Munsey's Magazine, July 1907

Munsey's Magazine, July 1907: "Our American Millionaires" Arthur Reed Kimball's extended article examines American wealth through statistical and comparative analysis. The piece opens with a historical anecdote about Carl Schurz visiting New York in 1852, where a fellow passenger estimates perhaps a dozen wealthy men exist; Kimball contrasts this with a contemporary banker's estimate of 5,000 millionaires in New York alone. The article discusses social attitudes toward wealth in different cities, comparing Cambridge, Massachusetts—where wealth remains unassuming despite figures like Alexander Agassiz's five-million-dollar copper investments—with New York's conspicuous affluence. Kimball distinguishes between personal wealth ownership and corporate control, arguing that public criticism targets financiers controlling others' investments (railroads, insurance) rather than self-made millionaires. The piece includes substantial statistical analysis of wealth distribution, citing Henry Laurens Call's assertion that one percent of the American population controls ninety percent of national wealth, and presents profiles of prominent wealthy men—Rockefeller (estimated $600 million), Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Morgan, and others—through photographs and biographical details.