Mother Earth, Vol. 1 No. 1, March 1906 — Reflections of a Rich Man
I'll take the good the while it lasts And when it goes I'll learn to sing, All eager for the coming joy-- "The king is dead, long live the king."
Reflections of A Rich Man +If God were not in existence+ we would have to order one from the Professors of Theology.
The fear, instilled in the majority of the poor, with the God, Devil, Heaven and Hell idea, is greater than their dread of a hundred thousand policemen.
Had we not given God the place of Chief Gendarme of the Universe, we would need twice as many soldiers and police as we have to-day.
* * * * * +A poor devil+ who owns but one million dollars said to me the other day: "I, in your place, would rather contribute money towards art and literature than to donate it to the Baptist Church."
What an impracticable fellow!
Art and literature, among the common people, only tends to cause mischief.
They are to remain our privilege.
We know the demands of good taste and we can afford to pay for the aesthetic pleasures of life.
The majority is unable to do that; besides, to teach them the beauty of art only means to make them discontented and rebellious against our authority.
* * * * * +I frankly admit+ I never had a great admiration for Jesus of Nazareth.
A
man of disordered circumstances arouses my disgust.
Jesus was neither engaged in any kind of a business, nor did he possess as much as a bank account, nor even a steady home.
He preached to the poor.
What for?
The poor should work and not philosophize.
The Scriptures tell nowhere that Jesus returned the mule, upon which he made his entry into Jerusalem, to the owner, or that he paid him for it.
I strongly suspect he did not do it.
One thing is certain, I never would have taken this dreamer of the abolition of profits as my business partner.
* * * * * +It was very hot+ yesterday.
I walked through my park, intending to betake myself to my favorite place for rest and reverie.
Suddenly I stood still, arrested by the sight of a man lying under a tree.
In my park?
And how the fellow looked!
In rags and dirty!
I have been told I was kind-hearted, and I realized this myself at the moment.
I walked over to the man and inquired interestedly: "Are you ill?"
He grunted in reply.
The wretch must have thought, in his sleep, that I was one of his kind.
My generosity did not cease.
"If you need money, do not feel shy about telling me.
How much do you need.
I am the rich X Y Z, who has a fabulous fortune, as you have undoubtedly heard."
At this remark the scoundrel turned on the other side, with his back toward me, and said, while yawning: "What I want?
I want to sleep.
Will you be good enough to keep the mosquitoes away for two hours?"
Within five minutes I had my servant kick this impertinent and ungrateful wretch out of my park.
If all of the low class think as this fellow, I fear our charitable efforts in their behalf will accomplish little.
[Illustration] +Eleven million+, nine hundred and seventeen thousand, nine hundred and forty-six dollars and fifty-eight cents is what the gallant Gen. Bingham asks us for protecting us from each other for the ensuing year.
With a population of four million and 4. 50 members to a family, we pay a fraction less than per head, and about . 50 for a family, a year for police protection in this enlightened Christian (750,000 of us are Jews, but ours is a Christian city) city of ours.
I'd give that silver watch of mine away and mind my own business if I thought it would come cheaper, but it won't do.
H.
H.
Rogers is my brother and keeper, and he insists he needs protection, and I must pay for it, so what can I do?
I've told him I'm a peaceful, propertyless man with no higher ambition than to love my fellow-man--and woman, and mind my own business; but his reply has invariably been, "I'm Dr. Tarr, and my system prevails in this lunatic asylum!"
I recognize the logic of his argument all right and continue to pay for his protection and feel grateful for the privilege of grumbling a little now and again.
COMSTOCKERY
