Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 July 1892 — Monopolies and Millionaires. [ARTICLE]

Monopolies and Millionaires.

The New York Tribune has published a list of 4,095 millionaires in the United States to show that the majority of them have not made their wealth in protected, industries. It, however, finds that 1,175 of these have removed themselves thus far from the poor-house largely by the aid of “protection.” After omissions are supplied, which good judges say are numerous, it - will probably be found that there are 5,000 of these tariff beneficiaries, tax-evaders, and land sharks among us. Supposing that they will average $4,000,000 apiece, these few men, less than 1-100 of 1 per cent, of our population, then own $20,000,000,000, or over 30 per cent, of our total wealth, which according to our last census was $63,548,000,000. It is entirely reasonable that 100,000 more persons can be found whose total accumulations will add $20,000,000,000 more, making fully 50 per cent, of our total wealth in the hands of 1-6 of 1 per cent, of our population. It is quite probable that 1 per cent of our population owns 80 p r cent., and perhaps 90 per cent., of all our wealth, and the gap between the rich and the poor is growing wider and more threatening every day. Read in any part of this list and you will be convinced that the sources of every one of these fortunes have been in monopoly of some kind. The greatest monopoly, if the Tribune’s data are correct, is that of land in different forms —lots, farms, mines, etc. This appears to have made more than one-half of our millionaires. The second is undoubtedly that from tariff taxation, giving a few of our manufacturers the monopoly of our markets, a monopoly they have made doubly secure by meank of trusts in nearly every protected industry. Other and less objectionable monopolies come from patent and copy rights, government contracts, etc. The most striking feature of these millionaire producing monopolies is that they are nearly all the direct results of tariff taxation, or they can be removed by direct taxation that shall neither take from the poor to give the rich nor leave any person in possession of what he has not. earned.