The Washington herald., 1909-03-21

greatest available capital % the country,
all under Harriman-s contrOI-nearly a
billion OF fl. that billion which has been
the dream Of ever7- capitalist who longed
10 WELD the full, imperial power.
The trivial hundred and odd millions
which the admissions OF the railroad re-
ports concede 10 him in the form Of stock
holdings constitute simply the fulcrum
FOR the lever Of the total energy Of cap
ital he can apply 20 move the world OF
finance. The stocks and bonds Of the
haf dozen railroads. reorganlzad some
time ago by the Hartman syndicate.
alone amounted 70 S5665a0.ooo.
What sort OF a king is this which the
untrammeled individUalism OF The nation
has permitted 10 wax to his unprecedent-
ed greatness
Wen. he is now sixty-one years old.
and not very We'll as the kings Of the
earth 60 nowadays That he has explain
ed. is why he went TO Texas 90 loaf and
hunt a bit and try 70 regain mastery OF
a consJituJi0naIly rebellious liver.
But. then. he isn't 50 very sick. either
not So sick but that while he is hunt
ing and resting near san Antonio. he IS
able 70 keep his grip tightly on tie lever.
make sure that no one jOlts the fulcrum,
and lay out another railroad or so. for
the extension Of his domain and the
greater glory Of King Hartman.
He was a ClerEyman's s son. born % pow
crty, ar Hampstead. l. T.. February -,
1SfS 4 boy. one Of the numerous brood
a clergyman OF that day WAS likely 10
have he was forced 90 shift for himself
very young. and he shifted Immediately
90 Wall street as a clerk He was only
twenty-five when. by his sambies IN the
market. he had acquired enough 10 buy
a seat in the stock exchange.
His marriage with Miss Mary AvereM.
daughter OF a Well-knOWn capitalist. en-
Iarged his field OF operations. and the
famous Stuyvesant Fish. taking him IN
der that august fin as the shark takes
the reredo. led him or 20 riches. his
ing the mighty possibilities Of railway
administration and the ultimate OppoTtU-
mites offered by railway control
Mania for Efficiency.
He became a man subsequently de-
scribed as a sane American with mania
for efficiency. Rauway eficiency-speeG.
economy. comprehensiveness unity. clock
work promptitude-au that can be com
prised within eficiency's meaning, have
become his feuches.
The supremacy he has attained IN this
passion for perfection IS only the normal
consequence. such as attaches 10 the work
or every man whose career. when II actU-
ally begins. is founded upon adequate
means. othorough preparation. and an in
nate love for the JOB he undertakes HIS
one regret is that il didn't begin fifteen
years sooner He could have accom-
Ilished so much more.
He is proud Of the results enormously
proud. as the builder OF a record-breaking
locomotive is proud of the machine his
brain and hands have created And his
one evidence Of that pride is his profound
belief that the American people should
be- intensely grateful 20 him for the i'm
proved service he IS giving them at no
increase in the charges they bear
Apart from that one human attribute
OF pride IN his achievements. ne IS as
patriotic as any boy with a bunch Of FIRE
crackers on the glorious Fourth He is as
Combatively American as William Wal
Gorf Astor has become English. He
wouldn't use a stick OF foreign wood. even
the fashionable mahogany. IN building his
palace at Arden He used cherry. grown
on the native soil.
A man like that ought 20 be among the
nations best beloved. Those who know
him declare he hasn't a friend "A cold
blooded little cuss' is the designation THAI
has been applied 10 him. and that b. men
who had no particular cause for hating
him His apclogists see him at best as
kind Of deifed efficiency. utterly emo
tionless. save for the passion impeIHng
him to get work done instantly and well
spares NOt Foe or Friend.
IN the scheme OF things OF such a man
friendships and. they say. gratirudes fail
20 cut any OF the ice OF his preordsined
plans. Fish. notoriously his continual
patron as ne was his early mentor. was
as remorselessly wiped out Of Illinois
Central when Hartman concluded he
could run the road better. and needed 70.
as the trivial James Hazen HYDE was
abandoned 10 the Nemisis OF the life in
surance investigation.
When he wanted the resignation Of
Horace Burt as president Of the Union
Pacific. he summoned that high official
20 New York. and there kept him cooling
his heels three whole days I'm an ante
room. until Mr.. Burt took the Louis XIV
hint. and departed. 10 commit official
hara-Kari elsewhere, by written resigna-
ton. without incumbering the royal pres
euce with MS UninteTesting remains.
Harriman aspires to social leadership
IN New York now. perhaps because his
wife does In the frankly brutal organ
ization Of American society there is, per
haps no reason why the couple should
fail 20 get their wish. because Harri-
man. possessing the money power which
underlies the fairy palace glittering so
aIlurinzly before the social eye, viii. as
usual. put the wish in the form Of a com
mand.
III the command be disobeyed as IL
was by Mrs Fish a couple OF years ago
he need only touch OF a small earth
quake. and the recalcitrants win know
better next time. Most Of them know
better by this time.
he has. on Fifth avenue. q mansion as
imposing as those of the Vanderbilts
Henry c. Frick. and Morton F. Plant His
country hcme only lately finished. at
Arden. In Orange County, n. Y. en-
braces 30.000 acres. and rivals the most
magnificent chateaax Of France
He has two daughters who are yet un-
married, one Of them being in school
His other daughter. Corneiia. is the wife
Of Robert l. Gerry, son Of "C0mmo-