The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-01-13
THE MODEsTY OF WEALTH.

We know nothing of the late Benja
min s. ROtch, Of Milton, Mass, save the
| information which comes as it were
from beyond the grave, to the effect thai
ROtch was, after death, and when his
executors were taking an inventory OF
his assets, much richer man than hG
| had ever been In his lifetime when the
tax assessor called on him to make q
statement of his worldly possessions.
Living he was a quiet, unObtrusiVe
citizen, never rushing forward to claim
a front seat among the purse proud mil.
liOnaires, but humbly rated as one Of the
$4,000 men who are not called on Sc
heavily for debt raising, festivities, hos
pltal endOwments and other diversions
of the wealthy. He was of the opinion
of the late John Jacob AstOr, who de-
elared that man who had only 5000
600 OF 100000 could be as happy as if he
were rich man, and Mr.. ROtch took his
happiness among the mOGest pOssessOrs
OF the petty ten score of thousands, on
which amount he paid his taxes and
contributed to the support Of the COM
mOnwealth.
Yet when he died and his eager heirs
commenced to "size his pile" they struck
small Alladdin's grOttO, dazzling the
eye and the mind and making the mouth
water with the luscious richness of the
developments. No flimsy apples of gold
or gems and gew-gaws such as filled
Alladdin's apron, were the treasures
which had cheered the unObtrusive life
OF the model citizen, but stocks and
bonds, with their coupons neatly ordered,
and their little six and seven per cent.
going on like the order of the planets
in their course. OF railroad shares in
the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, in
the Manhattan, the Albany and other
orh n hn hoh in of ha linz
of $979,637; his conscience would not
permit him to call 1t million. OF
manufacturing stocks, we'll known to
all buyers of fabrics of Massachusetts,
the Wamsutta, Pacific, Great Falls, and
other mills, he held $800,000 appraised
value. And so the list runs on: Mining
shares, $4,000; insurance stock, $21, 600;
Mckay Sewing Machine, 100000; sail
ing vessels, $4,000; and last, but not
least, in railroad bonds, securities of the
AtchisOn, Topeka 81 Santa Fe, the Mex
haitian, and others Of the first class and
gilt edge description, he held $1,0O0,OOO
worth.
What an example of the thrift and in
dustry Of unpretending worth. He di-
vided his estate into two parts. One
part, valued at $4,000, he showed to
the tax assessor and cheeTfully paid
InereOn Ine legal rate or taxation. Ine
other part, valued at $3,300,O00, he mod
estly withheld from public notice, not
through any desire to wrong his fellow
man, but merely through that shrinking
mOdesty which so often makes rich men
reluctant to tell the world how rich they
are. Incidentally he defrauded the
commonwealth, which protected him in
the accumulation and enjoyment of his
wealth of trifling matter of $4,000 or
so year, which it needed for its public
expenses, and left that amount to be
made up by poor day labOTers, wage
workers and others who havenOt caught
on to the idea of eVading the assessor,
but this twas merely incidentally, and
we hesitate to blame him for this trifling
oversight lest our remarks might be
misunderstood as censuring others, as
wealthy perhaps as the late Mr.. ROtch,
and certainly quite as mOdest.-POst
Dispatch.