Evening star., 1927-04-17
IDA TARBELL BELIEVES
BUSINESS CLEANER NOW
Noted Woman Assailant of Standard Oil
Methods Thinks Higher Ideals
Influence Leaders To-day.

OIL sane UuSlIlESS uieUs 1CO Stu LliAAtH
this was the motive?"
II think there was another mo.
tive" replied Miss Tarbell. There
are some men In the world to whom
power Is a necessity. They can't be
happy unless they become rulers OF
their fellow men. Around the nine
ties we had an epidemic OF power
seekers. The nation was infested by
them. How we had such a COmpara-
lively large number Of these men at
this period in our history / cannot
answer. Nations are ike organisms.
They have peculiar periods of devel.
opment. Al any rate. the stage was
ripe for the successful rise Of power
seekers. No rules for industrial con
duct had been formulated. Accord.
ingly, there began a titanic struggle
between these industrial baCons for
supremacy. They attained their goal,
but tho public received a terrible
whipping. Our progress has been In
putting down men who have TO make
slaves out Of their fellow men in or
der to be happy or to rule them for
their own good with an iron hand
In civilization there have been the
two contrasting types-the Mussolin
kind and the Lincoln type. Both may
even want TO help humanity But the
one believes in power and the other
in persuasion and kindliness. Lincoln
saw very deeply into the needs OF his
day and time. .~but ne had actually 10
be prOdded TO take up the reius Of
authority. The ruthless combination Of
40 years ago got its biggest impetus not
so much from natural economic laws
as from the deliberate quest for
power by a type Of person who was
af ~ hvr ITvra IF al
ton. These buccaneers were not re-
spending to ar economic situation as
much as to an inner urge Of theic
own nature, which compelled them to
essay the role of Industrial Caesars.
Perhaps the Harrimans. the Goulds.
the Carnegies were hangoveTs from
the days when strong men liked 10
establish their sovereignty over their
fellow tribesmen by force and fraud
do you fear monopoly today, Miss
Tarbell?" l queried.
Says Business Civilized.
Il think business has much im-
proved in the last 25 years" ;" said Miss
TArbell. BY statute we have greatly
altered the rules Of the game. We
have outlawed tactics that used 10 be
unquestioned. We have accordingly
civilized business. A new spirit has
come into business. We have sought
to wipe out special privileges, like rail,
road rebating. that would enable one
competitor to get an artificial advan-
tage over his other competitors. As
we have done that we have insured
ourselves against ruthless monopoly,
because if special privileges are guard
ed against there will be no business
monopoly as long as brains are widely
scattered as they are in human ma
ture. This new spirit that has come
into business caused me TO write the
life Of Judge Gary"
Il want you 10 tell me how the idea
of writing this book came about
said.
publishers first came to me and
asked me If / would write the life Of
Judge Gary" continued Miss Tarben
II had heard that Mr.. Gary represent
ed the new spirit in business.
wanted to be sure that this was the
case and to find out whether / could
conscientIously write his life. I found
indelible proof in the minutes of the
Steel Corporation. When the Steel
Corporation was organized its presi-.
dent was Schwab and the chairman OF
the board Of directors was Judge Gary.
Schwab stood for the old school OF
economic thought that believed a cor
poratiOn was private speculation.
Gary opposed this idea. Schwab rep
resented Carnegie, and he thought
that the president Of a corporation
was and should be its boss Under
the Morgan scheme of organizing cor
porations. however. it had been Gus.
tomary for the chairman of the board
to be the dominating figure.
BattIed for 10 Years.
"For 10 years it was a nip.and-tuck
battle between Schwab and Gary for
mastery. This memorable duel be-
tween these conflicting theories Of
business ethics was carried on by
Gary under the frequent possibility OF
his losing his position. 1t was Gary
who insisted that the Steel Corpora
ton must never own so per cent Of
the steel business i'm the country
this to keep the field competitive. TO.
day the Steel Corporation is hotly
pushed for business by any number "
rivals
1T was Gary who put an end to
tipping directors off in advance when
the corporation was about to declare
a dividend, so that they could make
make money on the stock exchange.
Gary thought this was uuconscionable
and indefensible. Gary devised a sys-
tenn so that no one in the Steel Cor
poration, not even himself, knew when
a dividend was TO be declared and
the news was given out after the
stock exchange had closed, so that the
public would have an equal chance
with all investors in the Steel Corpo-
ration in making investments.
1T was Gary who said that II at
any time the Steel Corporation
exorbitant prices it was the
duty Of the Government to step in
and compel a reduction by proper
laws. 1t was Judge Gary who has
striven to see to it that the price of
steel was not earning unfair profits
for the Steel Corporation, and il was
Judge Gary who was responsible for
employees and encouraging
employees and the public to invest in
the Steel Corporation.
Judge Gary stands for the new
spirit In business. He is one of the
pioneers in the development Of high
business standards in this country.
or course, I could write the life OF
Judge Gary with a clear conscience.
fCopyrieht. 1027) ~