Weighed in the Balance

Weighed in the Balance By Charles W. Kingston Stephen Jensen returned late from town. The night was dark and cold, the wind piercing, and the snow drifting until the roads were almost impassable. Jensen had been gone three days and Mrs. Jensen had been much worried about him. There were the canyon roads and slides to encounter. The day he left it had been thawing and the snow had slid from the mountain south of the house and piled up on the meadow at the foot of the hill and it was possible that Jensen would encounter just such a slide. So it was with no small feeling of relief that Mrs. Jensen heard her husband stop the horses just outside that stormy night. "Take the horses and put them up, your father will be cold after such a ride," were Mrs. Jensen's first words to the two older boys and Jensen was soon seated by the warm fire while his good wife busied herself putting his supper on the table. As Stephen ate his supper he was very thoughtful. His wife's anxious questions, he would answer in the shortest way possible. His mind was filled with the awe of the storm and the recent worries of the road. In some places the horses were unable to follow it and if one of the faithful animals stepped a little too far to the side he would be floundering almost help- lessly in the deep. Jensen would have waited for the storm to pass, but the folks at home were expecting him, so, true to his duty, he had made his way home. But there was another matter upon Jensen's mind that weighed heavier than the memory of the storm or the road or the difficulties he had encountered in braving them. For that reason he was loth to have to meet his family and admit to them the truth. Stephen had been married fifteen years, during which time he and Nellie had lived happily together. They were the proud parents of six children, four boys and two girls, who were just at that age when they earned little and used much. The means to support such a family is no small thing. The question that Stephen so dreaded from his wife came at last. He had not ventured to tell her for he knew the pain it would send to her heart. "Did you get all the things Steve?" she asked. "I got the groceries," he said, "but I did not have money enough to get the other things. "But what will my poor children do without shoes. They are dressed hardly enough to cover their

WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE 711 bodies. Leo and Frank are wearing gunnysacks inside their overshoes and the overshoes about gone, too. The little ones must stay in the house as they have nothing to keep their little feet out of the snow." There was no need for Mrs. Jensen to remind her husband of these things. He already knew them too well, but it seemed to relieve her to tell them, so Stephen sat in silence, although it was like pouring hot coals upon him. He had only said: "I can't help it, my dear; I can't help it." She then continued, almost wildly: "Can't help it? There isn't an- other family around here that don't dress their children better than we do. There's Anderson's who have had no better chance than we have had, and they have a buggy to go to town and meeting in, besides they don't have to keep their children from Sunday School and meetings for the want of Sunday clothes, and here we can't hardly keep ours covered for every day, and no shoes." Something in his wife's words had set Stephen to thinking how it was that his neighbor could feed and clothe his family properly on the same amount of land as he had. They had come to the country together, had bought forty acres each of the same eighty, both were hard workers but for some reason there was a difference, but Steve had never thought of it that way before. Anderson had just built a new house, kept his family well, and seemed to be prospering, while Jensen's family lived in the same log cabin, and had now reached the time when their income was insufficient to meet their needs. He had one team; and the two cows that furnished the family with milk were getting old. Jen- sen had to sell the calves as soon as they were ready for veal, while neighbor Anderson had kept his calves and was getting quite a herd around him which of course helped the income. When the boys came in from tending the horses they carried the box of groceries in, and before retiring Mrs. Jensen carefully took the different articles out of the box and put them away in the cupboard. Among the articles she found two bills and tak- ing them up she saw that one was the itemized bill of the things that Stephen had brought home, and the other one was neighbor Anderson's. Stephen had brought a month's supply out for Anderson also, and left it at his house as he passed. The clerk a* the grocery had evidently put both bills in Jensen's box by mistake. "What is Anderson's bill doing in our box?" Mrs. Jensen asked of her husband. "I don't know," was his reply, "let me see it." As he remembered from ordering there was little difference between the two bills of groceries, but since a question had arisen in his mind, and he reached for the bills thinking that they might throw a little light on the subject. After breakfast the next morning Stephen walked over to neighbor Anderson's. He had slept but little the night previous

