The New Orleans Democrat. (New Orleans, La.) 1875-1876, 1876-04-25
A. r. STEW ART.
We worship the Man who secnsuuia Il
aIurl, wealth.

The rich man dies, aud forthwith, in
record nee with our American wont, all
the pens Of the land are busy pouring
out eulOgics to his memory. And yet,
to those who knew him best and de-
tested him while living this praise
sounds like mockery. When sifted it
simply means. We worship one who
accumulatcs much wealth. A. 7. Stewart
was q man Of u hard. selfish. tvrannical
uature-of little brain and less cul-
ture-who has passed away, with all his
powers for good. without leaving for
record one act that can be scored to the
service Of humanity. OF what WAS The
world better that he lived. and wherein
has his Accumulated millions benefited
! his tcllow-mcn
We do not know that he was called
upon to serve humanity. He had no
mission that we are aware of, and that
he filled his Place OF shopkeeper in u
quiet. orderly way. entitled him to n
quiet burial This we accord him, and
only protest the sickening eulogies that
now fiji the press. Accommodating prop
crty Is lot u mental process at all. 1t Ia
ordinarily an instinct. As n hog gathers
to himself Il bed before the coming Of u
viewiess storm, or u wild goose flies due
north Thousand miles. SO do some men
blindly gather together much property
,
same dcsigneGly, it is true. He invents
the compass and beats the goose, while
! Old Probabilities, through mental
process, tells us, with more accuracy
and further in advance, the coming
storm, than do the instincts of the hog
But when it comes TO moncy-RettiDg,
these exceptions are rare. The brainy
man, who Is successful in business, may
be put down rs q casualty. Such sen
4 4.
and probably owe more TO luck than
forethought.
A. +. Stewart was the son OF nm Irish
man. Of the class known as bog trotters.
| When in Belfast, three years since. we
were pressed by Il son of Boss Tweed to
drive out some eight miles, ii we recol-
lect. and look ut the mud howell in which
our millionaire first saw light. We de-
clined The birthplace Of the rich
man Is OF no more interest to us than
/ his grave, rs we have no respect for him
while living, we cannot worship him
when dead. We are not given to max
ing shrnes Of either end Of his earthly
existence. These culogists Of the press
speak Of A. IT, Stewards father rs II
landed proprietor. Probably he was to
the extent Of he real estate on his per
son. A I. was designed for the priest
hood, and got from the church the edu-
cation he after perverted TO sale Of
calicOcS. The fact that he was born in
n howell Of "A bog -trotter is to his credit,
but 1t is discreditable to the sycophan-
tic pen-drvers that they should attempt
to conceal or deny his origin.
To'his singlcne5s of purpose, indomit-
able energy and healthy instincts he
owed his immense accumulation Of dry
goods, and consequent ownership Of
other values. He WAS simple enough to
believe that he could so organize his
business as TO leave it intact after his
death, with all its profitable work in the
same routine that he had created. He
said as much to a witty Washington lady
once. She changed the conversation,
and after asked the wealthy merchant
why he did not take some relaxation in
travel, say for year.
Why, madam" was the response
"wcrc TO leave my business for year
/ would not find 1t on my return. 1t
calls for my constant care"
YOTcannot leave your business for
year." she retorted, "and yet you ex-
pect to leave it without loss forever"
All his acts looking to any public good
We're 50 many advertisements, and
having gained the notoriety, the works,
ere finished, ceased to be profitable, and
were dropped. He was the hardest task
and out Of the hundreds he employed
we doubt whether one can be found who
sincerely deplores his death Woe befell
any young man or enterprising firm that
dared operate in line A. r. Stewart had
made his own. Such competitor found
himself crushed out by a monopoly that
was as cruel as it was grasping.
The tendency, so lately manifested in
| the United States, to the accumulation
Of large means in the hands Of the few
is not healthy. The rich are growing
richer and the poor poorer. This has
been frequently asserted and generally
feared, but it is getting to be a melan-
choly fact. With our impatient popula-
ton, with its ideas Of property some
what loosened by % common-schOol
education, the time is not distant when
remedy will be applied that is far
more forcible than pleasant. AS it is,
we can perceive far greater evils likely
to happen Us than the death OF this
prince OF shop-keepers.