Kansas City daily journal., 1897-02-08

day 1t is fund for the relief of the suf-
ferers from drouth or floods In Australia;
another day it is for those who hase been
rendered homeless by some terrible volcan-
ic cataclysm in New Zealand OR else her
financial assistance Is invoked in behalr
of the victims of the plague at Hong Kong,
OF for those who have been widowed and
rendered fatherless by some great mining
disaster within the limits of the United
Kingdom. \ shert time age the queen
was asked to subscribe to no less than
three different funds raised in connection
with the loss of the great Cape liner on
the rocky coast OF Brittany. And each
woman in the British empire who gives
birth to triplets expects royal recognition
in the shape of u number of gold sover-
eignS proportionate to the number OF chill
dren she has borne
There is literally no end 10 the demands
of this kind made upon her majestys privy
purse. and it must be borne in mind that.
although she receives a civil list from
the nation amounting to some S2,OOOOW per
annum. yet. with the exception OF SSOO.OOO.
every cent of it is assigned TO expenses
connected with the maintenance OF the
court Indeed. this $300.0 600 is in reality the
only portion of her official income which
she is free to spend in charity or 10 dlS-
pose OF she Will
IL may convey some idea Of the oppres-
sive charges to which people holding OIL
cial place in England are subjected when
1t is mentioned that when the archbishop
of Canterbury, DR.. Temple. succeeded Il
few weeks to the primacy he found that
lie had almost been financially ruined by
his fourteen years tenure of the post Of
bishop of London. True, he received u
salary of S50,0C0 year. had the use of a
country seat and OF 4 metropolitan palace
Yet not only was his large stipend swal-
lowed up by the charges made upon II in
the shape of appeals for charity, but he
was, moreover, Obliged to dip into his per
sonal resources to such an extent that he
is to-day, as he himself admits, in debt
to the amount of over 100000. Yet DIR.
Temple does not pass for generous or
even for a kind-hearted man.
1t is never fair to compare the charities
of members of the reigning houses and OF
the nobility in Europe with those OF the
millionaires in this country. In the United
States, when Il man has an income of $780,
900 per annum, he has 1t to spend, and
practically each cent OF 1t Is available for
every purpose that his caprice may die
tate. In England, however, and elsewhere
on the Continent as well, when a man has
an income of 800 60 it is especially in the
| case of the aristocracy and of the nobility.
accompanied by the possession OF land.
| Now this entails heavy responsibilities and.
above ALL exceedingly heavy charges. The
| owner is responsible for the moral and
| physical welfare of every tenant on his
estate. and although there are exceptions
| TO the rule. ii cannot be denied that. gen.
orally speaking. these responsibilities are
observed and the duties involved by them
J are fulfilled. This would he done os n
| matter of policy. even IL there were no
| other motive underlying. since the welfare
| of the estate depends in a great measure
| upon that of the tenants. The result is
| that the European uobleman, with hts iu-
| come of 100000 a year. instead of having
| the entire sum at his disposal. is not free
| to spend more than $4,000 every cent OF
| the remainder being consumed in charges
| of one kind or another upon his estate.
| Naturally he cannot, therefore. give TO
| charity with the same muniticeuce as his
| American fellow-subsCriber
| OF course, it may be replied to this that
| there are new European Tnillionaires
| springing I'D all the time who are perfect
| ly capable, from financial point of view
| of vying with the generosity of the AstOrs
| and of the Vanderbilts II is curious
| fact. however, that all these nsw-fiedSed
| plutocrats in England ut once go to swell
| the number OF the territorial maEnateS.
| For as soon as a man acquires wealth on
| the other side of the Atlantic the first
| thing he does is 10 invest 81 portion of IL
| in the purchase of an estate. the posses
| sion of which entails the same KIND ~ r.
| sporisiblitieS those which rest upon
| the shoulders OF the old landowners. This
| has it's very great advantages. For apart
| from any other consideration. IL serves to
| bring up the sons of these upstarts in the
| idea that the ownership of lands and
| wealth entails heavy responsibilities to
| their fellow-creatures. and this in itself
constitutes moral check and prevents
their lives becoming as useless 70 them
| selves and as pcrnicious to their fellow
| citizens as those OF the sons OF many rich
| men in this country