Telegram-herald., 1889-07-29
FATE or FORTUNES.
Il Dcesar Take Long q Scatter
Ihasn ia America


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presses 1ea-s l-rg t1s e1a--e .F4r--1 -
e- Als w-A % - t-s 1a.1s sf teu per
ss. zee .aea ls - t14. q slfl % -t-era-
B. - l-s-g Kay - establishes u1 al
t-44 81 destroy rep-o4c44 .s-..t-ls il
t.1s 4rd u sgegers Tie aoert.es ef gre pe3
Es l-s i1 pfsss--a = ql1s ge1s-4l SAYS
tas s-4 Er4lclsao Ghron 4c.e. th4t t4sre ls .
ss-.ee - great Danger 60 r1a Nation "a
lre,a g.ealEc totr-nes 411 s-Io let.rr-
ers 1-rs esen gose - Ia IS 20 propose la4t
terea .4ole Ne-sth sl4l oe l4 tea o. laH,
-erKe-9s ever = certain san = 80 nei go
TIE F..a l-aa leg4tses auc ceF sess or %
Tie State Inls idea, however, has loi oeea
resolved mlla general tayer. Tor t AZ Ascn-
les the theory Il property wA.e- srtl-s 100
ceep.g seated go be- aprootel esc1 - he1fy
George and his followers
The danger of d dynasty u r.ltocrats >
rather mag. nary tL4u real Lar 90 fortunes
become slallefsd IL much less t.ue tl4n
might De imagined. o.. 10 par x - it has
reeu alrellv expressed 1y ~ A-.tl-caA
Ntl-er. ~laere are lst mere ta-u three gen
er4t.1us between shirt sleeves and shirt
sleeves" 1E.s rse and TAI of . fortune
L-aA -E G. AAN-eA-A -4-A q A~4 &c ~t-t'
eplg anm4ticsly. ald ~ tLe same ul-e
w.ll more tra-a. Tie representative u lie
nrst generation taxes u Us coat and & =
10 Wegd ia his shlrtsleeVes, snd By uL-
ceasing Z industry accl IL Dllates a competence
TO I'm succeeds his son, who iuAer.ts lis
fathers industry, and l4s. saperadced u
that Industry, the gift of money making,
and be dies very rlcA Then comes his son,
ia whom The C-d STOCK shows marked signs
OF deterioration, aud Ms life ) given rather
% spending money than 10 earning II, 50
t1at when lie dies the fortune which he Ia
herltec has vanished into tnin air, and h's
son has TO pull OF his coat and 90 10 WORK
N his shirt sleeves. Is cld the founder of
The family before him.
Inls is reducing the case 20 the siimmest
possible terms, for IL must Oe apparent tnat
+ with u family OF sons and daughters the
acquired fortune VIII bs dlsslp4ted even
more speedily Take a few figures by way
I Of further illustration. Cur imaginary rep
resentatiye OF the second generation dies
/ worth, let rs say, s2O0O,0vl bat he leaves
! two sons ana two daughters. His fortune
Is then divided into four equal parts. giving
! $500 600 10 each child. Should each Of these
children have four children the share OF
each would be but sl250oo, even II the
original fortune were 70 remain rnimpalrco;
but out OF sixteen children il j. certain that
at least one half would De imnrovdent, es-
/ peclally II born 70 2 fortune So Il IS safe
/ 10 say that by the end OF The second genera
tion the fortune OF S2.00O,OOO would have
dwind.ed TO 81 10000, and that a third gen
GRAFTON 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 aud the NanderOilts, and the
time has not yet fully run 10 say with GER
tainty that they are exceptions. But even
If they prove 10 be they do not destroy the
force Of the proposition as general truth
that great fortunes can not be held together
for very long period, but Will become
broken up and scattered, returning 20 the
general mass of the wealth OF the country
from which they have been segregated.
OF course the absence OF the law of pri-
moCeniture and OF the law Of entail makes
this dissolution of fortune more probable in
the United States than 1t would be where
those laws prevail In Great Britain landed
estates descended from generation to gen
Grafton because 50 strictly entalled that sue
cessive holders have what in reality is only
/ life interest in the land and only one child
/ takes that With rs entail is practically
/ unknown. and puoNc sentiment, and in
some States the law itself, insists upon n
division among al the children. so that il Is
/ impracticab,e 10 transmit real property as
ii is transmitted under English law This
does away with am danger Of . landed
aristocracy, and insures the ultimate dlstri-
button OF the land among the people.
Again. there Is 4 common fallacy about
great fortunes winch often leads 70 con
fusion. man, Jay Gould. for example, IS
spoken Of as being worth Sa0,000,0oo or
$4,000, 900 and we picture him TO ourselves
IS sitting in front of his strong box and
gl0ating on a mass Of gold coin which he has
withdrawn from circulation. and which he
might throw into the ocean If he pleased.
The fast is that MS wealth Is represented
10 the main By certain printed or written
pieces Of paper called stocks and bonds. hav
ing q certain negotiable value. but each one
Of these pieces OF paper while II represents
a certain m0nthly or annual income for Us
holder. also represents avenues Of Industry
for hundreds and thousands OF the Amer
lean people. 70 y nom the greatest calamity
that could befail them would be jay Goulds 5
failure and ban krHptcy