The San Francisco call., 1904-12-25

Oil Company Of Cleve-
land. Ohio. in 1872
4 own the oil business in America,
SAYS Rockefeller. virtual head OF the
Standard Oil Trust Of America in 1904
In the interim between the express
sion Of design and the announcement
OF a fact accomplished, history has
been in the maNing-history as momen-
.toas in its significance for the economic
and industrial life Of the country as
p the contenooraneOus march Of politi-
cal events has been for the national
life. IN this cycle of thirty-two years
there had its inception and its phe-
nomenal growth a tremendous engine
OF finance. the t.De for all subsequent
initiative schemes. which has played
q part in the economics Of the United
States revolutionary in character and
Of potency and peTmanenCy OF effect
which no O2e dares measure. The
Standard Oil Company OF Cleveland,
Ohio. with a capitalization of $1,000, 600,
has become the STANDARD Oil Trust, un-
disputed master Of q giant industry at
home and strong competitor for the
m0n0nOply OF the world market. whose
. capitalization IS estimated at S900.O0o.-
OO0. Here is material for a historical
work. worthy on account Of its signif-
icance 10 take rank with the annals
OF nations This opportunity has been
embraced BIZ Miss Ida NJ. Tarbell.
whose work. The History Of the
Standard oil Company" WILL I be
lieve. rank as o-e Of the most com
plete and authoritative contributions
u economic history written IN the last
quarter century
When Miss Tarbell commenced the
serial publication Of her story ~
STANDARD Oil IT, McClure's Magazine
. Two years ago she inaugurated the
new regime Of what has been termed
national Journalism" Her searching
analysis Of one phase Of present day
questions pursued without fear or fav-
or 70 a complete conclusion. inspired
similar efforts OF the part Of other
writer's. more or Jess qualified TO speak
'authoritstively. and the leading maya
zines have Tor wear Dast been max
trr q feature 81 work set after the
lines adopted by Mss TarbelL This
has trars sDired. rct without some es-
serce u charlstanry and wildcat
Journalistic e1deavor intruding itself
Storms OF protest. Of crimiaation and
recrimination have attended the course
OF the new national journalism; one
OF the magazines that have been fos-
tering this line OF policy has launched
boomerangs Of frenzied articles. which
are now making the swift circuit back
70 the DrOpelling hand. The History
Of the STANDARD Oil Company" is not
Of these specious penny shockers.
hurled forth at white heat and sud
denly cooling before facts After the
work had concluded its serial publi-
cation the author took opportunity u
weigh every protest. investigate each
suggestion proffered by readers. friend
y or unfriendly. and after incorporat-
ing this new material and revising the
old she has allowed her book to stand
in permanent covers as an unimpas-
stoned review OF the growth and opera
tion OF the first Of the trusts.
Miss Tarbell has gone straight to
original sources for her material Ac-
curacy, in so far as accuracy may ac-
d erue from the great mass OF document
sry. evidence and the testimony Of in
.ciividuals bearing upon the subject,
marks her every statement. From the
books Of private firms, from the find
jngs OF investigating tribunals, both
State and national, from the minutes
Of corporations and associations, the
statistics Of trade, the reports Of COM
mercial bodies, the contracts Of rail-
roads, even from the sworn statements
of Standard Oil officials themselves. the
author has taken her facts. The bulk
of her sources of authority is enormous.
The chance for the admission of erro-
neous and unjust deductions is great.
The major part OF the material has
. never been turned over, and conse-
.quently pioneer work in the choosing
and rejecting OF evidence has had 10 be
Miss Tarbell's own. With all this
weight OF difficulties initiating against
clear and unprejudiced statement Of
facts. this woman who has set herself
70 the task OF giving the story Of thirty
years war in oil brings TO the reader
convincing evidences OF the conserva-
tism and unquestionable authority of
her word.
Besides this chief characteristic of
the work there is another which makes
for the inspiriting vigor Of the narra-
tive. The writer has the power to focus
LLe hDolt BIDd4 llElQ OF neT lTlNeSlIRa-
-tiOn into compass such as TO make
vivid and Dulsing before the readers
eyes the drama Of human endeavor
which spells it's purpose in the three
letters OIL. The history Of oil in these
thirty years past has been the record
OF War-war no less costly in super
human endeavOr and in treasure than
the strife at arms. Play and counter
play. campaign and cOunter-campaign
all of the arts OF craft and ingenuity
have been invoked IN the tremendous
struggle for supremacy on the one
hand and existence on the other which
has been waging between RockefelIer's
trust and the independents. This Miss
TarbeIl has caught with a quick recog-
milton OF the dramatic. Though figures,
tables and statistics make the ground
work Of her book. The History OF the
STANDARD Oil Company is an absorb