The San Francisco call., 1913-09-16

q nc iShiSWS MS case ike noIdliz-
ing upon the vanity OF earthly gods,
and particularly upon the curse of
wealth
MONEY HIS UNDoING
II is cynicaliy true that in this
particular case his money has been
his undoing instead of a help.
If he had been poor instead of rich,
If he had been plain Bob Smith in
stead of Harry Thaw and had skipped
out of carelessly guarded gate at
Matteawan and made his escape into
I Canada, he would now be free. No
high priced special attorney general.
no battalion of detectives and guards
and asylum officials would have jour
neyed all the way to Canada to bring
back a pauper lunatic, whose insanity
was of such a subtle kind that 1t took
skilled alienists to detect it.
And even at his trial for having
killed Stanford White, Harry Thaw
would have had better chance of
being acquitted of crime that many
parts of the country justify under the
unwritten law, and that IS practically
winked at everywhere, II he had been
q poor man instead of a millionaire.
But his money turned a golden efful
gence upon the case that focused
public attention upon it and that made
judge and jury SO afraid they would
be accused OF pandering to wealth
and power that they leaned TO yenge-
ance rather than to mercy's side.
But all his life Harry Thaw has
been the victim OF money. In reality
he is a man of good parts, talented
in many directions. He is a fine art
critic. a musician of more than ordi-
nary ability and an accomplished
dilettante in many feats.
He has most extraordinary gift
for mathematics. 1t is the Thaw
talent for figures that made his
/ grandfather lay the foundation of the
/ Thaw fortune. and his father raise ii
! up into millions If Harry Thaw had
been a poor boy and had had to make
his own way in the world, he, too,
would have made his fortune. and in
stead of being where he is today he
would be ornamenting boards and
heading committees and have been
one of our most admired and respect
ed citizens.
POVERTY GREAT DISCIPLINARIAN
It makes all the difference in the
world whether a man inherits his
money or makes it himself, whether
/ he has had nothing to do but be
waster and spender or is forced by
/ circumstances to be a creator There
! is no moral restraint like not having
the price. especially when you are
! young. and many youth is kept
sober and respectable by the necessity
I Of keeping a clear head in order to
keep his job.
Poverty is the great disciplinarian
I to whom we owe more than we ever
pay. Harry Thaw was deprived by his
wealth OF this one factor that could
have made the kind Of man whom
he should have been. From his sickly
childhood. when he was pampered and
/ spoiled and fattered because he was
I rich. and through his unbridled boy
hood TO his manhood, the curse or
wealth was upon him.
/ His father saw this too late. On
his death bed he made a futile effort
/ to undo the wrong that had been done
Harry by cutting down his allowance,
but his over fond mother baked even
this chance for him by supplying the
boy with unlimited money
What wonder then that this youth
I who had Imagination and energy and
/ the restless American temperament,
coupled with bottomless purse,
plunged into excesses.
He might have employed his ener-
gies to noble ends. He might nave
been the industrious apprentice. OF
course but the plain truth Is that not
many Of us are Industrious enough to
work unless we have to or need the
money, and Harry Thaw lacked the
incentive of necessity that would have
spurred him along the right road.
And he had the wealth that creased
the toboggan.
Poverty and hard work would have
saved him, for Harry Thaw is nothing
but another example Of the curse Of
gold that so many rich mems sons are.