Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-12-13
Who Owns the United States.

LII spite of the rapid increase ill the num-
Der of millionaireS i'll the United States in
recent years, the popular notion is that
wealth is yet very much more evenly dis
tributed i'll this country than in England.
Mr. Thos. q. Shearman the we'll known
New York statistician, has been engaged
for some time in collecting facts to show
as precisely as possible the proportion Of
the country held by few rich men and
families and he finds a greater concen-
tration of wealth here than in any other
country. The results of his investigation
appear in The Forum for November, from
which the following facts are taken. Mr..
Shearman names the following enumera-
ton of owners of more than $40, 1000, 900
each
$3.50 900, OOO-J. J. Astor, Trinity Church.
500, 1000, 000-C. Vanderbilt, W. K. Van
derbilt, jay Gould, Leland Stanford j. D.
Rockefeller.
$4,000 ooo-Estate Of A. Packer.
$50, 000, 000-Wm. Astor, W. W. Astor,
Russell Sage, E. A. Stevens, estate OF Mo
ses Taylor, estate of Brown & Ives.
VIM. Rockefeller, II. NJ. Flagler, Powers
& Weightman, estate of P. Goelet.
So, O0o. ooO-C; P. Huntingdon, D. Q.
Mills, estates Of I. 4. Scott. j. " Garrett.
Ross Winans, E. B. Coke, Claus Spreckles,
A. Belmont, R. j. Livingston, Fred Wey
erhauser, Mrs Mark Hopkins, Mrs. Hetty
Green, estates OF S. V. Hardness, r. W.
Coleman, l. NJ: Singer.
So, 900, 0OO-A. J. DreXel j. S. Morgan, j.
P. Marshall Field, David Dows, j. G.
Fair, E. 7. Gerry, estates of Governor
| horn.
so, 500, 600. II. Payne, estates Of F.
A. DreXel, [. V. Williamson, W. T. Weld.
$50, 900, O0O-F W. Vanderbilt, Theo.
Havemeyer, II. o. Havemeyer, ". q. War
den, W. P. Thompson, Mrs. Schenley, J.
Sloane, E. S. Higgins, 9. Tower, William
Thaw, Dr. Hostetter, VIM. Sharon, Peter
| D0nOhue.
These 70 names represent an aggregate
wealth of 81, 700, 200, coo an average of more
than S37, 800, 900 each. Although Mr.. Shear
man, in making this estimate, did not look
| for less than twenty millionaires, he dis
more than 100000, 900 each; and he says that
a list Of ten persons can be made whose
| wealth averages 500, 900, 900 each, and an
other list of one hundred persons whose
averages S25, 900, 600. No such lists can be
made up in any other country The richest
dukes OF England, he says, fall below
the average wealth of dozen American
citizens while the greatest bankers, mer-
chants, and railway magnateS OF England
| cannot compare in wealth with many
| Americans.
The average annual income Of the rich
est hundred Englishmen is about $3.50, 200,
but the average annual income of the rich
est hundred Americans cannot be less than
81 200, 900, and probably exceeds 81, 800, 900.
| The richest of the Rothschilds, and the
world renowned banker, Baron Oyerstone,
each left about S17 100000. Earl Dudley,
the owner of the richest iron mines, left
$40, 900, 900. The Duke of Buccleuch (and
the Duke of Buccleuch carries half OF
Scotland in his pocket left abont S30,000,-
900. The Marquis of Butte was worth, in
1882, about $4,000, 600 in land; and be may
now be worth $40, 000 900 in all. The Duke
of Norfolk may be worth $40, 900, 600, and
the Duke of Westminster perhaps $50, 000,-
900.
MI Sherman's conclusion is that %, OOO
persons own one-half the wealth of the
United States; and that the whole wealth
of the country is practically owned by
250, 900 persons, OF one in sixty of the adult
male population; and he predicts, from the
rapid recent concentration of wealth, that
under present conditions $4,000 persons
will practically own all the wealth of the
country in thirty years-or less than one
in 500 of the adult male population.