712 IMPROVEMENT ERA for he had thought much over his state of affairs, and before he closed his eyes in sleep, in the early hours of the morning, he decided to have a talk with his old friend, Jim. He did not like to acknowledge his condition on account of his pride, but as any one could almost read the truth by looking at his children's clothes, he knew that he only would be admitting what was already well known. It was nothing new for him to go over to Anderson's, especially in the winter, when the work is not so crowding. Jensen found his neighbor in the barn. He greeted him as usual. It was very hard for Steve to bring himself to his subject, but after discussing the weather, roads, and other things, he finally said: "Well, Jim, I came this morning on a very peculiar errand. You and I came to this country together. We had just married the two girls of our choice and settled here to make a living and a home. I did very well up until the last year or two in regard to providing a living, but now it seems that I have reached the place where my family is too large or the farm too small, or something. Last time I went to town, I only had enough to buy what few groceries we needed, and our children are without shoes. Their clothing is insufficient to keep them warm, and, to tell the truth, we don't know what to do. The farm is still under mortgage and I am afraid that we are not going to be able to make a go of it unless something unexpected comes up." James Anderson truly sympathized with Jensen and his family, as a good neighbor should. Steve continued, "I did not come to ask you for money to help us, Jim, but I thought that you might be able to tell me why it is that you are prospering and I am not, and if you can, then I consider that you will have done me a greater favor than if you had given me money." Neighbor Anderson, being touched by his friend's humble confession, and desiring to help him, led the way into the house where he was warmly greeted by Mrs. Anderson and the children who asked him why he had not brought Nellie and the children with him. To save Stephen any embarrassment James inter- rupted, "He has come to talk over a little matter, and we would like a room to ourselves." To which Mrs. Anderson kindly con- ceded. As he passed the cupboard James took some slips of paper out which he held in his hand. Seating themselves in the room, after closing the door, neighbor Anderson commenced very kindly, "Well, Steve, I am so glad that you have come here today. I almost realized your condition, and would have broached the subject to you if only I had dared. I was afraid, however, because I thought I might offend and make an enemy of you, and I felt that we had lived here as neighbors too long to have anything mar our friendship. Just last night my attention was more closely drawn to this very

WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE 713 subject. You know that you stopped and brought my groceries in as you passed, and when Mabel was placing them in the cup- board she found the bills for both your groceries and mine in the box, and here they are." "Now, that's strange," said Steve, wondering, "both bills were in our box also, but I see now the clerk has put the original bills in with your groceries and in mine the carbon copies. It seems to have been a mistake." "That part doesn't matter so much," said James, "but I believe that from a close study of these two bills will be found the rea- son of my success and your failure. You have worked just as hard and intelligently as I have, we have planted practically the same crops, from year to year, and I believe the only difference lies in the things that these two bills plainly show. This time we seemed to have purchased almost the same things and this serves to show the difference more plainly. We will now con- sider the bills. Mine is as follows: Flour $ 4.85 Sugar 2.35 Matches 05 Salt 25 Cinnamon 15 Oatmeal 80 Cornmeal .40 Beans 50 Rice 90 Dried fruit 1.20 $11.45 We will now look over your bill which is as follows: Flour $ 4.85 Matches 20 Baking powder 25 Coffee I...". 1.05 Tea 50 Sugar 2.50 Chewing tobacco 60 Smoking tobacco 1-20 Rolled oats 15 Cornmeal 1-20 Rice I-40 Beans 50 .. .50 $14.90 "It happens that our bills are very much alike this month with the exception of the tobacco, the coffee and the tea, and I believe that these small items have made the difference of which we have spoken." Steve looked surprised but said nothing. "On your bill you have four boxes of matches to light your

