Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-04-29
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

!
 John Jacob Astor, so the news columns relate is creating for himself and his family vast memorial estate in New York He is buying more than 1000 acres, and many farms and several prosperous villages are to be wiped out to suit the Astor whim.
 It is said that the people whereabouts do not look upon this invasion kindly. It isn't the sort of thing Americans have become accustomed to. In England people are on the point of de- strOying these vast estates by taxation; and of course if the Astors and others get to building up such institutions here, they will put this country to the trouble of doing later what the English people are trying to do now. | The first two volumes of "History of the Great American Fortunes, by Gustavus Myers, which is to be complete in three volumes, are out. In the first volume an incident of the early history of the Astor fortune is related which is peculiarly interesting in view of the present attempt of scion of the house ot As tor to build himself up vast family estate at the expense of destroying pretty villages and comfortable farms
 1 In this interesting history is told the story of how the original Astor made a "killing" by a disregard of popular rights as great as that shown in the present Astor's plans
 During the Revolution Roger and Mary Mor- ris held a tract of land amounting to 51,OOO acres in Putnam county, New York, just south of the place where John Jacob Astor is creating his patronage. This land had descended to Mary
 Morris from one Frederick Phillips, who had I financed the buccaneering expeditions of Cap tain Samuel Burgess. The Morrises were
 Tories, apparently, for their land was confis
 cated by the state of New York and sold ir small tracts to farmers. By 1909 about 700 fam lilies had settled on this land and were cultivat ing it.
 In that year Astor found out that these FOG
 families had no legal title to their property. The
 Morrises, it appeared, had only life lease, anc such an estate could not be confiscated. The ,I property should have reverted to the Morris children after the extinction of the lease, anc these heirs, not the 700 farmer families, were sti,! tie real owners. Astor, after having the matter thoroughly looked into, skirmishee around and bought up the claims of the heirs {, for $100,000 TheL the innocent occupants were told that the property which they had cultivated for thirty years or more was not theirs, but AS
 tor's
 } There was great public uproar, whicl buzzed Intellectually about the Astor ears. The farmers appealed to the legislature, which re r fused to recognize Astor's title. Astor offered to sell out to the state for $667 ,OO0, but pubic
 sentiment was so thoroughly aroused that th 5 legislature dared not pay the price. The cas- 5 went to the courts, and Astor won his pomt. Il t. 1927 the state compromised" with Astor aH( l paid him $500,00O, the whole people being taxed to put profit of $40O,0OO in the Astor coffers l Both the Astor who turned this trick and tn
 Astor who is building up dukedom in Nev
 York were well within their legal rights; whicl
 shows how, under the present dispensation, le
 gal rights and moral rights often are vastly diff ferent things.