Millionaires And The Tariff

The WUowïng column oí good, Höirtid common sense, is from the pen Oí Hou K. Horr, in the New York Tribumie. It oufiht to be read by every man in the Uniited States: A prcrtectimoást might be able to claim, Witte some shdw of prooi, that evem ü all the fortunes erf the Onited stntcs, ïarnv ami snuiil, had been made uwJertbe pmtretive tartH, thai fact miarht be a poweriua argument ta favor oi su. li a tariff. Large foitunes aan be made on'.y when the peopte at large are prosperous, buyimg large (iiiaiititii's of goods evcr.v yeTir at good prioee, and speaatng money freely for recreation and heaïth; and the protectiön:.st belivves that the prosperity of the Amerk-a.n peopl i lairgely due to the protecti-Xi taa-Mf. But it iü the fact that anöt more tlvan about one-fourtli of the rSch mem of the Unirted States have nuidi! tlieir money to protëected industirilee. And tire lesson whk-h this teaches iis important. The Trlbume's exhibH leaves no chance lor doubt tliat lairge fortunas can le, and are, aceunmlatcd by gaaü business managemenyt witlvout regard to special prott'Otion to peculiar industries extendiMl by the laws oí the country. i ui jinini'iit and Hose adherence tity ooorect buBineee principies lead to .siiKccws iii all kinds o'f business alike. KICII, YET HONEST. TlK' ootmanom .statement tliat no mam pao make a large fortune lvonestly is nut li-ur. Mimi'.v s oiten made im ifsrge t-imis by men who ngver WTWOged a K'llow-man out oí a singte öeojft. I aan Wrlltang tWs .-irticle om tlie cars bi'twven Helena and Iüsmark. Attacliinl to omr train is tlie private car of orne oí these "millionaires." George W. CMj11s, of I'hilaU'lplna. At tu-rlve vears of afte -Mr. ChH'ds laiiidcd in niiladelphia wlth on-ly '■' i lijs pocket, and went to wurk at $3 a week, pnyimir $2.60 a weck hiis board. To-day he oivns, iludividually, one of the great newnpapers of thás country. His income Ls -eiioi-mons. He has gilven away in worthy charitleB muney emougn to make sovoral larse fortumies. To see ■him is to love him. I do not beïieve tliat he evcr -vvroníred a fellowjikul out oí a single üollar. Yct he is rith, very ricli, as the world goes. He combines the geiitleness and warmheartetlness ai' a umnaii with the keen 'seoae of a No. 1 business man. The charm oí his convi'i-satvon is siniply faecioating. He -to-ok "The Public Ledffer" avIhmi tt was losing money rapidly. By untiring industry, g-ood judgmont and warvellou.s Inisioeee sense, he converted that joairnal toto o'ne of the able.st newspapers of thiK country, and ín doing so he made him.self a very large fortune. His ínoome te priucely. He la noted for iiberality and fair flealing Avith all ■tt-ho work in h4a establishment. Kvery mam who lias purchased ofte of hite icipin-í has (ilays received his money'.s Avorth. Hiis materials have aUvays been paid ïor at the márket price. Tliose wüio advertise in his columns have had valué received. And yet te lias accumulated great wealth. Thepe are mea -vlno oontiiiually as.sert tliat no man can become as rich ns George W. Childs wlthotut robbing some ome. Will these gontlcmen point out what human beiaig Mr. Childs has wronged, ivliom of hls fellow-creatures lic has robbed ? I doubt M there Kves the maa Avivo cain gay tliat he was ever wronged by Mr. Oliilds out of a dollar. I carmot, for the life of me, see why Mr. Oliilds ia not just as mucli eintitled to nis millionb as I am to tJie itew dollars oaly which I liave sa ved. Il" lve is not. why not ? Some mwa accumubiite great wealth; a much lan-ger number remaki poor. I wisJi every .me had a eoanpetency, enoiigli to live on comfortably. Beeause they dto ïnot, it by no means follows that tboee whö succeed do so by robbiing othiers. OAN KOKTUNES BE LIMITED? It ssoravetLmos tseems toi me that the the accumulation of very large fortiwies shOTild be prevented. I then ask myself how a-nfl why. Suppose tihlat Mr. Cliiilds Bhall so manage as to doublé thie ciirculatiioiu and patronage of hiiB great dalily. Hi3 income ivoiiM imstantly doublé and hifi ■vealtm would le grèa'tly increased: AVould iiny cune be done a wrong by sufh aai 'occurrencc ? Wlio has ttoe right to control hiis efforts or limit liis ewleavors ? The more I study tli-ta problem ttoe more I become eatteflied tlvat ■vvhatever a man aocumulates honiewtly that he should have the riight to own and control. If mot, why iiiot ? Is not the poeaibility oí accuimulatiing vealtlu the great iindutement t o industry, energy, amd porseveramce ? Tlie iiroper distritoutiiooi of the wealtil created by joimrt actiion of a large naimber of people, iö a problein, whteh ha enga.ged a. great deal of attentaon. I do not belfeve it will ever be solved by liimiiting the amount of wealth whích aaiy one individual sliall be permltted to accumulate. Once enter upon that road and the lïability i.s that there will be no stop short of prevent hii all accumulation. I camnot belteve that ftuch a result wwiW benefit tlie lvuman race ar emd to human progresa and happiness. Thie dist riibut ton of accumulatiloms at the time of a inan's death bas ateo receiTCd the attention of iaw-makers, and. is liikely to do so agaia irn the future. I may refer to thü.s agaila in a future article, as well as to otter features of the general subject of "inil'ltonaires." This articte is suffilcienrtly long already. Before closing, let me say that The Tribune tlïank,s most feincerely the nearly 1,500 persons wlno. have kindly vsTrlttem letters aftd aided in the completiom of ttoese lists of "millionairt's." Tli-ey have been. cousultcd on accoimt oí tüaeSsr gfreat experience amd larse knvywliedge aboiui thie men ainitl buBimees oí thfir toealities. Thélr kiuul amd replies are hereii.v actawwledged wiitih ölmcere thanks. TlitM-c are a tew people who.think t'li-o publicati'OTi of ft list of "millionaires" imdecoroms. It ís amazing lmw a-nj' business man.OT person of sense can take euch a view of this underbakimg. Tlic same reasonMg would pxrt a spop t-o tlie talviiüiK of every oonaus, and to every effort to measure the g.rowtli and ppoaperüty oí any .cpuntii'.v. Mimi of brains wlio utiwly economie qursüouis are nevor weary iu seeking all pöAsible data to aid themi in the solutloji of financial queetions. Of wliat great imporuune it would be to the studeint of social life iu this country, ií he ooaikl poses a list of all Tli e persons woi-th $3,000 anl upward ai the United States ! Hoiv sucti a list would spike the guns of agitators like (u-neral "Wvaver and Jerry Simipeom !