WEALTH AND RESPONSIBILITY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIII, Issue 4, 5 January 1907, Page 13

WEALTH AND RESPONSIBILITY.

The American millionaire ia the absolutely irresponsible master of his own wealth. He possesses no great country mansion or estate, nor has he any hereditary position to support. The public opinion of his neighbours often demands of the English nobleman that ho shall maintain the great house in proper condition, and keep up a stute'-commensurate witn his social position. The palace, castle, or ntctnor house, with its parks and gardens, often bears an historical interest, and is not unfrequently more enjoyed by tlie public than by himself. If iio were seriously to curtail lv's expenditure he would be'aceueed of penuriousness, of selfishness-, of wani> of consideration for his poorer neighbours, and the loudest in denunciation, %could probably bo tbe ,tra^ei?man,^wjio, .ha-ying^for yeare de-

claimed in the local Radical Club against the extra-vagances of tho rich, had suddenly felt, through his pocket, inconveniences arising from the shrinkage in the length of the account annually placed by him for payment in the hands of thft great man's agent. There is no other country in the world where be much unpaid public work is undertaken and conscientiously carried outy by the rich and the educated and leisured classes as in England.- — Thonghts on Imperial and Social Subjects, by the Earl and the Countess of Meath.