The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-02-02

Rapid Trsasit-rAs Meeting ~ the
chsnbss OF Conmsrcs.
The meeting yesterday at the rooms Of the
Chamber Of Commerce was respectable in
numbers, character and public ZEAL but was
of more value for the possibilities it suggests
than for the actual results it accomplished.
The idea OF raising by private subscriptions
large fund to be offered As q bonus to .
responsible company, which will build q rapid
transit road on route and plan to be ap-
proved by majority of the subscribers, is
excellent in ITSELF but tho expectation that an
adequate fund can be made up by petty
subscriptions Of one thousand dollars each is
one Of those seductive illusions into which
sanguine men are apt TO fall when kindled to
enthusiasm for some great object without
coolly weighing the suAaciency and adaptation
of the means for it's accomplishment We
heartily approve Of the meeting. Of
the deep interest in the apid transit
question which it betokens, Of it,
plan Of stimulating the movement BY
volunteer efforts, and even Of it, thousand
dollar subscriptions Every citizen who on
cages to give that sum enlists in the cause,
gives pledge of his sincerity, and binds him
self to act as a missionary in propagating and
diAusing public interest in the question II
the effort is we'll managed it is possible that
q million dollars may be raised in this man
ner. but million is such . bagatelle to the
heavy cost of tho enterprise that 1t is neces-
sary to look to other sources for fund ade-
quate to the occasion. The plan starts from
an excellent idea, but it needs to be carried
out by different method and on Q larger
scale 1t may be we'll to raise million by
thousand subscriptions of thousand dollars
each; but there are wealthy, public spirited
men in the city who could contribute million
each without inconvenience If so inclined,
and the success Of q volunteer movement de-
ponds on the possibility Of securing hand
some subscriptions from our great million
naires.
It is the pride and distinction Of our country
that the possessors Of great fortunes, acquired
by enterprise and business sagacity, do not
incline to make purely selfish disposition of
their wealth. Many of them leave muniAcent
requests to public institutions in their wills,
and many exercise higher form of generosity
by splendid donations for public or charitable
uses in their lifetime while they can be per-
sonal witnesses of the good they do and have
the satisfaction of seeing the institutions
which are planted BY their aid and watered by
their munifcence grow up and flourish under
their fostering care. This species of gene
rosity in which the rich men of our country
excel all others is partly due to the nature of
our institutions. In this country estates can
not be entailed, orders Of nobility have no
place, wealth cannot be employed to support
the dignity of title, and ambition
to build up q family TO take rank
with hereditary aristocracy is motive never
felt by republican citizens, whose energy and
ability raise them to afiuence. We doubtless,
have our share Of men who cherish sordid
love Of property for its own sake, and hold on
to it with the firm grip Of avarice but we
have Also large proportion who prize wealth
chiefly a. badge Of success and title to dis
tinction. The consideration it gives them in
the community is the principal source Of the
Satisfaction winch they derive from the pos
lished their claim to stand in the highest
rank Of successful men of business they have
filed the measure of that kind Of ambition.
Instead of aspiring, as such men do in
England, to gain admittance into the
charmed circle Of the titled aristoc-
racy, and to found families which pri-
mogeniture and entails would perpetuate,
they apply q portion Of their wealth to OBJ
jects of public beneAcence. The tendency Of
our institutions to. divert property into such
channels is illustrated by many instances in
this city, The most successful of our mer-
chants, Mr.. Stewart, besides his benefactions
to seminaries of learning, has built new town
in the suburbs to furnish cheap and pleasant
homes for people in moderate circumstances,
and has erected spacious and beautiful
building ON Fourth avenue, where toiling
women will be able to live in decency and
comfort without exhausting their slender
means. Mr.. Aston has founded great
library and maintains it for the free use of
the public; Mr.. Cooper has founded a similar
institution for the benefit of the laboring
classes, as Mr.. Astor's is for the benefit of
scholars and men of culture. Mr.. An
derson has made q noble gift to
promote q favorite object of the late
Professor Agassiz in providing cheap in
struction in the natural sciences. These
instances illustrate the disinterested liberality
of our New York millionnaires and reflect honor
upon the class to which they belong With
such men among us, and in view of the ex-
amples which some of them have already set,
may we not hope that they will be induced to
pour the abundant streams of their gener-
osity into new channel, and confer upon
the city in which they have acquired their
wealth benefit which will reach thousands
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