you, it is I, it is each one of us! ... How to constitute oneself a man?
Nothing harder, if one knows not how to _will_ it; nothing easier, if
one wills it."--_Alexandre Dumas_.


Competence and comfort lie within the reach of most people, were they to
take the adequate means to secure and enjoy them. Men who are paid good
wages might also become capitalists, and take their fair share in the
improvement and well-being of the world. But it is only by the exercise
of labour, energy, honesty, and thrift, that they can advance their own
position or that of their class.

Society at present suffers far more from waste of money than from want
of money. It is easier to make money than to know how to spend it. It is
not what a man gets that constitutes his wealth, but his manner of
spending and economizing. And when a man obtains by his labour more than
enough for his personal and family wants, and can lay by a little store
of savings besides, he unquestionably possesses the elements of social
well-being. The savings may amount to little, but they may be sufficient
to make him independent.

There is no reason why the highly-paid workman of to-day may not save a
store of capital. It is merely a matter of self-denial and private
economy. Indeed, the principal industrial leaders of to-day consist, for
the most part, of men who have sprung directly from the ranks. It is the
accumulation of experience and skill that makes the difference between
the workman and the _no_-workman; and it depends upon the workman
himself whether he will save his capital or waste it. If he save it, he
will always find that he has sufficient opportunities for employing it
profitably and usefully.