The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-03-01
Coo mucb Basfe
Co Gain UeaW.
w. j. onahan Says That Saving and
Investing Is Best Way to
Get Rich.

Are the experiences and methods of
the man who began building his pres
ent fortune fifty years ago likely to be
regarded by the city youth of today as
Of any practical benefit?
In their details and as affecting
young men at large-no,' says the
veteran William ]. Onahan, who has
been an observer of men and things
for two generations. THE sane, sober,
careful methods of fifty years ago are
as applicable today to the founding of
fortunes as ever they were in history.
But they read too tamely for the young
men of this strenuous age. The spirit
of speculation has gone too far The
eXcitements of gaming, from the pen
ny-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 fortunes
fifty years ago just as they would look
upon the methods used at that time in
sending merchandise from 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, a safe, desirable, and lasting
fortune is by slow accretion, and that
this accretion should begin with the
first salary that they draw. Tell a
young man who may be taking up
business life that even on a salary of
$40 a week he should be laying some
of it aside, and the chances are that
he win laugh at you. Why? Simply
because the temptation to spend never
was so great as it is now. Yet this
habit of saving is easier to acquire on
SO a week than it will be afterward at
S25 a week. and you may be sure that
it is the one dominant trait that must
be at the foundation of fortune build
ing.
CALLS MATERIALISM OUT OF
DATE.
''In the nervous energy of the pres
ent there is a general disposition
abroad to shelve almost any philosophy
of materialism fifty years old as being
out of date It has been so easy to
say, Yes, you could do so and so once,
but you can't do it now
But a truth is a truth, and that
permanent fortune must be the prod
uct of sound, conservative building is
truer today, almost than it ever was
before. Most of the wealthy men of
today began 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 demaTcation
between the young man of yesterday
and the young man of today. l don't
know but what war is productive of
the spirit of extravaganza. 1t repre-
sents waste and ruin. 1t creates feel
ing of unstableness. Certainly the
great civil war in this country changed
the traits and characteristics of the
people. Excitement took the place of
repose. Speculation supplanted steady
trade. and this has led to the spirit of
gambling. which in one or another
form has become dangerously wide
spread.
TOO many young men today have
become infected with this passion.
There is haste to grow rich. Conser-
vative methods in business are too
slow The hope of gaining fortune
without labor has become widely allur-
ing.
This is fatal delusion. Even
where wealth is thus gained. it is more
often a curse than blessing. The for
tune quickly gained and without labor
generally is as speedily dissipated. Yet
just to the extent that we see flattering
opportunities held out to young men
for the making of fortunes by some
short cut just to that extent one may
guess that these propositions are ac-
cepted.
"No doubt there is now more rest
less energy disnlaved bv young men
in all pursuits than formerly. but there
were more steadiness. greater perse-
verance, and, as a consequence, more