been obtained, I cannot do better than to quote a
writer not at all likely to err by undue severity to our millionaires,
as he is himself the president of a railway system a thousand miles in
extent:

The great majority of the phenomenal fortunes of the day are the
result of what may be called lucky gambling.... Man is a gambling
animal by nature, and modern methods have enormously developed both
its facilities and its temptations and have opened large fields in
which gambling is not held to be disreputable.

Under such stimulus is it wonderful that its growth has been
phenomenal? Wall street is its head-quarters, and millions upon
millions of dollars are accumulated there to meet the wants of the
players. Railroad stocks are its favorite cards to bet upon, for
their valuation is liable to constant fluctuation on account of
weather, crops, new combinations, wars, strikes, deaths, and
legislation. They can also be easily affected by personal
manipulations.... Money makes money, and money in great masses has
its attractive power increased. The aspect of phenomenal fortunes,
therefore, is a social problem of some importance. Their manner of
growth and their manner of use are to be observed, and what
restrictions, if any, should be placed on their accumulation should
be considered.[5]

[5] "Railway Practice." By E. P. Alexander, President Central
Railroad and Banking Co. of Georgia.

The fact pointed out by General Alexander in the above quotation is one
which is far too lightly appreciated. The evils of railway management by
which the owners of the stocks and bonds of the company are victimized
to enrich stock speculators are much too complex and numerous to be
described here. The state of affairs can be briefly summed up, however,
with the statement that our present system of conducting corporate
enterprises results inevitably in the gravitation of their ownership
into the hands of the holders of large fortunes. The railways of the
country are an instance in point. Time was when the stocks and bonds of
railways were owned by people of small means all over the country. But
after many severe lessons in the shape of stocks wiped out, and bond
interest scaled down, these small holders were taught the folly of
investing their savings in business over which they had practically no
control, and thus placing them at the mercy