714 IMPROVEMENT ERA smokes, three pounds of coffee, two pounds of tea, $1.20 for smoking and sixty cents for chewing tobacco, making a total of $3.45 a month, on your bill that is not on mine. These items have been there fifteen years. Don't you think that they have a pretty solid place there when they will even displace shoes and clothing for the children? Three dollars and forty-five cents a month is $41.40 a year. Suppose you had kept this amount to buy things you really needed, and kept some of those calves that you thought you had to sell? We have $41.40 the first year, the second year we add the same amount, with 10% interest, which gives us the sum of $86.94, at the end of the second year. If we keep on adding this amount with the interest for fifteen years we will have the sum of $1,331.30. You will realize that had you saved your calves and colts instead of smoking them up, you would have made more than 10% interest. I do not think that we would be far off if we say that, had you and your family been observers of the Word of Wisdom you would have been as far on, or farther ahead than me and my family. These things not only rob your bank account, but they weaken your body and affect your brain. I think that if the German scientist who in- vented the device to measure the efficiency of men should make some investigations in regard to tobacco, tea and coffee, he would find that they are almost as harmful as rum in lowering one's powers. "There is also another and more important side to this ques- tion, What we have already said has had to do with the tem- poral, but I believe that the spiritual side is more important still. While it is very true that all people who are users of these things do not lack the necessities of life because of them, yet we have clearly shown what a needless load they are to carry, and I believe we would be safe in assuming that a large per cent of the children who are poorly clothed and half fed owe this condition to these very things. Now so far as spiritual life is concerned you cannot use tobacco and advance, you have reached your limit of progress until such a time as you are able to be- come the master of tobacco. Tobacco, coffee and tea are keep- ing you and your wife and children away from Sunday School and meetings. You don't feel that you can dress them fit to attend these services, and therefore the children are missing the very teachings they so badly need to protect them from tempta- tion and sin. They will build up improper ideals, and I think I will be safe in saying that they are very apt to marry into the poorest families instead of the best families in the community. When I say poor I do not refer to dollars and cents, but to ideals. I fail to understand why any woman will sit meekly by and see her husband smoke and chew away a part of the income, especially at the expense of shoes and clothing, and many times

WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE 715 food for the family, also, at the expense of the lofty ideals that it is every wife's right to demand shall be taught and lived into the lives of her children. "And for those who can use these things without depriving their families of the necessities of life, would they not be able to make a name for themselves in self sacrifice if they would donate the money where it is needed? What a lot of mission- aries it would keep! What a mass of advertising it would do to get the gospel message before people whom it would bless! What hospitals it would build, schools, libraries and other great institutions, and in these uses it would be blessing instead of damning the world." As Stephen Jensen walked toward home, he drew a deep breath, and with his head erect, and his mouth set in determina- tion, he became as a soldier going to battle. He was going home to set his house in order. When he reached the house, he called the family together and taking the tobacco, the coffee and the tea out of the places they had occupied for fifteen years, he placed them on the table. "My wife and children," he said with emotion, "mother asked me last night why we could not have shoes and clothing and other desirable things like our neighbors have. I pondered and studied on it most of the night, without knowing why, and did not go to sleep until I had decided to go and see what neighbor Anderson knew about it. He showed and proved to me beyond a doubt that these are what have deprived u^ of the things that we now so sorely need; not only that, but that they are damning us spiritually, because they already have us on the road that leads to destruction. I have decided for my part to throw them to the winds. First our family has been token from under the influence of the Church, for want of clothes. For this cause they associate with people of the same class, and when they become older they are sure to marry men who use tobacco and perhaps rum, because our way of living has placed them in this condition. Now, I want you all to stand by me in my decision, and let us resolve with a firm determina- tion to turn our backs on these enemies of our race." It is needless to say that Nellie, the dear wife and her chil- dren, supported Stephen in this his firm resolve, and that in that very hour a month's supply of body-weakening, soul-destroying junk was consigned to the flames and that Stephen Jensen and his family started upward and became an influence for good in the community instead of a dead load that held it back. Idaho Falls, Idaho