Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-09-18
DON'T ENVY THE RICH
BY H. Arlington Bruce
n ONT envy the rich. They have their trou-
| J bes like the rest of us. And, while pow
~ tv w ills does wealth.

4 i bleS, like the rest or us. ana, Wnlle pow
- erty brings with it many ills, so does wealth
The ills of wealth, to be sure, are different
from the ills of poverty. But they are very real
and they make themselves keenly felt:
Take the of Hetty Green, who died leaV-
ing estate of some $100,00O,OOO.
At court proceedings in connection with the
inheritance tax on this enormous sum it developed
that Mrs Green had been in constant fear of being
murdered for her money
She frequently changed her residence, and at
different times had lived under assumed names.
1t was brought out that she had been known under
at least six names, land probably many others
In this way she sought to elude possible MUIR
derers and to dodge schemers with plans to sepa-
rate her from part of her great wealth.
Also Mrs. Green literally slave to her
wealth She had little, if any, time for recrea-
ton. According to evidence presented to the
court:
Her interests were largely conferred in the
conservation and enlargement of her fortune and
practically her entire time was given to business
matters investments and Refreshments OF principal
and income"
Living thus in perpetual dread chained day
in and day out to her desk, could this rich woman
have been truly happy?
Again, riches in many cases direct a
cause of bodily i'll health as poverty could be.
This is something to which few people have given
sufficient thought.
The poor, for example, often suffer greatly in
health because of undertaking. The rich are
likely to suffer equally because of overeating, and
because of eating food too highly spiced and sea-
soned to be readily digestible.
When is rich he is almost certain to
ride when he should walk. From lack Of exercise
many rich people become physically degenerate,
and die long before their time
Their doctors would be true friends to them if.
instead Of advising travel and change of scene,
they would tactfully suggest to their rich patients
the wisdom of dispensing with their chefs and
chauffeurs, and of getting back to simpler modes
of life.
Wealth, finally, tends to affect adversely the
character of the rich and to cause them much suf-
fering by affecting adversely their childrens char
acter.
When a child is brought up in a wealthy
home it really is difficult for that child to escape
being spoiled.
Having servants to do everything, the child is
late In learning to do anything for himself. This
makes him deficient in initiative and sef-reliance.
And, if only because servants jump around to
wait him, he is apt to grow up conceited selfish,
abnormaly selfcentered, Indifferent to the inter-
e<ts and feelings of anybody else
Wherefore 1t is difficult for him to get along
with other people. AS he becomes older he may
find it impossible to get along with the par
ents who have spoiled him.
Unable and unwilling to work, he may acquire
dissolute perhaps positively criminal, habits. Our
jais and asylums hold many persons who would
never have been there had they not been children
of wealthy parents.
Can the parents of these unfortunates be hap
nv? Must they not be tormented in mind, even
Hetty Green tormented because of her fear Of
assassins?
Pray, indeed, to be preserved from poverty. But
also pray to be preserved from the burdens and
perils of wealth.
Copyright, 1917, by the Associated Newspapers.)