Bisbee daily review., 1908-11-25
ReFoRMsRs AND MuckRAkERs.


 Making due allowance for the war rantasIe suspicious about all men and concerns, public pr private, touched directly or indirectly by Standard Oil, 1t does seem that accusation ought to be more considerate and that we should get away from the notion that any kind of dealing with a Standard oil stockhoIder or employe is neces- sarily moral leprosy.
 It was heralded abroad few days ago that the Standard Oil company owner or controlled the Outlook. the periodical edited by Dr. Lyman Ab- bolt. of which Mir Roosevelt is to become a stan contributor after the expiration of his presidential term. The story related that MT. James Stillman, the banker. really owned a controlling interest in the stock or the Outlook. He is the president Of kank supposed to be controlled by Standard oil interests, and that fact was taken as sufficient evidence Of the Outlook's subserviency to the trust. It followed, Of course, in the logic of undertaking, that pr. Abbott, the distinguished editorpreacher, was Standard Oil tool, and that Presi- dent Roosevelt would shortly become a Standard oil hireiing.
 Now the Outlook editorially states that MT. StilIman owns less than 10 per cent of the stock. and that he acquired this small interest in aiding i Dr. Abbott, his personal friend and neighbor. to purchase the holding or Henry Ward Beecher in the property many years ago. The remaining 90 per cent of the stock in the Outlook is owned by the men actively engag- ed in editing and publishing the per iodicaL
 Thus much ado has been made about nothing, says the Fort Worth Record. Of course, the error has been corrected and the raise rumor arrest ed-so far as falsehood can be over taken and revealed-but the fact re- mains that an unjust suspicion has been raised and a rumor has been circulated to the dctriment of an in nocent and lofty enterprise.
 Standard Oil has sins enough in it's own organic acts without imputing dishonorable craft and sinsister, mo- tive to every incident of business or of personal friendship with which one of its shareholders or officers happens to be connected. It would be mar row and contemptible to attribute a wrongful purpose to MT. Stillman in lending helping land to a man Of Dr. Abbott's character. The invest ment was a trife to a man of his wealth, and while lt doubtless paid him well enough, he would hardly have given it consideration except as a personal accommodation to a friend and minister of large usefulness. If it occurred to him that he might put l Dr. Abbott under an obligation to Standard Oil-which is a violent as sumption-he was doubtless too tact ful to intimate such a thing, and so the purpose inevitably failed.
 Where's the harm in such transac- tions?
 Must a man inquire of the banker of whom he solicits loan or of the capitalist to whom he offers an in vestment whether there is any direct relation with Standard Oil or any oth- CT trust. Must he esteem himself so low in morals and credit that he can not borrow money without putting up his manhood as collateral?
 May not a physician hire his skill to MT. Rockefeller without becoming his slave? May not the butcher sell a beefsteak to a Standard Oil agent without becoming tainted? May not a common man buy a can of kero-
 sene oil without contracting illicit reiations with the octopus? May not a land owner In Clay county, Texas, negotiate lease for oil or gas rights without becoming a conspirator? I Such things as the stiIlman-Abbott incident, if taken seriously, will tend to bring into contempt the weightier and really corruptiBg transactions which started the crusade against the monopoly. If all ordinary intercourse with Standard oil Individuals is to be held up for the abhorrence of a fev erish and cIamorors public, people