The Van Buren press., 1896-11-14
OBSCURE miLLiohAlRes.
Owners Of Wealth Who Know soihhs
o. It's IztelIIEeartte

i
q list of those it called obscure NIL
lionairess who had died within the
urevious ten years. The list was
rather long one. This list sets one con
s;derinc. The age IS 8 shopkeep-
ing age. it is true. It Is apt, we say,
10 value men according 10 their proper
~. Great wealth gives great eohsla-
Grafton. and vet, notwithstanding the
exaggerated importance Of money ana
money getting. it appears that wealth.
in the largest measure redeems no man
from obscurity; that money IN ITSELF
by its mere possession. eenfers no ois-
tinetion which even this age values
Its use, and not its possession, Is al
that can make il matter OF distinction.
In our own country, even more thah IN
Europe. wealth exaggerates Its OWL
consequence. II IS natural that II
should. for here. more than there, 1t Is
personal matter. The American mil
ionaire has made. as he says, his
own shrewedness. industry tact, peTse-
verance or good luck He is fond, it
NAV be. of reminding us all that II Is so.
He is a "self-made man" and reeurs TO
the time when he was barefoot boy
or a penniless youth, with some pride,
as proof of how bright man he is in
having changed by his own unaided
powers the early poverty for the pres
ent wealth
He feels in his heart he has done
noble work, and that he deserves the
commentator of mankind for doing IL
He is liable to disappointment, as we all
know, and il is somewhat strange that,
shrewd as he is in money matters, he Is
so blind in others. For the rest OF the
world is very busy, and has little time
10 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 for
his money IS given only TO his face by
those who expect to get something by
it. The community would look COM
placently upon the matter if sudden
revulsion should set him to sweeping
the streets tomorrow. would consider
him, indeed. quite as important in the
last occupation as in that Of raking his
heaps higher. In other words, it is the
wealth itself that is important, If there
is any Importance in the case. The
man who owns it may be very unim-
portant. In fact. il he is content to be
merely its owner, is sure to be SO.
The only way to create distinction
with wealth is by the use. What man
does with what he has determines the
question of his obseurity. The world
IS very just, and forgets all but its bene-
factors. The millionaire who uses his
millions for his own benefit is like the
office-holder who uses his Office for his
own benefit, or the man of genius who
exhausts his genius for his own selfish
ends. or. indeed, like any man who, en-
dowed with a trust, uses the trust for
his own exclusive use and behoof.
Men possessed of other trusts are not
as apt to make this mistake as the men
possessed of money. Genius, intel
lectual power, high spiritual gifts, we
are all loud TO claim are conferred for
the good of humanity. We stand ready
to condemn relentlessly the men who
endowed with such gifts use them main
ly for their own advantage. But great
wealth, especially if man has himself
won it, is less apt to be considered a
trust. The greed for it is great. 1t is
often sought not for itself, but for the
supposed distinction IL confers. When
the young man of energy and ambition
looks forward to the attainment of it
as the end of his endeavors, he is not led
by any misery desire for money in it.
self. He has rather the nobler desire
of winning distinction and Importance
by its possession. it is a means, and
not an end. Pity he should in the years
of his pursuit so often change his no.
ton. For his first opinion is right.
Wealth can confer distinction. 1t can
bring honor and high consideration. 1t
can make mans memory fragrant
with blessings for centuries. But to
do all this it must be used.
There are millionaires in our own
country who will neither be remem-
bered nor cared for 30 days after their
costly funerals. Their passage from
among living men will leave no void
for the stocks and bonds and shares
which alone gave them their conse-
quence remain. Mankind has lost moth
ing, misses nothing. There are others
who will be missed in thousand places
1. L. % loo t., .
the millions remain, the heart that
made the millions a blessing is gone.
The man in this case Is lost to us. and
he was more than his money. There
are again some few who so dispose Of
their thousands that their names and
memories are linked for years, for cen
turtles, to the monuments of benefi-
cence they leave behind them, famous
the land over, not for their wealth, but
for the good deeds their wealth was
used for. The millionaire is nothing.
his importance nothing, his conse-
quence nothing. We want to know what
he does with his millions before we care
10 remember his name. As a million
aire merely, he is like the great poet
who never writes, the great orator who
has never made a speech, the great in
ventor who has never invented any,
thing. He had grand opportunities.
He could have done so much with his
money. He did nothing. He "died
worth so many millions" That is all.
We stand by his grave, and think "what
fool he was," Another Obscure mil