Thirty years hence, English fortunes will appear very paltry, -compared
with American. The money-makers of the United States work over a much larger area, and continue making it for longer periods of time. Already no English fortune quite rivals Mr. Vanderbilt's, Mr. Stewart's, or Mr. Astor's in spend- ing power, and Mr. Jay Gould recently showed that his accu- mulations were rising to a level with theirs. He was accused, for Stock-Exchange purposes, of wanting money. The report seriously hampered him, and calling his friends together, he showed them railway securities amounting to 210,600,000, which were past all question his own, and which, moreover, he had never pawned since he subscribed for them. This amount was independent of other property, which may be small, and of his balance with his bankers, which, from the nature of his transactions, must be very large. It is a curious fact that, while an enormous fortune in America scarcely gives its holder anything, the desire to increase one is stronger than in Europe. The game itself seems to be felt perennially enjoyable,—a sort of high whist.
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