The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-28
Rich Men and Their Sons

Rich Men and lhelr sons
 | The sons of some of Americas money
 kings have made a better impression on | the public than their elders. Jay Gould, I known as the wizard of Wall street in | his day, was always portrayed in the | newspapers as a crafty, interruptions | man. He evidently understood human nature, but after he became prominent | he mingled little with his fellow beings New Workers knew him by sight, and | toward the latter part of his life he sell | dom put his foot out of his house. in day. l light His eldest son, George J., is alto gether different from his father. In the | first place, he enjoys reputation for scrupulous integrity and fair dealing. In the next place, he has always had the oomrade spirit. He likes to. associate with people and in his office he has never been too busy to receive anyone who de- sired to take up a bushes matter with him.
 Old Commodore Vanderbilt was, from all accounts, one of the people, but his
 son William II. seems to have been naughty and very hard in his nature. He | denied that he ever said "D-n the public,' | But accepting his denial as true. he acted | toward the public as If the public had no right to know anything of his business | transactions. Cornelius, son of William
 H., was a decided improvement on his l IdlntT, SD lar dS iudilhtfS WtIt | He was by nature quiet, but he was ac-
 tive in Benevolent work and was aceessi-
 ble to all classes. The present Cornelius Vanderbilt is extremely democratic. He | is well educated and Is something of an inventor But he is as unassuming as the
 most obscure man in this country.
 | Cornelius was in Birmingham few
 years ago. He was director of the Illi-
 nois Central and came with officials and | mo of tba hna r6p m of ipSn
 ton. He met a number of Birmingham s
 citizens and everyone remarked his | agreeable manners.
 | J. Pierpont Morgan is said to be irascible
 whenever anyone withstands him in an
 argument relating to business: but so-
 cially he is pleasant and companionable.
 Comparatively few people, however, get | close to him, even in social life. I have
 heard that not 20 members of his club
 were intimately acquainted with him. | He has always avoided publicity and he | has never wanted his name associated with his benefactions. But Mir. Morgan $ ] son, J. P, Jr., has wide acquaintance.
 He is good mixer and is a man of the
 world in the best sense of the term.
 Andrew Carnegie has no son. Had he
 been so blessed the son would have had | little chance to shine because Andy him
 self has an inordinate craving for notorie- | ty. He Is distinctly sociable-when Rhe
 other fellow will let him do all the talk | ing. Mir. Carnegie has done much good
 with the millions he has given away; but
 he would be held in higher public esteem | than he is were he less vain. From all
 accounts he is not only egotsticaL but l boresome.
 l Of all the Croesuses few are so well ap-
 preciated, where their good traits are known, as the Rockefelers. John D. the founder of Standard oil and the Rocke- | feller fortune, had no educational advan- | tages. He made the mistake of conduct ing his business with the utmost secrecy
 and of cultivating the habit of reticence.
 He was kind, good neighbor in Cleve-
 land, his home town, but he was not easi-
 ly approached by those outside of his in-
 innate circle. After he got to be mag | nate very few men who wanted to see
 him on business gained an audience But John D., Jr., is one of New York s | most popular citizens. He is well known
 as the head of great Bible class. Many
 persons may have imagined him as be- | ing pharisaica. But there is nothing of
 the pharisee about him. He Is a genuine
 ly good fellow. He is manly and he has
 winning personality. l was struck with his fine civic spirit, combined with great good nature, in an address he de-
 livered recently at the New York police
 lieutenants' annual banquet at the Wal | Iuor1-AStOrld. LeSne s weekly prints ms
 speech in full. It is the usual thing for
 people to call policemen in large cities
 grafters. One who reads the New York
 papers might naturally infer that New
 Yorks police force was a synonym for
 corruption. But Rockefeller, it seems, has
 taken a particular interest in the police,
 and in his speech-sane and wholesome
 he takes an optimistic view. Among other
 things Mr. Rockefeller. Jr., said:
 l Tt has beenatrue in all countries and
 all ages that those who traffic in vice
 have sought to gain political power, which
 is to them the most valuable asset. That
 such is the case in this city today to a
 greater extent than in the past is not
 true-on the contrary. quite the opposite | is the case. While there are doubtless
 many men in office who are there for
 what, they can make out of their posi- tions, I believe there are more honest, | clean, capable men in our city govern
 ment now than ever before They are
 doing splendid work. often at great per
 sonal sacrifice. and are entitled to the highest commendation.'
 After describing the case in which po-
 liceman. because he did his duty in a certain particular. was transferred, Rockefeller saids
 i How many men in the business world.
 dependent for the support of their fami- | lies on their daily earnings. would nave 1 the moral courage to stand out against
 such odds? And if they did the chance es
 are that in too many cases it would only | lead to persecution or the loss of their po- l siticns.
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