I judge property myself by its net earning power; that is the only rule I have been able to get.... This whole island [Manhattan] was once bought for a few strings of beads. But now you will find this property valued by its earning power, by its rent power, and that is the way to value a railroad or telegraph.
"Jay Gould: A Character Sketch" by William T. Stead, in The Review of Reviews. Testimony to the New York Senate Committee on Labor and Education, February 1893.
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