The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-11-26
Does Economic Law Regu- late Amount of Money
 Man May Acquire?
ALL OVERESTIMATED
 WHILE STILL LIVIIG
Brady, Sage, Hartman and Gould Each Left Property Appraised by State From Seventy to
 Eighty Millions
Ny HOLLAND

New York, November 25.-(Special. .)--One featufe of the official appraisal which has just been made for the state of New York of the estate of Anthony N Brady which has not failed to cause comment in this city is the approximate equality between the money value of MT. Bradys estate and that of others who within the past 10 or 15 years have died and who in their lifetime were ranged among the richest citizens in the United States. The simi- larity in money value disclosed by tAe states appraisal for taxation purposes of estates of men who were estimated to have gained as much as S1oOO0O,O0o is so close as to suggest that it is not mere coincidence, but may reflect some obscure economic law.
 After paying about 5000 900 from the es- tate of MT. Brady for the purpose of liquidating obligations of all kinds, there remained, according to the state ap- praiser, little over s7200O,O0o as the net estate. Upon this the transfer tax for the estate will be laid.
 For several years before the death of Russell Sage. his wealth was estimated not at haphazard. but by good friends of AN7' I an excessive estimate. The estate. in round figures, was found to have the money value of approximately STOOD, O0O MT. Sage himself while proud of his accumulations, never furnished to his in- timate friends or probably to anyone but his lawyer figures which would give any idea of the aggregate value of his estate Yet he would speak of his wealth with glee, saying frankly that it amounted to many many millions. It actually was in the neighborhood of s7O.OoO, 900, and his gross estate did not differ materially from the net estate
 All sorts of estimates were made of the accumuations of E. H. Hartman. Rarely was one heard which did not fix the money value of his possessions at s1oO- oOoooo, and his friends sometimes said that they would not be astonished if an appraisal of his estate showed that it was as high as s150O ,0Oo MT. Hartman himself did not have time or perhops the disposition to learn approximately what ms wealth amounted to until the last months of his life. Then he made a care ful computation and confessed to one of his most intimate friends that as near asi ne could get at it, to use his words he was worth little over sS0,Oo0,O0o. Ills estimate was not far out of the way
 UT Jay Gould's wealth the estimates in the last years of his life were that if was not less than $100,O0O, GOO The estate which MT. Gould left in trust is now believed to De Tn the aggregate considerably in ex- cess of $100. 100000, but that is due to slillful handling and the yearly accumu- lations from his property. His estate was s75, 900, ,000 " Do''
 These four men accumulated in tba,r lifetime estates of somewhere between s7O V0oo0 and SS0000,000. All of them began ire practically penniless. MT. Hartman nad small capital when he began as a broker In the Wall street district. Russell sage was Tn the early days a retail mer- chant in Troy. Anthony Brady was a barber shop cashier at Albany when he began active life and Jay Gould was DOCK agent and a peddler in a small way.
 Tn comparing these estates. the disno. sition has sometimes been to ask whether or not there may not be some unrecog- nlzed law governing the accumulation or great fortunes, if the master of ono or these fortunes began life with noth ing but energy. health and ability as capital. Russell Sage was fond of say. Ing that he accumulated his fortune he cause of his fidelity to the principle of saving, especially in small things. but h' n. Hartman was not saver in the sense in which Russell Sage used the word and was sometimes thought to be reckless in his expenditure The truth probably is that in order to accumulate fortune of great amount in the course of 30 or 40 years and by opera tions in the securities and industriel mar kets there must be an inborn aptitude for | transactions of that kind. MT. Brady nos. SpSSed WE well F. Flower, who himself had A nat
 ural capacity of that kind. when Brady was venturing from his cashiers desk to serve industrial undertakings in AL bany.
 As recently as 1893, P. H. Hartman. while then of some wealth, was not listed among men of such large capital. In the panic of 1893, he passed several sleepless nights. fearing his accumulations, which were said to be not much over S1 GOO OOo should be lost. He probably made the greater part of his fortune within ten years, and he explained the manner of doing that when he said that after he became identified with the Union Pa cific Railroad company he realized the inherent or lurking value which was in this property and which could be de- veloped provided fresh capital in large amounts were expended. He therefore took chance" and being able to secure large blocks of Union Pacific stock at the time when 1t had only nominal value he awaited the result of the developments and at last found his prediction and faith justified. Undoubtedly the greater part of MT. Harriman's fortune was &C., quired in this way Some called 1t spec- ulation, but Mir. Hartman said that if 1t were speculation it was the kind upon which the prosperity and advancement of the world depended.
 There always was some astonishment over the finding of the state appraiser of the value of the estate of c. P. Hunt ington. He had accomplished in the southern part of the country what James J. Hill had achieved near the Canadian boundary, for he had. like MT. Hill, al- most single handed constructed a railroad from the Pacific to the Mississippi valley He had also built city upon the Att lantic coast Had his estate been found to be in excess of s70.000,000, that finding would have been in accord with the general estimates, but the appraiser found it to be of the money value of ap- proximately $30.O00, 900, although apprecia- ton of some of his securities increased it's value some six or seven millions a year or two later The value of Mir. Huntinston's estate has always been re- garded as good proof that he never was money mad" and regarded achievement as of far more consequence than amass- ing a fortune. Tn this respect he diff fered from MT. Brady. who was recog-