“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.”