New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-02-02
q seeiaarikahIe siise@Eve

We copy Che following frouO tise Ses
| York Commercial 4&drertiSer:
| Senator Henry Wilson, Vice presiden
! elect of the United States, made franl
| statement OF his financial circumstance
I Yesterday. In the course OF his eXamin4
ton before Judge Poland's special commit
] tee, Mr.. Wilson gave pretty clear outline
| Of his history IN money matters. When he
entered the Senate he closed up his bu 81
| ness. that Of shoe making, sold his stock i'll
! hand, paid his debts, and went to Washing
! ton in possession of a clear property Of less
| than $1,000. A house which had cost him
| $1,000 he had already settled upon his wife
| for whose benefit he had also insured his
| life to the amount of $500. With this be
| ginning of fortune, and with a
firm resolve to own no property that
| could be affected by legislation, and
by no means to initiate the easy
style of action which he had OBJ
served to be considered respectable among
lawyers and rich men, this mechanic de
voted himself to the duties of his political
position. By steady frugality he had ac-
cumulated some $4,000 in 1861, when the war
opened: for six years he had laid by $500 u
year. The close or the war found him in
debt many hundred dollars; but by writing
for the newspapers ne has managed, with
strict economy, to become free man again.
Sum total of his labOrs, in a pecuniary
sense he will today take $500 for all he
has in the world, the purchaser contracting
TO pay his debts. That is, he is worth about
$500 clear of the world. The story covers
many wears, and deals with figures that
look very small, certainly, when the dignity
of the official position of the man is consid
cred. But everybody will believe it, and
we are glad that the facts have been brought
out, in the course Of rambling and very
loose inyestiga CATION.
1t is not for the purpose of wasting time
upon the private business transactions of
political celebrities, that we repeat the out
line of Mr.. Wilson's financial history;
neither congressional committees nor the
public were entitled to this detailed know
ledge. We refer to the facts simply 70
show how mal may reach high honor, and
retain il, in this country, with no more
money than he CAL just live upon. The
love Of money ia indeed widespread, and
the haste to get rich leads many men. in
public life as elsewhere, to adopt question
able modes of acquiring money. But the
respect and affection OF the people of the
United States, as well as of the State which
gave us Mr. Wilson. are both within the
reach of men who have neither wealth nor
the talent or taste for gaining IL. The life
of Henry Wilson will long be held in
remembrance by the struggling classes
of this country. His Advancement will
encourage the ambition of many
young man who thinks himself equal to
greater things than his own limited sphere
can offer. 1t Is right that this ambition
should have the support of such career.
But the indifference to money, the di5re-
gard OF anything beyond his own honest
earnings and savings, is one Of the most
valuable parts of such life. man in Mr..
Wilson's position has many chances to make
money; III honest ways, that is, for the
character of the man fOrbids the mention of
other ways. But he preferred to keep the
safe path, and riches are further FROM him
than poverty is. The peace of mind which
springs from such course, and the clear
ness which it gives to the judgment, are be-
You'd all valuation in money. And the pop
ular regard tor Henry Wilson proves, no
matter what crOakers or Uniformed people
may say, that character still rules the
United States, with government against
which money may cOnspire, but which it
can not OVerturQ.