The Worries of the Rich.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 37, 11 September 1902, Page 18

The Worries of the Rich.

The demise of Mr Mackay haa set one of oar exchanges moralising on the small amount of happiness which falls to the lot of many millionaires. There are worldly things which even wealth cannot purchase. Contentment and health are very necessary to happiness, yet these are often beyond the power of the millionaire. In many oases, too, the accumulation of riches brings great anxieties in its train. It is said that Mr Jay Gould was killed by overwork. Such men, with increasing and exacting burdens, very often make no allowance for the flight of time. They think they are as well fitted at 60 or 70 to carry staggering loads as at 20 or 30. A little reflection (says our contemporary) would show them such a condition is impossible. Even if [proven, they would not abide by the conviction. Money-getting and money-holding are the consuming passions. The other pleasures are set aside for these all-absorbing ones. To be the richest man, or to be included with the wealthiest of the universe, is the ambition before which every noble aspiration must be sacrificed. Thousands find this the mainspring of existence. Initead of enjoying their wealth in a philosophical way they become its Blave, and thereby evolve only the meaner traits of human kind.

Mr Jay Gould used to say that he would give millions of dollars to the man who would take his place in his vast railroad system, but no such personage could be found. He wanted* the freedom and pleasure his riches entitled him to, but they were beyond his reach and he went to a premature grave overburdened and worried by his insupportable load. John W. Mackay, while riding in France, envied the dweller in the ivy-covered cottage, happy in the cultivation of his green acres. When the hot spell overtook him in London he oould not afford to relax his efforts, for vast enterprises hinged upon his labor. The man with a modest inoome could find refuge from the heat in the English capital but the Californian

with vast possessions oould not. The laborer whose pay for a day ' was less than that of a second of Mr Mackay's time oonld afford to keep in the shade, but the oable, bank and mining king oould not. Great riches very generally orush out the lives of those who command them. Wealth carries responsibilities and worries out of all proportion to its benefits and a man is not wise to allow life to be ornshed out of him in the vain endeavor to over-reach his wealthier neighbor.