Page:The fallacy of danger from great wealth.djvu/17

Rh indefinitely. A talent of money buried in the earth or hidden in a napkin never produced ten other talents or even one.

Saving means sacrifice of a present for a future gain,—always has and always will. The savage is not always willing to make it; but civilized man knows how, and ought to make it. Envy of those who have made this sacrifice and succeeded in accumulating wealth is not becoming to a brave man.

If wealth is dangerous, how much is dangerous? Is a million dollars? May not a million dollars be wasted as readily as a hundred millions? How many cases have occurred in our day of great wealth misused? We already have some laws against the misuse of wealth,—our guardianship laws. More laws could be enacted along that line if necessary, and thus fully protect every one without diminishing the motive to save and invest, which is so necessary for the welfare of society.

One would think, to read some things that have been written or said about the wealth of the rich, that they had their wealth in money on deposit in banks or perhaps locked up in their own safes; and that they were constantly adding to their "pile" thus locked up; and