The intelligencer., 1889-11-09
WHO OWNS THE UNITED sTATEs9

In spite of the rapid inc rease in tht
number OF millIOnaires i'll the UriteG
! States in recent years, the popular
notion is that wealth is yet very mucl
more evenly distributed in this country
than in England. Mr.. Thos. q. Shear
man, the Unknown New York
statislician, has been engaged for some
! time in collecting facts TO show as pre-
cisely as possible the proportion of the
wealth of the country held by few
rich men and families; and he finds d
greater concentration of wealth here
than in any other country. The results
of his investigation will appear in the
| Forum tor November, from advance
sheets of which the following facts are
taken. Mr.. Shearman makes the fol-
lowing enumeration OF owners of more
than 800, 100000 each:
$150,0O0,000: j. j. Astor, Trinity
church.
800, 900, 900: G. Vanderbilt, w. X.
Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, Leland Stan
ford, j. ID. Rockefeller.
$4,000, 900: Estate of A. Packer.
$6O,0O0,O 600: John |. Blair, Estate OF
Charles Crocker.
$50, 900, 900: VIM. Astor, w. w. AS
tor, Russell Sage, E. A. Steyens, Estate
of Moses Taylor, Estate of Brown &
Ives.
$40,O00,000: p. ID. Armour, f. l..
Ames, VIM. RockefeIler,E L. M. Flagler,
Powers Il Weightman, Estate OF Z.
Goelet.
$35,OO0,00O: G. p. Huntington,D o.
Mills, Estate of L. A. Scott1J. w. Gar
rett.
$30,000,000: &. b. Roberts, Charles
Pratt, Ross Winans, T.. B. Coke, Claus
Spreckels, A. Belmont, II. j. Living
ston, Fred Weverhauser, Mrs. Mark
Hopkins, Mrs. Hetty Green, Estates of
5. V. Harkness, Il. w. Coleman, I. M.
Singer.
1926 100000: A. j. Drexel,J. S. Nor
gan, j. T. Morgan. Marshall Field.
David Dows, j. G Fair, K. Il. Gerry,
Estates of Gov. Fairbanks, A. L. Ste
wart, A. Schermerhorn.
$22,5O0,OO0: o. Ii. Payne, Estates of
f. A. Drexel. |. V. Williamson, w. f.
Weld.
$2O.OOO,OOO: f, w. Vanderbilt, ,Theo.
lIavemeyer, Ii. o. Havemeyer, w. G
Warden, w. z. Thompson, Mrs. Schen-
ley, j. b. Haggin, Ii. A. Hutchins,
Estates of W. Sloane, e. s. Higgins.C.
Tower, Wm. Thaw, DIR. HOstetler,
VIM. Sharon, Peter Donohue.
These 70 names represent an aggre-
gate wealth of S2,700,000, 900. all aver
age of more than $37 10000 each.
Although Mr.. Shearman, in making
this estimate, did not look for less than
twenty millionaires, he discovered i'll
cidentally fifty others worth more than
$40, 600, 600 each; and he says that
list OF ten persons can be made whose
wealth averages 500, ,OO0, 900 each, and
another list of one hundred persons
whose wealth averages 1925, 100000.
No such lists can be made up in any
OF her country. "The richest dukes of
he says, "fall below the
average wealth of dozen American
while the greatest bankers,
and railway magnates OF
England cannot compare in wealth |
with many Americans"
The average annual income of the |
richest hundred Englishmen is about
$3.50, 900, but the average annual income |
Of the richest hundred Americans can
not be less than $l,2O0, 900, and proba,
Dlv exceeds 81 100000. The richest of |
The Rothschilds, land the world-renown
ed banker, Baron Overstone, each left |
about Sl7 100000. Earl Dudley, the
owner of the richest iron mines, left
SIC, 100000. The Duke of Buccleuch |
>and the Duke of Buccleuch carries
lalt of Scotland in his pocket) left
about $30,000,O00. The Marquis of
Butte was worth, in 1872, about $2S,-
100000 in land; and he may now be
worth SAC, ,000, 900 in all. The Duke of
Norfolk may be worth $40, 200, 900, and
he Duke of Westminster perhaps
$50 100000.
Mr.. Shearman's conclusion is that
% 900 persons own one.half the wealth
If the United States, and that the
whole wealth of the country is practi-
ally owned by 250.00O persons, or one
II sixty of the adult male population;
md he predicts, from the rapid recent
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
n 500 OF the adult male population.