NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13782, 22 June 1908, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

THE MISUSE OF WEALTH. "Me. Roosivxt play? an exceptional and a very ustful part in the formation of public opiniin." writes the Spectator. " The singular frankness which characterises some of his speeches could hardly bo shown in afy position hot that which he actually hdds. A king necessarily speaks with uscrve upon almost/every question that comes before him/ Mr. Roosevelt's latest message to Co/gress is the most onlsjoken even of th/ remarkable series to; which it belongs. The subject is one.that ho tuts often handled t| ie misuse o' wealth by that small section of the conmnnity which possesses it in exceptional imounts. The. special form of this misuse against which bis attack is directed is, of course, his old enemy the Trusts. The President sees clearly .that the " Usteless and extravagant luxury' wind: is sometimes associated with great riches can give no real pleasure to anyone. A man who is able to "ratify every fancy that occurs to him inevitably finis that the process yields enjoyment so long as it is new. but no longer. Th« multiplication /of pleasures becomes in the end a fight against the depressing Influences of custom, and in this contest custom always wins. The one joy which remains to the end is that which com k from the use of power and the control! of men. A gigantic Trust. is ft machine; for riding (Iran every rival whom yon have not enlisted in your own enterprise, and in the sleepless watchfulness which the conduct of vast speculations demands there m a large store of intellectual enjoyment But it is enjoyment that of necessty belongs only to the few. Here and Here, no doubt, great business capacity is m hereditary quality, and the third generation is as eager to add to its possessions as the first was. to start collecting than But instances of this kind are raw. More commonly the undertaking by which the fortune was made no longer jives either employment or interest to tie descendants of those who made it. They are thrown back on the ' nominal pleasures' 1 which Mr. Roosevelt denounces as so undeserving of the name they' bar. This is the kind of wealth that ioes so much to encourage socialism. Geat wealth is almost always cosmopolitan in its origin, and there is no reason wjy it should be spent at home if the own* prefers to spend it abroad. Ii the rid' man dislikes the English climate or English habits, let. him live in the Rivie-a, or on the Italian lakes, or in Africa All that we would ask of him is that the neighbourhood he chooses should le the better for his preference. If this is too much to expect, if he cannot endure being obliged to live for any length of line in one place, let him become a beneficent, wanderer, and, in really line buildings, in well-endowed hospitals, or othei charities, in the prompt execution of jublic works for which the State cannotat present find money, leave evidences of his passage which shall endure in the recollection of his momentary neighbours long after it has faded from his own. Vhether Mr. Roosevelt's sermon will nake any converts we do not know; but it is so far like other and more, commonplace sermons that, if it were but translated into action, those whom it had influenced would be the first to recognise how much they had gained by laying it to heart.''