New Britain herald., 1915-08-23
WALSH URGES MILLION
 LIMIT ON INHERITANCE
Remedy for Social and Indus trial Unrest in U S. Says Majority Report of Commission-Minorty
 Blames Distrust of Government

may leave to ms nelTS iS Ihe IeInedy for the social and industrial unrest in the United States suggested by Chairman Frank P Walsh and John B. Lennon, James O'Connel ana Aus tin B. Garretson, three of hls assocl- ates in the Federal Commlsslon on
 Industrial Relations.
 The five other members of the com
 mission do not advocate this specl1lc limitation of inheritance. Nor do they hold that the present social and indus trial unrest is primarily due to the
 unequal distribution of wealth, but
 rather that it is due to the failure to administer the labor laws and to the popular distrust of the municipal, state and national government. To remedy the conditions of social and industrial unrest the other mem | bers of the commission, Mrs. Florence J. Hartman, Prof. Commons and Messrs. Weinstock, Ballard and Aish- l ton, would establish a permanent in- l dustrial commission which would be supported by an inheritance tax on l large fortunes, this tax to be gradu- ated from 1 per cent on the excess | of a S25,000 fortune left to direct | heirs to 1 5 per cent on fortune more | than $1,OO0,0O0.
 Rockefeller, Jr., Like Louis XVI
 The mental attitude of John D.
 Rockefeller, Jr., is likened to that of 1 Louis XVI, king of France, in the 1 report which Chairman Frank P. l Walsh and Commissioners Lennon, l O'Connell and Garretson vii submit 1 to congress-
 | ElSeWhere in the report as illustra- l tions of certain widespread evils in the ] industrial world are references to the 1 conditions in Colorado, where MT. 1 Rockefeller has extensive interests. l 1t was because of this attack upon 1 MT. Rockefeller that Mrs. Florence J. | Hartman, Prof. John R. Commons 1 Harris Weinstock, S. Thurston Ballard ! and Richard H. Ashton refused to 1 sign the report recommended by l Basil M. Manly, the commissions di- 1 rector of research and investigation. 1 The minority report declares that a 1 condition of feudalism exists in the | mining regions of Colorado, but it de- | cries any attempt to hold responsible l any single individual. It emphasizes l the fact that the whole situation in 1 Colorado, West Virginia and other l places where industrial warfare has 1 existed is due to a system which can
 not be remedied by the public abuse l of an individual"
 Likens Rockefeller to King. 1 The report signed by Chairman 1 Walsh and Commissioners Lennon, 1 O'Connell and Garretson says directly 1 of MT, Rockefeller:
 | "'The king can do no wrong not l only because he is abOuVe the law but l because every function is either per | hIy | his ministers and agents. Similarly our
 Rockefellers, Morgans, Tricks, Van l derbilts and Astors can do no indus l trial wrong because all effective ac- | tion and direct responsibility are | shifted from them to the executive 1 officials who manage American indus 1 try.
 The similitude, indeed, runs even | to mental attitude and phrase. Com l pare these two statements:
 John D. Rockefeller, Jr. My l appreciation of the conditions sur l rounding wage earners and my sym pathy with every endeavor to better ! these conditions are as strong as those | of any man.
 Louis XVI.-'There is none but you l and me that has the peoples interest at heart (Il ny a que vous ct moi | qui aimions le peuple.D
 The families of these industrial l princes are already we'll established and are knit together not only by com- mercial alliances but by a network of inter-marriages which asure harmoni- ous action wherever their common in- terest is threatened.
 Effective action by congress is re- quired therefore not only to readjust
 on basis commensurate in some
 measure to the service performed
 the existing enequalities in the dis tribution of wealth and income but
 also to check the growth of a heredi- tary aristocracy which is not only for eign to every conception of American government but menacing to the well fare of the people and the existence of the nation as a democracy Concentration of Wealth. The report summarizes evidence showing that forty7four families possess aggregate incomes totaling at the least $50, 100000 a year, while be- tween one-fourth and one-third of
 male workers in factories and mines IS years of age and over earn less
 than $10 per week and only about
 one-tenth earn more than $20 per week
 'Massed in millions, at the other
 end of the social scale,'' continues
 the report are fortunes of a size
 never before dreamt of, whose very
 owners do not know Che extent nor
 without the aid of intelligent clerks
 even the sources of their incomes. In-
 capable of being spent in any legiti-
 mate manner, these fortunes are
 burdens, which can only be squand-
 cred, hoarded, put into so-called ben
 afaction,' which for the most part
 constitute a menace to the state or
 put back into the industrial machine