The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1909-11-24
JOY OF WEALTH
HITS GERMANY
Life IS A GIlDtD REALTY
All Forms of Luxury Attractive and
Spending Money
Delight.

PARIS, Nov. 22.-The 10y of
wealth has entered into the life of
Germany, according to Baron Pierre
de Coubertin, who has written an ar
ticle for the Revue pour les Fran
Gals.
Il have previously attempted to
show how the fundamental stability
of England has remained intact" he
writes Now, after a prolonged stay
in various parts of Germany. l have
brought back a Numerically opposite
opinion from that country. There
everything is altered, because the
angle from which life is viewed is an
entirely new one-an unexpecter an
gle which has not been drawn with
the compass of the past and with
which, none the less the public mind
shows itself extremely pleased. be-
ing delighted to use it today. at the
risk, perhaps, of abusing it tomorrow
| IF a. name must be given to this
angle I should not hesitate to call it
the angle of the joy of wealth. And
let there be no mistake. The joy Of
wealth is not the pursuit of it. The
pursuit of riches began il GERMANY
the Joy of them might never have
come. There are nations who have
labored for centuries to build up enor-
NOUS fortunes and which have not
yet learned to enjoy them.
American View Of Dollars.
mot single American seems to
have found source of delight In the
almighty dollar. All that it gives him
- I.
It an increase of vitality and, a. it
were patent of super-humanity.
That is what the American seeks. The
Englishman more simply sees in
money a means of action, and the
Frenchman looks above all else for
security. and when he has found it
his productive energy weakens. The
Vienpese finds in. wealth a means to
pleasure-but if you think and OBJ
serve you will not discover many ma
tons who veritably possess the 10Y
of wealth.
Now. the Germans are such a ma
ton. A gilded reality fills their hori-
zon as they emerge from the valley
of iron which had led them far away
from the somewhat foggy regions
where they had so long lived #
they are studied closely it is seen that,
from high to low, they have an in-
tense delight in having and spending.
This is evident in the monuments they
erect, the houses they build, the shops
they use, and the gratitude they give.
Germans Eager Tor Novelty.
"They wish to try everything
theatres, motor cars, toilets-luxury
in every form attracts them, and the
higher up the social ladder thew
mount the stronger is the taste for re-
finement. L say the taste and not the
need. The need has not yet come.
but the taste is its forerunner, and
there is chance that the one will
create the other. But not a certainty;
for up to now this taste appears only
to spring from a vast desire for os-
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. towards others
and towards themselves, for it is
agreeable to prove to yourself that
you are in a position and know how
to spend.
hitherto the German did not
despise wealth-what man does,
despise wealth-what man does
despise it, in the exact sense Of the
word but he did not set a high
value upon it, and placed many other
objects that We're more in harmony
with his instincts before the care of
acquiring or keeping a fortune. He
thus preserved a certain simplicity of
manners and customs, even a certain
roughness. eminently qualified to as
sist the progress of the race and the
maintenance of high level of vir-
fifty. What will happen now?
Riches Foe of Freedom.
"The good La Fontaine has pvt into
fable the eternal truth that he who
possesses is no longer free agent.
To be absolutely correct he ought to
have added: He who is happy in
possessing For then he does not
know how to risk his money or for
gets the way. The habit of risking
ris nowadays the principal if not the
| only moral counterpoise to fortune.
And a large measure of the resistant
force of Anglo-Sayon civilization is
derived from this habit.
another interesting phenomenon is
that the fact of ardently enjoying ac-
quired wealth tends to keeping it and
discourages increasing it. at least
! by regular and laborious means. In
any case there is a danger for public
morality as well as slackening of
the springs of energy. Wherefore the
delight in riches which pervades the
new Germany can scarcely fail to act
upon her as an emollient and to loos-
on the bowstring of her policy. which
ought always to be kept taut."