The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1888-06-23
RICH MEN AND THEIR RICHES.

4 what r BrookhaVcn Leader.
RICH MEN AND THEIR RICHES.
The reported illness Of JAY
! Gould naturally suggested the
questions, What would happen in
case of his death? What great
changes would be wrought in the
financial world, If any? What
would become of his vast wealth
Would his death be blessing to
the country or a misfortune
When one becomes so rich as Mr..
Gould he must necessarily be
speculated about when he gets
gets sick, a good deal as Il king or
other rulers or persons of enor-
nous influence are, and without
much show Of personal sympathy
sometimes.
Mr.. Gould is the richest in
divldual in America. at least he Is
commonly reckoned so, and one
of the richest, If not the richest,
in the world. -Four or five years
ago when there was a serious
question laised among New York
business men rs to his solvcncg he
exhibited to a sort of com mittee,
whom lie invited for the
the purpose, unIncumbered securi-
ties that were worth at the time
fully $50, 1000, 900. II was pro
bablv the largest display of actual
riches ever made at one time by
an individual in America. Wm.
II Vanderbilt was at that moment
worth more than $50, 900, ,000-
two or three times that much, in
fact-and so were the Astors, but
Mr.. Gould was worth . great
deal more than the amount le-
presented by the securities he ex-
hibitcd. He SIMPLY wanted to
give evidence that he was not en-
barrassed, aud $60,000,OU0 was
quite enough for that.
Whatever may be the exact
facts N the case, we doubt If the
death Of Mr.. Gould would affect
The country one iota further than
the natural interest that would he
taken in the death Of an enormous.
ly rich man. The time has passed
wber the death of any one man
can affect this country to any
serious extent. Looking at it
from the point of abstract truth,
the death Of Mr.. Gould would be
an advantage, inasmuch az i.
would result in at least a partial
distribution of his wealth. The
safety of the people in republic
like this hes IN the fact that men
never get too rich to die and that
great riches are not perpetualed
IN bulk, as they are IL England,
where the law Of primoeeniture
prevails. Eyely time a rich man
dies In America the monopoistic
charateI of his fortune is lessen
ed By the inevitable distribution
that follows. AS soon as w. II.
Vanderbilt died his estate was
divided up among his heirs. An
enormous fortune in bulk was cut
up into many parts-and a pro-
porlionately greater amount was
made available for the general
good of society. BY and by the
sons of Mr.. Vanderbilt will die.
They in turn Will leave their for
tunes to their children, and what
was once owned by one man will
ere long be divided up among fif-
teen or twenty or thirty,sand so
on.~ This process of distribution
is constantly 10 progress, aud
with each new possessor there is
created another chance of some of
the moneys being gwen away for
wise and benefcent public pur-
poses. Mr.. Gould is now the
owner Of say, $200,O00,OO0
were he to die this would, in all
probability, be divided up among
his wife and three OF four chill
dren, and thus its colossal bulk
would be broken and its danger
Gus character lessened. This
process will continue as long as
the country lasts, and vast for
tunes will be accumulated only to
be distributed, the public IN the
end being the recipient Of many
advantages.