Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, July 4, 1915, Page 16

S e G An Interesting Study of a Un surer of domestic happiness is be- ing constantly demonstrated in the divorce courts. More marriages among the wealthy end 1n the divorce court, proportionateiy, than among the middle classes or the poor. In fashionsble society the proportion of divorces is as high, if not higher, than on the stage. The beautiful Elsle Whelen, of Phlla- delphia, married Robert Goelet, ‘“the richest bachelor in the world." Certainly every luxury must have been hers. They did not satisfy. It is whispered that her real reason for obtalning & divorce was that she grew tired of being “simply rich” She promptly masried Henry Clews, Jr, an amateur painter and writer, with an Intersst In everything artistic. ! Mre.. William Miller Graham, of Call- fornia, had a remarkable career. She was once a waitress and se married her husband when he was a pennliess pros- il he ‘scatired “.fiu.""" o of 0; until he a - 000,000 in Cdtm.h“‘l wells. Mrs., Miller Graham won & nt success in THE fact that great wealth is no - for the sake of her child, explained that there was Ketchum, & t / woman, who received M honorary de- {m of M. A. from Yale University in P s maly s s o ¢t 5 an of uoa.oa":' r. " He and his wife ocou iversal Human - lllusion---Some Remarkable Instances Where Wealth Brought Misery and Divorce--and Destroyed Happiness and Contentment gu two fine houses at 601 and 603 “The fascinating Mrs, Willian: Miiier ufi-‘%igfim 3'.3_3:.@ o Greham, of California, originally & weveral yi Blake waitress, starved for her husband while he was a penniless prospector, but'when he made $20,000,000 sha . asked for a divorce.” w ndent on them wllow as\a mat- ter of course. They become objects of envy, of flattery, of ob. 1llicit ways of acquiring wealth. The men who have made these accumulations, although in general by no means men of great mental gifts, have been praised as though they were. And, as has always happened, they have been offered a cup full of avery form of deference, amount- : e Omey ing to adulation; until, of late, the tide . a Mrs, Dor was 'l::ll‘?: lmv'no. bedtomo passedesd of has been turning toward equally un- Jead a life of luxury and Deckers entertained lavishly. Mr, Decker testified that he spent $35,000 en- tertaining his wife's friends during the t three years of their married life. , however, the Deckers do- mestic happiness was short lived. A bare three fier the marriage finds Mrs. m back on the stage and their ing home life a thing of the past. 3 E Puere oy oo | the power to command “the services of their fel- lows, to -carry out their schemes, to defeat their en- emies, and to bind to them- selves at least a semblance of devoted friendship; or they may discover the more’ refined pleasures of bestowing largesse, of being the objects of praise and, at least, the semblance of gratitude, by sharing some of their stored goods reasonable distrust and hatred of all the wealthy, such as has been the fate of the very rich in all the ages. Let us call all this a psychological atmosphere; and since all classes, and especially all our young people, who have had neither the wisdom that comes from experience nor that which comes from expert observa- tion, are constantly breathing this atmos- phere, let us find in it the chief cause for the prevalence in America at the preseat time of “The Great Illusion.” But the deleptive influence of the with others. All these things are eneral persuasion that happiness ma: A few month after her return to profes- “The pleasant; they all seem chiefly de- :o! by .':umu wealth, upx'u many i..": slonal lite she sued for separation and a beautiful pendent upon the possession and ordinate forms. Sometimes it is chiefly month or two ago the decree was -4 use of wealth—and the more the the anticipation of the time when, heing granted. Elsie better. rich, one shall be able to gratify all one’s Cases of this aam.r are Mllin. con- M All modern lu:nllfleeddllmvoflel. appetites. One who is tired of black revealed. y & month passes in the growing knowledge of how bread and t A ey gt vy g 0 of read and meat once a week, will surely, in Mst. Why is it? l‘?u of Au.fin most distingulshed m losophers, Profes- 'l'nlb-md. here u'hl.n'- E.. reasons why wealth does not haveiness. Philadelphia, who married ‘the richest bachelor inthe world’ could not live happily with him, because she grew tirea of being ‘simply rich.'” The lllusion That Wealth Brings Happiness Explained Bs Prof. %’0 Trumbult Emeritus Professor of Philosophy | : Yale University, T " m the judgments upon human the acquiring, at least in the possession, do bring happiuess. ‘ indeed, from the conduct of the multl- tude in our own land end day one would almost seem forced to conclude that, in the judgment of all but the very few, to get money and so to control the things which money will buy is the only way to get happiness. Here, then, is “The Great Illusion.” % or fitfully and feverishly on, just as though they were firmly convinced