to speak of being rich men, you must begin early to learn and practice the habit of saving your money. If you will learn to leave out of your expenses the bills for whiskey and tobacco it will not be hard for you to see then how you can also save by cutting down your expenses for trifles, such as knickknacks, candy, red lemonade, peanuts, etc. First in importance among public institutions, next to the church and the school house, I place the savings bank. No matter what your occupation, no matter what your salary, it is possible for every young person to save something out of his earnings, however small they may be. But if this habit of saving is not acquired in early life it will be very hard to learn it later. Saving is not the miser’s habit necessarily, nor is it the spirit of avarice and parsimony. It is prudence and forethought. Money is a good thing. It is the love of money—not money—that is the root of all evil.