Evening star., 1928-12-04
Whitney and Ryan Estates
Hold Proof of Opportunity

The filing of the inventory of the
estate of Payne Whitney and the death
few hours later of Thomas Fortune
Ryan, even more wealthy than his one
time associate in the financial world
have served to impress the public mind
with opportunities for success in Ameri-
can life. The Whitney inventory breaks
the record among settlements of large
estates. Both men are praised for their
outstanding ability in the management
of large personal interests.
The Whitney estate, with its total in
the neighborhood of 5000, 100000, is
viewed by the New York Times as estab-
fishing a figure which sis difficult for
Americans to grasp, used as they are to
the parade of great sums through the
press" The Times points out that ''the
terms of his will establish one fact that
can be graSped by every one-that he
was a generous, kindly, charitable man"
whose estate was ''the product of two
fortunes in financial union" but neither
of which, however, except for his man
ag9ment, could have represented any,
thing like half of this total"
Payne Whitney'S father, William G.
Whitney" according to the New York
Evening World, was about as poor
young man as ever left Western Mas
Sachusetts hilltop to seek fortunes else
where. He made his money in the sur
face traction developments of New York
City a generation or more ago. But
those investments of the father were
very transitional. We find little or no
trace of them in the sons listed wealth.
Alliance with the Payne family of Cieve-
land gives the clue to their relnVeSt-
ments. Standard Oil stocks predomi-
nate. Their disposition in the
~. xtrtll ic
lic-Spirited as such fortunes go on the
average-many millions to hospitals, Ii
braries and other philanthropic instl-
tutions."
The fact that Mr.. Whitney's inherit
ed wealth was increased by his own
skillful management" impresses the
Charleston Daily Mail, which feels that
"it would be interesting, if we had any
way of determining the fact, to know
what proportion of all the fortunes
inherited, whether large or small, were
we'll managed and increased by the
recipients or wasted by miSmanagement.
ITO equal the enormous sum left by
this man, by no means so well known
as his brother Harry Payne, and popu-
larly esteemed as one concerned more
with social and sporting activities than
with the accumulation of wealth" sug-
gests the Newark Evening News, the
10000 900 estate of j. P. Morgan, the
elder, and the $90,000.000 left by John
Jacob Astor would have to be combln-
ed and still be $10,000,0OO snort. The
$60,000,000 Mr.. Whitney bequeathed TO
educational and charitable institutions
alone is but $5O00,000 less than the
entire estate left by Russell Sage, and
makes insignificant the $4,000, 900 An
drew Carnegie was worth when he died
he having in his lifetime, however,
given away some $35O,000,000. But SO
was Mr.. Whitney a generous, II an un-
ostentatious, philanthropist while he
lived"
He was good steward" says the
Worcester Telegram, referring to the
expansion of his inherited wealth under
his own management, and the Tele-
gram adds: His riches never kept
him from enjoying the leading OF
healthy, friendly, wholesome lie Ihe
Louisville Times, considering the in
evitable tendency of American fortunes
to increase to such an extent as to
pass beyond the conception of the hui
man mind" holds that the power con-
ferred may be put to varying uses. 1t
quotes from Milton, who said good
and evil are twins" and concludes that
great wealth, giving great power to
do HARM confers ability to improve the
condition of the human race"
X X X
"a rich man who uses his money
wisely, helping others over some of lifes
hard places" comments the Rock Island
Argus, land who has true friends who
like him for his own, not merely for
his moneys sake, ought to be very
happy. Mr.. Whitney seems to have
been that sort of a man" The Char
lotte Observer also testifies that "he
seems to have led happy life" and
Mr.. Whitney's public benefactions that
, paper describes as 1.-The biggest shake
of the cornucopia on record"
The death of Mr.. Ryan, coupled with