that the experience of the race did mot: teil the ‘truth; or that they could somehow make themselves exceptions to'the uni- versal law. There must be something in buman nature, and in its environment, to’ aocount for such self-contradictory and irrational behavior as this attitude of the muititude of men toward great wealth seems to indicate. é The reason is this: Incomparably above all the other animals stands man in the variety and unlimited character of his within the circle of the same recurring ‘wants. But with maw the case is not so. He is built so that he can never be satisfied— fully and forever—with what he has and ‘what he is. And here is the source of his rise toward more and more of divine excellence, or the cause of his falling into the devil's own trap. If he chooses for his pursult, as the really good -thing, riches and all that riches can buy, he will never get out of that trap, until he learns the leason of its fllusion; he will be more hopelessly caught, the more he fattens on the bait. And even if he chooseg the real goods of life, the things that make maye than wealth can, for human happi- ness, ks must cultivate other virtues than right desire and noble ambition, in order to secure a fair measure of happiness. to increase in magnitude and mul- tiply in varlety the advantages which = wealth can secure, have operated to emlarge the monstrosity of the great illusion; so that it sometimes seems as though the sdges were all dead, the teachers of morals and religion all asleep; or had themselves all fallen mto the trap of the great illusion. But the voice of those who have “tried it on,” and their sad ex- perience, if not their sad confession, and the secret judgment of the few remain- ing wise with the wisdom of Solon and of Jesus, still persists’ in assuring us that riches do not, and cannot, secure hlgphfll. ut let us now give somewhat more particular attention to our own present condition as vigwed in the light of psychology and of history. y is America so completely, it would appear, under the influence of the great {llusion? In the first place, all our economical and material development has favored the overestimate of the value of riches to & “most monstrous degree. Sturdy, vigorous, be happy i he can have meat every day, and plum-pudding on Sunday. Perhaps the man thinks he will enjoy champagne more than beer; or, mayhap, the actress or the danseuse more than the wife whe married him when he was a common laborer, and she herself a washer-woman or a bar-maid. The wife thinks if she could only wear such dresses as are worn by the wife of her husband's employer, or could get accepted by thesoclal circle in which the lady moves, she should be much the happl Of all such thoughts, disappoiutment {s pretty sure to be the ultimate result. And it would be much worse for man or woman if it were not so. Or, in most cases, we will belleve that the ambitions rise to a higher level than this. The man wants to have power, or to be successful. But the happiness that comes to oneself, and through vneself to others, in all these ways, is neither de- mdoll on wealth nor secured in secur- wealth. One may have it without| riches, and one is not sure of it with any| amount of riches. And the same thing: is true of every one of the indispensable | But let us turn mom ambitions races have been put in com- conditions of happiness. you that thel: riches have not brought. needs and of his ambitions. le has an h M ':udy uhu;::‘m :“'vou:: trol of incalculable material resources for What are those conditions of happiness them to the they expected from ever-needy, everrestless, ever-aspiring and the development of the great lliysion thelr rapld development. The Govern- which it is quite beyond the power of them; are not at all so soul, Give the most intelligent and am- fn, its more modern wand mumumvmgwm wealth to afford but that may be had in' happy a8 they were when they were Poor. mu-mmnmnanom form. Those who are most than successtully opposed suflicient and, indeed, in measure And those are mot yet ready to make not begin to where the nest meal Wost {greseeing, most t, most self. being I‘;{W appropriated, or stolen . without wealth? They are chiefly these confession, or are still too proud to make is to come from, or wheiher he may nat estrained, are sure in the long run to duite t, by crafty and unscrupulous three: Appreciation, tment, resig- it, show plainly by their condact in some day take a more luxuriony cue of Acouire in store the greatest accymu- 'ndividuals or corporations. nation. But the art otmh»vh not reality the cause Is little, if all, of a sliver platter or & suld plaic. For lations of material good. Other benefits Our development of our inheritance our the: different with them, Yet the multitudes of the mp:"éw; the thme he is satiefice; aud the satlluc- tions are going always to be confined than those of having a supply for own wants and the wants of those Copyright, 1815 Ly the Stak Company. Great Britain Rights Reserved -~ thing toward & plaining “The X | Dluston " e Great -~