The Daily News. MONDAY, AUGUST 13. MILLIONAIRES' MISERIES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8180, 13 August 1906, Page 2

The Daily News. MONDAY, AUGUST 13. MILLIONAIRES' MISERIES.

Avoid being a millionaire ! It is a profession that is harder to live up to than the profession of a pauper. Daniel Baird Wesson, the famous revolver Linker and millionaire, recently died from fright. The "Black Hand" Society tlueatenei him with death, and he died without their aid. He made Ins money by perfecting a weapon to kill other people, and he died—not by revolver, but of fright. The man is often happier than his master, and the possession of " three meals a day and a bed" is frequently a more enjoyable experience than three million pounds a year and a bed that one can't get any sleep in.

Casting your mind's eye back over the lives of millionaires you will find that from the days of Solomon, who held a rather heavy interest in the gold mines of Opliir, the lot of the much gilt person lias been a bed of roses with a thorn to each stitch of the silken sheets. Diamond King " Barney Barnato," committed suicide because he had a haunting dread that he would die poor. Cecil Rhodes, the Empire-maker, had always the dread of heart disease to mar his happiness. But the richest African millionaire was after all a most unhappy man who started at a shadow. Only recently Russell Sage, an American millionaire, died. It was stated that his tomb had to be guarded by soldiers to frustrate expected attempts at molestation. No one loves a millionaire unless one is financially interested in the millionaire's life. Lots of ppoplo want millionaires to die in order to find out if they are financially interested in his death.

Armour, the great Chicago canning king, didn't care who went into the lard vat (if Upton Sinclair's "Jungle" is to be believed), but he would have given millions for a son and heir—just a little frail scrap of humanity to leaven his gilt-edged life. And when the Creator took pity, a little girl was sent. She later bad hip disease, and the greatest " bloodless " surgeon was given the greatest fee medical man ever lifted to straighten the daughter who was the " apple " of the millionaire's eye. The fee would have made ten thousand meat workers happy, but the unbappiuess of ten thousand families is not greater than the unhappiness of the millionaire who has striven hard, and ruthlessly cast thou - isands to perdition in order to make millions tint cannot gratify one single natural instinct; cannnt infuse love or real charity into a flinty heart; cannot purchase the satisfaction that may be housed under a sweat-grimed siuglet or a thread-bare coat.

Rockefeller has countless millions. He can eat only baby food. He coitiols the great railroads of the United States—and has got to go and hide himself from the knife of the nssasin. He lias impoverished thousands of peoplp, aid lie has to get even by giving millions in the cause of educa-

tion, He devastates a whole country side to make a park which be is too ill t/ use himself, He tries hard to find enjoyment without success, Andrew Carnegie the Scottish-Ameri-can steel king - called out unauthorised ruffians who shot down Pittsburg strikers, whose crime wan that they wanted to live, wanted to be known as men, not as automatons. Andrew Carnegie is attempting to over bis sins by tlve broad cloak of charity—and advertisement. He says, "to di» rich is to die disgraced." lie didn't say what sort of disgrace it was to allow the people to die so that be might live rich. One millionaire shot another in the heart the other day. Millionaires, especially the second generation (who have their money ready made), have heaps of time for sin and other men's wives, They have time for the excesses that drive them insane. Who does not remem ber tho idiotic antics of that noble millionaire, the Marquis of Anglesey? He died on the threshold of manhood because he had money he hadn't made, to live a life ho couldn't stand ; a life so full of excesses that it bored him to death. I. Perdieardis, an American millionaire, was, together with his son-in-law, trapped by Kiisuli, n Moorish brigand. He was trapped and held to ransom because he was a millionaire.

The self-mide millionaire, in moss cases, is only tolerated because he ha money, lie is tolerated only by those who benefit by his acquaintance. And what about his son, who is, in scores of American instances, an empty-headed noodle, with no spur to ambition of any kind, no aim in life except to gratify every whim and caprice, no place in the economy of nature and no mourners when he dies except those who hope to benefit after the funeral. The sin of being a millionaire is a sin most ueople would be gu ; lty of if they only knew how to go about it, but the punishment of the sin isathing to beavoided. No millionaire becomes rich because of his own industry. He becomes rich by reaping the fruits of the industry of others. He does a shilling's worth of thinking and gets in return a pound's worth of human energy - somebody else's energy. He is more frequent in the " greatest democracy on airth, yes, sir!" than anywhere else, and he holds more souls in leading strings than ever feudal baron dreamt of. He fattens on the life blood of the democrats, and becomes an aristocrat whom the democrats kowtow to because he insists and holds the purse strings. *

* * * tin hits not yot invaded New Zealand not because New Zealand lias prohibited him, but because tlie comparative smallness. of things prohibits the propagation of the species. Australia has had a few samples —hardy, mean old pioneers who drank out of a pannikin ; lived nn damper and stacked every sovereign on its edge. The sons of the hardy, moan old pioneers are the aristocracy of Pott's Point, Sydney. They would scorn to work. They are of the second generation. They expect people of their fathers' rank to clean their boots. Very bad for a young country. Is there any method of preventing people becoming rich and miserable and making other people poor and miserable? Not at present. Somo day a man will be brought before the Murt, not only because be may have " no visible means of support," but because the mems of support are very visible and lie has done wrong to mako them. In fact, some day it 13 to bo hoped there will be no drones and no millionaires; no Armours or Angleseys; no Beets, no Darnatos, 110 Oarnegies, no Jay Goulds or Wessens or ltliodes; no people who have become rich merely by indicting poverty on others. Ami some d;.y—the milleidum!