Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-09-01
Rich Mems Sons.

Rlcl mems Sons. M
Rich mems sons have an easy time Of
it; yes, and a hard time, too. The
young mar with his own way to hoe
soon realizes the worth of money and
the value of time. The rich mans son
realizes neither. His wants are all at
tended to by others. He learns to
expect this as the natural course of
things, while his poor neighbor learns
by hard experience that for him nothing
turns up unless he goes and turns it up.
Thrown out upon the world, one is
totally unprepared to cope with adver-
sity; to the other, it is an old story. It
is all very well to begin at the top if you
are likely to remain there; but when q
young man has begun at the bottom,
and climbed up till he reaches the top,
he is far more certain to stay there.
Punch tells a good story of a young
man who has made shipwreck saying to
his father, cts precious easy to keep
straight on nothing q year." but when
it comes to five hundred pounds, there's
the rub. It's not so easy then.
10 have money to spend is very
pleasant for all young men; but to
spend money wisely which one has
never earned is not an easy matter for
the average ~collegian. Surrounded by
numerous temptations, as young men
in most colleges are, it is very easy to
spend; it is equally hard to resist the
temptation to spend. Governor But
ler's son may act with discretion with a
blank check in his hand and parental
advice to draw all he deems necessary.
Ingersoll's children may go as they
like to the ever-open money drawer,
and not be the worse for it. But can
all children do so? Would it be safe
to make this the custom even in we'll
regulated families? We think not.
The young man in college feels a
new sense of manhood. He is about
free from home discipline and home re-
straint. The desire to prove his free
dom and assert his independence, and
make the impression on college friends
that he has money and is generous, 10
very often too strong for his prudence.
He strikes high the first time, and later
he must keep up appearances. And
then a lot of young r%eprobates xrs
usually on hand in every college to
assist rich young men into every kind
of revelry and debauch under the
s~pecious claim that this is & manly,
and about the only manly, course to
take. And by parity of reasoning the
sever studies of the curriculum are
too often ignored, while athletic sports
are given s higher place. Hard study
will do for poor young fellows, but gay
sports and high revelry better become
men of means.
no1p1cSvo r,oocnnre ly,k too of&o-
followed. And so it becomes an open
question whether rich mems sons in
college are not more to be pitied than
those who are poor. And once out of
college, they certainly are. We do not
look to them for great soldiers, great
statesmen, great poets, d. men great in
any department of thought or action.
Exceptions may be noted, but excep-
lions simply serve to prove rules. The
rule is that great men start poor, or at
least are not rich.
1t is always well to help ayoung man
who is doing his best to help himself;
but be sure that he is helping himself
first. A few hundred dollars judicious-
ly invested in a ~resolute youth may
help him up to otherwise inaccessible
heights. 1t serves as a spur and an in
centive to great exertions. But how
different is this from making pampered
young fellow feel that all the rough
places in life are to be smoothed for
him; that he need only to lie down and
beckon success to his side. Not so.
Success is a coy damsel, and belongs
only to him who pursues her with pa
tient, undated ardor.
If you have sons, whether in college
or not, teach them that money is q reed
which it will not do to bear heavily
upon. 1t is of secondary value. The
fully equipped man is grandly self-re-
liant. For other men will respect most
and honor most those who are strong
and self conferred. In its place, money,
like fire, is exceedingly useful. But too
much of either tends TO ruin and de-
struction. Therefore put not you rtrust
in money, nor, if you lack it, bemoan
too much the absence of it.-Go1den
Rule.
A ~,op o+ Eoet n~oprhor 10 hos