Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-05-11
MAKING OF MILlIONAIRES.
It Is Sometimes Done. Honestly, As
sertions to the Contrary Notwith-
standinu.

sertions to the Contrary Notwith-
standing.
A young man Of ideas gave vent to
very extreme statement recently in
the presence of several intellectual
people.
mo man can make a million dollars
honestly" he said.
There is always some sort of graft
and dishonesty about the accommodating
Of so much money"
Then he was asked to prove his
statement.
Edison, the inventor, was cited. II
he does not possess a million dollars,
1t is because he has not cared to keep
what has come to him through his
wonderful and beautiful inventions
The young man confessed that Edi-
son was free from any possible impu-
tation of obtaining tainted wealth. The
name of a woman was mentioned, who
by simple device useful to all wom-
ankind, which she invented and put
upon the market, had accumulated more
than a million dollars. Her generosity
and big heartedness and modesty have
kept her from shining socially among
equals in a financial sense, many Of
whom are her interiors in culture and
charm.
Her name, also, was scratched off the
black list.
Then there was a man who for years
dug in the bosom Of the earth with
pick, receiving the wages Of the aver
age miner. But he was an educated
man, and he possessed a will Of iron,
besides that great trinity-hope, per-
severance and courage. He was not
satisfied to be employed.
He prospected for months, and final
ly found a spot where he believed there
was ore. He dug and found 1t. And
he sold his claim for million dollars.
The company to which he sold it made
many millions.
What possible stain can be found on
this mans money?
Sewing machines, typewriting ma
chimes, reapers and mowers and
thousand other labor saving and labor
giving inventions have brought large
fortunes Of clean money to the makers
and the exploiters.
Besides this they have been spokes
in the wheel of progress. Cyrus Field
became a multi millionaire man through
his ocean cable-that blessing to the
world. A few authors, painters, sculp-
tors and actors have become wealthy
enough through their creations to
arouse the envy Of observers; and many
singers have accumulated fortunes.
Jenny Lind was woman Of wealth
when she retired from the stage; and
who shall say that the money an eager
public paid to hear her glorious voice
was tainted" when in her possession.
Besides the money she carried back to
her native home for her maintenance
after she retired, fortune had been
scattered by her generous hands as she
went along her kind and brilliant way.
A vast amount Of sensational and
foolish talk is preached today about
the honesty of poverty and the dishon-
esty Of wealth. Many who preach this
wholesale and undiscriminating phil
osophy are unaware that they are
acuated not by desire to help human
ity to higher ground, and to lead 1t
away from the worship Of the golden
calf, but by ignoble envy and jealousy.
There are two crying evils which ev-
cry human being needs to avoid In
thinking, writing or talking Of poverty
and wealth. One evil Is the worship of
money success and the ready accept
ance of the man of mere fortune as a
desirable citizen, friend or leader.
The other extreme is the branding OF
every man Of wealth as a CRATER and
a dishonest and unworthy member of
society. Rich people vary in moral
worth and unworth as greatly as do
poor people. 1t is more unusual to find
a really great character among the rich,
especially those born to wealth, than
among the toilers Of earth, because
work calls for concentration, and con-
centration leads to character building,
yet great, good and unselfish souls are
to be found I'M every walk Of life, and
the making of fortune does not mean
that degenerating Of the character nec-
essarily any more than the performing
of daily task means always sobriety,
honesty and probity.
In Lees Inspired Millionaires" oc-
ours the following prediction, which
may be well for us to read and consid-
er carefully.
"I cannot help believing we have
come to the point at last where, with
two thousand years Of the New Testa-
ment struggling up through the human
spirit, 1t Is time for men to begin to be-
lieve that a man may be good enough
to be rich, before our eyes. The very
children can look up and see that times
have changed. We are going to have
more rich men in the world, not less.
What with the introductions Of ma
chimes and of sudden inventions, mil
lionaires cannot be helped. We might
as we'll make the most Of 1t. For every
new value thrust upon the world some
new man is going to be obliged to be
rich, whether he knows how or not.
There is no telling which Of us shall be
chosen next-if We keep thinking OF
things. And every man must be ready.
The world must be full Of visions. 1t
must weld itself great faiths for the
rich.
Il drink daily at this belief. believe
that the next Messiah that comes to
the world is going to be Messiah for
millionaires. l believe the time Is al
most at hand when he will come to us.
He will come rather modestly, perhaps,
and he will be silent, busy man; but
when he dies and everybody turns his
way and looks a minute, there will be
a great village somewhere smoking up
to the sky blessing him.
And slowly, when they look at him,
everyhody will know and SLOWLY every