The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-08-10
SERVANT NOT
MASTER, SAYS
ROCKEFELLER

blood in the body. An injury or an
operation at one point shocks and
weakens the whole"
Referring to the financial situation
MI. Rockefeller remarked:
who is more interested in the ma
terial prosperity of this country thar
L ann"
my eggs are not all In one basket,
by any means. A good deal of nom
sense is printed every now and Their
about my having captured all the rail-
roads of the country or having monopo-
LIKED this or that. The truth is that I
figure as an investor and stakeholder
rather than as a proprietor. But any
depression is likely to mean a loss of
values to me. It is a fact that hardly
any sort of business can experience dull
times without loss to me. 1t should be
plain, then, that I have the best right
to be anxious for good times all around.
Would 1 permit, then. any harm to
come to any line of business If l could
help 1t?
II am harnessed to a cart in which
the people ride" continued Mr.. Rookie
Teller. whether 1 like 1t or not,
must work for the rest. 1 cannot evade
this responsibility If I would. But I
to draw my share of the load as long
as l am able.
1.-THE first step I took" he said.
meant obligatlng myself to working
men, who henceforward looked TO me
for employment, and investors, who
put in their money and looked to me
for results. At every step forward the
load was heavier. The working men
numbered a few score first, then a few
hundreds, then thousands. There was
a similar increase in the number of
investors who could hold me to ac-
count. While 1 worked for myself, /
had to work for them. Today, retired
from active business, retired, that is.
from business for myself, the capital l
have invested makes work for thou
sands and opens opportunities for other
thousands to place their savings profit
ably. No man with money can escape
this responsibility or loosen this yoke
from his neck.
w are servants, and not masters,
we who are or have been engaged in
large business affairs. 1t is to our vital
interest that the country prosper, that
the people prosper. They can destroy
us or our business, or at least destroy
our power of serving them. We would
probably suffer the least.
THE richest man can eat but three
meals a day, and it does not take d
fortune to dress very well, indeed, or
to provide real luxury in living. The
men who have acquired the largest
fortunes have not pursued wealth, but
business success. Had they desired
money for the enjoyment of money
they would have stopped far short of
spending their lives. as they have.
in the struggle that is business. The
natural ambition of every man to
make good provision for his family can
be satisfied far short of the point
reached by the big men of the indus
trial world of today. But they con-
tinde to toll at their desks because
they lov achievement, for the keen de-
light in creating where nothing was,
and some time, 1 believe, people will
be convinced that they are toiling for
love of country as WE'LL"
When it comes to the attacks upon
him and his associates, Mr.. Rockefeller
shows himself the philosopher. He
does not pretend to like the assaults,
nor does he pretend to naughty indif-
ference, and he is not affectedly flip
pant in his comments. But he is not
bitter toward those who assail him.
He says it is a misunderstanding that
will right itself in time. He frankly
regrets it, but he seems even more
distressed at what he considers the
danger of losing a good opportunity to
capture the trade of the world than
over the personal phase of the attacks.