The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1896-12-02
OUR MILLIONAIRES.
LIKE OFFERS BEFORE THEM SOME
ARE DOOMED TO C3SCURlTY.
The Only Way to Create distinction by
W,;.th ~ to Use It-Some Who VIII
Not I;c Remembered Thirty Days After
They Are Dead.


vious ten years. The list was a rather
long one. This ago isa shopkeeping age,
it is true. I5 is apt, we SLY, to value
men according to their property. Great
wealth gives great consideration, and
vet, notwithstanding the exaggerated
Importance of money and money get
ting, it appears that wealth III the lar
gest measure rcdeems 10 man from OBJ
scurity; that money III itself, by Its
mere possession, confers no distinction
which even this age values. It's use, and
not its possession, is all that can make
it matter of distinction. Ia our own
country, even more than IL Europe,
wealth exaggerates its own consequence.
It is natural that it should, for here,
more than there, it is a 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, it may be, of re-
minding us all that it is so. He IS
"self made man." and rccurs to the
time when he was a barefoot boy, or
pcnniless youth, with some pride, as a
proof of how bright q man lie IS IN hav-
ing changed by his own unalded powers
the early poverty for the present wealth.
He feels in his heart he has done a
noble work and that he deserves the
commendation Of mankind for doing it.
He is liable 10 disappointment, as we
all know, and it is son:cWhat strange
that, shrewd as he is IN money matters,
he is so blind il others. For the rest OF
the world is very busy, AK! has llstle
time to 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 bis face by
those who expect to get something by
it. The community wopll look compla-
Gently upon the matter il q s1acen re-
vulsion should set lin TO sweeping the
streets tomorrow, woCi,: ,s::s!0>r him,
indeed, quite Gs lG:::: 81 TIC LIS;
occupation as il IL: D :,:!ii::s his
heaps higher. II Ctr >,>::,.::, 1t is tie
wealth itself that is i:.:.r2:::;;Nt, if tl:crc
is any Importance IL tic case Tic iian
who owns it may be vcr;; ulimTcTtaHt.
In fact, if be is content to be merely its
owner, he is sure to he So
The only way to create distinction
with wealth is by the use. What a man
does with what he has determines tie
question Of his obscurity The world is
very just and focgets all hut its bene-
factors. Tho millionaire who uses his
millions for his own benefit is like the
of6ceholder 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 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, lntellec-
tual 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, en-
dowed with such gifts, use them mainly
for their own advantage. But great
wealth, especially if man has himself
won it, is less apt to bo considered
trust. The greed for it is great 1t IS
often sought not for itself, but for the
supposed distinction it confers. When
the young man Of energy and ambition
looks forward to the attainment OF 1t as
the end CT his endeavors, he is not led
by any misery desire for money III it.
self He has rather the ro1lcr desire OF
winning distinction and Importance by
its possession. 1t is means and not
IN end Pity lie should in the years OF
mis- pursuit go often change lis notion,
for his first opinion IS right Wealth
can confer distinction. It can bring
honor and high consideration. 1t can
make q mans memory fragrant with
blessings for centuries. But to do all
this it laust be used.
There aro millioDaires in our own
country who will neither be remember
ed nor cared for so days after their cost
ly funerals Their passage from among
living men will leave 10 void, for the
stocks and bonds and shares which alone
gave them their consequence remain.
Mankind has lost nothing, misses moth
ing. There arc others who will Ee miss.
ed in 1000 places and by thousands OF
hearts, for though the millions remain,
the heart that made the millions 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 of their thousands that their names
and memories are linked for years, for
centuries, to tho monuments OF benef-
icence 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 I'M
portance nothing, his consequence moth
ing. We want to know what he does
with his millions before we care to re-
member bis name. AS mllllonalre
merely he is like the great poet who
never writes, the great orator who has
never made q speech, the great inventor
who has never invented anything. He
had grand opportunities. He could have
done SO much with his money. He did
nothing. He "dicd worth so many mil
lions. That is all. We stand by hiss
grave and think what q fool ho was,
another "obscure millionaire! !"-Phila-
delphia Church Standard.
Eo+ q r,so cf Srponathy