The age-herald., 1898-08-18
IS A LESSON TO AMBITIOUS MEN.
Russel Sage Talks of Hooley's Failure and
 What it Teaches.

From the New York World.
 The crash of Promoter Hooley is an ob- feet lesson that should strike home in the mind of every young man who has started out to win success in business. It is a lesson that cannot be studied too carefully. It Is of vast importance to all men engaged in mercantile pursuits, for it brings up conspicuousy to view the fallacy of so many theories in widespread operation.
 I will presume that every person who em- barks in an enterprise wishes to be suc- cessful will presume also that a man attains happiness or unhappiness accord ing to the degree of success or failure which his business efforts have met Both presumptions being true, I warn the young business men of AmeriGA that they must steer clear of Hooley principles.
 Hooley was without doubt great finan- cier. The mere fact that of his being able to make 50 million dollars in single year is an unquestionable proof of that state ment. He had a quick, clear head, which enabled him to see good opportunities with in his reach and to snatch them securely before they could slip away.
 Hooley proved his quick-wttedness in in- ducing people with big titles to lend their names as directors to his countless schemes. He knew the servility with which wealthy parvenus would give up their money to have their names associated with such exclusive noblemen. The ingen- uity of Promoter Hooley in turning this insight of the peoples character into finan- cal profitS-and profits of such dizzy pro- portions-would have made him permanent ly wealthy had his affairs been conducted on thorough businoss principles.
 The trouble with Hooley and men Of his stamp Is that they build their mansions of fortune without proper regard for the char acter of the foundations. If the schemes of Hooley had been built up on foundations that rested on business bedrock then the world would have had different story to read.
 No man will ever be the permanent owner of a fortune if he neglects the fol- lowing five things: Honesty, punctuality, temperance, patience and adhesion to fixed rules in his office and his home. If Hooley and Barnato had observed these five prin- ciples the ymight not have made such large fortunes in such short periods Neverthe- less, the fortunes they would have made would have ben sounder and would have no doubt remained with them to the pres- ent day. They, both of them, were fond of boasting publicly that they kept no rou- tin office hours no monotonous clerks, and both were noted for their ridiculously high living.
 It is often said that.if a man is going to try to make a fortune on strict business principles he sets himself out for long and tedious labor-that by devotlng less time to the observance of strict rules and more time to stirring abot he will mauke twice the money in half the time. Such remarks are never uttered by the man of keen experience. A man may make a sky rocket fortune by neglecting strict business lines and be able to get race horses, yachts, fine dwellings and the like-just as Hooley has done-but when the crash comes, as it surely will come some day, the agony of the man being parted from his belongings will be hundred times more painful than the agony of never having possessed them at all
 Let me say to poor people who are un- happiness can never be measured by the extent of his fortune. Many a fortune in New York today exists on mere paper-ex- ists in the mere belief of the public, and sooner or later the belief will fall to the ground. Unless a man has built a fortune on the bedrock of honesty and hard work, he sleeps less comfortably than the man