The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-12-14
RICH MEMS noNEY.

IL IS considered very strange that Jay
Gould did not leave any portion Of the
seyentytTO millions OF which he died pos
sessed to some enterprise of public 0enevo-
lence or usefulness. He who makes a for
tune owes it mainly TO MS own ability and
thrift; but lie also owes it partly to the
opportunities offered by his surroundings,
and when lie can do so without wronging
his Kindred be ought TO return part of his
wealth to the source whence it came. Mr..
Philip d. Armour of Chicago has not
waited for his death to restore to the COM
munity Of which he was member slice
OF the fortune which its progressveness
helped him to acquire. He has appropriated
three millions for one of the most useful of
all public undertakings-the establishment
Of a technical school, in which young
people can acquire free Of charge not only
the Sciences but also g training in all
handicrafts, so that they shall be equipped
with knowledge of the mechanical trades
with out going through tedious and I'M
grateful course Of apprenticeship.
1t is not easy to eXaggerate the good
which such schools will do. TIE source of
four fths of the crime Of the day, in both
sexes, is poverty. Young men and young
women would far rather lead honest. steady
lives than steal or go to the bad. 1t is often
because they cannot earn living at trade
that they resort TO crooked ways TO gain
their support. Teach them all trade so
that they can 90 out and sell their ab0r
and their skill in the market and very few
of them will give the police or the criminal
courts any trouble.
The founder of school In which boy
can learn every branch of knowledge that
commands money. from the application of
electricity 10 dynamics to the making of a
boot, is benefactor to his species and
most effective enemy to crime. Such men
as Peter Cooper and Drexel aud Childs,
aud now Armour, are better entitled to be
classed as the great moralists of the day
than many of those who are paid for being
professional teachers of morality.
Moreover. Mr.. Armour, being man wiser
In his day and generation than Jay Gould,
appears to have discerned the un1ritten
law that riches must return. Ia one way or
an9ther, to the source from which they
sprang, and that their owners are only trus-
tees, who enjoy nothing more than usu-
fruet In them. People are standing aghast
at the accumulation Of colossal fortunes in
the East and their perpetuation by legal de-
vices from generation to generation. The
statute passed last winter by the Legisla-
ture Of New York shows the direction which
public thought is taking. That statute i'm
poses graduated tax on SUGGESTIONS and
requires the estates of miliionaires TO pay a
round sum to the State treasury. The tax
Is not heavy: 1t is its principle which is
grave.
Under the practical amortization of prop
erty adopted by the Vanderbilts, the Astors
and now the Goulds. the possessions of these
families will in two or three generations
become so enormous that they are sure to
constitute political danger. What will
happen chen history informs US. Confsca-
ton always follows undue ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
wrongs will be done TO restore equilibrium !:
innocent heirs will suffer for the greed of
their ancestors. 1t would surely be wiser
for the miilionaires to anticipate the newt
able than to provoke Its precipitation. No
family can spend legitimately more than
She interest of million. Men who are DOS
1essed OF more than that will show their
wisdom ii they diyest themselves of the
surplus in their lifetime or by their will. so
that they shall not provoke the wolves To
come yeiping round the doors of their chill
dram