Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-10-14
4 mars ENVIRONMENT.

quite ably discussed by the press, the
concensus of opinion being in favor of
abolishing the word as of no practical
value in the vocabulary Of mankind.
Interviews with men who lave made a
success in life go to show that hard work,
application and energy, with strict in
tesrity and a liberal supply of brains,
ave been responsible for their advance
ment. They are not disposed to recog-
nize luck as a factor in their lives. But
those men who have exhibited equal
ability, who have applied themselves
with no less energy and skill to the work
in hand. and who have labored with un-
firing zeal. only to summarize their lives
pass. usually believe that luck cuts quite
an important figure in human affairs. 8
There is an active vein Of vanity run-
ming through the human mind which
leads the successful man to attribute~his
progress to his own ability. while the un-
successful man finds his excuses in cir
eumstances over which he had no con-
troll. commonly designated as bad luck.
The man who Twins out" in the struggle
for success takes as much delight in
measuring the transcendent ability that
brought it about as he does in the COM
forts with which success may have sur
rounded him. On the other hand. the I'M
successful man takes a great deal of sat
isfaction out of the thought that his fail
ures in life are due to luck rather than
to any weakness of his own.
Logically. there is no effect without a
cause. and causes are but the effects Of
~pre-existing causes which might, step by
step, take one back to the realms of caus-
alton, till the multi-millionaire was
traced back to the monad. If this be
true. both failures and successes in life
are effects due to causes that may ante
date the individual himself. One man is
born within environments that tide him
along the channels of success, n that
have naturally equipped him with the
faculties most required to bring it about,
while another mar springs into existence
under conditions that lead him into re-
peated failures.
Brains, energy and hard work, and ex-
cellence of character, do not always in
sure success. Many of the men who
make a failure of life. from the stand
point of the worlds measurement, are
properly equipped in these respects, and
work a%ssiduously toward a given end;
victories in the struggle for wealth and
fame, are deficient in such qualities. 1t
is not luck. in the usual acceptation OF
the word, that intervenes in either direc-
ton. but an environment natural or &C
quired. The world is full of examples
wherein the touch Of one man turns
everything to gold. while that of another
converts it into ashes. :
Mankind has outgrown the hallucina'
ton that possession of money indicates
superiority Of brain, or greater wealtl
Of energy and fixedness of purpose. II
the Sunday school books of the earliel
days, integrity of character and honest,
of purpose We're taught as methods b,
which success in life can be attained
Those were noble lessons, and from
: spiritual standpoint they were undoubt
F., eddy correct. But no one has ever &C
: cused the accumulation Of millions of hav
!. ing more integrity and honesty Of pur
pose than those who struggle along tn
humble avenues of life for their dali,
: bread. -
Viewed from any standpoint OF obser
walton, the whole proposition reverts t
the question of environment. Those mos
fitted for fame often fail of it's attain
ment, while those to whom wealth woul
come as a blessing to be used for tn
benefit of mankind die in poverty. In
tellectual Doors are often honored wit
the worlds applause, and pigs ofte
- sniffle like swill the pearls of wealtl
'e After all, it is the wise man who lays u
his treasures in heaven where rust cannt
q corrupt nor thieves break through an
steal. ~
II
~ The only hope of the democracy in tn
y state next yea: is to keep the republics