Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-17
rOHN d. ROCKEFELLER,
who has long enjoyed the
reDutatiOn Of-Or DerhaDS

WHO Has long tHJOyeu lHt
reputation of-or, perhaps,
- worried under the imputation
of-being the richest man in the
world, has given out the statement
on his solemn word that he is not
worth more than $3oo,Ooo,oOo, and
that his annual income does not
exceed SI5,oooooo to S2oooo,ooo.
Riches, perhaps after all, exist
only by comparison. At first blush
S3Oo,OoO,ooo seems like a fabulous
sum, but if each of the 100000
people in the United States were
worth S3ob.ooo,ooo there would be
no rich men in the country. The
per capita wealth in the United
States is SI,235.S6. Compared with
this sum. S3Oo,ooo.ooo is inconceiv-
able. There are $4,000 persons in
this country whose average wealth
is S264, 900, and whose aggregate
wealth is S33,Ooo,ooo,ooo. There
are $4,000 persons whose aver
age wealth is $4,000. and whose
aggregate wealth is S23ooo,ooo.ooo.
There are 100000 persons whose
average wealth is ST 500. and whose
aggregate wealth is SS,2oo,ooo,ooo,
and there are 100000 persons
whose average wealth is $50. and
whose aggregate wealth is $780,
100000. Here, then, are II, 100000
persons in this country who are
worth the classifying in the wealth
columns OF the nations ledger.
By Frederick Boyd Stevenson.
copyright. 1907 by Frederick Boyd Stevensonl
rF you were worth $500 600 OOO-what
would you do with 1t?
If. for instance. you were endowed
4 with spirit of unthinking altrusm
YOU might distribute il equally among
the .Si.pOOOoO people in the United States
Every man, woman and child would re-
ceive S3.51. If you had the collecting
mania you could eXpend il in rare works of
art-genuine or imitation, and If you did
not know the difference it would not mat
ter. or you could gather In all the out
standing ten-dOllar bills in the United
States and still have enough left to add to
your collection all the twenties and ffties
In the country. If your fancy ran TO war
ships, you could maintain the navies of
the United States and Russia for one year
ana still have enough money left to make
the average person envy you. II your
thoughts were running on financial endeav-
or YOU might own one-haf the national
banks in the country. You could pay,
thrice over, all the liabilities acCrung from
the failures in the United States for one
year. you could pay, twice over, all the
pensions in the United States for one year.
Now the average annual income of each
family in this country is SSS3.39. With
your income of S2OODO0o0 you could sup
port 2265 such families every year, and
when one considers that there have been
100000 workingmen unemployed in the
United States from four to SIX months
during the year you might congratulate
yourself on having added a drop to the
bucket of charity.
You could pay if you wanted to- the ma
tional debts of Chile and Honduras You
could pay for the maintenance and opera
ton of New York city for three years and
property there You could run Chicago OF
Philadelphia or Boston out of your annual
income and from your principal you could
pay off the total municipal Indebtedness
OF the cities of Chicago, St Louis. Cincin-
natl. Pittsburg Detroit. indianapolis, Ro-
chester. Denver. Kansas City, Providence
Louisville Jersey City, Washington, Mil
waukee, Baltimore Buffalo and New Or
leans. Out of your income you could pay
for police force twice the size of that
of New York. You could build two water
works systems of the capacity now operated
In New York and have ample means left
TO build another system as large as that
operated in Philadelphia. Your income
would be larger than the annual income of
ST. Louis and as large as the annual in
comes of Baltimore and Washington COM
bined. You could pay the wages of $50. 600
workngmen engaged in all the hand trades
of the United States for one year Your in
come would pay the salaries of 400 Presi-
dents of the United States. You could buy
ALI the fish hatcheries in the country by
saving your income for four years
If you were inclined toward agricultural
pursuits you could own all the fan n lands,
all the live stock and all the farm property
In Vermont and West Virginia; you