Ebook The Vanderbilts and the Story of Their Fortune

This is a history of the Vanderbilt family, with a record of their vicissitudes, and a chronicle of the method by which their wealth has been acquired. It is confidently put forth as a work which should fall into the hands of boys and young men — of all who aspire to become Cap tains of Industry or leaders of their fellows in the sharp and wholesome competitions of life. In preparing these pages, the author has had an am bition, not merely to give a biographical picture of sire, son, and grandsons and descendants, but to consider their relation to society, to measure the significance and the in?uence of their fortune, to ascertain where their money came from, to inquire whether others are poorer because they are rich, whether they are hindering or promoting civilization, whether they and such as they are impediments to the welfare of the human race. A correct answer to these questions will solve half of the problems which most eagerly beset this generation.