New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-09-14


bod meyer gone into the tilling OF the soil ana
the raising of domesticated animals.
,;.,Ia thoughtful study will show that the
o,,,rershtp Of property, the right OF each person
70 control and use the product OF his own iaoor
ia the starting point Of all civilization, ana Ohe
basis of all well-reguated society WnhouV H.
tins far no considerable community has ever
existed and no intelligent people ever tried 10
live Even small associations which have at
tepn,ed 70 set aside this jaw of human nature
hove Tins far generally been dismal failures AS
q ruIe men work and prosper best when WORK
inc for themselves and only when they receive
the full benefits of their work. Hence In the GLE
cnssion of this question take 1t for gran'ed tnhe
every persop has the right to use ana cohuol an
he can honestly accumulate by the use OF his
faculties. both physical and mental IN tnese
.ccumuIatiors be has no right to wrong his fel-
low-nen or to enjoy any of the prouuc's ariSine
from tbe labor of his fellow-citizens, unless he
suoh te,ow-citizens fair and honest wages
Gov their work. / doubt if even General weaver
will deny so plain proposition as that'
BIG MILMoNAIREs
We now come to proposition constantly talNeu
ohout in every nook and corner OF the Uhl'eu
States The constant exclaipation u.s. LOOK "V
49, ooltb ~ the Goulds and Carnegies, the Astors
and the Vanderbiltsl Then look at the pONen'S
in como of the wards of New-York City and Chl-
na,o IN the ooalfields of Pennsylvania and some
90 tbe manufacturing towns of New-England. JusV
Ioor ON that picture and then on this; and tell Us
If the laws Of this country ought to permit SUI"
things 10 be.'
OF the four names above and most commonly
mentioned. Mr.. Carnegie is the only one who ao-
cnmulated his fortune by manufacturing go'u'
He made his money largely in that way, anu may
have made ever dollar Of it without even "io"s'
fully taking a cent from one OF Ills leiio"
The first error In all this talk is the aSsun Ptlon
that such rich men are only possible IN the Cn''o
States. whereas they have always eHlsoeu iu oi
civilized nations. The ROthschilds became rleii IN
the Old World Rome had its men OF enormous
wealth. who spent fortune on single uii"''
party. The transactions Of the present uhS ave
SO large so vast. that man can accumuld& '"e""
millions of dollars in the same time th@t 1ne '"iuI
ability, the same energy, ana the same s"i,i 49,
have gained one quarter of million hundred
wears ago Such result can be reached whie pay
ing men who labor better wages than uheS reoei'0N
700 wears AGO. IL is claimed that Mr.. Carneg-e mas
in his vast enterprises employed $1,000 men day
for wears He has always paid them good wages
A man who employs fifty men day, II ne MAKES
q nro6t of 20 cents on each man gets only Slo
profit each day. At the same rate MI Carnegie
would save So, 900 day. lie might do that ana
rob no one
How Mr. Gould became as rich as he Is reputed
70 be is unbeknOwn to me. lie may nave useu
means that are questionable. know nothlhe
about it, :, The Astors have become rich by rise
in the value of real estate. IL came To them pS
inheritance. | have never learned that they are
accused of dishonest methods man may own
valuable lands in the heart of big city, ana 80
use il as to be of great benefit to the Worlu
Take, for example, any large Office building III one
of our great cities The man who bullt that strucV-
ure with it's ten stories did not crowd the rest
Of the world. They made it possible for 500 or a
900 people, men and women, to WORK anu uo
business day in and day out on q spot of ground
where they could barely have stood if no building
had been erected Their money made room for
human beings to live and labor. 1t does not 81
much matter how much one man may own as 1t
does what use he makes of his wealth. One man
or twenty men may build large factory. 1t
makes little difference 10 the rest of the world
which of them does il, SO that it is run hnmanely
and furnishes good wages 10 those who work
in the same.
GIVE EVERY NAN CHANCE.
| know of no limit which could be placed upon
the ownership Of property. Where would the
limit be fixed? Who would name the amount
Whatever a man can get honestly should be HIS
Whatever he gets dishonesty he has 10 right 10
own 1t is the use that men make of their
wealth that should determine their position among
men.
II may be possible to enact some law that would
put limit TO the amount of property man shall
be permitted to accumulate. | confess my utter III
ability TO explain how it can he done. What
would seem a Just limit 10 one person would DC
considered all wrong By another. One man VIII
tell you that 81 900 is sll any one man should
ever own Another would think that limit too
high and another too low Some men have skill
in accommodating property; Others never save any
thing. Ii is what man saves which in the begin
ming givcs bin wealth. Good management, in
dustry energy, frugality, will always have an adj
vantage over bad management, Incidence, IN
activity and profligacy. Sobriety will always he
better than intemperance and lust. The aim oil
all law should be TO give each man an equal chance
TO prevent eXtOrtiOn dishonesty and over-reach-
ing That DONE ! see no reason why any limit
should be placed on human activity and human
ability.
Large fortunes are accumulated in the United
States because are people Of such wonderful
activity of such marvellous possibilities. be-
ieve men may accumulate large sums OF mOhcS
and do it honestly. ! have an impression that
Mr.. Carnegie has done that. More than that, be
has furnished well.pad employment TO thousands
of his fellow men and in my judgment, has done
more for this country, more for humanity, more
TO build up society, than whole army of men like
General Weaver who spend their time aud talents
in trying 10 make men dissatisfied with life and
in abuse of this, the best country on the face Of
the earth.
Give every person fair chance, and then let
each one do his level best-that seems to me all
that human ingenuity can do AT least all that
can be reached by legislative enactments.
r. q. HORR
THE CLERK CAUGHT IN TRAP.
HIS EMPLOYERS WERE WATCHING - GRAVE