The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1873-02-19
THE CRY OF "OVERWORK. p
rs THE MODERN BUSINESS MAN
REALLY KILLING HIMSELFP
Some Plain Talk from the Slnsher OF
the London Press.
Cat

Some Plain Talk from the Slasher o,
the London Press.
From the Saturday Revlewl
Everybody likes to think that he is making
superhuman exertlons, and his vile and
family accept his theories much more readily
than bis tutors and competitors. And thus,
when some eminent man breaks down under
the strain Of bis LAHORE, there ls Immediately q
chorus of hard.workng people who ore ready
to exclalm yes, we are all breaking down. The
cry is taken mp by the newspapers, and we
are treated 10 eloquent sermons upon the ter
ribe excitement and the incessant wear and
tear of modern life. We are living Too fast,
burning the candle OF both ends, and exhaust
Ing our nervous systems under the incessant
pressure OF our struggle for existence. How
much OF all this ls genuine and how much is
merely the repetition In later life, and With
greater afteotatlon OF solemnity, oil the old
Undergraduate preence that We are being
over worked, when In reality we are only
wanting to excite little domestic pity?
That great deal OF this lamentati0n is mere
pretenee will probably be acknowledged by
any one who fairly examines the cases of his
acqnaintapce.@.kg has comfortable
breakfast; he goes to his chambers or his Of
fee, and returns 10 a late dinner. He does no
work afterwards, and has plenty OF time for q
good sleep. His whole time for active work
Is comprised, say, between 10 A. NJ and P.
NJ. From tnat must be deducted the time
spent 10 luncheon, 10 gosslplng. 10 The Inter-
walls between different pieces OF business, and
In all other Interruptions. II he has been &C.
tually employed upon any serious intellectual
labor for six or seven hours in the day, he
has probably done as much as most men; and
OF this again very large part is in. most cases
Of q IN ma oh ut
keeps himself up to this standard does not get
from six weeks to two months holiday In Inc
year. he considers himself to be cruelty in-
jured, and Immediately complains that he 1s
being worked to death. One hears such COM
plants from many men who, If surprised In
the hours of what they call business, are as
often as not reading the newspaper, or per-
man will frequently coutrive TO cram Into
the hours which are allowed TO run
to waste by Ills friends work enough
to win literary or scientific reputation
as voluntary addition 10 his other labors.
AS very few men have the necessary taste lot
such snpererogatory performances, we may
fairly assume That their burden Ia not heavier
bear. 1t ls of course true that there are
many exceptions to this rule. There are bar
risters In large practice who have to begin
the Btudy oil their briefs OF five in the morning;
physicians who cannot call any hour of the
day or night their own; and ministers whose
labors, sufficiently severe In themselves, are
only suspended whilst they breathe The nm
healthy air of the House of Commons. But
such cases. though positively numerous, are
relatively very small minority. Few MEM
bers of Parliament are unable 10 spare time
for society, for sport, for travelling. or for
thousand other modes of tlme-killing. The
vast majority OF professional men are far
more apt TO complain OF the absence of work
than OF its excessive supply. For one barris-
ter whose table Is groaDing under an accumu-
tion of briefs, there are hundred whose
of regret 10 their friends, would De
accepted with surprising eqnanimity by
attorneys and by the public ut large. The
overwork OF which we complain, 30 lar as IL
really exists, is the result of u social system
which accnmulateS duties upon 8 lew, TO leave
the mass ut complete leisure. or the lew,
again, II must be added that the majority have
no heavier burdens Than they can fairly carry.
The longevity OF successful lawyers is nosori-
ous. We need not give Instances OF the many
snncsasfnl men who have beeu hard at W0rk
from onrly manhood t0 old age; OF whom lne
chief complaint Is that their appetite ior WORK
survives their capacity for doing IL satisfactori.
ly. With such men 1t must be supposed that hard
work has been rather healthy than otherwise;
and thus The actual sufferers are reduced 10
the minority OF a minority. They are the lew
men whose Intellectual force is dispropor-
TONED TO their physical strength. and who
have not self-reslraiut enough 10 decline
duties for which they are fitted 10 every re.
rpect but constitutional power. Some such
men doubtless break down every now and
then, and the sympathy which their cases ex-
cites provoke others 10 exhibit themselves IN
the same amIable character. We all like 10
be martyrs, especially when the IRE exists
only In Imagination.
The complaint OF overwork, when 1t has
some genuine foundation, is generally iound'
ed upoH miscouception. There is undoubt-
edly very real and not uncommon evil
which ls described under the name. Two men
of equal strength may be doing the same
amount of actual work, and yet one may oe
killing himself, whilst the other fnds hia du-
ties mere child's play. The reason Is, OF
course, that one man's work Ia productive or
anxiety, whilst The others may oe merely
soothing. sppculator may spend very lew
hours Ia anything that can be called business,
but the diffiM!ly Is that he cannot leave his
business behind him. Anxiety about money
ls the most deadly OF oil troubles. When q
man commits suicide II is lar less reasonable,
according 10 the old proverb, to ask, who 10
she than to ask, how much is 1tl Business
which keeps man 10 state oil constant os-
clllation between ruin and fortune, Whlcn lOl-
lows him home and prevents him from sleep
Ing, Ia incomparably more trying tnan
almost any quantity OF downright sieaoy
work. The stock Exchange at New YORK
must I'LL lunatic asylums more quickly than all
the most laborous universities In Germany,
England and America. A professor may LABOR
at the collation. of manuscripts, or even at tne
srarch for the Absolute. lor fifteen nours
day, and be all The better for it; q third OF the
lime spent In study Ing the ups and downs OF
Erie Railroad shares, and shaking money on
the result, would qualify him Tor strait
wais,coat or halter IN year; AZ, however,
speculation has comparatively dlscreditaole
sound, the evils which 1t produces are very
lreonpntly placed to the account OF lib more
respectable rival, Straightforward Industry.
We choose, in one form or another, to spend
a great part of our lime at the gamlng-laoles
which exist in an Infinite variety oil forms IN
every capital in The world, and then COM
placently complain that we have Injured our
selves by over application to our duties.
As rule, therefore, We should say that the
complaints OF overwork are amnngst the most
AImsy of all the excuses set up by men for the
evils whlch they bring upon themselves: very
few people really work hard; and when they DO,
II oenerully agrees with them. Directly or IN
directly. idleness does fifty times as much mis-
Chief, for the best cure for the love OF excite.
mept is steady application. vast amount OF
GOOD pity is thrown awaV IN tile world; ana, ~
stead of solcmnly warning our friends not TO
do too much. we should find it simpler to re-
fnae the indirect compliment for which they
ore mannu7ripg, and advise them TO relax
their minds by little strenuous activity.
When the danger really exists it may generally
be remedied rather by redlstributing the bur-
den than by diminishing it. very sllght