Perth Amboy evening news., 1904-09-08
MUTATIONS "a FORTUNES.
Make 1t Difficult to Say What Wealth
Is-Men Thought Themselves
Rich, Now Poor.

. -
What scems at first glance to be- very
simple question is often found extreme
ly difficult to answer, says the New
York Times. or this character is the
question: What is wealth? By this we
do net mean: When is a mar rich? AS
Stunning the condition which is the an
tithesis of poverty, in what form can
property be accumulated OF which the
possessor can say: This is wealth?
Perhaps the question is answered by
assuming a hoard of gold or other inde-
structible commodity from which the
aoSsessor may draw as his needs re-
quire. But the greatest hoard will ulti-
mately be exhausted by constant
drauRhts upon it. replenishment implies
mourning the hazards of exchange, n
In these the wealth may change hands.
1t may be doubted, however, if a hoard
Is ever wealth, no matter what is
boarded. 1t is something withdrawn
from use, which serves no good pur-
pose, and might as well be buried INT
| forgotten, like lost treasures. Besides,
the conditions of modern life do not
favor hcards. For the few who make
them the possession of such accumula-
lions do not bring any of the gratifica-
lions which attend the enjoyment n
use of wealth. 1t is not unusual TO hear
of misers dying of cold and starvation
and leaving what would have been
wealth had they used it. The rich man
OF to-day must, in the nature of things,
keep his capital employed, and for
THOSE in this position the question:
| What is wealth? is often an anxious
one. 4
Land may or may not be wealth. Unim'
proved land rarely admits of this classt
fcation. To be land poor" is not an in
| frequent experience, and it often hap
pens that property once very valuable
becomes unproductive and practically
unsuitable by reason of changes which
| could not have been foreseen or guard
| ed against without heavy loss. M9r-
chandise may or may not be wealth.
The causes which affect its exchange
value are too many for enumeration.
| Securities are wealth as long as they are
valuable; but the transition from the
| condition OF being rich to that OF being
poor takes place not infrequently by a
shrinkage of value in property held in
undiminished volume. There are a great
many people who thought they were
very rich a year or Is months ago, and
who still hold all the evidences OF wealth
they then had, who are to-day con-
scious of being poor, and who have little
reason to expect they will ever be other
wise. Conversely, 1t has happened that
people in great poverty have had what
they deemed worthless securities or 9th
err evidences Of property rights, and by
a turn OF the wheel have suddenly dis
covered that these same unproductive
assets we're of great value. These I'M
~certalntles attend every transaction
which enters into the commercial and
financial activities of aiation. They are
20 much a part of business calculations
Of every prudent man that one who
desires to leave wealth to his children is
quite as likely to leave them a legacy
of poverty instead.
To find for wealth a definition which
will fltall the mutationso of fortune, all the
changes In the fashion of the world, the
rise and fall of nationsa and the progress
Of civilization. may afford m agreeable
and Instructive entertainment for those
who have a taste for distractions. That
twill 70 found difficult is a fact the
stating CT which serves u present pur-
pose.