The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1897-07-15
THE MAN OF MONEY,
Points and PecuIiarities of the Very
Rich American.

| Tor the possession of a million, or, not
to be too primitive, let us say two mil
lions, represents independence, free
| dom from toll, life of ease, if not
| pleasure, opportunities for making
ones self felt, or for benefiting ones
fellows, or carrying out long-cherished
schemes of some sort. Yet the very peo-
pie who long for wealth picture those
who possess it in very different light.
| In proportion to their distance from
| the world of the very rich is their ig-
! norance of it; and much as the man in
moderate circumstances may long for
wealth he never fails to nisrepresent
| to himself the result of possessing it,
while among the poor the very rich
man is gradually coming to be looked
upon as a sort of public enemy who
| becomes richer and richer, while the
rest of the world grows poorer and
poorer. Explain to them as much as
you will that this is not a fact; that
| the very rich are so few in number that
their wealth divided among their fell
| lows would make no one appreciably
richer, or that all great fortunes are
very soon broken up, or that the poor
are improving their condition quite as
| steadily and surely as the rich what
you say makes no impression. To be
rich is every mans dream. To be poor
is to suffer that others may wax fat and
| kick.
The very rich man of real life is, for
variety of reasons, difficult to describe,
so that the picture will seem fair. His
| popularity is that he has so few typical
peculiarities. He is neither necessarily
| lavish, nor loud, nor noisy, nor fond of
self-assertion. Though he may. of
! course, be one, or all, of these he is
| just as apt to be a rather quiet man,
whom you would pass in a crowd with
| out thinking twice about him. mex
| perienced persons, sometimes, hearing
| that one of the very rich is near them,
| try to pick him out-almost always I'M
successfully, because they inevitably
think he must be a noticeable person.
Sheir mistake comes from their not
| knowing that the effect of wealth. after
| the first froth is off, is often to sober
and chasten. Even noisy, boastful
| braggarts, suddenly overtaken with
wealth, sometimes become noted for
| their quiet, retiring manners. \ multi
! millionaire may spend a whole evening
without letting the cat out of the bag.
On the other hand, he may make the
| room echo with his boasts; but in this
case it almost always turns out that he
is something else besides a very rich
mana philanthropiSt or corrup-
zionist, or a journalist, perhaps Our
remarks are intended to be confined
to those who are merely very rich.
Their aim seems to be as often as not
to render themselves in dress and man
ners and speech indistinguishable
The law is not made any easier for
them on account of their wealth. The
taxes fall upon them with equal weight,
so far as houses and lands are con-
cerned, and though they may be "let
| Off little as to their stocks and bonds
this is not owing to the law, but
through the cleyerness of some attor-
ney whom they must quietly retain and
pay for the work. The law is always
on the alert. The wealthiest may any
day be confronted by decision of the
court of last resort that the right to
a glass of sherry and bitters at his
club has been taken from him: if he
keeps any considerable amount of val
uables on his premises, he must have
private detectives to guard them; if he
gives a ball, he is loudly criticised for
his extravaganza, and his wife is carl
| catured; if he does not subscribe lib
orally to public objects, he is held up to
public reprObation as a miser; if he is
so unlucky as not to get into club
the fact is advertised as if he had been
defeated in an election to congress,
and any objections to his life and con-
versatiOn, or to his personal appearance
which may have affected the result. are
bawled out under the head of club
! news"
The result of the dangers which
threaten, and the jealousy and sus-
picion which surround him, is that in
the end he is very far from daring to be
the arrogant, purse-proud creature he
is painted by popular imagination. So
far from being naughty, he has seldom
even the high spirits and power of en-
joyment that ought to go with wealth.
Indeed, the millionaire, as we know
him, is generally a quiet, reserved man,
who rarely expresses an opinion except
about the tires of bicycles, or the
weather, or the best places to buy shoes
and Undertaking, and evidently
shrinks from advancing views which,
however mistaken, he may be called
upon to support with cash.
The very rich American, in short, is
apt to be embarrassed. His tastes are
still more or less those of a primitive,
semi-rural community, founded upon
equality, managed under democratic
forms. in which rank and title and
etiquette do not exist, yet this social
organization, which was in its full
flower a generation ago. is submerged
by new civilization, of which he is the
head, which is not arranged for him or
prepared to receive him, and of wlfch
he is at once the boast and the butt.
He is the victim of social order which
he represents but does not understand.
He knows that be is one of the great
of the earth, but does not know how to