The time is now here when musicians who have not been provident during the winter find themselves in a somewhat precarious position. Thanks to the summer schools which many have had the foresight to organize, hundreds of teachers continue their business through most of the summer, to the advantage of both their pupils and themselves. Nevertheless, many teachers feel pinched in the summer. The old fable of the ant and the grasshopper is reversed, and those who have danced all winter may be obliged to “squeeze” through the summer. If you have not “set by” a nice little sum from your teaching work last winter, now is the time to fix your mind upon the definite purpose of saving for next year. There is no habit so commendable as saving, and possibly no habit more enjoyable. The delight of seeing a little bank account grow and grow, with the knowledge that every dollar put in has been bought with some little sacrifice, is inexpressibly great. Unfortunately, far too few teachers of music have cultivated this habit. Saving does not necessarily mean saving dollars. A dollar invested in really good books, good music, good furniture and good clothes is just as much an accumulation of capital as a dollar invested in a savings bank. However, the dollar is the unit of all thrift in our country, and the following from the National Magazine is one of the most forceful presentations of the thrift idea we have ever seen:
“A dollar—what is it? ‘A piece of paper,’ says one. No, more than that.
“‘Circulating medium,’ says one. No, more than that.
“That dollar is a part of my life. I worked hard yesterday and earned a dollar. I might have spent it in a minute’s time and been no richer for the investment, but I did not spend it. It was the only tangible thing I had out of the whole day’s existence. The joy, the opportunity and the privileges of the day had gone into the silence of the eternity that has passed. That dollar is my yesterday. I may spend it and start to-morrow bankrupt. I may keep it and to-morrow need not work at all, because my yesterday’s dollar will pay for the services of one who may do the work better than myself; or, I may work again to-morrow and the next day, and the next, and save my yesterdays until I have long years of yesterdays, strong and capable of toil, who shall labor for me and keep me in comfort when my body is too weak to toil.”’
