a joy in giving, a joy in the power to bestow one's wealth upon those
one loves, or as one pleases. Much of the existing wealth probably
never would have been created if men had not had this right. But there
is a limit to the working of this motive, and other motives often are
more effective. Many a man after gaining a competence continues to
work for love of wealth and power in his own lifetime, as the miser
continues to toil for love of gold. When men without families die
wealthy, when men not having the slightest interest in their nearest
relatives labor till their dying days to amass wealth, it is evident
that the right to bequeath property has little to do with their
efforts. Love of accumulation and love of power in these cases supply
the motives. A more limited liberty to dispose of property at death
might still suffice, therefore, to call out the greater part of the
efforts now made to accumulate property.

Sec. 4. #Effects of the right to inherit property#. That the effects upon
the receiver of the property are good is somewhat more doubtful. It is
true that children reared in families of large incomes would be great
sufferers if plunged into poverty at the death of their parents. There
is much social justification for permitting families to maintain
an accustomed standard of comfort. Few would deny that provision by
parents to provide education and opportunity for their children is
commendable and desirable. But the evil effects of waiting for dead
men's shoes are proverbial. Many a boy's greatest curse has been his
father's fortune. Many a man of native ability waits idly for fortune
to come and lets opportunities for self-help slip by unheeded. The
world often exclaims over the failure of the sons of noted men to
achieve great things, for, despite confusing evidence, men still
have faith in biologic heredity. A too easy fortune saps ambition and
relaxes energy; and thus rich men's sons, if not most carefully and
wisely trained, are often made paupers in spirit, while the self-made
fathers think their boys have better opportunities than they
themselves enjoyed. The greater social loss is not the dissipated
fortunes, but the ruined characters. Andrew Carnegie said that it
would be a good thing if every boy had to start in poverty and make
his own way. Cecil Rhodes recorded in his will his contempt for the
idle, expectant heir.

Sec. 5. #Broader social effects of inheritance#. Inheritance has good
effects for