Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-03-03
An English Railway Croesus.

MIR. Brassey, great railroad contractor, who
| accumulated a fortune of forty millions Of dol
| lars in our currency, died recently in England
| The fortune bequeathed by him is probably, the
London Observer says, the largest which eveI
| passed the court of probate in London; for the
very few estates that exceed his in value are
| usually transferred by settlement. This fortune
is believed to have exceeded seven millions ster.
| ling, the personally alone having been sworn
under six and Il half millions With the posi-
bic exception OF the Rothschild family, whose
| colossal wealth everybody talks about, while
nobody knows very much Of this was the
| largest amount of money ever accumulated by
| any one man in Europe, by industry and enter
PRISE during his own lifetime
The London Spectator says: "The railways Of
the world will, we believe, be assumed one day
| by the governments of the world; but suppose
a millionaire 10 have that capacity for leasing
| railway lines TO profit which Mr.. Brassey
had for making railways TO a profit, what
would be the limit Of his revenue? He might
be lessee OF half the lines on the globe, and make
year by yea all Mr.. BrasseY made in his life.
Why not? 1t is quite conceivable that man
like the marquis of Salisbury might have that
very faculty, and no rival could observe the
method and copy it, for he could not get the
capital or the public confidence, and as to the
lessee's unwillingness to extend his operations,
we despair of that kind of Limitation. Mr.. Bras
Sey would not have minded making all the rail
ways in the world at once"
The same journal adds these suggestive SEN
fences:
Estates will one day have to deal with these
colossal millionareS, and ne have great Gu
riosty TO know in what way they will try to do
It. Confiscalion would be too dangerous to So
ciety, besides being immoral, and the republics
Of Anglo-SaXon origin have as yet displayed no
disposition TO employ such means Politicians
in America dare most things, but nobody pro-
poses to confscate Mr.. Vanderbuilt's wealth,
and so relieve New York state of taxation for
five years. In England, owing to the absence
of peasant propriety, there is more danger OF
such suggestion, but in England it would be
resisted from the religious side. A law of com
pulsory division at death would not effect the
end desired, for the fortune OF which we speak
will he made by i"divdGals, and an inpOt pro
greSSg would only lead to the conceament OF
property abroad. A direct statutory limitation
on wealth-once favorl.e idea of the cottage
democrats, whose best representative is Goblet
is impossible for the same reason, and so is
another old device, the imposition of enormous
taxes upon SUGGESTIONS. The whole world must
agree 10 impose them to make them of any use
We suspect the only palliative will be the growth
OF an intense opinion in favor of pecuniary re-
spOnsiblity, OF feeling that it is infamous fol-
a rich man to do nothing for the community
That feeling exists already about every great
landlords, and it may perhaps be extended to
very great wealth Of all kinds, and prove as OPP
eratiye as we take it TO have been in ancient
Rome. Let it once become socially disgraceful
to do nothing Tor the state, and these colossal
fortunes will be utilized"