Page:The fallacy of danger from great wealth.djvu/9



In civilized countries men save—that is, set aside out of their income—wealth not to be spent for their own personal needs or pleasures but devoted to producing other and additional wealth. Thus, for example, a farmer out of his crops saves a portion for next year's farm operations, a manufacturer saves enough to build a factory and operate it, and several men, united as a corporation, save enough to build and operate a railroad. One of the chief things that distinguishes civilization as we have it, with all its modern comforts and happiness, from savagery, with its want and misery, is the capacity to save and invest. We are benefited by the accumulated savings and investments of preceding years, yet most wealth (except land, minerals and other natural objects) would perish very soon if it were not continually replaced. For example, our railroads in the United States have been practically all made