Mower County transcript., 1871-07-27
The Uncertainties of Wealth.

AN "Old Subscriber wishes to know
what proportion of those who succeed in
acquiring competency in business pur-
suits ultimately retain It, This problem
has been worked at by many statisticians
with about the same results. OF those
who engage in business on their own &C.
count, only three out Of a hundred escape
failure, and only five out of hundred sue
ceed in avoiding an entire collapse of their
first effort. Of course, those who at some
time or other have in hand reasonable
competence, and may be said to have sue
ceedcd in business, ninety per cent. are
still the subjects of after reverses of some
sort, so that only ten per cent. of the sue
cessful ones keep their fortune mistaken
Two things ought to be strongly i'm
pressed upon the young people of our
country: The insecurity of riches even
when acquired, and their unsatisfying
character. There IS no fallacy so univer-
sally cherished as the notion that wealth
is surely a means Of happiness. The care
of large property is enc of the most bur
dcnsonle Of carth's trusts. The only ma
terial good which comes out Of any estate
is to be made out of moderate income
far more easily than from large one, and
with fewer attendant disadvantages. Few
AACA "oul" uAASAVuhS OA1S SA-
tire stewardship Of large estate on pos
tive bargain that they should receive no
more for taking care of it than ordinarily
falls into the cup of its owner. The
scramble after wealth is due to a wrong
estimate of the good to BE- acquired
from it when it is gained. We speak
not now of the immense sacrifices
made in the pursuit, such as the
waste of health, character, peace Of mind,
and even life itself; but of the little to
come from it, in the way of reward, even
should the pursuer be successful. And
the corroding care which each large addi-
ton brings cannot be escaped by the wis
est use Of it. The more conscientious the
posscssor may be, the more is he likely to
feel the burden of the stewardship. The
sweetest enjoyment in the use OF morcy
is in the dispcnsation Of bounty, but this
is sadly marrcd by the judicious care re-
quired in the selection of recipients. The
man who is earning good living, with
something to spare annually for the sweet
uses of charity, is far less tried in this re-
spect. He relieves as far IS he can the
cases of distress that appeal most strongly
to him, or touch his heart most deeply,
and is not overpressed in this direction
But when once he has the repute of wealth
the applications come in like a flood
There is not wealthy man in this city, if
he gave judiciously in answer to every
honest appeal to his benevolence, who
would not soon divide his entire estate
among the beneficiaries. There is a COM
mon misapprehension on this point among
those whose sympathies are not thus
tested. They believe that a rich man
ought to answer every legitimate call on
his bounty and if they know Of any genu-
inc case of suffering brought to his no.
tice which he has failed to relieve, they
lay up the refusal to his discredit The
truth is, however, that the widest
possible channel Of benevolence can
not irrigatc all of earth's barren wastes
over which it might be made to flow
Each steward of large property, howev-
er charitably disposed, can select but few
of the objects presented to his pity, and if
his large resources are publicly known,
must reject large part of the applications
made to him. The selection of those to
be helped by him, and the rejection Of 50
many that ought to be helped by some
body, is great drawback on the luxury
of doing good. Most thoughtful men of
large income appropriate certain sum to
cover such disbursements. They often
discriminate unwisely, and sometimes are
governed by mere whim or caprice in the
distribution; for it is human to err, even
with the best intentions; but there is no
possible way in which the largest sum
they can set apart for charity could be
made to cover all the cases of real suffer
ing that come before them. Every one
knows something of the anxiety and vexa-
tion attendant on the care Of property
where it is to be held sacrcdly in trust ;
we have only just limited at the burden
which even a wise distribution in charity
imposes, to show that on its most favored
side the trusteeship is not a position to be
30 eagerly covetcd.-Neao York Journal OF
l0na1ne1ce