The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1894-09-05


development without the aid Of More an
Edison and Bell!
Or take the case OF Jay Gould. Thi
much abused millionaire left a forum
estimated at S70,0O0,OOO, the product of
life Of great activity in planning and eS
ecuting works of public utility whicl
continuously employed whole armies q
men. But will any man doubt that h
contributed the full total of $4,000 O
to the national wealth. Will any ma.
doubt, indeed, that he contributed sever
al times the amount OF his own forum,
to the total Consider the wilderness
reclaimed, the new towns that bav,
grown into Importance along his lines o
railway, with their increase in the yalue
OF real estate, the manufactures promot
ed, the contractors enriched, and th,
various other incidental profits that fol
low upon the prosecution of great works
Were it said that Jay Gould contributed
$500, O00, 900 to the national wealth dur
ing the forty years of his active career
the estimate would not be excessive.
What is said of Jay Gould could bt
said in different terms of Commodore
Vanderbilt, whose fortune, now enlarg
ed in the hands of his family, cause SC
much jealousy. He contributed to the
total wealth vastly more than he secured
for himself, and it is reasonable to pre-
sumo, much more than his entire family
OF the third generation now holds in it,
possession. So with many other men oil
his kind, and in this field of research ex.
amples crowd upon us. The Bell Tele.
phone Company, the electric light com
panies, and the electric railway COM
panies are all very recent representatives
of wealth that would have been non.
existent but for the inventive talents
and enterprise of their promoter. But
even here, too, we must make large esti-
mates for an incidental increase in
values. The electric railways are pene-
trating the suburbs of all our large cities
and by making them more accessible
they are adding intellectually to suburban
wealth. Yet not dollar is taken from
the public for which an equivalent is not
given, either in the form of greater con-
venience or in actual profits.
The first thing that every man is fore
ed to do when he sets out to make for
tune is to employ somebody to help him;
and the more ambitious he gets, the
larger and larger becomes the number Of
his assistants Some are directly engag-
ed in the promotion of his plans, and
draw their compensation directly from
his pay rolls; but by far the larger num-
Der are indirectly engaged, and remain
invisible to all except the economic an
alyst. The wholesale merchant, for ex-
ample, seems to employ only few quill
drivers and truckmen; but his employees
are sometimes scattered all over the
world, and it is due to his thirst for
wealth, and the thirst of other men in
kindred pursuits, that these distant en-
ployes can find market for their labor.
1t will be seen, therefore, that no man
can pursue wealth exclusively in his own
interest, however selfish he may be; and
when one sees how little there is beyond
the reach of men of modest but compe-
tent income that the man of large for
tune can enjoy, he is led to wonder
at the assiduity of the pur-
suit. But habit has great deal to do
with it, and the needs and aspirations of
a family impel the richest man to furth-
or exertion. In this country men rarely
retire from business until they die, and
II is fortunate for the community that
This is true.
From the material point OF view these
men are the most useful members OF the
and the man is either pub
lie enemy, fool, or both who seeks to
obstruct their operations. The writer
could not write, the painter could not
paint, and the laborer would literally be
iorced to go fishing were it not for the
Iorces which the wealth seekers put in
operation. The very genius of progress,
under the free institutions that We enjoy,
rests upon the principle of great rewards
10 those who accomplish great works;
and whatever else may be wrong in our
social and economic system, we cannot
lfford to discourage, much less dispense
with, the great captains Of industry"
who marshal the forces OF labor and lead
US on toward the golden age that will
see the race emancipated from poverty.
Scientific American.