The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1893-02-01
REspoNsLRILuTY op MRAITH,

socIoty's Claim on the MlllionnirGs Whom
1t Has Mnde-Aid for Public Institn,
lions,
Review Of RsviapsJ for February
Ono thing about milllopaires is suti-
clently clear. Those very conditions
which have made the tho accumulation
Of wealth in a rapidly expanding coup-
try comparatively easy, afford the most
inviting opportunities for the %expendi.
ture Of wealth in behalf Of social OBJ,
jects. This proposition is too obvious
to DO gainsaid. Our great American
fortunes are the product OF social OPP
portunitios rather than OF the mere Gre
atiye power Of their holders; and, while
the possession OF any superior gift or
power entails responsibilities towards
those loss richly gifted which every true
and thoughtful man must realize, 1t
would seem especially true and plain
that these new American millionaires,
with fortunes amassed out OF wealth
produced by tho sturdy and hopeful toll
Of mon who have gathered here from
all countries, should be keenly alive to.
tho duty OF holding themselves at the
liberal service OF their communities,
The time may come when our sys.
tenn OF production and our system OF
taxation may be so arranged that what
We term social w~ealth"-the unearned
In expanding land values, the prpduc-
tive value Of railway and other fran
chises, and the other forms OF wealth
that arise out Of conditions which So
ciety itself creates-will all accrue to
the state -ior the benefit OF the whole
people. But thus far while individual
men have toiled at good wages Tor what
their individual efforts could directly
produce, the large bulk OF the social
wealth which they were unconsciously
creating by tho very fact that their
living and working in communities has
gone to make up the fortunes OF tho
rich.
The social notwithstanding from the
control OF mines, OF lands, OF patented.
monopolies, oil railway and local fran
chises, and so on-is the wealth which,
il it could have boon diverted into the
treasury Of tho state or the NUM-.
cipality, would have provided Jul
young nation with the libraries, the
hospitals, the provisions for tho aged
and helpless, the kindergartens, the
practical training schools, tho UNIVERSE
ties, the parks and gardens, the art
galleries, tho public baths, the statues
and fountains, the music halls and en-
lowed places Of refined and instructive
entertainment, and the various other
common possessions, accessible to poor
and rich alike, which ought to exist
throughout the entire land to minister
to the progress OF the nation.
1t should not be a work Of charity or
supererogation arising from good will,
but rather from the d OF obligation,
that these institutions should be pro-
yided out OF the surplus accumulation
OF our m~illionaires. AS we have al
ready said, It Is the wealth created by
the whole people, and not by them
selves, which our conditions OF produc.
ton and industrial development have
diverted into the Golfers Of the million.
aires. It is, therefore, perfectly sound
and demonstrable as an economic prop
osition that the people Of the United.
States have q right to look to these
millions for the provision OF the class
Of institutions we have specified.