The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-05-22
POOREST PAYS
 ARE THE RICH
Hetty Greens Son Contributes An Illuminating MOrsel to a
 Humane Subject.
The More Money the Over Has the Tougher it is to Separate
 Him From it.

It is an old story which is told by | Col. E. H. R. Green of New York, | who seems to have a part in the
 management of the large property of his mother, Mrs. Hetty Green He l finds that of all the tenants occupy
 ing houses belonging to Mrs. Green the wealthy ones are the slowest in paying their rent, and the worst of the wealthy ones is a man who has a fortune of at least $1O,O0O,0OO. The poorer tenants pay promptly or when | they can. The rich pay as rule | only when they have to and after long delay and much dunning. This is a complaint which is commonly heard here as we'll as there. It has at time been heard in the citys collection of water rents and taxes. It may doubt
 less be heard in mercantile and other sales establishments. It may certain ly be heard among those having | money due from railroads and other
 large corporations as we'll as wealthy | men.
 The significance of the fact in one
 respect may possibly be worth noting
 It is evidently indicative of the gener- ally active personal employment of
 most of our large individual fortunes. When a rich man has retired from active life with his fortune snugly in- vested there is of course no reason
 othr than habit acquired in business why he should not pay his bills
 promptly, and as a rule he probably does. So much of his income as is reserved for day to day expenses has been taken out of employment is not
 in the way of being given temporary
 employment, is therefor of no profit us to the holder and may as well as
 not be passed along to the current creditors
 But with the rich man in active
 business the case is different. Large
 as his own net estate may be if clear
 ed up at any time, he is still a large
 borrower of money for use in his var jed enterprises. Hei is borrowing all the time. It is the rule of his class the enterprise claSs-to borrow and
 never be afraid to borrow more and
 all he can. His gain is derived from the use of the money of others rented at one rate and put to work for him. self at an expectedly higher rate. He pursues this course feverishly. His borrowing propensities carry him to the point of exacting these forced loans from current creditors who can
 be made to wait, and the money which should go to them is made profitable use of for himself in another turn o"SI OI HIS Cdplldl or d temporary swing in some speculation.
 This is in explanation and not at all
 in Justification of the fact that rich
 men in active business are "slow pay.''
 The practice is without Justification.
 It savers in fact of petty larceny. The
 money due the tradesman or mer-
 chant for household and other SUD-
 plies belongs to him and is likely to
 be worth as much to him during the
 ir71n iC f0 h4 rryh4 is holding it back and prof1tably em-
 ploying it on his own account. And these active rich men should be the first to condemn and stop the practice,
 since it sets an example and puts in motion forces that react against themselves. But the matter is of in- terest in ref1ecting the feverish energy with which our large business for tunes are mployed.-Springfiel Re
 publican.