colleges, our churches and all other organizations
for the improvement of man have for one of their chief objects the
enlargement of the capacity for service.

There is an apparent exception in the case of an inheritance, but it is
not a real exception, for if the man who leaves the money has honestly
earned it, he has already given society a service of equivalent value
and, therefore, has a right to distribute it. And money received by
inheritance is either payment for service already rendered, or payment
in advance for service to be rendered. No right-minded person will
accept money, even by inheritance, without recognizing the obligation
it imposes to render a service in return. This service is not always
rendered to the one from whom this money is received, but often to
society in general. In fact, most of the blessings which we receive come
to us in such a way that we cannot distinguish the donors and must make
our return to the whole public. If one is not compelled to work for
himself he has the larger pleasure of working for the public.

But I need not dwell upon this, because in this country more than
anywhere else in the world we appreciate the dignity of labour and
understand that it is honourable to serve. And yet there is room for
improvement, for all over our land there are, scattered here and there,
young men and young women--and even parents--who still think that it is
more respectable for a young man to spend in idleness the money some one
else has earned than to be himself a producer of wealth. As long as this
sentiment is to be found anywhere there is educational work to be done,
for public opinion will never be what it ought to be until it puts the
badge of disgrace upon the idler, no matter how rich he may be, rather
than upon the man who with brain or muscle contributes to the Nation's
wealth, the Nation's strength and the Nation's progress.

But, as I said, the inheritance is an apparent, not an actual,
exception, and we will return to the original proposition--that one's
earnings must be measured by the service rendered. This is so vital a
proposition that I beg leave to dwell upon it a moment longer, to ask
whether it is possible to fix in dollars and cents a maximum limit to
the amount one can earn in a lifetime.

Let us begin with one hundred thousand dollars. If we estimate a working
life at thirty-three and one-third years--and I think this is a fair
estimate--a man must earn _three_ thou