Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-10-23


Please telegraph me yes or no. 1
will give you name when 1 see you.
l don't know but what / ought to
come over and see you. Events are
crowding, and l am on the inside Of
them and think / am playing no
small hand and want to know wheth-
er to go ahead. The nomination of
a Republican president is not yet set
tied. No man can safely predict the
nominee, and guess 1 have got hold
of the real situation as closely as any
one here. If you need me for any
purpose telegraph me and l will come
over. Sincerely yours,
Joseph C. Sibley.
The name of this senator is not CIV
en-; neither is it divulged whether or
not the investment" was made, but at
a trifling little $1,000 per head the price
Of senators seems to have come down.
At this figure the Standard could easily
buy up all the senates, parliaments,
congresses, legislatures and other law
making bodies on earth. 1t would seem
to be as cheap to buy senators as to
buy slaves in the old days. A good
slave brought $1,000 and he had to be
fed, clothed and housed besides, while
the senator looks after these minor de-
tails for himself.
Unless Mr. Archbold Is as much
pleased with the latest turn of his pub
licity campaign as is the general pub
lie he will doubtless hereafter follow
the advice Of famous American
statesman and burn that letter" Files
and presses containing secret corre-
spondence are dangerous things. The
intimate side Of a man revealed by
this sort of yellow dog literature is so
different from that which he usually
presents to the public.
Claims of the Oil Kings.
If the little John D. has been unfor-
tunate in taking the public into his
confidence, however, the big one has
gone on swimmingly. In his reminis-
cences he chats along in a garrulous
and cheerful fashion, intimating that
things are not half so bad as painted
and that he may tell some things
which will put a new aspect on the
case. So far he has not divulged any
of these pleasant points, but has only
hinted that he may do so. In sort Of
inward chuckle he dismisses the story
that he forced any Of his business as
sociates to come in with him or suffer
ruin, alleging as a proof that they have
stayed with him Loyalty all these years,
which they hardly would have done IL
coercion had been used in the first in
stance. He also speaks Of the liberal
treatment given by the Standard to its
employees, recites the fact that the
company has had scarcely any strikes
or labor troubles and recounts with
some pride the provision Of old age
pensions for his superannuated work.
men. There is a promise Of something
There is not the slightest doubt that
Rockefeller has a most interesting sto-
ry to tell, and he seems to tell it In an
easy and frank manner.
Whatever opinions we may hold Of
him and his business methods, we can
not but be fascinated by the tale Of
how the worlds most colossal business
was organized and the worlds richest
man got his wealth. We cannot deny
Rockefeller intellect, say what we may
Of his character or heart. 1t will be
worth while to know his side, to see on
what theory he bases his actions, to
find the flaw in his attitude and argu-
ment as we'll as that in our own. Rock
efeller and Archbold seriously regard
themselves as benefactors rather than
malefactors. They say their wealth
has been obtained honestly, that they
have resorted to usual business weap-
ons only in their fights with rivals,
that the attacks on them come from
competitors rather than consumers,
that they have shown the power OF
combination in cheapening both pro-
duction and distribution, that they
have opened new markets throughout
the world, educating the Chinese in
the use Of oil and thus literally taking
them from darkness into light, and
quests to education in their own land,
thus figuratively performing the same
service for the mental eyes OF their
cOuntrymen as they have for the phys
ical eyes of the Celestials. Rockefeller,
it is true, does not directly mention the
educational matter himself, but it can
not be omitted from list Of the SER
vices to mankind claimed by him and
for him.
Charity of Worlds Richest Man.
A mere list of the known Rockefeller
benefactions is staggering, and there
are many of his donations that have
never been made public. In the giving
game the oil king does not let his right
hand know what his left hand Is do
ing-that is, not always. To the gen.
eral education board he has made over
the enormous sum Of $43,000,000, and Of
this $32,OOO,OOO was given at one time.
He has donated $23,0OO,0O0 to the Uni
versity of Chicago, 100000 and a Ii
brary on Greek art and literature and
money donations to Vassar, $l,375,OOOl
to Barnard college, $250,O00 to mission
airy bodies, $1,OOO,OOO to Yale, $1,S35O0O
to the Rockefeller Institute For Medi-
cal Research, $1,126,OOO to the south
ern education fund, Harvard $1,000, 900,
Teachers college $5OO,000 and numer-
Gus other donations to educational and
religious institutions, amounting in all
to over $S5, 100000.
The Rockefeller charity has been
organized as a regular business. Itl
is headed by trained experts, who
closely scrutinize and investigate every
application for a gift. The mere ad-
ministrative expense Of this bureau
costs in the neighborhood of $4,000 a
year. The amount given out each
twelve months foots up millions. But
all of this is a mere bagatelle to a man
who is so rich that he does not know
within many millions Of dollars how
rich he is according to his own admis-