Birmingham age-herald., 1894-07-22
MONEY iSU, ir,- s>i<-.
English Society Circles Into Which Wealth
 Alone Could Not Penetrate.

There is a marked difference between tho main body of the Americans who an nually invade London nowadays and those who used to be seen years ago. Time was when the travelling Americans did not care for the society, preferring to do the sights as speedily as possible and hurry off to other show places, Now visitors from tho land of tho free consider themselves quite as much in the social swim as any lord or lady in tho peerage, arc "up" in all the ways and customs of society and arc regarded by London swelldom as represent ative Americans. In general these arc the sightseers of tho past grown anglicizod and their sons and daughters. I regard MT. Astor as fair sample of the new American in England. His money of course enables him to do anything he likes. He might stand on his head on the top of the Duke of York's column or play leap frog down Pail Mall with MT. Vanderbilt.
 It is doubtful, by the bye, if either of these performances would make him Q cause of more pitying smiles and oompas sionate shoulder shrugs than his forced in trusion into London journalism or his os- tentatious purchase of the Duke of Vest minister's Thames bank villa. He has too much money to let the people who find it
  really think of his descrtion of his own country. And I rather suspect that he knows very few who arc great enough in themselves to bo indifferent to tho money power he wiclds.
 There Is class of noblemen among tho English aristocracy who arc above any and all outside influences altogether-men whom gold docs not dazzle. regard them as the highest type of nobility in every sense, and consider tho Duk of Nor thuInberland as striking instance of the sort of man I mean. Tho Duke of Rut- land in another. The poorest, humblcst American, were he gentleman, might enter the society of these noblemen and be cordially received by them. But all the wealth of tho Astors and Vanderbilts com hined could not get recognition for it's pos scssors from tho same men were there no other recommendation.
 And l am morally certain of one thing buying and hiring grand houses III Eng land by foreigners for no rhyme or reason but tho exhibition of n bit of vulgar swag-s ger would not bo in any sense a crcdontial' of responsibility to them. Much tho re- verse, should imagine. As for the Duke of Westminster, ho is a shrowd man of business, and like all tho Grosvenors has dS httii sil cyC tO lllc IlilL dS q horse dealer or patent medicine drum mer. Yet l cannot somehow think that any very lasting friendship has sprung up between his grace and the American pUr- chaser of Clivcden. Indeed the reported controversy concerning the right of prop erty in tho visitors book would seem to negative tho presumption of tho existence of very aniicablo relations. I often won der how men like MT Astor can wish to fill q fourth or fifth rate position in Eng land instead of the first place in America. Ho cannot at one moment rely on tho fact that hc is an American, and therefore tko equal of any man, and at tho .Ec:-t set ups as English country squire or London editor and therefore several pegs below the dukes ard other nobility. Ho n,:.t mako his choica..-Cor. San Francisco Ar gonaut