Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1902-08-21
HASTE TO GET RICH.
PLEA FOR OLD RELIABLE METH.
obs Of SAVING.
Speculative Spirit Now Rife aud Gem
eral Desire to Become Wealthy With
out Labor Have Bad Effect Upon

Principles aud Practices of Men.
Are the experiences and methods of
the man who began building his pres
ent fortune fifty years ago likely to
| be regarded by the youth of to-day as
Of any practical beuehtI
The question was propounded to the
! veteran William j. Onahau, of Chicago,
! by a representative of the Chicago
! Tribune. MIR. Onahau answered: In
their details and as affecting young
men at large-no. The sane, sober.
! careful methods OF fifty years ago are
rs applicable to-day to the founding
! of fortunes as ever they were in his
! tory. But they read too tamCly for
the young men of this strenuous age
The spirit of speculation has gone too
far. The excitemcntS of gaming. from
the penny-tossing by the newsboys to
the margining' in the bucket shops,
has led the young men of today to
look upon the methods of founding for
tunes fifty years ago just as they
would look upon the methods used at
|
! New York to San Francisco.
You can't reach the masses of the
! young men Of Chicago. for instance. by
saying to them that the only way to
! build n safe desirable and lasting for
! tune is by slow aCcrrtiOn and that this
Hccretion should begin with the first
salary that they draw. Tell a young
| l.. 4,
! life that even on salary of $40
week he should he laying some of it
aside. and the chances are that he will
laugh at you. Why? Simply because
the temptation to spend never was so
great as it is now Yet this habit of
week than it will be afterward at $50
a week, and you may be sure that it
Is the one dominant trait that must be
at the foundation Of fortune building.
In the nervous energy of the present
there is a general disposition abroad to
shelve almost any philosophy of mate.
rialsm fifty years old as being out of
date. 1t has been 40 easy to say. Yes.
you could do so and 10 once, but you
can't do il now
But truth IS a truth and that per
manent fortune must be the product OF
sound, conservative building is truer
to-day, almost, than it ever was before.
Most of the wealthy men Of to-day be-
gan fortune building from the ground
up. They began when habits of thrift
and frugality were far more general In
both old and young than they are now
and, while they worked longer hours
for less pay, they saved more money.
Il have looked to the Civil War al.
ways, as being the line of demarcation
between the young man Of yesterday
and the young man OF to-day. | don't
know but what war is productive of
| the spirit Of extravaganza. 1t repre-
sents waste and ruin. 1t creates feel
! ing of unstAblencSS. Certainly the
great Civil War in this country
changed the traits and characteristics
of the people Excitement took the
place Of repose. Speculation supplant-
ed steady trade and this has led to the
spirit Of gambling. which in one or
another form has become dangerously
widespread
TOO many young men to-day have
! become infected with this passion.
There is haste to grow rich. Con
servative methods in business are too
slow The hope OF gaining fortune
without labor has become widely allur-
! ing.
This is fatal deusion. Even
where wealth is thus gained it is more
often n curse than n blessing The
fortune quickly gained and without la.
Dor generally is m speedily dispatched.
| Yet just to the extent that we see fiat
tering opportunities held out to young
men for the making Of fortunes by
some short cut, just 10 that extent one
may guess that these propositions are
accepted.
NO doubt there is now more restless
energy displayed by young men in all
pursuits than formerly. but there were
more steadnesS. greater perseverance,
and, as consequence, more lasting
results fifty years ago. Then habits Of
life We're simpler, temptations were
|
ing comparatively unknown Now it
requires great strength of character in
the young man to stand out against
the temptations of environment. No
doubt there il a certain fascination i'm
| these modern activities in the whirl
and excitement Of latter day trading
and speculation. AmuScmcntS. too. are
more common and costly and diSsipa-
! tons are more allurng.
THAT there are $500, ,OOO in the
savings banks of the United States and
that the totals are increasing every
| wear shows promise At the same time
| am not sure that it would not be
shown by analysis that adopted clti-
zens from continental Europe lead as
| these depoSilorS. TO some extent it
may he true of the direct descendants
Of that Old stock but it has lost its sig
niticancc when applied to the typical
| American.
IN e ..l..