The New York herald., 1922-05-07

aspersed, as well as a biography in
the best literary sense. that the au-
thor is justified in going into par
ticulars as fully as he does For all
but the closest friends of Mr.. Harri-
man. however, who may be inter-
ested in the most minute points in
his favor. the broad defense of his
railroad policies, as exemplified in his
largest transactions. must be the
proposition that his underlying mo-
tive has always been to render his
roads more useful. beneficial and re-
munerative than they were before he
assumed control.
AS is well known. Mr.. Hartman
was party TO many controversies
and often suffered from the bitter
enmity of prominent men. Two
chapters in the second volume of
this biography are devoted to a con-
sideration of his break with Presi-
dent Roosevelt, which followed some
correspondence between them con-
eral election of 1904. 1t is impossi-
BILE to pronounce judgment upon this
incident without imputing blame o.
at least serious error to some one or
more persons, all of whom are now
dead. No attempt has been made.
therefore, in this notice of Mr.. Ken
mans biography of Mr.. Hartman 20
determine to what extent President
Roosevelt was justified in turning
against his former friend, if, indeed,
he was justified at all. The most
ject is that IL the facts were what
Mr.. Kennan supposes them to have
been, the President had no real cause
to think i'll of Mr.. Hartman. Every
lawyer and judge OF experience
knows how many of the bitterest
controversies in the world have been
due simply to the careless misappre-
hension of hasty utterances-misap-
prehensions which could have been
avoided by a little less hurry and a
little more candor. Mr.. Hartman
tion-not that he was cynically in
different to abuse, but because. like
Lincoln. he said he did not have time
enough to devote half his life to
quarrels. THE people," he believed,
always find out what's what in the
end. and l can afford to wait" Mr..
Kennan has done for him in these
volumes what he would not do for
himself by way of defense.
Edward Fl. Hartman is honored in
San Francisco for the organizing
genius and energy which he brought
to the relief of the city after the
earthquake and fire of 1906: he de-
serves to be honored in New York
for setting on foot in 1876 the Boys
Club on the East Side, which had its
origin in a conference between him
and three boys from the street. and
when it reached its full development
eleven years ago numbered 5000
members and owned 100000 worth
OF property. It appears to have been
the first organization OF the. kind
ever successfully undertaken any
where.
What quality or achievement was
1t in the personality or life of Ed
ward Fl. Hartman that did most to
distinguish him among his fellow
men? This question will naturally
occur TO every thoughtful reader as
he comes to the end of this volum-
inous biography. Mr.. Kennan does
not answer the question categor-
ically: but he supplies abundant
material to enable others to do so.
The salvation of sick or disabled rail-
roads for the benefit of their security
holders and the public was the dis
tinguishing achievement in Edward
III. Harriman's career. Intellectual
curiosity in regard to the methods
by which the material property of
railway corporation could most ad-
vantageously be employed to make
money for those whose savings were
| invested in their stock and bonds ap-