Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-26
CONCENTRATION OF WEALTH

PARK AVENUE HOTEL. NEW
YORK, Jan. 21 1oO7.-tEditor Herald1:
I respectfully submit tho following cor
rections Of published reports relating
to my paper entitled "The Concentra-
tion of Wealth." read before the Amer
lean Association for the Advancement
of Science at its recent session in New
York city:
My estimate as to wealth concentra-
tion Is that I per cent of the popuIa-
tion of the United States now own prac-
tically 90 per cent of the entire wealth
of the nation.
This estimate Is based upon a COM
pilation referred to by Senator ingalls,
upon the floor of the United States
senate January IA, 1891. to the effect
that S1,100 persons then owned 5s per
cent Of tho wealth of the nation. with
this also substantially agrees (for the
purpose of this estimate) the computa-
tions Of DIR. Charles r. Spahr to the
effect that per cent OF our population
owned in 1890 81 per cent of the nation
al wealth; and of George X. Holmes of
the census bureau to the effect that
three-one hundredths of per cent of
our population then owned 20 per cent
OF our national wealth: as also numer-
GUS other authorities, substantially un-
contradicted at the time, showing a
general agreement upon the part of
statistiCians that 1 per cent or less
than re
owned in 1890 practically half the
wealth of the nation.
I, however, insist that in order to
make these statistics of seventeen
years ago applicable today, allowance
must first be made for the known in
crease, both in size and number. of
the enormous fortunes responsible for
that condition, due in part to ordinary
interest rates, but also and especially
to trust formation, railway "reorgani-
zation" and other causes set forth at
length in my article.
My estimate as to Indebtedness Is
based upon the census of 1890, giving
our mortgage bond and general in
debtedness, public and private, at that
time as S1S,027, ,170,546. The census of
1900 is reprehensibly silent upon this
important subject; and notwithstand-
ing the excessive bonding of our cor
porations within this period have as
sumed that our Indebtedness has in
creased only in the same proportion as
our national wealth has itself increased,
the total at this date to, ap-
OO,OOO0OO.
I then continue: But the stocks of |
our railway, trust and other corpora
tions are expected to draw dividends |
and constitute as truly an indebted |
ness upon the part of the public to the |
owners of wealth as do mortgages and !
bonds themselves; and these. under |
their present enormous overcapitaliza-
ton, would perhaps double our debt |
burden; with the power given these
corporations to levy a tax upon the in |
dustry and property of the nation, as
eXtortionate in extent as We're that |
debt burden to exceed, in fact, all the |
actual, tangible wealth of the nation"
1t will be seen at a glance that this is
vastly different statement from that
attributed to me in the ports to the
effect that this indebtedness does in
fact exceed all the actual, tangible
wealth of the nation.
In disproof of this statement as to
wealth concentration an enumeration
is given of farms, homes, savings
bank deposits. insurance policies and
even corporation stocks in the possess
sion of the people. while a distinguished
inancier disposes of my estimate as to
Indebtedness by the assertion that "a
share of stock in a corporation is not
debt in the economic sense of the
terb, but is simply the certificate of
title to joint ownership in a valuable
property; and therefore concludes that