Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1873-02-12
REMARKABLR HISTORY.


Senator Henry Wilson, Vice Presi-
dent elect Of the United States, made
a frank statement of his financial cir
cumstances yesterday. In the course
OF his examination before Judge PO-
lands Special Committee, Mr.. Will
son gave pretty clear outline of his
history in money matters. When he
entered the Senate he closed up his
business, that of shoemaking, sold
his stock in hand, paid his debts and
went to Washington in possession of
q clear property Of less than a thous-
and dollars. A house which had cost
him four thousand dollars, he had
already settled upon his wife, for
whose benefit he had also insured his
life, to the amount of thirty-five han
dred dollars. With this beginning Of
fortune and with a firm resolve to
own no more property that could be
affected by legislation, and by no
means to initiate the easy style of ae-
ton which he had observed to be con-
sidered respectable among lawyers
and rich men, this mechanic devoted
himself to the duties of his political
position. By steady frugality he had
accumulated some three thousand dol
lars in 1861, when the war opened;
for six years he had laid by five hun
dred a year. The close of the war
found him in debt many hundred dol
lars; but by writing for the newspa.
pers, he has managed, with strict
economy, to become free man again.
sum total Of his labors, in peeuniary
sense, ne VIII take $500 for all he
has in the world, the purchaser con-
tracing to pay the debts. That is, he
IS worth aboutS3, 500 clear of the world.
The story. covers many years, and
deals with figures that look very
small, certainly, when the dignity of
the official position of the man is con-
sidered. But everybody will believe
1t, and we are glad that the facts have
been brought out, in the course of a
rambling and very loose inYestlga-
ton.
1t is not for the purpose of wasting
time upon tie private business trans
actions Of political celebrates, that we
repeat the outline of Mr.. Wilson's
financial history; neither Congress
sional commmittees nor the public
were entitled to this detailed know
ledge. We refer to the facts simply
to show how q man may reach his
honor and retain it, in this country,
with no more money than he can Just
live upon. The love of money is in
deed wide spread, and the haste to
get rich leads many men, in public ]
life as elsewhere, to adopt questiona- |
bic modes of acquiring money. But |
the respect and affection of the peO-
pie Of the United States as we'll as of /
the State which gave us Mr.. Wilson,
are within the reach Of men who /
have neither wealth nor the talent or
taste for gaining it. The life of Hen |
ry Wilson will long be held in remem-
branee by the struggling classes of
this country. His advancement will 1
the ambition of many a /
young man who thinks himself equal 1
10 greater things than his own limi- /
ted sphere can offer. 1t is right that /
this ambition should have the support
Of such q career. But the indiffer-
enee to money, the disregard Of any,
Thing beyond his own honest earnings
and savings, is one of the most valua-
Ole parts of such a life. A man in
Mr.. Wilson's position has many chan
ees to make money; in honest ways,
hat is, for the character of the man
iorbids the mention of other ways
But he preferred to keep the safe path
md riches are further from him than
poverty is. Thepeace Of mind which
Iprings from such course. and the
'learness which it gives to the judg-
nent, are beyond all valuation in
money. And the popular regard for
Henry Wilson proves, no matter what
or ill-informed people may
ay, that character still rules the Uni
ed States, with a government against
which moneymay conspire, but which
t cannot Overturn.-N y, CONNER
idL Advertiser.