The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-10-06
POVERTY TO POWER.
Eighty Per Cent. Of New York's
Rich Men Began Poor.
CLIMBED HIGH BY INDUSTRY.
0re.t Merchants. Bankers and Capital
fsts Hose From the Ksnts-OpPor-
tuoities salI Open.


Affirm that their wealth IL "A assointe ne
,,,n,, sfration that nowhere in the world has
/ lshor better chance or is more gioriously
rewsrled than in America The oppor-
4,n;ties seem TO be raster now than they
ever we're before. Tie rich men oil today
u,,i4e wifhout dissent In the opinion that
thn United States Is abont entering upon
eareer 81 sosperity which Is beyond the
dream. beyond the possibility OF the most
vivid imagination fully TO contemplate.
IN scientific development, IN agricultural
directions. in the realization oil the enor-
r,nur wAaIth which lies under the soil and
n, top q it, and In the further conquestsoi
4he forces of nature, so that they VIII DO
~ work of men. the twentieth century,
s,h;~h 4 SO near at hand, viii record
erhfevsments which will be stupendous.
Tha Young men who are now WORK
3 NJ Nth their hands, who possess industry,
uSffence. sobriety and concentration OF pur-
800. cannot fail 10 win the most substan-
IA and splendid of victories. That is the
oniuiou OF every one OF our rich men VINO
ara nov passing along toward Old age
and have made their own successes,
Win whom have talked this week.
Il looking into this matter suggested by
IA resolution OF the workingnen, md
41sf 4 least 80 per cent Of our successful
,..vchsnta here began life with little or no
enuisal. Tie majority OF them earned
fl,efr first money in the humblest OF ser
vfca. They were workingmen whose en-
uaovment was such as TO qualify them to
lin trades organizations. Let us take
~ examples:
aorne seven or eight enormous dry. goods
houses. They do q business. each OF them.
81 several uiihons year. Tne pToprietors
are al men of wealth, yet IN every IN
nfnrce am told, these men. when young,
I'D nothing but health, sobriety and IN
dustry Is capital. One OF them was
norfer. one a cash boy, and the others were
emnloyed in capacities which brought
9kem IN but few dollars week. The
husiness capacity which they developed
was NO special natural gift, but was due TO
trimming, discipline ana concentration Oh
The house Of Lord Il Taylor. which has
passed into other hands. owingto the death
q the original proprietors, began It's career
= ! little bit of store down town, and the
original partners worked harder than any
1oSss for years. Mr.. Edward Ridley, who
created an enormous business mere. Degan
his business life with less than 1900.
which were the savings Of several years OF
hard work and extreme self-deniai. he
did Z few years ago. leaving an immense
business 70 his children. and great for
tune - well.
One Of the older brokers on Wall street,
% whom / went for information, after
thinking for q few moments, said that with
one or two exceptions he believed every
suecessful broker on Wall street had be-
run life without q dollar and had. by de-
Votion 70 business, absolute concentration
q purpose and regularity OF habit. finally
achieved financial independence In every
case these men were workers: many OF
them began - Office boys; one OF the
weaithiest of the brokers earned his flrst
money as q peddier. Stephen v. White
Was . farmer and teacher. Jim keene was
= isborer In the mines. Russell Sage was
: grocery clerk in Troy. Commodore
Bateman fifteen years ago was treasury
clerk in Washington At q salary OF $l,V0o
year, and before that had been connected
with the navy in some subordinate ca
pacify.
Jay Gould, as everybody knows. began
his career IS book canvasser and peddler
Of mouse traps. William X. Grace was
runaway Irish lad who got his first en-
pioyment in Peru. in an almost mental
capacity. in . ship chandlery house.
And so. going through the list OF sue
cessfui business men and capitalists On and
near Wall street. 1t is found that nine ont
Of every ten OF them began life as alaborer,
with no other capital than the natural
gifts with which Providence had blessed
them.
The same assertion is true of the ma.
iority Of presidents of banks. Arthur VIII
Mamss who is at the head Of the most sue
csssfuI banking institution in this coun-
try. and with but few equals in the world
she Chemical National bank-swept out the
old bank building and acted as porter and
general chore boy for some years. Thomas
J.. James. the president of the Lincoln
bank, was typesetter in q country village
in the central part of this state. Mr..
Hard, president of the Chatham bank,
was . clerk, absolutely dependent upon his
salary. John Jay Knox. president of the
bank Of the Republic, was farmers lad
in Herkimer county, New York. Mr.. 81.
John. the president of the Mercantile
bank. was . poor boy from the South.
John Thompson, the ex-president OF the
Chase bank, and one OF the fathers OF the
national banking system, was an Office boy
At s. week salary, and so on the list
could be still further extended.
1t has been found, TOO. that with two or
three exceptions. the best bankers were
those who began life without dollar. In
some few cases, like that of ]. Pierpont
Morgan, with inherited wealth there ais
came great banking ability. But it is safe
70 say that the great majority of our sue
cessful banking men have indicated in their
career what seems 10 be almost an axiom
In this country; and that is. that the best
vigor and most notable successes are found
to be in the possession of those who have
demonstrated the power OF labor here TO
win victories.
Perhaps the most significant illustration
Is to be found in the careers of successful
railroad men. There are few cases like
those of the Vanderbilts and the CARROTS
where railroad properties and railroad
control have come by inheritance, but the
exceptions of this sort will not amount 10
over per cent. The great body of sue.
cessful railroad managers. both mechani.
cal and financial, sprang from poverty.
The story OF these careers is so strlkingly
similar that il almost seems that il is the
law of railroad development that the men
best competent to handle this new develop.
ment of civilization are those who ceme
from the ranks. Moreover, il is an axiom
in the railroad business that il is impossi
nle TO keep down men whose perseverance
and ability merit success. A laborer on
one of our railroads who demonstrates ca.
pacity can no more be kept ut dead Level
than the barometer can I've kept from
rising when the atmospheric pressure Is in.
creased.
A few examples will show how true this
statement is. Vice President Clark. who j.
really the financial power that controls the
New York Central, was a laborer | think.
on the old canal: be determined when lad
to master his business. and having mas
tered il was able 10 make suggestions Ia
his superiors. Such suggestions caused
them 10 fix their eye upon him, so that be
has been steadily advanced TO his present
place OF power, simply because he had
conquered. 10y labor and perseverance,
recognition and influence. Not So
very many years ago. Young fell
low was freight agent somewhere,
on the line OF the Erie railroad. He
worked when his associates were plavinp
cards or guzxliug cider. which was the drink
there. Labor asserted its power in his case.