Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-03-05
The Large lumber of Them Received by
NeE v York MiliiOnaires.

The Large N lumber of Them Received by
Ner York Millionaires.
New York mlllionalres are overwhelmed
with begging letters, writes the New York
corresponds Mt Of the st. Louis GLOBE Demo-
crat. 1t Is ne Of the strangest facts in the
daily exper ience of busy and hard-headed
tlnanclers- These letters come from all
parts of tn country, and request the loan
of from So to 100000 for every conceivable
purpose, a nd the man who 'scorns to beg"
illustrates the interesting fact by begging
the large st sums. Tho Don Quixotes or
SanchO 'anZas who write these letters
actually suppose that the mllionaires will
not only grant their astonishing demands,
but will gave the matter perso nal atten-
ton.
Some exl oeriences of Russell Sage were
recently eli led as instances of the amazing
folly OF the writers of begging letters, act
ing under the delusion that the age of
miracles had returned, and that blood
might be pressed from a stone; though
the misapu rehenslon as to Mr.. Sage's char
liable incl nations is due largely to reck-
less misst atements sent to num-
Der Of out -of-town journals, to the effect
that this IL lgal old gentleman, who, with
more apIs1 )priateness than elegance, has
been ternna the stump-taed fox of Wall
street, Wa. actually studying ways and
means to gr We away large part Of his
enormous Il rtun in charity. If the char
acter and 10 en- gironanent Of great million
aires were a rally known, they would re-
caive few le tiers from professional sharp
els and thos pftenomenally unsophisticated
persons VIII write touching communica-
tons in per feet good faith. None of these
persons seems to know that every big mil
lionaire of Wall street has private secre-
tary, W ho looks over his letters every morn
ing, thr pws aside those appealing for char
ity, and lays before his employer only those
of ST richly bu siness nature; the aver
age PRIV ate sec :etary would not dare to
do othe rwise. To mark these begging
letters ''privai e' and personal" is
useless; seer etary who would lay beg
ging lett .rs be- fore his master would be
coldly rel uked las annoying him. He is ex-
pected to. make his employers mail as little
burdenson he as possible. But think of ap-
pealing fol cha rity to Russell Sage, one of
the heroes of the Kansas Pacific Trust
transaction ar ID who thereby narrowly es-
capped or ii 1al Indictment, GLIDING the
grip of the pc nal law only by pleading the
statute of lii nj tations. His life has been de-
voted simpl y to money-making from the
time when I've was storekeeper in Troy
to the present. when he is understood to
have accumula ed $4,000, 900, Midas store
of gold held Wa h the clutch of miser, who
would fain, VIII IN he can no longer use it
here, make q freight contract with old
Charon, the sm nber boatman, to ferry it
across the Sty1 to a Sage elysium of sure
pro fits and coun tess dollars
Jay Gould occa sionally subscribes to char
itaiole objects, In It begging letters sent to
him are SO much fuel for the fire. When it
is known that * is to take cruise in his
yacht he someta hes receives very suggest
i've letters from adventuresses, which used
to be the subi ct Of light banter from
Washington E. Connor and Sig. Morisini,
his former partn srs. and the usually tacit-
urn financier wou Id smile at their sallles,
we'll knowing thai they recognized the cor
rectness of his pr vate life. Mr.. Gould, how
ever INSCRIPTIONS as financier, is not con-
sidered smallmin led enough to be stingy,
but he has nethe r the time nor the dis
position to respond to begging letters. He
piles up his million ) as a General would col
lect powder, shot al ID shell, arms and heavy
ordnance, for his campaigns. He wants
them in order to Xtend his power. He is
an impassive engin Of finance with steam
always up for the work of railroad con-
quest He has as n UGH regard for obstacles
in his way as loco motive. The sending of
begging letter to such a man might well
be considered evidence of disordered
mind.
Cornelius Van derbilt, the head of the
Vanderbilt famil y, INDUCES in very moder
ate charities. Se .kers for aid need not pre-
sumo upon the f. ct that he is religious
man. He knows DIV to keep firm grip on
his money He mo. reover aids and abets the
&c no l,,-x, Ooiy III,
marked discriminat ion in freight rates
against shipments of dressed beef, whereby
the cost of meat. and thus the cost Of hv
ing, is materially increased, the Door suf-
fering accordingly. he has contributed
something to promote the interests of the
operatives of the Vanderbilt system at New
York. but is no more Peabody or How
ard than as if he were not the pes of syco-
phantic and fashionable C.lergyrnen of New
York. as little interested in charity as the
Voltairean abbes OF the last century.
LELAND Stanford spends a moderate sum
in charities every year, but begging letters
are invariably thrown into the waste bas-
ket. AS tnancier he has no more con-
science, no more moral sense, than Met
ternich or a Machievelh in politics. but he is
ready to endow great university in mem
ory of noble son. canonized in the grief of
idolizing parents. and he may do much good
bv teaching the useful arts to thousands of
young men to whom such an education may
be the avenue TO fortune.
Coils P. Huntington is not naturally
stingy man. He is a natural leader of men,
a man of broad. statssman-llke cast of mind,
and though interruptions in carrying out
his projects, he is far above the sordid level
of mere money grubbing, yet his charities
are much smaller than they would be if he
were man of education or of less rugged
and calculating temperament The writers
of begging letters will save paper. postage,
time and disappointment by leaving this
iron -willed fnancier undisturbed, or rather
his private secretary, who viii appreciate
the favor.
John D. Rockefeller contributes TO the
support Of institutions, but as 10 individu-
ais. he has ruined so many in the OH business
by his Standard monopoly that it Is improb-
able that he would notice the appeal of
those persons who write begging letters
In short, all the wsiling from the Cave of
Eolus. ali the tears of Niche, would not con-
vert New DIRK millionaire into phiian-
thropist of the sort that the writers Of beg
| ging letters long to see, and the efforts
| made in this direction are simply amusing
! or pathetic