The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-05-06
The Retirement OF the Vanderbilts.

The Retirement OF the Vanderbilts.
Notwithstanding all that Is said to the
! contrary, tho public Is fairly entitled W ro-
gard the changes made last Friday In tho
organizations OF tho New York Central,
Michigan Central. and Lake Shore railroad
| companies ~ practically retirement OF
WILLIAM II. Vanderbilt and his sons from
| tho active management OF railroad affairs.
| While they nominally retain Office In tho
| great corporations which have so long been
| identified with their family name, they have
really surrendered the control OF them to
| other men, and there Is good reason for be-
| Lowing that they havo also parted with all but
| a small portion OF their stock. The father
several years ago publicly sold out most Of
what he held in the New York Central and
has probably done the same BY tho other
two companies. His sons, II IL most likely,
have followed his example, and thus the great
moneymaking machine which tho late Cor
NELIus VANDERBILT constructed with in
finite labor and cunning. has at last been
broken up and its parts scattered. Hereafter
the VANDERRILTs, like thousands Of less
conspicuous capitalists. will draw their in
comes from bonds and other investments for
which they need take no care.
Undoubtedly, there Is ground for suspect
ing that this withdrawal has been prompted
by reasoning not unlike that which Is popu-
larly attributed to tho rats on board OF an
trustworthy ship 1t will be said that the
recent construction OF parallel railroads and
their inevitable competition are sure to be
ruinous to the VANDERBILT lines. and that
therefore 1t is good thing to sell out OF
them at any sacrifice. But it does not
appear that the VANDERDILr5 have tho
means OF knowing any more on this
point than everybody else may know II
he takes the trouble to inquire, and opinions
are pretty evenly divided in regard to it. 1t
is possible that the railroads In question may
not prove SO profitable in the future as they
have been in the past, but that they will be
absolutely worthless, or any nearer to 1t than
their rivals, is highly improbable. There ID
no placing OF capital where it will be abso-
lutely unassailablc, and the risk may as well
DO run In old and well-known enterprises as
In those that are new and yet to be proved.
The vital significance OF this retirement OF
the VANDERBILTs, to our mind, lies in the
| illustration 1t affords OF the bencfcent
| natural laws limiting the accumulation OF
great wealth by individuals. Colossal for
tunes have, In all countries and in oil ages,
justly been regarded as dangerous to the
public welfare. Useful as capital Is as fur
nishing employment to workers, the power
1t carries with 1t Is not only liable to abuse,
but frequently iESabused. II the few men
who succeed in heaping up riches were able
and willing to continue the process to
the last day OF their lives at the same rate
at which they begin, they would
end by owning the world and reducing
their fellow men to slavery. Luckily,
this Is not the fact Every money -setter
ultimately reaches point beyond which he
goes on slowly, II at all. He can manage
just so much property and no more. From
an income OF twenty per cent. per annum on
his capital he comes down to ten, then seven,
then five, until, as we see in the case Of hold
ers Of Government bonds, he receives only
three. Instead OF his wealth rolling up like
n SNOWFALL it rather grows like a tree, more
and more slowly the older 1t is, until it
ceases to increase in bulk and begins to decay.
But besides this there Is a limit In human
nature itself to the active vitality Of avarice.
Men get tired OF making money us they get
tired OF other monotonous pursuits, and be-
gin to desire new forms OF enjoyment, cspe-
cially as the money already possessed fur
nishes the means Of obtaining such enjoy
ment. The everlasting wear and tear OF
business becomes irksomc even to tho
most successful and they are glad to stop
and take q rest. This, we opine, Is the
case with the VANDERBILTs especially the
father. They have income enough to crafty
all their tastes, which, We believe, are not
extravagant, and they purpose to enjoy
themselves In some other way than in run
ming railroads.
In confirmation OF this view is the ap-
parently we'll authenticated report that JAY
GOULD, too, Is about to retire from active
business and devote two years to travelling.
II Mr. GOULD, who Is popularity credited with
being the most Unsuitable OF rich men, can
thus abandon his hitherto profitable and IA
vorite employment, to take his pleasure, 1t is
reasonable to suppose that the VANDERBILTs,
who have been in tho business longer than
he has should also by this time have be-
come weary. They, as well as he, have got
more money than they can easily manage,
and they can we'll afford to give men OF
fewer millions a chance to become, like
them overburdened, and then, like them, 10
| retire.
| American Women.
Mrs. LANGTRY, 1t seems, finds fault with