The Helena independent., 1889-06-23
THE FATE OF FORTUNES.
II Doesn't Take Long to scatter Them in
America

IL Doesn't Take Long To scatter Them in
America
san Francisco Chronicle: Much appre-
hensiOn Is felt and often expressed con
cerning the concentration Of enormous
wealth in America in the hands Of a few
persons, the idea being that sort Of plu-
tocratic dynasty may be established which
will tend to destroy republican institutions
in time and 10 suovert the liberties OF the
people. The impression is quite general
that there is a source of greal danger to the
nation in these gigantic fortunes, and some
reformers have even gone so far as to pro-
pose that hereditabIe wealth shall be limit
ed by law, the excess over q certain sum to
go not, 70 the rich mans legatees and
devisees, but to the state. This idea, how
ever, has not been Received with general
favor, for IL antagonizes the theory of
property, which seems TO be too deeply
seated 70 be uproOted even By Henry
George and his followers.
The danger OF a dynasty of plutocrats is
rather Imaginary than ZEAL Large fortunes
become scattered in much less time than
might be imagined; or, to put 1t as II has
been already expressed by an American
writer, There are not more than three gen.
erations between shirt-sleeves and shirt
sleeves" This rise and fall of q fortune
could hardly be expressed more tersely and
epigramHatlcally, and at the same time
with more truth. The representative of
the FIRST generation takes of his Goa. and
goes 10 work in his shIrt-sleeves, and by
unceasing industry accumulateS q com
petence. To HIM succeeds his son, who
Inherits his fathers industry, and has,
superadded to that industry, the gifts of
mOney-making, and he dies very rich.
Then comes his son, in whom the old stock
shows marked signs of deterioration, and
70 "a
than to earning il. Sd that when he dies the
fortune which he Inherited has vanished
into thin air, and his son has 10 pull off
his coat and 20 to work in his shirt
sleeves, as did the founder of the family
before him.
This is reducing the case to the siimest
possible terms, for II must be apparent
that with family of sons and daughters
the acquired fOrtnne will dissipated even
more speedily. Take few figures by way
OF further illustration: Our imaginary
representative of the second generation
dies worth, let US say, s., ,O0O, 900, but he
leaves two sons and two daughters. His
fortune is divided into four equal parts,
giving $500, 600 to each child. Should each
Of these children have four chill
dren The share of each would be
but Sl25 900, even II the original fortune
were TO remain unimpsired; but out OF SIX
teen children il is certain that AZ least one
half would be imprOvideDt, especially II
born TO fortune. So il is safe to say that
by the end of the second generation the
fortune of S2,OO0,0O0 would have
dwindled 10 SI,OO0,OO0, and that
a third generation would see the
money scattered far and wide.
America has presented thus far but two
exceptions To this rule, in the families OF
the Astors and the Vanderbilts, and the
time has not fully run to say with GER /
t1inity that they are exceptions. But even
Il they prove to be- they do not destroy the /
force OF the proposition as a general truth |
mat great fortunes can not bee held to- |
geiher for a very long period, but will be- |
come broken up and scattered, returning |
10 the general mass OF the wealth of the /
country from which they had been segre- |
gated.
OF course the absence of the law of |
prmOGeniture ami of the law of entail /
makes this dissolution of fortune more |
probable in the United States than il would /
he where those laws prevail In Great |
britain landed estates descend from gen /
Grafton Ia generation because 80 strictly /
entailed that successive holders have what /
IN reality Is only a life interest in the lard, 1
and only one child takes that With US en- /
tail Is practically unknown, and public SEP /
timent, and In some states the law Itself, /
insists upon a division among all the chill |
dren, so that II is impractIcable 10 transmit /
real property rs it is transmitted under |
English law This does away with any |
danger of a landed sristOcracy and insures /
the ultimate distribution of the land among 1
the people
Again, there is a common fallacy about |
great fortunes which often leads 20 confu.
sion A man, Jay Gould, for example, is
spoken OF as being worth $50 900 900 or \
S15, 900 600 and We picture him TO ourselves
as sitting in front of his strong box and i
glOating on a mass of gold coin which he
has Withdrawn from ciiculstiOu, and
which he might throw into the ocean il be
pleased. The fact Is tnat his wealth is
N the main Dy certain printed
and written pieces of paper, called stocks
and bonds. having certain negotiable
value; but each one of those pieces of
paper, while IL represents q certain month
ly or annual income tor its holder, also
represents avenues Of industry for hun
dreds and thousands of the American peO-
pie, to whom the greatest calamity that
could befall them would be Jay Gould's
failure and bankruptcy.