Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-05-15
MEMPHIS APPEAL
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1871 1873.


THE UNCERTAINTY OF WEALTH.
Those who are dragging this country into
the abyss Of communism talk as if there was
an impossible gulf between the rich and
poor-something in our institutions which
prevents the poor from becoming rich, or the
rich from becoming poor. This is the argu-
ment of men whose idleness and poverty can
generally be traced to their own misconduct
or misfortunes. To show that all the ave-
nues to wealth are open to the thrifty and
industrious citizen, we have only to refer to the
uncertainty of wealth. 1t is as transitory as
q dream. During the war Goldfish arstocracy
sprouted from many poor mans howell. Poor
men become the leaders of shoddy society.
Even since, here in the south, property has
changed. Families, formerly rich and living
in luxury, are now beggars. In our midst
there are men who, ten years ago, were as
poor as the communists of the present day,
but by honest industry have become rich. The
Richmond States shows that the millionaires
of Boston, New York, and other cities Of the
north, are fast dwindling do Sn to men of very
small fortunes. The shrinkage of real estate
and other property with fictitious value upon
their debts piled up, has left them with very
little but these debts, and nothing to meet
them. 1t is the old story over again. The
wealthy of one decade are the poor of the
next. We once saw an estimate that of all
the men in New York who on certain year
stood highest in wealth, but six died with
sufficient to bury them respectfully. Before
Nl,a a 0f
thousand dollars was considered wealthy and
called a millionaire. But during the FIVE
years that followed the war, when money
and property were inflated, and debts were
piled up mountain high, no man who did not
possess at least one or two millions was
deemed in good circumstances, while the
money kings were credited with fabulous for
tunes, reaching Rothschildean proportions.
All this is past now, however, and the shrink
age is bringing the millionaire down to "hard
PAN" Daniel Drew turned out bankrupt;
A T. Stewart, Cornelius Vanderbilt and
James Gordon Bennett died, their prop
erty has passed into other hands,
and is in a fair way of being scattered abroad
again and distributed among the people. 1t
is safe to say that the shrinkage as it is
called, has brought down their estates to less
than one-fourth their estimated value in the
hight of imitation. And so it has been with
all, until now many of them find that they
cannot pay their debts, the property not
bringing enough under forced sale for that
purpose, and many of the millionaires are
worth less than nothing. Last week a Bos-
ton man, worth in his best days between six
and seven million, was forced into bankrupt
cy, and his assets, if he be not more for
tunate than bankrupts usually are,
will not be more than sufficient, we suppose,
to pay the expenses of the proceedings. This
man is one of those who suffer by the bank
rupt act, which is now in course of repeal
His creditors have forced him In, and he has
no alternative but a surrender of his proper
ty, and ruin. He might have recovered in
years, through the enhancement of his prop
erty again, but they would not
give "the old man a chance" So
we see the bankrupt law cuts both ways.
While it favors roguery in its voluntary fea-
lures, it becomes a means of tyranny and OPP
preston when it forces good men who might
weather the adverse storms into bankruptcy,
and compels them to surrender every
thing to their creditors. But to
return-our wealth is fast shrinking
down to the little end of nothing, our mil
lionaires are rapidly disappearing from the
scene, property Is falling to its intrinsic value
if there is any such thing, and we are get.
ting pretty nearly on level again, through
a more equal distribution of wealth, and also
of-poverty. And now is the time to begin
again, and we think the evidences of the new
beginning are becoming visible every
day, and indicate, too, that we shall start
this time upon solid and enduring founda'
tiop