Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-10

Il ndTO To hcVP NJ
history when history moves on
wings as II nowadays appears
/ to do. Only yesterday, or 50
il seems, the press IN us
blacklist type proclaimed the rise OF
q monster In the ranks or INDUSTRY,
an arch-enemy of the people- nv
trust And today the same press III
print of the commonplace Iecoi -
measures leading to great lndus'I,a
combinations projected under tne
sanction of the constituted auliioiIl
in the name of efficiency ecohoiilS
and general equity. 1t has taken less
than a INN generation to work this
miracle by way Of which vice becomes
virtue. by way of which a ruth4ess
marauder becomes the peacelui dls
penser Of common beHehts. III IL al
true, nevertheless-so we are 'olu;
And In this telling an interesting
under.trlIth comes TO the surface. IL
is easy to accept the undamen'ai eA-
cellence of the trust. Complhd lioii' 10
basic element and guiding Principe
does individually insure efilcleHcy'
economies in many directions, gen
eral economy calculated in theory 10
revert 10 the common good. 80 lar
the business combination Is ABOVE
reproach. as many simple, concrete
cases close at hand make clear. buI
then so the story runs, human ma
ture. given the chance, couIdh resist
its own instructive self-love. operating
through greed and outreachlns anu
power which grew from THESE luu-ieu
personal desires. And SO Tor lolls
time self had its way with the dnNah
tages lying within the c0ncept Vi
combinations in industry. inns - nv
under-truth to whose workings Is Que
,he seduction of the industrial trust.
A most interesting study in psychol-
oev here adds itself to the economic
content Of the trust itself.
The story goes on TO present tHe
new day of this institution, the Gay
when the laws of the land had I" IN
tervene between the people ana DIE
business, to this present day IN lacl,
when supervision and regulation ana
publicity are bringing the operations
Of the trust into the open, "here us
human rapacity may be tempered I"
the extent that legitimate economic
plan NAV be encouraged in its origl'
nal good intent and in its SOUND Pfln'
ciples Of development.
Here at hand. however. Is con-
crete case upon this subject Tor the
use Of the student. Here. spread out
in detail. is the history Of the most
perfectly developed trust in existence.
This is the history of the STANDARD
OIL Company-this the institution
which. in the words OF the author,
satisfies most nearly the trust Ideal
of entire control OF the COMMONLY III
which II deals" And this is the point
where the whole controversy lies; this
Is the point where the dangers OF en-
tire control" are set off against the
ultimate benefits of entire control; TINS
is the point where human nature
steps in to mess up a perfectly leglti-
mate concept of production and dis
tribution.
However. here We have Miss Tar
bells study of famous corpora cf'-
a history which gives itself up en-
tirely. or almost entirely, TO the eVl-
denee In the case. SO many times mas
the Standard Oil Company been under
investigation that there has accumu-
lated around II a library OF sworn
testimony. II is upon this kind Of evil
dence that Miss Tarbell relies for as
useful a work on economic develop
ment and business history as II Is
possible to find. Indeed. there Is no
other one comparable to II IN rell-
ability as to fact, in the scope OF Its
Investigations, in the admirable con
srruction Of a unit of history from a
great mass Of unco-ordinated mate
rial in the. story sweep OF thefne
that does not willingly lend itself 70
the uses of dramatic narration. Inc
two volumes in hand are a reprint
from the original issue Of 20 years
ago. A third volume Is on its way 10
round up a story that from every evil
denCe ia approaching a conclusive
point. The author freely gives her
own opinions and judgments upon oc-
casion, with perhaps too little consid-
GRAFTON OF the fact Of the changing
front of the trust upon the greatest
OF its problems. upon the ethics OF It's
own career. upon its duty to the world
at large. And the trust is changing.
tor one reason or another, and that
must frankly be taken into account In
any constructive consideration of the
subject.
AN oLD.FASHIONED SENATOR.
Nv Harris Dickson, author of The
Unpopular History of the United
states" etc. Illustrated. New
York: Frederick A. Stokes Com
pany.
IF a man were TO pick his own biog-
l. rapher. I doubt If one time in
hundred he could make SO good a
choice as by pure accident came. TO
John Sharp Williams. the old-fash-
toned Senator" Clearly here is
sympathy between the two-biog-
ragher and subject-bred through
lifelong friendship between natures
singularly attuned to each other. And
here ia a keenly selective intelligence
holding itself TO the broadly revealing
noints Of ex-senator Williams public
service and of his private life as well,
And here, too. is the prime story
teller who refuses to take away the
living and lovable qualities of his
friend for the sake of setting a great
and immobile figure up on high
pedestal.
A genial man. this biographer. with
a peculiar artistry Of his own. Here
he sits down beside his comrade of
the old Yazoo country and subtly dis
ills from him the heady brew Of John
Sharp Williams good patriotism,
good scholarship, good fellowship.
From other sources. less immediate
hut none the less puris, he here de-
nicts the distinguished public service
Of the Senator at one or another criti-
cal point in the affairs of the coun-
try. He portrays the man. a pic
turesoue and outstanding figure in
generally serious and prosaic legisla-
tive body. the wit and eloquence of
1.-The old-fashioned Senator" and his
plain friendliness as we'll. A seem
inely ofY-hand biography which is not
of hand at all. save as the best OF
art always presents such easy seem
ing. A partisan? An advocate?
Perhaps. But that's what everybody
is. Still, not so much OF partisan,
this Harris Dickson, that he makes
anything but a man out Of one whom
everybody knows to be all OF that. A
work that in itself is beautiful. while
at the same time it is an admirable
consideration of a nationally known
and respected statesman.