Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-12-17
THE HASTE TO BE RICH.
How it Breeds Declarations and Demoralizes
Society Generally.

How 1t Breeds DefalcatiOns and DemoraliZes
Society Generally.
Boston Journal.
A few years ago young man con-
nected with an institution became a de-
faulter. He was n gentlemen by birth
and breeding, though not wealthy. He
was man of correct habits. He had no
eXtravagant tastes, and he was what may
be termed manly fellow. When asked
why he was tempted to prove false TO his
trusts he hesitated to make reply, but
finally he confessed that his desire to
make large sum of money in short
time was the actuating motive which
caused him to be dishonest. He stated
that the idea OF taking money without
intending to replace it never for mo-
ment entered his head. He wanted
wealth-he stole, and he wrecked his
life.
That the haste to become wealthy is the
primary cause of nine-tenths of the de-
falcations, suspensions and misery which
befall those who yield to this temptation
is no doubt true. If there could Il list be
made of the men in Boston who have
risen to rapid wealth by fortunate specu-
lation-fOr legitimate wealth acquired
through trade or cautious investment re-
quires time-it would be app;. ent that
the men who have thus tioated on the top
wave by happy hit have al
most invariably passed to obscurity
and comparative poverty, even more
quickly than they rose. With very few
exceptions the kings of State street sell
dom hold what they suddenly gain.
Here and there may be found a man who
has known when lis bread was well but
tered and has been content to leave off
but the feverish anxiety which accomTa-
MES this hot pursuit of wealth is very
apt to unsettle a man s mind, and the
qualifications which he possessed in a for
tunate venture appear to desert him. 81
should no doubt have been
well enough off - said a middle-aged
gentleman a few weeks since, "if l had
not made a fortune outside specu-
latiOn when | was young man. l was
doing very well in my business, making
good living and laying little aside each
year. I saw other people richer than l,
and without weighing the chances | spec
ulated. In less than three months | had
cleaned up more than $50 900. 1t was
my ruin. My legitimate business APP
peared tame, and | imagined that I had
genius for speculation. l firmly believed
that anything l touched would turn to
gold. l found in less than Il year that l
was worse off than nothing, and my
speculative fances were so fixed that my
partner dissolved the conceru-and well,
you know the rest. -
If, as it is claimed, happiness is one
object of living, is it certain that large
wealth means unalloyed felicity? The
possession of wealth is good thing. No
one but fool derides those who seek to
make money legitimately, but wealth,
when suddenly obtained rarely brings
contentment Men must be educated to
the enjoyment of wealth: they cannot
acquire even the art of spending money
judiciously in n moment, or even the
knowledge how to use wealth to their ad-
vantage. Men who acquire a fortune by
slow degrees ripen into Il knowledge of
its proper use. Rapidly acquired fortunes
bring with them aspirations which are
never satisfied. The. world is apt to pro-
test the demands of such men. You may
take the blue book of any city of even IL
few years ago and there will be names of
scores of men who floated to the surface
on gilded shingles who have passed away
and their brief careers of prosperity,
which many, no doubt, enyied, have
terminated perhaps, in dishonOr, but
more frequently in poverty, the result
of having obtained in a year that which if
it had come by degrees would have been
kept, for then they would have attach ed
a proper value to their wealth.