Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-03-22
TIE WEALTH OF NEW ToRz


It is impossible not to be struck by the
great wealth and luxury displayed both in
Its public and private buildings. It has
been commonplace to speak Of the growth
Of luxury in the Old World. and OF the in
creasing separation between the rich and
poor 1t is often said that the rich are
getting richer and the poor are getting
poorer. l have always doubted the fact.
The increase of wealth IN recent years in
England and in Europe generally has been
manly, believe, an increase in the num-
ber OF moderate incomes and an increase IN
the wages of labor. But If the common
saying is at all true ans where, should say
that the appearances Of it are most
conspicuous in such q city as New York.
Costly and ostentatious houses are far
Eore common than in london. Shops for
| the sale of luxuries are on an enormous
scale. doubt if there exists anywhere in
| London or in any capital of the Old World,
such an establishment as that of Tiffany,
in New York, for the sale of jewelry and
other articles of great cost. 1t is an estab-
| lishment, too, it must be added, not more
remarkable for its enormous extent than
for the admirable taste Of its designs.
Other stores" ON q similar scale. for the
sale of women's attire, indicate the scale
on which luxurious expenditure prevails
among the richer classes Of America. And
| it must be so. The growing wealth of
| America is founded on the secure posses-
sion OF every element which can Yield
boundless returns, not only to industry,
! but, above all, to capital shrewdly used.
In the Old World those who gain great
profits are accustomed to look to the fu-
ture, and not to think only of the present.
| They seek investments which viii be a
| permanent record of their success, and be
a lasting influence in the society to which
they belong. They buy an estate, they
build cottages, they drain and reclaim
| land. In the New World this incentive
to saving does not exist. Fortunes are
expended as rapidly as they are made. A
| few individuals of great public spirit
found or endow public institutions, or be-
come muniticent supporters of scientific
research. But such persons are. and al
ways must be, very small minority The
tendency OF things is to lavish expenditure
| and to luxurious living. l am not now
arguing as to which OF the two systems
is the better. One great moralist of the
last century has said in a celebrated
passage that whatever makes the past,
the distant, or the future predominant over
the present advances us in the dignity of
thinking beings" But many political
philosophers do not accept this doctrine,
and are jealous of the wealth or of tb dis
tinctions which may be gained by individu-
ais in one generation surviving in another.
| Whether this jealousy be good or bad, it is
certain that laws or customs which are in
spired by it tend to the quicker dissipation
rather than to the more equal distribu-
ton of wealth. New York has all the
] appearance of beng one of tile most
luxurious cities in the world, while the
discomfort of the working classes is often
propitiated. if | may believe the gen.
eral constnsion of my American frenls,
by tolerating heavy taxation which
these classes impose, but to which they
do not contribute, and by an expenditure
| of the funds SO raised In a manner which
is generally extravagant and very often
corrupt Duke of Argyll, in Fraser's
Magazine.
I