Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1903-10-21
CUSTODIAN WAN TED
Wealth May Safely be Entrusted
to Properly Constituted Qua.
rantee Company as Trustee
WHAT COMPANY SHOULD BE

SAN FRANCISCO, Calf. Oct. 2i.-
Following are extracts from the able
address delivered by Lyman j, Gage,
the financial expert, on the subject,
The Problem Of Wealth and the
Trust Company as Trustee
We are accustomed to think OF the
serious problems which beset the poor,
and We sympathize or ought to sympa.
thize with them. The ever present
question of tomorrow, the possible fail
ure Of employment, the cost Of living,
the drawbacks Of sickness, the calam.
ity Of death these may be briefly
summarized as the leading problems
of the very poor These problems do
press a painful burden upon the larger
mass Of society To secure immunity
from them, TO find honorable avenues
for escape, TO secure financial inde-
pendence; in short, to accumulate
wealth, is and forever must be nat
ural and laudable ambition But no
sooner does one pass over from the
army of the poor to the relatively
smaller company denominated by the
rich or well-to-do, than he finds that
the problems Of life. il changed IN
their nature, are vet yexatious and
troublesome Having become pos
y sessed Of competence, he no longer.
fears the approach Of his landlord for
rent unproVided, nor is he anxious
concerning tomorrow's bread or as to
wherewithal to clothe his family. FIRE.
quently, however, he learns that
wealth is a burden. and often heavy
one. He discovers an innate tend
ency in accumulated treasure to take
unto itself wings. He finds that money
flies as well as talks. He is apt to
learn how easy it is to lose in an hour
the careful savings Of months and
years, and, ii sense wholly different
from the Latin poet, he learns that
the descent to the Avernus Of finan-
cial disaster is easy and swift and
that it is difficult to recover his lost
footing and escape to the upper air
of financial freedom He soon learns
that when he loans money he is apt
TO borrow trouble.
In this country We have not well
learned the lesson of content with
reference to an acquired competence
The American business man seldom
retires. He prefers to struggle on in
the harness and to carry his financial
problems to the inevitable end. not as
q general rule from considerations OF
avarice flor in no country are the rich
more generous or less avaricious), but
from the sheer joy of achievement
and the fascination which the conflict
of business life has for him. In Eng
land they have learned better than we
TO be content with competence, TO
relieve ones self Of the burden Of
wealth and to devote ones energies
to other purposes than the mere In
crease Of the burden. In other words,
there Is In England a pronounced leis-
ure class, men who have not merely
withdrawn themselves from business.
but who will not even be burdened
with the care of their own possessions,
and who leave II either to family so
licitors or to fiduciary corporations.
Thus freed from the burden, they find
time to devote themselves to the poll
ties Of their country. the pursuits OF
literature. the cultivation Of art, the
enjoyment of their landed estates and
10 the legitimate pleasures which a
large cosmopolitan capital like London
affords
In America an ever increasing mum.
her are learning this lesson. Their
greatest problem is TO find a suitable
custodian for their wealth. to whom
its cares and responsibilities may be
safely delegated.
Sooner or later the obligation must
be discharged TO make wise dis
position OF his fortune. as nothing is
more certain than that he can not
himself continue, and as Dothing is
more certain than that the question
Whom shall constitute my execu-