The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1907-11-30
..MONEY MADNEss !"

Who is to blame for the craze for
money, for the wealth which has
brought about the present ill-feeling
between the multi millionaire on the
one hand and the masses on the
other :? The answer must be that the
masses themselves are to blame.
Why? A little consideration will
make that clear. To begin with,
nearly all the great millionaires, the
very wealthy men who are actively
engaged in business, were either poor
boys or the sons of men who began
life poor. Their constant aim has
been to acquire wealth. not only to
acquire plenty of wealth but more
than anybody else had acquired be-
fore them, the more the better. Why =?
What has made such men money
mad9 Let that question be answered
by asking another In the United
States, everywhere, among all classes
in all conditions of life, il the cities,
towns and in the country, what is the
standard of success1 What men and
women are pointed out as having been
most successful? ?
Among all the retired business men
you know, which one do you count
as having been most successful I? The
man who has piled up the biggest
heap of wealth and at the same time
kept out of the penitentiary. Which
active business man is the most sue
cessful? The fellow with the biggest
pile or who is likely to get the big
gest pile. Who is the most success
full lawyer or doctorl The one who
gets the biggest fee. Who is the
most successful preacher? The fell
low who builds the costliest church or
gets the biggest salary. Who is the
most successful clerk or teacher? He
who gets the most per week. What
farmer is counted the most success
ful? He of the most acres or big
gest bank account. Who is counted
the most successful by his fellow
workmen9 The mechanic wno gets
the biggest wages. Why does one
leave one trade, profession or busi-
ness to enter another except in the
hope of being more successful. Sue
cessful in whatl In getting more
money.
When he succeeds in adding more
to his pile, however big or little that
it may be, he getst applause of his
fellows. Those who don't applaud
him envy him. Throughout the
whole of your life, who has always
been pointed out as the successful
man or woman in any and every walk
of life? Has 1t not been he or she
who has been getting the better price
for what they had to give? BY con-
slant example and teaching by parents
and teachers, aud by the practice of
the world, the young are taught from
childhood that money is the standard
of success. They are taught to be-
lieve that people with money are bet
ter than people without it, that people
with much money are better lfnan
those who have less. The rich and
the poor and those in moderate cir
cumstances act upon this principle.
1t becomes and has long since be-
come a part of the very nature of the
American people, and it will take the
teaching of generations to eradicate
from the minds of the American that
the size of ones pocketbook is not the
real criterion by which to judge of
success.
This wrong standard by which the
degree of success is measured is the
cause of tine present money madness
and the American people themselves
are to blame for this false standard.
Each is determined to win as much of
success as possible. The desire in life
to win success is commendable one,
but the definition of the word is by
no means what it should be, and un-
til the conception of that standard is
radically changed there is not likely
to be any change in the swollen for
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