Smyrna times., 1918-02-27
Fictitious
Plutocrat
(COpyright)
By TOM MASON

the less pronounced in the case of Ca
leb YellOwbOise because he chances
TO be a fictitious parsonage.
A fictitious person is much more like
ly to be true to himself and to be more
free in his movements than his cOun-
terpart in real life because the neces-
sity for his being on guard is never
paramount. l was saying something
ike this the other evening to Caleb
YellowbOise as we sat in one of his
palaces.
"And yet" he said "you must re-
member that, while in a sense your
statement is correct. at the same time
] must in my actions and in my
thoughts live up to the reality which
as a fictitious parsonage ] represent in
real life. In other words, the reality
Of my Righteousness depends wholly
upon my fidelity to my prototype"
"NIy dear Caleb" I said, laying my |
nand warningly on his arm, "yOu may |
not escape me with any such subtle |
S0phistry. You wish to conceal from |
me the hidden springs of your char |
acter, your weaknesses, your defects, |
by taking refuge behind the sincerity
of your Righteousness. You feel intui-
lively that | am here to criticize you,
to pick you to pieces, and you shrink
from the operation. You try to head
me off, therefore, by endeavOring to
convince me that you are in reality
real and must be governed by acaOns
|
member that if you were really real 1
would in all probability not be here to
cenSure you. but to beg Is it not
! pleasure for me once in my life to
| take the owner of a hundred millions
into his own private room, sit him
down in a chair and tell him what I
think Of himY
Anyone would think" said Caleb
YellOwbOisp, that you are actuated by
personal animOsity against me, as if
you considered me a reprObate or
something equally reprehensible."
"Admirable!" I exclaimed. "My dear
Caleb. your stimulation of reality is so
good that I am almost tempted to ask
you for loan if for nothing more than
to humOr your whim.''
1.-The fact is" said Caleb Yellow
boise, 81 am not as seem. I am one
of the most pnvied and one of the most
miserable of human creatures-envied
because of my possessions and miser-
able because of them"
"But, my dear fellow" I exclaimed.
"why should you let this incubus of
fortune oppress you? Why not ignore
It. overlook it, and go on your way
without thinking of it?"
"Ah." said Caleb sadly, 81 might
might if it were only that. But you
forgot that the very habit of thought
engendered by a lifetime of accumula-
ton cannot he shuff1ed off so easily. To
/ gain this end have made many sacri-
I fees, and now my nature, warped and
sulIen, refuses to respond to more es
thetic impulses"
at isn't your conscience, is it?"
suggested.
1 "NOr replied my friend decisively
81 can't say that my conscience figures
to any extent. l realized in the begin
ming that it was no quarter, and m!
conscience never came to the front t.
harass me. OF course there are time:
when perhaps 1 hear Of some poo
devil who has gone to the wall-whel
I happened to turn on the screws tina
I feel tinge Of regret, but the chance
are he would be squeezed anyway
After had made little got the tast
!. of blood. You see, my personal want
were few. l didn't care about picture
then or books or scenery or anythin
like that. I thought a good deal of m
wife, and 1 wanted to make her happy
but, above all, wanted power"
"And Of course you got it," salt
q "That's one of the things" he cOntil
ued. "that bother me. 1 can't make
nv mind now whether have any pOV
er or not. Sometimes I think l hav
and sometimes l think l haven't.
haven't created anything. I've hi
some fun, of course. It's fun to plf
any game and win, but begin to s.
now that the game isn't worth as big
candle as | thought it was. RailrOa
have been built in my name, iron fOu
j. dries started, libraries founded, and
forth. But if wanted railroad bu
I got an engineer to construct it, as
got architects to plan my buildings.
Il is true I furnished the capital for
y these things, but even this I did
make. 1 got 1t from the other fellow
In the meantime my wife and daui
ters have grown up without n
They've learned things I haven't h
time for. OF course I've had the eds
rubbed off, but man has to be cau9
pD young to learn proper appreciation
.uU some things. And as for my sons
"Stop!" cried. Enough" l ant
mated n positive enjoyment from
more thorough understanding of "
my character, but this-this is heartre
! y. ing"
The owner of a hundred milli'
ing sighed deeply. "YOu see how it is"
,