The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-06-04

instead or Pierpont Morgan having had
enough spare money to buy the King Of
England valuable present he should
become poor man, not able to take hold
or bankrupt railroad properties and build
them into rnoney.making and wage-
paying institutions, In what respect would
II contribute to the contentment of the
men and boys who work, or strike In
the coal mines9 To have Truesdale or
Morgan pulled down would not lift them
UP a hairs breadth. 1t would not in
crease their earning capacity one penny's
worth. IT would not add in the least to
their qualifications for advancement in
life.
william II. Truesdale began at the
bottom of the ladder without pull or
inherited wealth to help him climb UP.
He arose not by figuring out plans how
he could most effectualy make trouble
Tor his employer and force more pay for
less work. His success was won by ex-
actly the opposite tactics His continual
endeavor was to serve his employer faith
fully and efficiently and at the same time
to tit himself for larger responsibilities.
He succeeded in both ambitions. But
there is not man or boy In the coal
fields who has not before him the same
opportunities which confronted young
Truesdale. When things did not go to
suit him Truesdale did not get mad and
strike. He simply gritted his teeth, put
his earnings and waited and watched for
the chance to better himself. The Trues-
dale policy won. but he holds no monop-
oily of II. Any inhabitant of the coal
fields with the right kind of stuff in him
can do likewise, and many of them have
done so.
1--WE have observed, by the way. that
these much abused capitalistic burons are
better appreciated when times are hard
and wages are scarce When they run
their railroads and coal mines at a loss
In order to supply employment SO that
men who have worked for them may
earn food-and this has happened more
than once and will happen again-the en-
deavor of the men and boys of the coal
regions is not to bring these operations
to standstill and flood the mines-not
a bit of it. There is rush and a crush
for the first chance to get place to
work.
sented just so much wages paid to labor
and no doubt will be a means of secur-
ing more wages for labor when Morgan
gets from Edward what he Is after
With all Morgan's millions he cannot eat
any more than the humblest miner; he
cannot wear any warmer clothing or
keep farther out of the wet when 1t
rains. The percentage which he person
ally uses out Of his money as compared
with the percentage which he returns to
the public In the usefulness of his in
dustrial and commercial operations is a
small one compared with that of the en-
vious boy or man who feels that Morgan
Is robbing him. The men and boys who
grind out a miserable existence in the
coal mines If suddenly put in charge
of Morgan's and Truesdale's properties,
couldn't hire men to administer them
IN the efficient manner in which they are
being administered today without paying
more, in one way and another, than
Morgan and Truesdale are costing. The
chances are they would pay much more,
If not wind up in bankruptcy"
These are brave and timely words. and
they are as true as they are seasonable.
A great deal of the denunciation aimed
at capital-which is the handy term used
for all that represents successful effort
is the outgrowth of envy and demagog-
ism rather than a justifiabe protest
against oppression and unwarranted ex-
actions. That corporations and capital
sometimes abuse their power no one will
deny. But that in the main the profits
which make men capitalists are the re-
suits of legitimate industry and WELL
applied ability cannot be disputed.
The Scranton Tribune has the facts
and the logic on it's side in the cases it
cites. The Truesdales and the Morgans
and others who have succeeded in like
manner have been constructors. not de-
stroyers. They have built up the proper
ties they control into proflt-paying enter
prises, and in so doing have furnished
means Of livelihood to thousands on
thousands of other men, To rashly and
hastily denounce these captains of in
dustry" as heartless despots is the height
of absurdity. Suppose all the construct
i've capacity which these creators and
organizers Of Industrial forces represent
were to be suddenly blotted out-would
the wage-earners for whom the critic as
sumes to speak be better or worse off?
Would not the industries of the country
be face to face with conditions threaten
ing chaos. with idleness and ruin as dis
astrous consequences?