Gilpin observer., 1910-03-10
ROCKEFELLER REFuLoENcE.

At the age of forty years, John D.
Rockefeller, had he been possessed of
the fortune now claimed, would never
have dreamed of devising the philan-
thropy now SO prominently mention
ed. At 40 man is supposed to be
at the pinacle Of his best, and, there
fore, may have twenty years mora
of success before he thinks of with
drawing permanently from the
struggle.
Mr.. Rockefeller has had his share
of criticism, merited or not. In the
seventies, most men Of that age be.
gin to put their house in order, an
ticipating the inevitable. With the
approach of the inevitable, the reall-
reflection that the accumulation Is
dross, inasmuch as its use will never
benefit because 1t is all left behind
| Realizing the situation and not
from any sentiment engendered from
love Of human kind, the method Is
devised to in a measure assuage the
contemptuous sentiment held against
him. II writer's are mistaken in their
estimate of men of the Rockefeller
sort, it is the fault Of the subject and
not the writer, for the methods of the
man are questionable yet admiration,
in way, exists for the talent or
ability shown in accumulating such a
vast fortune in the brief span of a
life
1t was far from the Rockefeller
thought to have labored for this eli.
max. 1t is hardly natural that in a
mind like his he would have prophe-
tically seen the day when he could
have changed public sentiment to-
ward him in night. II he did this
solely for the benefit of many 1t is
hardly possible that the method
adopted would have been the same
With philanthropy in view, it wouli
be more natural to think that the
moral would have influenced every
| act and with that would have come
nothing but commentator instead of
execration as visited upon the Rocka-
feller characteristic.
There are minds culivating the
moral because of lack of that su-
| perlative quality. A man able to make
all the world his desires something
foreign to his true character because
of its divergence from the general
trend Of the mind Of the subject in
question. In the same way, a man
having gained riches, maybe question
| ably. aspires to honors to make
things balance more equally in the
mind of the one who thus aspires.
1t is not a restitution. That would
imply guilt. 1t is to buy good name,
though late, is better than never. But
how can one buy quality not pos
sessed by the aspirant? If not with
in it can hardly be placed there. For
what is not of nature one does not
possess. Although not possessed of
virtue it can be assumed but whether
OF benefit rests with the one desir-
GUS Of being known as better than
painted.
There will be no harsh judgment
upon the last acts of this remarkable
man. lnasmuch as he proposes to
give back the peoples money in
benefactions the taint Of its accumu-
lation will have lost its virulence.
In these last days the mind is as
keen as ever. To devolve the idea
of returning the surplus inhabitants
back to the primitive was a stroke
of policy as great as any emanating
from his fertile brain. Recognizing
all that can be made to come out OF
the soil, the labor of producing ones
sustenance without dependence Is the
safest and most independent of call
ings.
John Rockefellers past is too much
OF record to even make him a like
able man. Many may rise to testify
to his beneficience. and 1t is Just
possibly, when history is written and
left to coming generations, he will be
coupled with Dives, Croesus and Mi
das, with all the areole of the fame
or infamy attached to the names of
either.