Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-10-01
AMERICAN KINGS.
Difference Between New and Old
World hutocrats.
PACIFIC COAST PRINCES
European hOnarchs but Pigmies Compared
With 0urS-Americans Who Can
Buy Up Royal Rulers
Startling Figures.

When We speak Of certain men as
money kings or railroad kings, says
Chicago paper, the expression sounds
like figure of speech. This is repub-
lie. We are all equal. Such athing as
a king in this country is an absurdity.
Yet the name is all that is wanting.
There are men in this country who
have every attribute of a king except
the name. Like kings, they derive
their revenues from taxes on he people.
Like kings, they control legislation.
Like kings, they are masters of the will
and of the work Of tens of thousands of
their fellOw.men. There is
King Vanderbilt, IL.
Nobody knows exactly how rich he is,
because unlike other kings, he does not
allow his subjects to scrutinize his civil
list. But he is very rich and powerful
king. His fortune is estimated at $780,
OCO,UOO. In the years when he only
| builds palaces and buys paintings and
does not buy nickel-plate roads, his
| yearly civil list ranges from fourteen to
| twenty millions of dollars. He buys
fifty millions OffOur per cents at a single
| investment. He controls over six
| thousand miles of railroads.
| Then their is
| King GOuldI.
the founder of the dynasty of the Wa
! bssh line. He is not as rich as King
Vanderbilt, but he is much ADLER and
more powerful. He has large king
| dom called the southwest system, which
other kings have attempted to invade,
| with fatal result to themselves. He
| also controls the forces OF electricity
| and Of the telegraph over the whole
| country, His title are numerous and
| imposing, such a. king of Wabash,
| prince of Erie, great mOgul of Western
| Union and great duke of CuiOn Pacific.
| He is Lot a poor monarch. AT one
| time, when his subjects in part of his
| dOminiOns called The Street" were
alarmed lest he might be falling into
poverty, he treasured them by showing
| a committee some fifty odd millions of
| securities that he kept ii ii with a string.
| But three Ui the
EOur Bonanza Kings
Mackay, Fair and StandfOrd-rule over
BOnauZaland, and threaten to invade
the great money kingdom of Wall
street.
We have more kings AMI more kinds
OF lIngs than all Europe put together.
Vanderbilt is a fine type OF monarch
retired from business" The AStOr
| dynasty controls revenue that would
make an average European pOtentate
turn green with envy. 1t takes loss
| of s., 0OO, 900 10 break one OF our lard
kings. Our grain kings make million
dollars every time they turn a corner.
| The standard of king Rockefeller is the
| Standard Oil Company. the civil list OF
| his kingdom amounted to some ST.
600, 900 during the past ten years.
What are the pigmy monarchs OF
! Europe compared with these kings OF
! ours? The Gar of Russia is supposed
10 have an income of SlO,000,OOO, but
| ne has to spend it in lot of court rub.
| bish, whether he wants to or not. He
| comes the nearest to being
An American King,
but none of the other pOtentates come
near him. His cousin Of Austro Hun
| ., nv has S4,65O,OOO per annum, which
is only about the dividend on S5O,OOO,-
OuO of New York Central. These are
| the rich mOnarchs outside OF America.
| Queen Victoria has only 1885, 900 plus
some G4O, 900 from the Duchy Of Ian
caster and her savings. But she has
the control of only part of this. The
law leaves her free to spend only the
priyy purse allowance of G6O,OOO, the
surplus, some G4O,OO0, and the reve-
nues Ofthe Duchy of Lancaster-in all
say 100000.
As for the kings of Europe, they
would not be considered rich enough to
! 90 into our best society. The king OF
| Denmark has married his daughters OF
! very well, but he il not allowed to take
more than S2T5,OO0 of his subjects
money. He could not afford a S25O, OO
Yacht. The king of Greece-he's real
! king, TOBIAS Culy S26O,OOO, and he
! DOESN'T make all this out of his subjects.
The guaranteeing powers pay him $780,
coo a wear to keep him from bleeding
| the common people Of Greece too heaV-
lily. Some of
The Big Kings
| have very small incomes. The king OF
! SaxOny has three quarters OF million;
| the great emperor of Germany draws
his pay as king Of Prussia, and has only
| a million and quarter; the King OF
Sweden and Moray, who Is double
barreled monarch so to speak-slttlng
on two thrones-%nly gets halls mill
lion out of both lis subject countries.
When our Amer can kings think OF
the beggarly po, erty of these royal
cousins of theirs, 1t must make then
feel as if they Dug St to do something for
them-make fresh issue OF stock, en-
force a dividend, Or something of the
kind-to keep theswolf from the palace
door.
We are sometiaees lost in wonder at
the exactions Of 2nr American kings,
but they have bet!n at their trade only
twenty years. they have certainy
done well for so short time IL IS
alarming to think what the result VIII