The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-02-04
OUR MILLIONAIRES.
LIKE OTHERS BEFORE THEM SOME
ARE DOOMED TO OBSCURlTY. =.

wealth. Is - Use It-some VINO VIII
Not he Remembered Thirty Days After
They Are Dead.
The London Spectator once published
list Of those it called 'obscure mill
lionaires" who had died within the pre-.
vious ten years. The list was rather |
long one. This age is shopkeeping age,
1t is true. 1t is apt, we say, to value
men according to their property. Great
wealth gives great consideration. and
yet. Notwithstanding the exaggerated
importance of money and money get
ting, it appears that wealth in the lar
gest measure redeems no man from OBJ
scurity; that money in 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. In our own
country, even more than in Europe,
wealth exaggerates its own consequence.
1t 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 recurs to the
time when he was barefoot boy, or
penniless youth, with some pride, as a
proof of how bright a man he is III hav-
ing changed by his own unaided powers
the early poverty for the present wealth.
He feels in his heart he has done q
noble work and that he deserves the
commentator of mankind for doing 50.
He is liable to disappointment, as we
all know, and it 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 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 his face by
those who expect to get something by
it. The community would look compla-
Gently upon tho matter if sudden re-
yulsion should set him 10 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 unimportant.
In fact, if he is content to be merely it,
owner, he is sure to be So
The only way to create distinction
with wealth is by the use. What MAJ
does with what he has determines tn
question of his obscurity. The world
very just and forgets all but its bene
factors. The millionaire who uses hi
millions for his own benefit is like tn
officeholder who uses his Office for hi
own benefit. or the man of genius VIII
exhausts his genius for his own selfis
ends, or, indeed, like any man who, en-
bowed with trust, uses the trust for hi
own exclusive use and behoof.
{ Men possessed of other trusts are nc
, as apt to make this mistake as the me
, possessed of money. Genius, intelleC
3 tual power, high spiritual gifts, we an
all loud to claim are conferred for tn
good of humanity. We stand ready I
condemn relentlessly the men who, en-
dowed with such gifts, use them mainl
, for their own advantage. But gref
wealth, especially if q man has himse
won it, is less apt to be considered
trust. The greed for it is great 1t
often sought not for itself, but Tor II
r supposed distinction it confers. Whe
It the young man of energy and ambitio
j. looks forward to the attainment or 1t
J. the end of his endeavors, he is not le
:. by any misery desire for money IN
% self. He has rather the nobler desire
10 winning distinction and Importance |
l. its possession. 1t is a means and N
II AN end. Pity he should in the years
), his pursuit so often change his motion
y for his first opinion is right. Weal'
It can confer distinction. 1t can bril-
ts honor and high consideration. 1t ca
{ make O mans memory fragrant Wi
:. blessings for centuries. But to do
~ this it must be used.
+" There are millionaires in our ON
a country who will neither be remembe
% ed nor cared for 80 days after their COS
Ia " funerals. Their passage from amor
NJ living men will leave no void, for q
v. stocks and bonds and shares which alol
8. gave them their consequence RENAL
rs Mankind has lost nothing, misses not
q ing. There are others who will he mis-
u ed in 1000 places and by thousands
4. hearts, for though the millions RENAL
the heart that made the millions a bles
ing is gone. The man in this case is lc
to us, and he was more than his none
i. There are again some few who SO q
81 pose of their thousands that their nam
% and memories are linked for years.
ye centuries, to the monuments OF benz
icence they leave behind them, famo
el the land over, not for their wealth, b
CO for the good deeds their wealth was us
for. The millionaire is nothing, his Il
q portance nothing, his consequence not
" ing. We want to know what he dc
ON with his millions before we care to
90 member his name. AS q millionai