Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1922-07-27
10, THE POOR MILLIONAIRE!
ny Frederic ]. uaskin.

Washington. July 27.--rhe term
millionaire may mean one thing or
II may mean another. TO the average
person a millionaire is n man who Is
the fortunate posscsgor 81 1900. 900.
To some OF those who study tho L
statistics Of income published by the /
Internal Revenue Bureau of the
Treasury n millionaire Is not one who l
possesses merely si.0o0,000 but one /
who has an income Of tl,0ooo00 o year /
or more. such man must possess /
n fortune Of many millions Of dollars. |
The vlcssitudes OF these super |
millonairos most of whom were |
created 10y the war. is an interesting |
story. There may be some fiction in |
II, also. II Is difficult TO determine
whether the statistics reflect actual
vicissitudes OF fortune or jugglery of
figures, but the figures must be taken
at their face value and the assumption
made that they constitute a true re-
port If that be true, the super mil
llionaires of the United states came
and went in the war years as summer
insects come and go, but there are
many still buzzing around.
In 1914, the first year I'm which tho
great war in Europe changed the face
of the world and turned tho channels
of business, there were 60 persons in
the United states who reported in
comes Of 100000 a year or more.
} The Internal Revenue Bureau has no
higher classification than this. but IL
IL said that n the classfications were
carried upward, It would be found that
there are incomes Of $40. 900 600 a year
and more.
} by 1915 the crop of super million
aires had doubled There were 100
persons who returned incomes Of
= 10O0,O 900 a year and over. In 1916
the number had reached 20e. This
was the peak In 1917 the figures had
, fallen to 141: but in 1918 It was G.
7 in 1919. G5; and in 1920 there were
but 80 Americans reporting incomes
q Of 100000 a year and over.
when They Dwindled.
!, Observers Of these matters sea a
p coincidence IN the fart that the great
- incomes began to dwindle In the
10 same year that tho United states on
d tered the war and laid heavy taxes
2 and surfaces on incomes. The figures
!. are supposed to give. not the taxable
income merely. but the total net in
r. come. That Is, amounts were return
=? ed whether taxable or not The point
z has been made that tho great incomes
Is did not actually fall off whom the
q United states entered tho war 20
ri sharply as has been indicated. but
# that by some mysterious manipula-
d ton they were kept out Of the returns
:. That may he fact and 81 msy 10
10 that the beneficiares Of these vast in
IF comes. realizing that a large proper.
ton Of their funds would he taker
10 by the income tax collector. bogar
=. In 1916 to distribute their property z,
IN heirs or 10 dissipate It in other ways
~ IF the normal definition of mil
~ lionaire Is used. the statistics are
r. astounding. Assuming that a million.
10 aire is one who has an estate wortf
D. 81 900 900 the numbers can he arrived
m az by assuming that each receives
10 an income of 10 per cent on his for
tune. This would be- at the rate OF
L. OF persons having incomes of 500. OO(
g year was 2,2SS. Add the so super
IN millionaires and a grand total Of D.
~ 34s is obtained This was the year
Ut in which the European war broke out
c" Taking this same definition Of mil
vs. liOnaires. there were in 1915 som,
o. 3.704 Of them and. with the super
IN millionaires. n grand total Of 1884
The figures for 1916 show G.427 will
206 super milionaires to add. givini
a grand total of $3.50 In 1917 the mum
- Der was G.523 and, with the super
millionaires. 1864. This was the higl
tide for the combined showing TIL
high tide for the millionaire
was 1916 when there were 206. In 1871
there were but 141. But the classe
ranging down TO the normal single
millionaires reached their zenith i
1917. In 1918 there were 4.432 norma
milliOnaires and 81 super millionaire
or total Of 4,499; In 1919. there wer
= 5.461 normal millionaires and 65 super
millionaires or a total of $685.; in 1872
10 there were 36l6 normal millionaire
49, and 33 super millionaires or total {
$3.50 This Is the last year for whic
expected that 1921 and 1922 will sho
-, still further decreases IN all thes
classes.
For the purpose Of this computation
it has been arbitrarily assumed tn;
ar the millionaires make returns OF
per cent and our classification has bee
90 worked back from that hypothesi
Doubtless there are many possessoI
NO of 81 1900 900 earning but 3 per Gel
,e,. on their fortunes. II this classiflcatiC
be included, the total number Of mi
cL lionaires is greatly swelled-more tina
,ss doubled.
OF the $4,000 income class--a p'
re cent yield on $1,000. 000-there we
5,161 in 1914. These added to the 2.3
$50 of the higher classes, would give
total Of 1909 for 1914. The figures e
.en the other years For these millionair
are: 6.S47 for 1916 or q total wh'
av added 10 the upper classes of 1916
all told; ASP for 1916 or total
,rv 1905; 12.439 for 1917 or a total
l9,1O3: 1886 for 1918 or a total Of i
10 495; 1890 for 1919 or total Of 1884
1908, for 1920 or n total o. 1878
I'VE The figures show that ~ grou
of lesser millionaires, TIA 5 tho
i've having estates ranging from $4,000
TO $4,000 900 have held their furtun
through the war better than the supe
ain millionaires with fortunes above 81
600, 600.
m When Poor Millionaires Flourishe,
In fact the high point for singl
." millionaires. that IS possessors
81, 900 900 yielding incomes OF $1,000
TO -,-, .st n