WHAT IS PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT WORTH?

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 70, 19 September 1936, Page 27

WHAT IS PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT WORTH?

Parlour politicians always gossip about the comparative wealth of opposing candidates in a campaign year. It is probably a matter of little true significance. Many rich men are haters of the rich, while many poor men are Conservatives, says the "New York Times." Less has been heard about the subject this year than usual, possibly because both President Roosevelt land Governor Landori are considered to be in comparable categories. .Common gossip, however, .has classified Governor Landon as a seltmade oil millionaire, and Mr. Roosevelt as head of a family with holdings valued somewhere hear that;

. It is difficult for anyone to estimate accurately what a man may be worth from year to year in recent years, because values have fluctuated sharply. Yet it is possible to get a rough idea from persons in a position to guess best. The' following estimates of the fortunes and incomes of the opposing candidates are only that and nothing more.

The Republican • nominee's closest friends doubt that his holdings would add up to a million dollars (£200,000) today. Their guess is something between £120,000 and '£140,000, dependIng on, the price of oil. Most of his holdings are in small wells, although he also .owns two large ranches and a farm or'two. '

Mrs. Landon is probably worth around £35,000, maybe a little more. The top estimate is £40,000. Hec holdings weire inherited, mostly from her father.--They represent investments in bonds and farms. If you strike an average of- these estimates, you will compute their joint worth at about £165,000, instead of £200,000. Just what Mr. Landpn's income is from these investments is harder to estimate. His friends say he has never been as much of a speculator and chance-taker as most oil' men. His practice has been to drill -a well, let the money .from it accumulate, and then drill another. Of course, one gets a lot of dry wells, but- over a long period of years he has built up a pretty good profit. , The Roosevelt family can probably top the Landon* a little; both as to net worth and as to income of late. The President first? received an inheritance of about £20,000 from his father and another £20,000 from his half-brother. For,ten years prior to the time he became President, he drew

about £SOOO salary a'year,, first from the Fidelity and Deposit Company, of Maryland, of which he was vice-presi-dent, and then as Governor of New York. Also, he had a law business on the side, and sold some writings. The published income tax returns of 1924 show he paid a tax of £3261 that year. Tax experts say it is impossible to estimate the amount of the income from the tax, but that, ordinarily, this would be the tax on an income o! about £14,740 a year. As President, his salary is £15,000 a... year; his income from his inheritances and savings, may. be roughly guessed at as around £2400; his income from his books as £3OOO. Total income, upwards of £20,000 a year; total personal worth, about £50,000. If these figures err, it is on the conservative' side. '

The bulk of the Roosevelt fortune is still in the name of the President's mother, an inheritance from her father as well as her husband. This includes Hyde Park,, the 600-acre estate on the Hudson, and substantial bondholdings, all of which will probably be the President's some day. The magazine "Fortune," in 1932, estimated Mrs. James Roosevelt's holding at an original value of £140,000, a depression value of £IOO,OOO. Today, £120,000 would be a fair guess. But much of it is in land, which produces no income, and her income" has never been fairly guessed. If you add in the President's holdings, their combined worth could be conservatively estimated at somewhere around £170,000. The active first lady of the land is authoritatively estimated to have earned a little more than £20,000 on her writings, broadcastings, editings, and other endeavours last year. Much of this is said to have been turned over to charity before the money reached her hands. ■ ■ ■ ' ■ In addition, she has a small inheritance from her, father, invested mostly in bonds. This nets her on an average about £ISOO a year. Its total value is vaguely guessed at as about £30,000. Mrs. Roosevelt's total worth, therefore, is possibly £30,000; her income last year was about £22,000. the total estimated worth of the three combined would therefore be exactly £200,000, which is probably not far wrong. The combined earnings of husband and wife last year could likewise be roughly computed as upwards of £42,060, a considerable portion of iwhich went to charity., *