The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-06-15
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

 1 Not the packer of the bull moose.
 Not the friend and promoter of the ter rible Teddy.
 But George W. Perkins, the man who started with boom and has swept every thing before him.
 His first start was sweepng-I dare say many of the prosperous merchants in Bir- mingham were initiated with a broom. remember one of the first jobs I ever got when lad In Eufaula It was to clerk on Saturdays. had to report at a. m. and sweep out the store.
 The store was only 20 feet wide and about 100 feet deep, but before I got it swept 1t used to seem that 1t was acres and acres. No doubt it would be easy to form brigade right here in Birming- nam of the men who, like Perkins, start ed their business career with broom in hand.
 1 Perkins career has always had a fasci- nation for me. I first heard of him as a great life insurance agent, then as a manager of agencies; later as great executive, being transferred from Chicago to New York.
 Then came MT. Morgan's spectacular of- fer to make him a partner and later on ! his seeming indifference to continue in the great house of Morgan. He found hls place as one of the "big three" in the United States Steel corporation. When MT. Morgan and his coterie of packers and legal lights had decided upon launching the great corporation which took the breath away from big bus mess by its sheer size, to George W. Per l1ins was assigned the task of putting on the finishing touches, and the billlon-dol lar organization was ready to be launched.
 Judge Ebert Gary was first, as head of the executive committee; and Robert Bacon-who was succeeded little later head of the finance committed More than half of the officials and directors were 1 self-made men. The three who stood fore most-Gary, Perkins and Schwab-had climbed from the ladders lowest rung. 1 Now here comes a strange statement but Herbert N. Casson is my authority: While Gary and Schwab drew salaries of a hundred thousand dollars apiece, Per l1ins received nothing MT. Morgan would not permit him to get salary. It seems | they were willing ito let George do it" without remuneration.
 | When Casson started to write his book, the Romance of Steel" Perkins said to him: You ought to call it How the Peo- pie of>the United States Bought the Steel Business. Now this name gives the clue to the way the Perkins mind works He l is thinker an organizer and a humani- tarian.
 | He said to Casson What is the es- sental difference between the United States Steel corporation as it was organ ized by MT Morgan, and department of steel, as 1t might have been organized by the government? Suppose Lyman J. Gage dhe Secretary of the Treasury in ! stead of MT. Morgan had consolidated the steel business, wouldn't he have had to l buy the owners?"
 | Now follow closely his reasoning ITO do this wouldn't he have had to issue | bonds? And wouldn't limited number of investors have bought the bonds? Is 1t not true that the United States Steel corporation has abolished the secrecy which covers the ordinary private com pany?" Do you catch the drift of his closely knit argument? Does 1t not issue public reports of it's progress, of its gains or its losses just as If it were depart ment of government?"
 | Now Perkins drives home his conten- ton by saying: MT. Morgan unified the American steel business but he distrib- uted the power of owneship. CThere are ! thousands upon thousands of stockhold- ers). He stepped in and averted the threat why I said I preferred Tricks idea of
 fair play to Carnegie's desire for pres | tige. Carnegie played checkers; Prick played chess) So Perkins makes the point that Morgan's plan transferred the authority from few hundred to tens of thousands.
 | Others at the time declared that the great corporation was in itself gov l ernment. What is it but a federal gov ernment?" said Sir Gilbert Parker. Tt has It's laws, it's consuls in foreign coun- tries (read the story of Willard Hun siker in London), it's departments, and so forth" On the whole the new company was received with approval by the Amer ican public, and here in Birmingham we hope 1t will be permitted to hold the Ten nessee company.
 To- keep the workmen loyal and con l tent, says Casson, 8 method of profit sharing was worked out. Now here Is an- other case where they "let George do it." He originated it, having tried a similar plan with his life insurance agents Bear in mind, George started with a broom in a Chicago office, but swept clean~path to New York and partnership with Morgan-some sweeper!
 Here Is the Perkins plan. Call 1t
 "benevolent feudalism" or the latest thing in American socialism. or what not, 1t has worked: He offered a cer- tain quantity of preferred stock every year to the employees TO prevent specu-