The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1909-09-10
EDWARD HENRY HARTMAN
DIED YESTERDAY AT 3P. M.
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but builder. History must give him
this credit. 1t is questionable if we
have had any greater railroad build
ers than he. The manner in which he
took the rundown and bankrupt Union
Pacific, went over the ground and saw
the business there was for the line,
coupled with the subsequent courage
and energy he displayed in pouring
hundreds Of millions into straighten-
ing and improving the road, showed
constructive genius of the first order.
Ruthless he might have been, yet the
fact that he did things, and big things
at that, must be told to his praise.
The story of bridging Great Salt lake
and draining the Salton sea is not one
that could be told Of every man, not
even of every railroad king. He touched
most Of the properties that came IN
der his control only to build them up.
Overcapitalize he probably did, al
though he called it capitalizing the fu-
ture. Used Wall street methods, some
of them of a doubtful kind-with this
his enemies charged him. And Harri-
man had enemies, bitter and big ones,
with Theodore Roosevelt, ex-president
of the United States, at their head 1t
is perfectly true that in the world of
men he had more foes that hated him
than friends that loved him. Yet when
this is said we cannot forget those
east side boys in New York nor those
shouting children at Arden. A man
that loves child and is loved by it in
return cannot be all bad.
Harriman's national vision was
shown in manifold ways. Though
born near New York city and living
in or about it all his life, he did not
have the New York viewpoint. He
saw America from the angle Of the
Pacific coast and Of the central west,
as we'll as of the east He had enough
Imagination to forecast the future Of
the country, to count on it as a most
important factor in all his business
enterprises. He could see the desir-
ability of buying steamship lines
across the Pacific. Of planning a rail-
York he was the head Of a great boys
institution, sort of combined gym.
more than a quarter of a century
At Arden he was never so happy as
when he had an automobile load OF
little ones and was spinning about the
countryside. To them he was not the
cold business machine known to the
world. He was "Pop'' Hartman, their
comrade and friend. Perhaps he was
so unreserved with the children be-
cause they did not ask him leading
questions and try to take away his
money. In the country he was as God
made him. In business he was as Wall
street made him. There is a differ.
ence here, one that will appear greater
the more it is contemplated.
Great Constructive Genius.
The best two things about Mr.. Har-
riman were that he was constructive
and had national view of things. He
was not alone a stock manipulation,
road in Mexico. Few men realized
the possibilities Of the great empire
building on the shores Of the Pacific
ocean with more clearness than Har-
riman. Though small in body and
even in brain, he was not small in
his grasp Of things. He thought in
terms of the continent, planned in
millions, built with systems.
His Greatest Monument.
Hartman has often been compared
to Jay Gould. In my own opinion, he
was bigger man than Gould and a
better one With all the abuse that
has been heaped upon him he is en-
titled to that which his own deeds
carved out. He was not as shrewG
a man on the Stock Exchange az
Gould, not as foxy" perhaps, if yor
like the term, but he had infinitely
bigger ideals and more audacity tt
plan and execute great undertakings
Gould was essentially a financier
Hartman was that and more, and i
Is the "more'' that will redeem him
The romance Of the Pacific railroad!
and steamship lines and of his othe
great railroad deals cannot be wiped
off the slate. Whatever we may thinl
of Hartman in Wall street or Harri
man in politics or Hartman in in
surance or Hartman in Chicago an(
Alton, his work on the Pacific empire
both this side and on the seas, will
fire the Imagination and compel re