WEALTH OF THE ASTORS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1834, 14 January 1887, Page 34

WEALTH OF THE ASTORS.

Ax Estate Worth Fully Three Hux-

dred Millions of Dollars.

,No one family imfche country has' so '■ kept its wealth .within itself as the Asfeorsj who intend to. continue the financial policy originated by old John Jacob Astor about the beginning of the century.'; It is commonly supposed that he made the bulk of his fortune in furs. He formed a gigantic project for extending the business from the northwestern lakes to the Pacific by means of various trading-posts, by ' establishing a central station at the. mouth of the Columbia," and then by making a depot at one of the Hawiian Islands, to supply China and India directly from the Pacific Coast. The project was partially carried out, but meanwhile Mr Astor saw greater opportunities for making money in city real estate than in the fur trade. <He began to buy extensively, and the growth of the, town was so rapid that, in .some cases, ( the property increased a hundredfold.'- 1 When he died, nearly -40 years ago, he was estimated -to be worth 20,000,000d01. He left. to his son, William B. Astor, the bulk of his estate, to be managed in the interest of the family; ' William B. left it in turn to his' son, John Jaoob,' l and now John Jacob has intrustedit to- his son— his sole child, indeed — William' Waldorf Astor. This virtually amounts to an entailj and prevents the wealth from being scattered; though there is small danger of that,, the Astors being noted for conservatism and prudent thrift. They have always invested in real estate, ■ buying few bonds or stocks, and have evinced great care and discretion in their' investments. Their, constantly ' increasing surplus they have; so to speak, put into the ground, reaping ' extraordinary profits thereby. They never sell ; they are ever buying, buying, buying, but keeing their transactions as secret as possible. No one but themselves and their agents have any idea of the vast blocks of real estate in their possession. They own thousands of, business houses and dwellings. They ' never touch unimproved property, and now add each year two or three hundred houses to their immense holding. When it is remembered that wealth doubles at simple interest in less than 17 years, and in much less time' when invested in real eßtate; it is easy to un-' derstand how theirs must have grown in the past 90 years. One of the advantages of' such investments is, that' they indrea.se with the value of the city., They are not confined, as bonds and similar securities , are, to' a fixed rate of interest.. Certain lots pur-; chased '30 odd years ago would' pay to-day what is equivalent ,to 40' or oOiper cent, per annum. " There is little doubt tpat the Astor , estate ,i Bby far' the greatest- here or 'in, the country. , It cannot be "much* short of 300;000,000dol, arid by the close of the century, if managed as it has, been, it, will be nearly doubled. ' What will prevent them in another hundred' years from owning most of Mabattan Island ?— New York Correspondent Boston Advertiser. •'