Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1889-11-07
MllliOnairedonl.

llOnalredOm. What measures should
be taken to ward them off are not sug.
gested in the prospectus but are prob
man is one Of the most active and zeal.
Gus members of the single-tax propa
ganda, but he does not go to the length
of requiring that the whole rental value
of land should be taken by the tax
gatherer if such rental exceeds the
amount needed for all the expenses OF
government, both local and national.
He is confident that if the present rent
al value exceeds present expenditures,
the latter will rapidly overtske the
former when single taxing becomes the
policy of the nation; and in this matter
his head is level. Pension expendi-
lures, for example, could be made to fit
any condition of surplus that could
arise under any revenue system what
soever. Mr.. Shearman furnishes a list
of persons and estates in this country
whom he finds, upon investigation. to
be worth $4,000, 900 each and upwards,
viz:
$3.50 o,oOO, 900: j. j. Astor, Trinity Church.
$100, 1000 600: G. Vanderbilt, W. X. Wander
blt, Jay Gould, Leland Stanford, j. D.
Rockefeller.
$70,000,000: Estate of A. Packer.
$50 900, 900: John l. Blair, Estate of Charles
Crocker.
$4,000, 600: VIM. Astor, W. W. Astor, Rus
sell Sage, e. A. Stevens, Estate of Moses
Taylor, Estate Of Bro own & Ives.
An,000,000: P. D. Armour, F. L. Ames,
VIM. Rockefeller, H. NJ. Flagler, Powers
Weightman, Estate of p. Goelet.
$35, ,000, 600: c. P. Huntington, D. o. Mills,
Estates of 7. A. Scott, j. w. Garrett.
$50 100000: G. B. Roberts, Charless Pratt
Ross Winans, E. B. Coke, Claus Spreck-
les, A. Belmont. r. J. Living ston, Fred.
Weyerhauser, Mrs. Mark Hopkins, Mrs.
Hetty Green. Estates of S. V. Harkness,
R. W. Coleman, I. NJ. Singer.
$25, ,000,0 600: A. j. Drexel, j. S. Morgan, j. P.
Morgan, Marshall Field, David Dows, j.
G. Fair, E. T. Gerry, Eestate of Gov.
Fairbanks, A. T. Stewart, A. Schermer-
horn.
So, SOC, 900: o. H. Payne, Estates Of F. A.
Drexel, l. V. Williamson, W. F. Weld.
SIC, ,0OO,0 900: F.. W. Vanderbilt, Theo. Have
meyer, H. o. Havemeyer,W q. Warden,
W. P. Thompson, Mrs.. Sehenley, j. B..
Haggin, H. A. Hutchins, Estates of w.
Sloane, E. S. Higgins, c. Tower, VIM.
Thaw, DR.. Hostetter, WIN. Sharon, Peter
Donohue.
The data upon which these estimates
are founded are not given. That they
are worthless is made apparent by the
fact that stated by the Philadelphia
Ledger that the estate of. v. Wiliiam-
son has been proved to be only about
one-half set down by Mr.. Shearman.
The Williamson estate IS set down in
the list as $22 500, 900. What an air of
exactness the old $500, 900 gives to the
list. Now, if there is an error of so per
cent. in the figures assigned to an
estate which is in the Probate Court,
and, therefore, open to investigation
and exact treatment, what value can
we assign to the estimates of the prop
arty of living persons not accessible to
anybody except themselves and their
own bookkeepers? Bankruptcies are
announced in the newspapers almost
daily of persons who, in public estima-
ton, are worth millions of dollars.
Gov. Spargue of Rhode Island, fol- ex-
ample, was esteemed by the public to
be worth many millions up TO the very
lay that his failure was announced.
When the Mussgrave failure was re-
ported the other day, there was gen.
eral exclamation of famazement because
Mr.. Mussgrave was rcputed to tie
worth millions. Mr.. Cyrus Field, who
would have had high place in Mr..
list three years ago, was
saved from bankruptcy only by the in-
of friends. If Mr.. Russell
Sage had failed during the furry of
1884, the event would not have been
more astonishing to the public than
the Sprague, or the Musgrave, or the
Field catastrophes. There are not more
han six persons in Mr.. Shearman's
list whose failure to-day would be more
to the public than that of
Gov. Sprague was.
But it may be said that although the
figures assigned by Mr.. Shearman may
be exaggerated, yet these men are very
rich. Quite true, and the same remark
nay be made of Mr.. Shearmam, who is
'eputed to be millionaire. After q
man has reached a million, what is the
lse of overplus? Did not John Jacob
Astor say that such a man was as well
'ff as though he were rich? What
'ocial consequences follow upon two
nilliout that do not appertain to one
million? Ah, here we have tive
quote from the last paragraph Of the
Mr.. Shearman's conclusions Is that 25,oO0
persons own one half the wealth OF the Unit
I'd States, and that the whole wealth OF the
country is practically owned by 250,oOO per-
ions, or one In sixty Of the adult male pop