Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-20
agree with me that an income tax as to
him would be just.

Standard OIL Millions.
BY the way, speaking Of the justice of ar
income tax, makes me think Of q question
which was debated in one of the literary
societies Of John Aliens congressional dis
trict in Mississippi. This was:
Where is the best place to have q
boil?"
The decision arrived at was: ION the
other fellow" And this is the way with
the income tax, 1t is all right provided II
comes on the other fellow. and these mil.
lionaires are the other fellows. Take the
Standard OIL magnates. They have turned
globules Of oil into gobs Of gold and their
own heads buzz when they try to compute
their incomes.
John Rockefeller is said to be worth al
most as much as William Waldorf Aston
and the most conservative estimates put
him at s100. 100000. He did many a job OF
hauling along the wharves In Cleveland
when he was a young man for q dollar a
load, and he knows how much 81 means
but even he cannot figure out In his mind
the enormous amount OF 800, 100000. His
money is invested In standard oil stocks
which are supposed to be as good as gold
and which sometimes pay IL per cent divt-
dends. His income must be In the neigh
borhood Of $4,000. 900 a year. and an in
come tax Of $500, 900 would would not hurt
him as much as a tax of 81 would inture
the average reader Of this letter. He spends
his thousands on horses, country homes
and Baptist Sunday schools, but they don't
begin to eat up his income, much less his
vast principal. and he can pay this tax
and rot come to want
Another rich Standard Oil man is Oliver
Pavne. who is said to be worth hundred
million and who is a bachelor with no
house to take care of, no children to keep
in shoes and no grocery bills to pay. You
would think that he would not object to
helping Uncle Sam out to the extent OF a
paltry couple Of hundred thousand dollars
II LNl.r ~ ha hfc w<vox
gances in the way Of his immense Florida
hotels, but these are but mice bites at the
great round cheese OF his income. At per
cent his fortune Is said to bring him In
81, OOo, 900 a year or $4,000 q month. The
INCOME tax would leave him more than
50, 100000 for his years expenses. and his
principal would remain untouched. He Is
said to be worth $50.o0o.0 900 and at per
F1agler was once as poor as John Rookie
Teller. When ne was a hoy he thought he
could make fortune at keeping a hotel
and he longed for the chance to try II. The
the Standard OIL Company brought him in
money faster than he could count Il he
concluded to realize his boyish ambition
and he built his big hotel at st. Augustine.
Pinching the Coin.
One reason why our rich men object to
paying taxes lies In their early lives. The
most Of them began saving penny by penny.
Until they were Of age q dollar was as big
as a cart wheel. and they can now appre-
ciate small amounts better than they can
large ones. They look upon their millions
as matters Of course and in the way of
business they make and lose fortunes with
out winking. When It comes to spending,
however. they pinch the coin until the nose
of the Goddess Of Liberty Is pushed down in
to her throat and the eagle fairly screams
in his agony. Even in his last days, It is
said. Jay Gould estimated the dollars he
spent as the profit from the sale Of 80 many
rat traps. Andrew Carnegie once worked
for So a week, and though there Is no man
more liberal In the lump I venture he can
tell you how many meals a poor man can
get from every dollar he spends. and Levi
s. Letter. who has been paying $4,000 for
house rent and who has just finished a
palace more gorgeous than that Of any sec-
ond class kingdom Of Europe used to hustle
about trying to get a start on 80 week.
Russell Sage made his first money in selling
sugar as a grocer In Troy, N. Y, and he
thinks of the barrels and barrels Of sweet
mixture which the $50 600 tax on his income
would buy. and his face is anything but
sweet at the thought. Joseph Pulitzer win
have to pay several times $4,000 IL this bill
passes, and he will remember how hard he
worked to make his first dollars in driving
a coach in st. Louis or as q poor reporter
on the smaller newspapers there. Sidney
Dillon will remember how he ran errands as
an office boy, Henry Clews viii figure up
the whole on the basis Of the value Of the
money to him when he was getting 8 a
week, and d. o. Mills will estimate how
much his income tax would amount to II he
were back in Sacramento. California, trying
to get enough money to start life by selling
lemonade and root beer. hope they can
squeeze a big tax out of Lucky Baldwin. He
ought to pay $4,000 year. and II he does
1t will make him feel as IL he had $1,000 pins
pricking at $1,000 different places in his an
atomy. This will not be the case with
George w. Childs. He began life a poor
boy, but he has never been misery, and the
big income tax he will have to pay will not
hurt him. He has made money rapidly, but
he has spent 1t just as freely, and though
he made no more than 5000 a year until he
was seventeen, before he was twenty he
was on his way to fortune. Stin he worked
once for 81 a month. Whitelaw Reid, who
will have to pay an income tax as big as
the Presidents salary. said not long ago
that he was glad to get IS a week as a cor
respondent Of q Cincinnati newspaper and
tive big income tax payers, began life by
working for $1.25 a week. Phil Armour will
pay tax on millions. He worked hard in
the mines Of California to get his start and
he knows the exact value Of the tens of
thousands of dollars which he will have to
pay. 1t is the same with a dozen other rich
men whom could mention. They all began
at the bottom. and the most Of them will
realize the value of the money they will
have to give up. A few of them will. ven
ture, lie about II, and say that they make
less than they do, but many will be honest
and turn in to Uncle Sam a fair account OF
their profits and their losses.
Professional Men.
1t will be the same with professional men.
The best brain and the most skilled fingers
of the United States will be affected by
this tax. There are a number of lawyers
in New York who make many times ss,ooc
a year, and there are railroad officials, edi.
tors and bank presidents in all the big
cities who receive fortunes for their work
George B. Roberts, president of the Penn
sylvania Railroad Company, is said to re-
ceive $4,000 a year as his salary, and
Chauncey Depew receives a like amount
Both of these men have big estates out
side of their salaries, but on their salaries
alone they will pay $1,000 to Uncle Sam, and
the same Will be the case Of a number OF
other high salaried men. The president
Of the Western Union Telegraph Company
Is said to receive $5o,O00 a year. The presi
dent of the Equitable Life Insurance Com
pany gets a like amount, and he Is a poor
bank president, who does not receive a.
much as the chief justice Of the United
States. Bob Ingersoll is supposed to make
500 900 a year out of his law practice and
lecturing. He ought to pay $1,000 OF 9
tax. George Hoadley probably makes $780,
600, and 1t is said that Bourke Cochran still
gets the same amount out OF his practice
I know a lawyer in New York who made
about $4,000 last year. and who gets 9
big salary from corporation, and is paic
in addition 500 a day whenever he is away
from the city on business for 1t. 1t is thu
same with doctors. There are said to b,
a hundred doctors in New York who make
$4,000 year and upward, and II is sale
that Dr. Weir Mitchell once refused q fe,
of $25. 900 to go over to Europe and bach
on the next steamer to nav n single medf