Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-02-18

rF you had a million of your own,
a million real American dollars.
- would you work?
Would you don a pair OF overalls, go
into a factory perhaps, or drive a To-
connective, or do a thousand and one I'M
pleasant things just so you could learn
to become a useful part of society?
Or would you be a drone, if some
one dropped a million or more into
your palm?
Probably you would work, just like
day, like they have done in the past,
at least the worth while ones.
They could ride\around in automo-
biles all their own. They could wear
expensive clothing and have lots of it.
They could live the care-free lives of
social butterflies if they pleased: but
read on, and learn of these men, heirs
to millions, who have preferred to pre-
pare themselves for future usefulness
and the trusteeship Of wealth.
Some have won the same fame their
fathers had. Others are on the way,
but one thing certain, they are break
ing down the old statement Of Andrew
Carnegie, who once said:
In no country is it so true that
there are but three generations be-
tween shirtsleeves and shirtsleeves.
We rave no laws Of primogeniture to
keep the fortune in the family name
COMPUTING Carnegie.
Briefly, Carnegie meant that two
generations of spendthrifts follow in
the path Of their sire, but famous
wealth-builders from the days of Com
modore Vanderbilt have been striving
to fit their sons to carry On.
And the sons catching and keeping
that spirit of Americanism which has
made this nation the greatest in the
world, have applied themselves, are
applying themselves, to. develop the
wealth and resources of the nation, to
do good, to provide employment for the
countless thousands who depend upon
their daily toll for the bread they eat.
William Averill Hartman, in a re-
cent magazine article, said:
"It is as indefensible for a man who
has capital not to apply himself dill
gently to using it in a way that will be
Of nos benefit for the country, as 1t is
for the laborer to refuse to work, or
for a revolutionary to resort to bombs
in this country. Idle capital or CAPT
tai misapplied is as destructive eco
T nomically as the conduct of the loafng
workman Or the bomb-thrower. It is
the duty Of everyone, rich or poor, 10
work."
The sons of rich men of latter years
have realized it. Their records prove
it and many an heir to millions is to-
day going in with the whistle and com
ing out at dusk, e~ndeavoring to learn
the why's and the hows of industry.
Only . few weeks ego a young scior
OF an old Philadelphia family, Carter
L. Leidy, heir to a fortune. and his
wife, Fiji Widener, heir to the Widenel
millions, established themselves in f:
little out-of-the-way hamlet, where tn,
young groom files through . gate to
shop each day, eager to learn the in
! hicate details of 4 manufacture. HI
has the determination to make goo
and live down the handicap tina
wealth has thrown in his path.
Quite q Bunch OF Them.
ALI through the late history Of tn
{ Goulds, the Astors. the vanderbilts, th
Morkans and dozens Of other familie
Of fabulous wealth. r standing. GU
the names Of young men who ar
climbing the ladder, by sheer force. el
lowing their way to the top with er
Sess quantities Of applied diligence.
Young Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr., re