Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-03-08
is MONEY DANGEROUS?
BY Frederic J. Haskin
xT ASHINGTON, March St is a help
w or a handicap in the pursuit of sue
cess and happiness to have wealth


tanned without any effort of your own?
Most of us would be glad to hazard the
handicaps and take the money, if any should
come our way. And yet the precise effect
which unearned money has on man is sub
iect much discussed and much differed about.
And there is certainly a widespread bel1ef
that much money is dangerous to a young
man, that his success and happiness are most
probable if he has to make his own. A sur
prisingly large number of people act upon
this belief. For instance, within the last few
weeks two such instances have come to the
attention of the public. In one Of these a
young man, Charles Garland, refused to &C
cept bequest of quarter of a million dol
lars. He gave no reason for his refusal, but
simply informed the trustees of the estate
that he was not interested in the money and
would not take it. In the other case, the will
of a multi-milliOnaire, Marshall Field, was
found to provide that his grandsons should
not have the full use of his estate until each
had reached the age of fifty years The Field
will specifically states that this action is
taken to prevent the heirs from leading use
less lives Of luxury and idleness."
Whatever GarIand's motive may have been
in refusing a fortune, Fields motive in tying
his up is thus plainly announced He be-
lieved that inherited wealth will make man
useless. And the diligent newspaper reader
might collect many other instances of rich
men who have sought to protect their heirs
from the dangers of wealth, and few others
Of men and women who have themselves run
away from wealth. Of course, the general
stampede is in the opposite direction, but
these instances are significant
The Ancient Question
Furthermore, the whole question is signifl-
cant because it brings up that ancient prob
lem as to whether environment or heredity
is the determining factor in mans destiny.
In other words, is it true, as we have gen
orally been taught in this country, that II
you just get good education and work hard
and mind your P's and Q's you can do almost
anything? Or, on the contrary, is it true that
your destiny depends largely on the kind OF
brain you were born with, and that you will
get the education and all the rest of the
things you need in spite of almost any handi-
cap of mere circumstances.
This question has been debated by the
millions of words, and yet it has never been
anywhere near settled. The reason seems to
has been little investigation. Our psycholo-
gists are just beginning to investigate such
practical and vital questions as this. We
may expect some real light on the question in
the next few years.
Alfred Russell Wallace, the friend and fol-
lower of Darwin, was one who firmly believed
that wealth was a curse to young man. and
that inheritance of wealth should be done
away with. Frank Harris is another man of
undOubted intelligence who is fond of MAX
ing the same assertion. But in both cases,
it is merely assertion backed up by little
theoriZing. Let some investigator gather all
possible instances of young men who have
inherited money, let him find out just what
each one accomplished, and trace as far as
possible what effect the money had on their
careers. Such a man would be worth listen
ing to, because he would have some evidence
as well as argument to offer.
Meantime, it is pretty clear that we believe
what hn1joVP I
think that we may achieve much if we only
get a good education and work hard-that
these factors are more important than he
redity 1t is also comforting for those of us
who have no money to believe that we have
thereby escaped curse, and are happier and
more successful than would have been if
we had inherited millions.
A Study of Royalty
The nearest thing to a scientific study of
the question which we can find is book by
Frederick Adams Woods on "Heredity and
Royalty" Mr.. Woods studied thu histories
of all the royal families in Europe with
view to discovering whether i'll these families
chosen because so much information about
them can be found-ability has been heredi-
tary or not. He also sets out to discover
whether these families have tended to degen-
crate by reason of their luxurious lives as
they are popularity believed to do. Here,
then, is real statistical study of the effect
of Inherited wealth on a great number of
men and Women-over 5000 are studied in
dividually.
Woods, who is a biologist first and his
tOrian only second, reaches the emphatic con-
clusion that in royal families wealth and
luxury have not tended to produce degenera-
ton. He proves, to his own satisfaction, that
when such families have shown a decline in
ability or power, it has always been due to
hereditary influences. Usually inbreeding is
not the cause, either The cause usually is
an unwise marriage. Some prince rarries
an obscure woman who is stupid common
place or unhealthy. The next generation
shows the effect of the bad cross Two or
three such marriages, and the blood of the
royal family, nearly always of excellent quail
ity to start with, is diluted with weaknesses
which ultimately lead to its downfall
Woods shows that some rova! families. like
that of Portugal for example have produced
men OF high capacity for much as twelve
generations without break. Then, due to
the introduction of inferior blood, this same
line IN few generations has literally gone to
pieces.
These conclusions of Woods seem to agree
with those Of modern scientists in general
Modern science believes that mans DESTINY
is largely determined by his natural endow-
ment. This endowment is largely inherited
from immediate forbears. That is The
chances are that you will be of about the
same capacity as your mother and father
More rarely, you may resemble a grand-rar-
emit Still more rarely, you may throw back
TO some ancient fOrbear, long forgotten Most
rarely OF ALL you may be that freak of nature
a genius. man of remarkable ability is
occasionally born of COMMONPLACE parents
But SUCH instances are much more rare than
is generally believed.
whether you have none" or not, is really
M n nTfo