The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1906-12-28

New York, Dec. 27.-That John D.
Rockefeller unjustly holds his great
wealth. estimated to be the largest for
tune in the world. because it is not the
result of natural causes, but created
through the activity OF corporations all
of which he calls vicious" was the as
sertion made this afternoon by Henry
Laurens Call of Washington. D. c, a
writer of economics, at the fifty-seventh
annual meeting of the American Associa-
ton for the Advancement Of Science.
Rockefeller is the greatest exponent
of corporation competition as against in
dividual competition" said Mr. Call His
millions have come TO him only because
he controls corporations. The eoncentra-
ton of wealth int such fortunes as his
own divides Industrial society into two
cIasses-the enormously rich and the
miserably poor.
I'VE are a nation Of debtors as result
of the growth of the corporation; the
public and private mortgages aggregating
$4,000 000 600. OF $3.50 per capita
Corporation Vicious Institution.
"The corporation Is monstrosity, and
the wealth Of Rockefeller and other enor-
mously wealthy men is the product of
this vicious institution To conquer the
wealth-concentrattng corporation the pub
lie utilities and natural resources must be
taken from the hands Of great corpora
tons. Corporations must become cooper
alive TO remedy existing conditions.
1or h-a Of ..rtr Ia
ton owns practically 90 per cent Of the
nations wealth. Fifty years ago there
were not more than fifty mfIIionaires in
all the United States, and their combined
fortunes, including the half millionaires.
did not exceed probably 100000, or ]
per cent of the aggregate national
wealth"
Mcpherson Defends Rockefeller.
Logan c. Mcpherson. assistant to the
late Samuel Spencer, as president Of the
Southern Railway. spoke after MIR. Call.
He gave several anecdotes regarding Mr..
Rockefeller. saying that, although he is
much criticised. he has really done great
good Years ago. he said, a man employed
on a cousins farm in Illinois was APP
preached by a stranger who wanted aid
in raising $4,000 to construct a pipe line
for oil. He got no help there, but in later
years the two men met again and the
farmer recognized the ambitious stranger
as Rockefeller.
Mr.. Rockefeller told him." said MI
Mcpherson. that on all hands he heard
himself condemned for raising the price of
oil built that pipe line 10 make oil
cheaper. and succeeded. I cut the cost.
more than half And yet they find
fault
ROckefeIIers Really Poor Folks.
Why" said Mr.. Mcpherson, in that
bleak house down there in West Fifty
fourth street they are very economical
very close. The ROCkefelleTs are really
poor Just to show you how poor: Some
relatives Of mine were recently at dinner
there, and in the course of conversation
Mrs. Rockefeller remarked: We are very
fond OF oysters. but we cannot afford TO
have them. We are too poor
You must understand that a man may
be worth 100000 or $1,000 o00, 200, but he
has TO keep his factories and refneries
going and may not have ready cash
John D. Rockefeller is poorer in the
bleak house on West Fifty-fourth street
than he was when, as a young man, he
went to a farmer at Macon, H., and tried
to borrow $4,000 for his pipe line
Matchmaking Basis Attacked.
John B. Daish. of Washington, D. c..
addressed the Social Science section of
the association on the subject of the
Methods Of ascertaining the cost OF
transportation" this morning. He re-
viewed the methods used by the Supreme
Court of the United States and the vari-
Gus state railroad commissions. all Of
which, according to the speaker, are incOr-
rect or inaccurate. He said that 'the
difficulties In the matter seem to be the
unwarranted assumptions, legal fictiOns,
as il were, within which there might be
such a variation as to cause rates, sin
gle or as a schedule, 10 be unreasonably
low on the one hand, or extortionate on
the other"
In conclusion he said:
The assumption that the future guam
tity of traffic will remain the same; the
assumption that the average haul of both
inter and intra State traffic viii not be
materially different; the assumption that
operating expenses for a particular year
are reasonable; the assumption Of what
shall constitute fair valuation Of the
carriers property, the amount Of tonnage
It viii transport, the fair rate Of return.
the arbitrary rule that all parts of the
road cost the same to operate per unit;
the equally arbitrary rule that the rate
OF return ought to be the same for all
roads and branches Of roads. that the
unit of per ton-mile is a safe and eQuita-
BILE one. that any unit ought to apply TO
the 5000 articles in numerous classes;
that terminal expenses are the same for
all commodities; that the haul on inter
state traffic costs the same as on local
traffic. and finally, but by no means I'M
important, that the carrier viii give US
correct figures. These assumptions, hereto
fore made, may or may not be true. I'm
til proven correct we cannot hope TO as
certain 10 a mathematical certainty the
cost Of transportation to the carrier by
any of the methods considered. or one
hereafter TO be devised"
Woman Burned to Death.
woodbury., y. J., Dec. 27.-Mrs. p. p