Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1908-12-03
ROCKEFELLER'S
"REMINISCENCES.
MuItlmiIIionaire Tells of Notable
Events In His Career.
DEFENDS THE STANDARD OIL

John ID. Rockefeller appears for the
first time as n writer in series OF ar
tIcles on Some Random "reminiscences
of Men and Events" the first of which
recently appeared in the October issue
of the Worlds Work.
Mr.. Rockefeller says at the outset
that on rainy morning, when golf is
wanting, II am tempted to become a
garrulouS old man and tell some sto-
ries of men and things which have
happened in an active life" He refers
to the extent to which ne has been
associated with interesting people, es-
peciauy in the business world, and con
tinues:
eff one talks about ones experience,
there Is a natural temptation to charge
one with travelling the easy road to
egotism; if one keeps silent, the infer
ence of wrongdolng Is sometimes even
more difficult to meet, rs 1t would then
be said that there is no valid defense
to be offered.
at has not been my custom to press
my affairs forward into public gaze,
but have come to see that if my fam
ily and friends want some record of
things which might shed light on mat
tiers that have been somewhat dis
cussed it is right that l should yield to
their advice and in this informal way
go over again some of the events
which have made life interesting to
me.
'If tenth of the things that have
been said are true, then dozens of able
and faithful men who have been aso-
ciated with me, many of whom have
passed away, must have been guilty of
grave faults. For myself l had de
cfded to say nothing. hoping that after
my death the truth would gradually
come to the surface and posterlty
would do strict justice. but while l live
and can testify to certain things it
seems fair that should refer to some
points which 1 hope will help to set
forth several much discussed happen
tngs in a new light. l am convinced
that they have not been fully under
stood.
"It has been said that l forced the
men who became my partners in the
oil business to join with me. l would
not have been so shortsighted. If it
were true that l followed such tactics
l ask would it have been possible to
make of such men lifelong compan-
ions? For fourteen years have been
out Of business and in eight or ten
years have only once gone to the com
pany's office "
Mr.. Rockefeller speaks Of the devei-
opment of the Standard oil company
and says that the plan Of selling direct
to the consumer and the exceptionally
rapid growth OF the business bred a
certain antagonism which ! suppose,
could not have been avoided" Of 'As
direct selling to the consumer b. sG.s.
'This was done in fair spirit %@l
with due consideration for every ones
rights. We did not ruthlessly - after
the trade of our competitors and ut.
tempt to ruin it by cutting prices or
tnstitutiug n spy system. If any OF the
employees of the company were over
Jealous in going after sales thcv acted
in violation Of the expressed and
known wishes Of the company"
Mr.. Rockefeller says that in Tn early
days The oil Industry was consllcrcl Il
most hazardous undertaking. not u..o-
gether unlike speculative mining un-
dertakings. None OF us" he says.
lever dreamed Of the magnitude of
what proved to be the later expan-
sion" Further on he says:
Another thing to be remembered
about the so called octopus is that
there has been no water introduced
into the capital perhaps we felt that
oil and water would not have mixedD
nor in all these years has any one had
TO wait for money which the Standard
owed. 1t is Il common thing to hear
people say that this company has
crushed out its competitors. Only the
uninformed could make such an asser-
ton. 1t has and always has had and
always Will have hundreds OF active
competitors. The Standard has not
now and never did have royal road
to supremacy, nor is its success due to
any one man, but to the multitude of
able men who are working together"
On the subject of the modern corpo-
ration the article says:
Beyond question there is suspi-
cion of corporations There may be
reason for such suspicion very often
for a corporation may be moral or i'm.
moral, just as a man may be moral or
the reverse. but It IS folly to condemn
all corporations because some are bad
or even to be unduly suspicious of al.
because some are bad. But the rorpo-
ration IN form and character has come
to stay That is Il thing that may be
depended upon. 1t Is too late To argue
about advantages OF Industrial combf-
nations. They are n necessity. And IL
Americans are TO have the privilege Of
extending their business in all the
states of the Union and into foreign
countries as well they are necessity
on large scale and require the agency
of more than one corporation
"If l were to suggest any legislation
regarding Industrial combinations 1t
would be, first, federal legislation un-
der which corporations may be created
and regulated, If that be possible; sec
Ond, In lieu thereof state legislation as
nearly uniform as possible encourag-
ing combinations of persons and cant
tai for the purpose of carrying on in
dustries. but sufficient to prevent
frauds upon the public.
'"The great business interests will, /