Use Of Great Wealth

A Washington correspondent of The Chicago Beratd wrltcs: Russell Sago lias been here Uils weck swapplng reminiscenses wlth tli olher Congressmen of thlrty years ago who helped malte N. P. Banks Speaker of the House. Snge was only thlrty when lie cm to Congrew, but lic dld onc thing well- hj rescucd Mount Vernon from decay In prlvati hands and organized the scbeme for !U purchnse and renovatlou. Since tbat good deed lie bas wrestled wlth the bulls and bears In Wall Street and hns pllcd up sheckels. He la, probably, wortb $50,000,000; at any rate, Jaj Gould bas so declarad, publlcly. Mr. Sage was asked . what fun therj was In maklug mouey - more thau he could use. "Merely the pleasure of suceessful competltion," he sald. "Just tbe same pleasure that a boy exueriences In running faster and cllmbliig lifgber than bis mates. There are otber ways of surpasslng that I ehoiild think would give even more of thls sort of giatiflcatlon- bclng the treatcst poet or the greatest artlsl or the groatest Inventor or the greatest scientifio authority." "Then thcre is no picasure In the mere poBesslon of mouey!" "Wbat do you mean by the 'mere possesslon?' " be replied. "Winning the money and lteeplng It when all the rest of the fellows are trylng to get It Is just the successful competítion I was spcaklng of. Money In itself bat no power of conferrlng pleasure, of course, any more than so much mud. It Is the knowlcdge of wbat money will do that glves plea ure." "Are you rich enougb, Mr. Sage?" "Am 1 1 Whv, yes. I bave a great deal more money than Ineed anddon't really want any more." "Wuy dou't you go out of business, then?" "Because there Is nothinir else that I want todo. I dou't care about borse-racing or yachting. I don't want to travd. New York I llke better than Paris and Broadway is good enougb for me. In fact, l'd rather stoy at 71 Broudway and guess on the prices of things tban any wbcre else Iu the world." "Wbat ure the pleasures of having money?" I one dav isked of Peter Cooper. "The probability it brlngs that you wlll not come to want," be said. "There Is no bapplncss in the mere accumulation of wcalth that I know of," he added, "except the chanca lt glves of servlug otuers. But the art of spendIng money bo tbat it will do good Is, I tblnk, the most difficult art In the world- more difflcult tlian paintlna a great picture. I triedfor twentr years lo bcnetit those around me br glving ihcm mouey as I thougbt they nedeil lt, and I suildenly found out that I bad set up a pauper factor; and was cbangiug iudustrlous families luto beggars. Then I stopped tliat melhod and built the Institute, and I really hope lome good will come from that. Tbe most pleasure muucv ever gave me to look at was the Í10 in gold that I saved Id 1808 out of the $25 wbk:b Burtis & Wooilnard pald me a year íor carnaje uiakinu'. I clotbed mvself somehow out of tlie n-malnlng $15, though ilolhcs and evervtbiw; cost more tben than now aud I hiived $10 each year, and lt sceined almost as if I was a rich man. Tbe mere posaessiou of millions has uever sluc given me so much pleasuie." Senator Statilord'was asued last week what were the p'.easures conferred by ealth "It is pieasitut to be rich," he fiankly ald, 'to feel that you are beyoud the reauh óf want and eau aciually lo something to relieve the wants of olbi-rs wheu you are certalu of the case; but tbe advuntaires of wealth ure erently overestimateu. I am not compuriug it with Daupensm. The nijlüiuialre is inllnltely better olí than the penniless; but so Is a man who is wortb $10,000 above his di-bts. I do not clcarly sue ihat a man who can buv auything that he faucies is anv betler ofl than the man who eau buy what he acluallv need. He eau gratify hls wblmseys to be süre; but there are ome positive disadvauiages; in the lirst place, the lile lie Was couipelled to lead in ordi.-r to accumuiate weulth ha probably preventeii tbat cultivation of tnste lor art, music and lettirs wbich are essen ilal to tbc hisbest enjoymeiit; and, iu tlie second plac, hls life Is an Incessaiu struirgle to keep what bc ha got aud to tigbt ofl tbe eompetltor who are i-ldtcblog for it. Noman cmi keep a fortune with Iiiin; it must be scattere.l ht-re anü ibere in business, and he must prutect lt at arm's length. Probaüly tbe average man worth $l(i,(i(XI enjo.sjust as much as tbe millionulre. For mj wlíe and I are worricd al-! most to death by beggars, most of tnem regular 'rouuders,' who sollcit, implore, entreat and demand tbat there be sent to tbem at once a cerlalu stlpulated sum of moiier. Tbere is no plcas'.ire in belng tbus lormcnted, and the man of moderate iuconie escupes lt" EHzabeth Thomp9on, the New York phllantbroplet, as once fouua drying her tears. "I bave bad a good crylng spell," she saul, "on iiuding out tliat all the moucv that I have glven away has never done any good. Tlie only value tbat wealtli bas to me Is the aMHty lt confers tor doiiifi good. Now, see this," ebe continued. "Of course a majority of ibese ueople have staredout of sight so tbat I don't linow wbctuer thev were beipedor harrned by tbc mouey I gave tbein. Jt Is probably a fortúnate clrcumstauce. Of those I do know about half Have been positively lnjured, and the otlicrhalf haveapparently not been affected in any way. Tbere's a man who died a drunkard probably because I gave hlm money almost w henever he came and told me a pltlful story. ïliere are wbole columus of people here wbom I liave paraKzed - deürived of self-reliauce, self-respect, euterprlse, and industry and made sycophanU and parasites. It malees me sick to tbink of tbe mischlef I have done wltb the money my husband left me - and be told me to do good wlth lt" Mrs. Thompson was in a morbld state of mimi, and, of course, underestlmated the real value of her benefactlons, but it is wcll known that a good deal of miscellaneous chaiity is worse tban useless. W. II. Vauderbilt always feit hls wealtb to bc a burden, and was always petulent because he had to cany it "I don't see wbat good it dors me - all this money that you say is mine," he was wont to say to his friends; "I con't eat lt; l can't spend it; in fact, I never s:iw it and liever bad it in my hands for a moment. Idrcss no botter than my private secretary, nnd caunot eat as inuch as my coachtnaii. I live in a big servan ts' boarding house, am botbercd to death by beggars, have dyspepsia, citnnot drink champagne, anl most of my money Is In the hauda of others, who use it uialnlv for their own benefit. There's that man over on that next corner who isu't wortu a hundiedth part as much as I am, but be enjovs more of llfe than I do. It lsn't half fair." Probably If the exact truth were known "muguates" do not really enjoy llfe much If any bctter than other people, and the constant care and protection of thelr property involves a good deal of anxlcty; but, as nobndy declines the Presidency of tbe United States wben oiïered by a majority of the el ectorlal college, so the man possesslng the strength of inlnd to refuse $1,000,000 for tbc purposc of avoiding worry has yet to be born