Show INDIVIDUAL WEALTH An Interesting Comparison with the Rich of Today and Those of Classic Times Writers usually overlook the manner man-ner in which wealth is distributed at the present time They seem to imagine im-agine that there is a broad line of division di-vision between capital and labor and I that the rich are on one side of the line and the poor on the other side of it There was period in the worlds history there are probably countries now when this was and is true in In former days and possibly backward states like Russia in our own time no mean could or can be found between poverty and wealth I The Old Testament indicates that the trade of the Jews with the east was in the hands of Solomon and that I its profits enriched the king and not the people Herodotus tells us of a Lydian who had nearly 5000000 I gold and silver while in another passage pas-sage he mentions a Greek who drew 90000 a year from a single mine According I Ac-cording to 1r Jannet in the time of I the Caesars seven men owned between be-tween them the Roman province of I Africa up to a certain period of the S Middle Ages the church held one I third of Western Europe and before the revolution oneseventh of the whole soil of France was held by I princes of the blood Individual fortunes of today may possibly be larger than those Which I existed in Rome or Greece though if the fall in the precious metals which I has occurred in the interval be taken I into account even this is doubtful But while in the old time wealth was I concentrated in a few hands it is now dispersed among many holders As 11 Jannet says I The colossal fortunes of a Hirsch or a Rothschild are no doubt important I for they occasionally enable these men to exert a decisive influence on I the markets of the world Yet contrasted con-trasted with the wealth of a nation they are really insignificant They are like the point of a pyramid which attracts attention because it is high though the center of gravity lies near the soil in the massive blocks which compose its lower courses In fact the great additions which have been made to the wealth of the world during the last thirty years have not been due to the accumulation accumula-tion of great but to the multiplication of small fortunes 11 Janet says I there is no doubt that there are not more than 700 or 800 persons in France in enjoyment of 10000 a year and that there are not more than 18000 or 20000 with 2000 and upward Nor is it only true that the great incomes are comparatively few the striking fact is that the masses of the people are the owners of property From 1869 to 1871 the debt of France was doubled in the same period its holders were quadrupled In 1889 it was held by 4708000 persons The holdings of individual shareholders in the great railway companies similarly tend constantly to decrease onehalf of the bonds of the city of Paris are held by holders of a single bond there are 7000000 depositors in French sayings say-ings banks wiih an average of f20 each while the most striking fact of all out of 8302672 inhabited houses in France 5460355 or 65 per cent are occupied by their owners Edinburgh Review |