A First Lesson in Thrift
- Author:
Horace Ellis,
President of Vincennes University, Indiana.
The first step in a psychological experiment of more than passing interest has just been completed by a leading merchant of Vincennes, Indiana, Mr. Jacob Gimbel?a man much given to philanthropy and other work demanding a wholesome public spirit. Wishing to satisfy himself upon one psychic trait of neglected boys?the depth of their interest in the future?he employed a novel and valuable means to furnish him data for an attempt at solving the problem. Incidentally, Mr. Gimbel wished to teach the boys a lesson on the value of husbanding their small earnings; at the same time he sought to note anything else which might assist him in understanding boy-nature better.
Calling upon the public school principals, he explained to them his plan, which was simply this: he desired the schools to furnish him with a group of fifty boys, ranging in age from nine to twelve, from that stratum of society commonly regarded as shiftless, each boy bearing the impress of neglect. To each one of these boys he proposed to give a bank-book, made out regularly m the boy’s name, containing a deposit entry of one dollar. The boys were to be encouraged to save their pennies?those which go so easily to the slot machines, the cheap theatre, the candy shop? and deposit them in the bank each Saturday afternoon for one year. At the end of one year, if any boy had deposited as much as one dollar, he was to receive his own deposit together with the dollar which Mr. Gimbel had placed to his credit. If any boy had saved more than one dollar, such an one should receive all of his savings, the original dollar, and also three per cent interest upon the whole amount.
Arrangements were entered into with the Citizens’ Trust Company under the terms of which the company was to receive from the boys, at the end of each week, any and all sums down to one cent they might bring in. President W. H. Vollmer and Cashier Weisert of the Trust Company gave the project their hearty approval.
On the last Saturday afternoon of January, 1909, the lads assembled in the rear room of the bank?four more boys than the original number provided for?fifty-four in all. The assemblage was interesting in the extreme?to the sociologist, the psychologist, the religionist, the financier. To Mr. Gimbel, however, who looks deeply into questions, the gathering was assuring. Beneath the manifest lack of seriousness among the lads, the noticeable “kid” hilarity in fact, he saw a deep-seated determination in the faces of most of these boys to go to the bottom of a new situation in which they were the chief actors. It appeared to him that this lot of boys was genuinely anxious to ascertain how much of benefit, if any, the strange plan offered them, and then appropriate it. It was just such a “bunch” as he wished.
Short addresses?no sermonizing?were made by Mr. Gimbel, Mr. Vollmer, and the writer, during which time the boys gave that respectful attention all boys lend when under a strange environment. After the talks, Cashier Weisert explained in complete detail just what the bank expected of them?to come on Saturday afternoons, to try to bring in as much as twenty-five cents each week but not to fail to bring in smaller sums, and to consider themselves as owning a bank account as truly as do the business men of Main Street. This done, the bank-books were handed out and the boys excused.
The material results of the year’s experiment are easily summarized, as follows: Boys given books 54 ” withdrawn 4 ” saving nothing 17 ” ” less than $1.00 5 ” ” more than $1.00 32 Largest amount saved by one boy $13.50 Total amount saved by 37 boys $1G1.1G Sickness, removal, and other good reasons cause the withdrawal of the four. Contrary to the popular notion which catalogues such boys among those who care only for their present needs, the facts presented by this experiment seem to point in an entirely different direction. Two thirds of these neglected boys manifested, from the start, a commendable interest in making a good showing at the end of the year. Theirs was not that fleeting interest so commonly shown by boys, but a dignified effort, devoid of display and false motive. The young woman cashier who received the boys’ savings reported many sayings of these boys as they met her each Saturday:
A FIRST LESSON IN THRIFT. 25
“Well, that makes cents.” “I shall have more than a dollar at the end of the year.” “I’m glad Mr. Gimbel gave me a chance.” “I wish I could have had this chance last year for I earned more last year than I can this,” and so on. The facts appear also to warrant the religionist in believing that there is good soil in these boys’ hearts in which to plant the seeds of industry, honesty, fidelity, humanity. One immediate result of interest to the business man was the lesson now first learned by the boys that money makes money,? the meaning of the term “interest” in business. Mr. Gimbel’s most difficult task in closing the year’s accounts consisted in making it clear to the boys that they were entitled to more money than they had saved, as interest on the desposit. Some of them declined steadfastly to receive this added amount at first, believing they were not entitled to it. But their faces beamed when they finally appreciated the fact that money as well as labor earns money. Mr. Gimbel was so pleased with the results as a whole that he has organized a new class of one hundred for the year 1910.
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