_Read Matthew 22:1-10._




XII

STEWARDSHIP


Say, fellows, how much is a boy worth in money? The United States
Labour Bureau in 1914 estimated the average cost of rearing a boy to
the age of sixteen was then $1,325. It must average at least $1,500
now. Well, fellows, that is what you cost; are you worth it? I am
talking of actual, not sentimental, values. Father and mother wouldn't
take a million dollars for any one of you, I suppose, but that does
not mean you are worth it. An investment of $1,500 ordinarily is
expected to yield at least six per cent. a year, which is $90.

I know a fourteen-year-old boy who is earning $7 a week. He gives it
all to his widowed mother on Saturday night. She gives him back a
dollar of it. He first takes out ten cents for his church pledge and
five cents for Sunday-school. Then he puts fifty cents in his savings
bank. He has about $25 in the bank. The remainder, thirty-five cents,
he spends as his fancy dictates. He is a steady boy and it is
reasonable to count upon his putting in eleven months a year at his
work, allowing one month for vacation. His gross financial value to
his mother for the year, therefore, is not less than $280. It costs
her about $12.50 a month to provide his food and clothing. That takes
off $150, so his net financial value a year is $130, which is six per