The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-01-20
Some Obscure MillionaircS.

cd a list of those it called "Obscurc
millionaires who had died within the
previous ten years. The list was a
rather long one. The list sets one
considering. The age is shop-kecp-
ing are, it is true. 1t is apt, we say.
to value men according to their prop
crty. Great wealth gives great con-
sidcration, and yet. Notwithstanding
the exaggerated Importance of money
and money getting, it appears that
wealth in the largest measure rcdcems
no man from obscurity: that money
in itself, by its mere possession, con-
fcrs no distinction which even this
age values It's use, and not its pos
session, is all that can make it mat
ter of distinction. In our own coun-
try, even more than in Europe, wealth
cxaggeratcs its own consequence. 1t
is natural that it should, for here,
more than there, it is a personal mat
ter. The American millionaire has
"madc, as he says, his own millions.
They represent his own shrewdness,
tact, industry, perseverance. or good
luck" He is fond, it may be, Of re-
minding us that it is so. Hc is self
made man, and rccurs to the time
when he was barefoot boy, or pen
nilcss youth, with some pride, as a
proof of how bright man he is in
having changed by his own unaided
powers the early poverty for the pres
cut wealth.
He feels in his heart that he has
done a noble work, and that he de-
serves the commentator of mankind
fer doing it. He is liable to disap-
pointmcnt.as we all know, and it is
somewhat strange, that, shrewd as he
is in money matters, he is so blind in
othe-s. Fol the rest Of the world is
very busy, and has little time to trou-
bic itself about his success or his fail
urc. Neither can other people see on
exactly what grounds man can claim
it's 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
placcntly 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 un-
important. In fact, if he is content
to be merely it's 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 deter
mines the question of his obscurity.
The world is very just, and forgets all
but its benefactors. 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, in
deed, like any man who, endowed with
trust, uses the trust for his own ex-
elusive use and behoof.
Men possessed Of other trusts are
not as apt to make this mistake as the
men possessed of money. Genius,
intellectual power, high spiritual
gifts, we are all loud to claim are con-
fcrrcd for the good Of humanity. We
stand ready to condemn relentlessly
the men who, endowed with such
gifts, use them mainly for their own
advantage. But great wealth, espec-
tally if man has himself won it, is
less apt to be considered trust. The
greed for it is great. 1t is often
sought, not for itself, but for the sup
posed distinction it confers. When
the young man of energy and ambition
looks forward to the attainment Of it
as the end of his endcavors, he is not
led by any miscrly desire for money
in itself. lie has rather the noblcr
desire of winning distinction and i'm
portance by its possession. 1t is
means, and not an end. Pity he
should in the years of his pursuit SO
often change hisnotion. For his first
opinion is right. Wealth can confer
distinction. 1t can bring honor and
high consideration. 1t can make
man 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 thirty 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
consequence remain. Mankind has
lost nothing, misses nothing. There
are others who will be missed in a
thousand places and by thousands of
hearts for though 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 mem
cries are linked for years. for centu-
ries, to the monuments Of bcncticcnce
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-
oucnce nothing. We want to know
what he does with his millions before
we care to remember his name. As
millionaire merely, he is like the
great poet who never writes, the great
orator who has never made a speech,
the great inventor who has never in
vented anything. He had grand op-
portunitics. He could have done so
much with his money. lie did moth
ing. He died worth so many mil
lions That is all. We stand by
his grave and think what a fool he
was..' Another obscure million
aire. -PhiimdcIphm Church Mond-
uld.
= Remarkable as it may seem the
| tho