The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1917-04-03
The Waste of Money.

In the daily papers comes the story of
the downfall of the widow of a prominent
Wall street man, who twice has been pre-
sented to British royalty, lived on Fifth
avenue, was a social leader and a woman of
the four hundred. In the brief six years of
her widowhood she has wasted a fortune of
over 100000 and now faces the charge of
passing a worthless check She says she
has made sad mistake but did the "best
she knew how" with her money-put it in
lll-advised business ventures, invested in
doubtful securities and spent the rest in So
ca aspirations.
Of lesser magnitude but no less tragic, is
the recent case of German woman with
three children, who in the short space of ten
weeks has spent mot ''invested') the 81, 400
received from her husbands death in an ac-
cident During that time she has visited the
savings bank on an average of every other
day. drawing from $25 to $50 each time
Another woman who received life in
surance payment of $4,000 wasted her in
heritance in two weeks at the races An
other who received thousand dollars be-
decked herself with jewelry and had to go
back to the factory in three months A GER
tain youth received $4,000 as his share of his
uncles estate, quit work and lived the high
life for a short time, and then went broke
as they all do.
The only redeeming feature of these proc
esses is the fact that the waste of money
cures itself, for soon there is no more to
waste. The aforementioned individuals
| have found 1T out. 1t matters not whether
the sum be large or small, it seems an end
| less amount, but little extravaganza every
day soon brings the fund to a state of ex-
haustion.
Life insurance companies have found
upon Investigation that large proportion of
their policy settlements are frittered away
! In the course of a few years. The hard work
and the sacrifices of the bread winner, in
which the beneficiary usually has shared,
seem to count for naught when the settle
ment comes, and passes a considerable sum
! into irresponsible hands.
This is no indictment against womanhood,
| but as sex they seem to have the knack of
spending easy money fast. While a thrifty
woman is the Lords choicest creation, the
! thrttless one is His greatest bane. Bank
men of experience will corrobOrate the con,
! cluslon that it is unwise to leave money to
the wife in such way as to tempt her to
| be improvident with it. The fortune first
mentioned would have given the wife an in
come of at least $4,000 a year for life, if
properly invested, and the smaller amounts
would have helped the benefciaries over
many rainy day. The caution to the men
IN such matters is to so arrange affairs that
the income and not the principal may be
| used
The best legacy you can leave your wife i:
a wei-invested estate. If you love her yor
can prove it best by not giving her absolute
control of her legacy, but by saving he1
from all the pitfalls that are open to the un
sophisticated and the unwary. Save he
, from herself, her friends and the slick pro
moter who dazzles her with alluring tales O
large returns from her investments.
Many a man has spent lifetime provid
ing for those he must leave behind, and il
his provision caused their own downfall. |
is no reflection upon the woman to max
these statements, but they are cruel truth
J.. borne out by everyday experience You d.
we'll to consider what might happen to thos
who survive you if they fall prey to tn
y temptations that beset those mentione
above The best estate you can leave is tn
certainty that the future will not find thos
you love in want through their own FOLLY
e made possible by your own shortsightedness
Thrift not only prepares for the future, bu
safeguards the future and easy money need
such protection.