The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1909-03-05

"Any man with an organizing mind
San become immensely rich" This is
ino o. the statements made by the Hon.
Milton X. Reed in a very witty speech
before the members Of the Commercial
Club at luncheon yesterday. Mr. Reed
took for his topic 'Honolulu and Com.
nercialism, - and in the course Of his
Interesting address, took occasion TO
not only condemn the system Of govern.
mont in this city, but also all over the
United States, saying that municipal
government in the cities Of the United
states is, with the possible exception
sf Turkey, the rottenest in the world.
Mr.. Reed began his talk by speaking
Of city life from a commercial stand
point.
"The American business man is
without doubt the most successful man
in the world today" he said. "Look
at Jhon d. Rockefeller, the 'philanthro.
pist. the king Of fnance-where in the
world can you find his equali But
does he take an active part in the NUM-
eipal affairs Of any cityi Not bit Of
it; nor does the average successful bust.
ness man! The natural result is that
the government of our cities is the
worst Of any on the face of the globe "
at is the organizing mind that
A
achieve anything that he fixes capable
mind on, and that is the way that these
captains of industry amass their mil
lions. Read the testimony of John d.
Rockefeller in the famous Standard Oil
ease, and there is one interesting fea-
ture that will strike you right away,
that if this man, with his wonderful
organizing power, should have devoted
his attention to city government in
stead of business development, what a
great good could have been donel You
all know that Rockefeller is bald, but
1 III guarantee that the top of his pate
is no slippery than were his answers
in the Standard Oil case. After the
lawyers had tried again and again to
draw him out, he talked day after day
and .old absolutely nothing. He under
stands himself. He is a great business
man. But he grabbed his money he
grated it, he got it in any manner
possible-but he got it.
"But lei us be fair to the man. He
deserves some credit. There isn't one
of us who wouldn t do the same thing
that he did if we had the same chance.
There are n great many would-be John
d. Rockefellers in the world; the only
shing lacking being the Time, the
Place, and the Opportunity. What
can we do about all this Rockefeller
businessf We can't confscate his
property, for his property is given the
game protection as yours and mine.
There is Helen Gould, for instance
Helen Gould deserves a great deal of
credit, for she is the only one of the
family that has not gone to pieces. All
the rest of them have won their repu-
iations mostly in the divorce courts
Helen Could IS fortune came in about
the same manner as did Rockefeller IS
by graft, bv hoggishness, by treading on
other peoples toes-but Helen S money
mas one redeeming feature; the faint
has been removed. You know the old
saying that in the second generation the
faint is removed and in the third gen
Grafton the estate is wiped out. And
so it goes with the rich people. You
would be surprised to know the hard
work to which the young scions of the
East are put to spend the money which