The farmer and mechanic., 1915-08-31
WOULD LIMIT TO A MILLION
FORTUNE MAN MAY BEOl FATH
This Is Recommendation of Four of The Five Members
of Industrial Relations Commission n-Liken Rockefel-
ler Jr., To Louis XVI in Attitude To Worlino Glasses

uoHs' Wnicn can only be Sguanared !
hoarded, put into so-called sbenefac- i
tlOns, which for the most part con-
stltute menace to the State, or put |
back into the induStr rial machine 10 |
pie up ever increasing mountains Of |
gold.
In many cases, no doubt these
huge fortunes have come in whole or |
IN part as the rich reward of excep-
tonal service. None would deny or
envy him who has performed such
service the richest of rewards al
though one may question the ideals of
nation which rewards exceptional
service. None would deny or envy
| him who has performed such service
| the richest of rewards. although one
| may question the ideals of a nation
which rewards exceptional service
| only by burdenSome fortunes. But
| such reward can be claimed as
| right only by those who have per-
/ formed service, not by those who
through relationship or mere para
| sitism chance to be designed as heirs
| Legal right, of course they have
by virtue of the law of inheritance
| which, however, runs counter to the
| whole theory of American society
and which was adopted with impor-
| tam variations from the English law
without any conception of its ultimate
results and apparently with the idea
dition which has arisen.
! In effect the American law of in
heritance is as efficient for the estab-
liShment and maintenance OF families
as the English law which has bull
warked the British artist ocracy
through the centuries. Every year,
, indeed, sees this tendency increase
, as the creation of estates in trust
secures the ends which might be more
simply reached if there were no pro
hibition of entail
According to the income tax re
turns for ten months of 1914 there
are in the United States !, ,59S fortunes
y yielding an income of 100000 pei
, year or over. Practically all of these
- fortunes are SO invested and hedge(
about that they are, to all intent:
and purposes, perpetuities.
o Pass Into Control OF Trustees.
= AN analysis of 50 of the largeS
:. American fortunes shows that nearl,
= half have already passed to the con
troll of heirs or to trustees (their vic
! regentS) and that the remainder will
a pass to the control of heirs within
% twenty years upon the deaths of tn
= founders. Already. indeed, thes
- founders have almost without eXcep
ton retired from active service. leaY
ing the management oStensibly t
their heirs, but actually to executiy
!, officials upon salary.
~, I'VE have, according to the incom
. tax returns, "A families with income
ot Of $1,O00,O0O or more, whose mem
~ bers perform little or no useful ser
- - vice but whose aggregate incomes, tc
~, falling at least $500 900 per yeal
~ are equivalent to the earnings of 100
- 600 wage earners at the average rat
~ of $500.
vel Between the Extremes.
re Between the two extremes of ST
We perfuity and poverty is the large mic
n die class, farmers, manufacturer
merchants, professional men, skille
en- artisans and salaried officials who's
n incomes are more or less adequate ft
their legitimate needs and desires ar
p who are rewarded more or less e,
d. actly in proportion to service. The
by have problems to meet in adjustiI
,se expenses to income, but the pinch
of want and hunger is not felt, nor
there the deadening, devitalizing e
feet of superfiuous, unearned wealt
Ou From top to bottom Of societ
est however, in all grades of incomes a
lol an innumerable number Of parasit
of every conceivable type. They pc
ial form no useful service, but drain
ed from the income of the producers
by sum whose total cannot be estimate
ct Besides the economic significan
Ire of these great inequalities of veal
m and income there is a social aspe
which equally merits the attention
re- Congress- 1t has been shown tn
ust the great fortune Of those who ha
me profited by the enormous expansi
The of American industry have alrea6
ou- or will in a few years pass by right
to inheritance to the control of heirs
ar to trustees who act as thelr VI
to regents They are frequently styl
rn- by our newspapers monarchs of
of dustry,' and indeed occupy within Q
the republic a position almost exac
analogous to that of feudal lords
These heirs. owners only by Writ
nee of the accident of birth, control
asst liNelih hood and have the power 10 u
cen tate the happiness Of more hum
ale beings than populated England in
gh- Middle Ages. Their principalities,
less is true. are scattered, and. throu
out the medium of stock ownerSh
per shared in part with otners out II