Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-10-29
OUR l[If1LIONAIRES.
LIKE OTHERS BEFORE THEM SOME
ARE DOOMED TO oBccusiTv.

Ths Only way On Create Dsssincsssu ny
Wealth Il 60 % l;-somc whs VIII
Not He Remcmberesl Thirty Days Amer
They Are Deed.
The London Spectator once Published
q list Of those il called obscure mil.
lionaires" who had died within the pre-
vious ten years. The list wss q rather
long one. This age is a shork.cping ag.,
1t is true. Il Is apt, We sag. to value
men according to their property. Great
wealth gives great consideration, and
yet. notwithstanding the exaggerated
importance Of money md money get
ting. it appears that wealth i'm the lar
gest measure redecms no man from OBJ
scurity; TINT money in itself. by its
mere possession. confers no distinction
which even this age values Its use. and
Dot its possession. Is all that can make
IL q matter Of distinction. In our own
country; even more than in Europ..
wealth cxaRgerates its own consequence.
Il 10 natural that it should, for here,
more than there. it Is personal mat
ter. The American millionaire has
made" as he says. his own millions.
They represent his own shrewdness. in
dustry. tact, perseverance or good
luck" He Is fond. 1t may be, Of re-
mindinR us oil that il is so. He In q
self made man." and recurs to the
time when he was o barefoot boy, or n
penniless youth. with some pride. as O
proof Of how bright man he is in hav.
ing changed by his own unaided powers
the early poverty Or the present wealth.
He feels In his heart he has done o
noble work and that no deserves the
commentator Of mankind for doing IL.
He is liable TO disappointment. as VIC
I'LL know. and 1t is somewhat strange
that. shrewd as he is In money matters,
he is 60 blind In others. For the rest of
tho world is very busy, and has little
time 70 trouble itself about his success
or his failure Neither can other people
see on exactly what grounds man can
claim Its applause only for having taken
good care Of his own interests
The consideration given to him fer
his money 10 given only TO his face by
those who expect TO get something BY
IT. The community would look compla-
Gently upon tho matter IL o sudden re-
vulsion should set him TO sweeping the
streets tomorrow. would consider him,
indeed, quito as important in the last
occupation rs in that Of raking his
heaps higher. In other words, IL il the
wealth itself that Is important, IL there
Is any Importance I'm the case. Tho man
who owns it may DO very unimportan:.
In fact, II he Is content to be merely its
owner, he is sure to be So
The only way TO create distinction
with wealth is by tho use. What q man
does with what no has determines the
question Of his obscurity. The world is
very just and forgcts all but its bene-
factors Tho millionaire who uses his
millions for his own benefit is like the
of;iceholder who uses his Office for his
own benefit. or tho man Of genius who
exhausts his genius for his own selfish
ends. or, indeed, like any man who. en-
dowed with n trust, uses the trust for his
own exclusive use md behoof
Men possessed Of other trusts are not
- opt to make this mistake Us the men
possessed Of money. Genius, intellec-
tual power. high spiritual gifts. we are
all loud to claim are conferred for the
good of humanity. We stand ready 10
condemn relentlessly the men who en-
dowetl with such gifts. use them mainly
for their own advantage But great
wealth. especially il man has himself
won it, is less apt to be considered q
trust Tho greed for it is great. Il Is
often sought not for itself, but for the
supposed distinction it confera When
the young man Of energy and ambition
looks forward to the attainment of it ms
the end Of his endeavors. he - not led
by any misery desire for money in IL.
self. He has rather the nobler desire of
winning distinction and importance by
Its possession. Il Is q means and not
an end. Pity he should In the years Of
his pursuit 60 often change his notion,
for his first opinion is right Wealth
can confer distinction. Il can bring
honor and high consideration. Il can
mako q mans memory fragrant with
blessings for centuf;ea But to do oil
this it must DO used.
There aro millio-aires in our own
country who will neither DO remember.
ed nor cared for 80 days after their cost
ly funerals. Their passage from among
living men will leave no void, for the
stocks and bonds and shares which alone
gave them their consequence remain.
Mankind has lost nothing. misses moth
ing. There are others who will lie miss
ed in 1000 places and by thousands Of
hearts, for though the millions remain,
the heart that made the millions O bless.
ing is gone. Tho man IN this case is lost
to us. and he was more than his money.
There are again some few who SO dis.
pose ct their thousands that their names
and memories are linked for years, for
centuries. to the monuments Of bepef.
icence they leave behind them, famous
the land over, not for their wealth, but
for tho good deeds their wealth was used
Tor. The millionaire ia nothing, his i'm.
portance nothing. his Consequence moth.
ing. We want to know what he does
with his millions before we care TO re.
member his name. As a million.ire
merely he is like the great poet who
never writes. the great orator who has
never made a speech, the great inventor