The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-03-19
Liberal Viewpoint
BY DIR. HARRY ELMER BARNES

~ IA
w The Robber Barons," presents us with a
colorful picture of the orgies Of conspicuous
waste" and ,'hOrrifc consumption" carried on by
the newly rich class at a time when farmers
were close to desperation in the face O. big debts
and low prices and when labor was lighting for
it's very life in the effort to secure wages which
would maintain even sheer existence:
Limited in their capacity of enjoyment and
bored, yet prompted to out do each other in
prodigaIity, the New Rich experimental with
ever new patterns Or devices of consumption.
I'm the late '7O's, The practice of hiring hotel
rooms or public restaurants for social functions
had become fashionable. At Delmonico's the
silver, gold and diamond dinners OF the socially
prominent succeeded each other unfailingly.
At one each lady present, opening her napkin,
found a gold bracelet with the monogram of
the host. At another, cigaretS rolled III hun
dred-dollar bills were passed around after the
coffee and consumed with an authentic thrill.
zone man gave q dinner to his dog and pre-
sented him with diamond collar worth $4,000.
At another dinner, costing $4,000, each guest
discovered in one Of his oysters magnificent
black pearl"
EER. JOSEPHSON goes to the heart of the
1TA matter in describing what manner of men
these were. He quotes Theodore Roosevelt as
follows
81 simply am unable to make myself take
the attitude Of respect toward the very wealthy
man which such an enormous multitude of
people evidently really feel I am delighted to
show any courtesy to Pierpont Morgan or An
drew Carnegie or James j. Hill, but as for re-
garding any one of them as, for instance, I
regard Professor Bury, or Peary the Arctic
explorer, or Rhodes the historian-whS could
not force myself to do it even if wanted to-
which don't
Even more caustic were the observations of
the eminent New England fnancier and publ
cist. Charles Frances Adams:
Indeed as approach the end am more
than little puzzled to account for the instances
have seen of business success-money getting
1t comes from rather a low instinct. Certainly
so far as my observation goes, it is scarcely met
with in combination with the f1rmer or more
interesting traits of character
81 have known and known tolerably we'll a
great many successful men-'big men finan-
cially-men famous during the last half century,
and a less interesting crowd I do not care tc
encounter Not one that I have ever known
would care to meet again either in this WorlG
or the next; nor is one associated in my mind
with the idea of humor, thought or refinement"
" a SET of mere money-getters and traders,
L n they essentially were unattractive. The
fact is that money-getting like everything else
calls for special aptitude and great concen-
tration and for it I did not have the first in any
marked degree, while to it never gave the last.
&c. in now summing up I may account myself
fortunate in having got out of my ventures as
well as I did"
Mr.. Josephson might have added edge and
force to his indictment by referring to Abraham
Epstein important study of the degree to which
the rich support the poor through private
charity.
DR.. Epstein has shown that the American
rich have no sense of responsibility or steward
ship in making a fair return Of their vast in
comes to aid the poverty stricken Aside from
Carnegie Rockefeller Hardness and a few
others the American rich hang on resolutely to
their anti-social gains. They allow charity to be
supplied mainly by those Of moderate wealth
and through forced contributions by employed
labor.
If Mr.. Josephson had seen fit to carry his
study down to date, he could probably have
presented a more devastating picture. Some
Of the men with whom he deals did at least,
even if at terrific cost and waste, build real
empires Of industry and transportation The
present generation has, for the most part, built
paper pyramids and MIXED industry transporta-
ton and finance dry through holding companies.
I have no personal animus against the very
wealthy and their social antics. But it is hard
to overlook the fact that they have been pur-
chased at the price of the misery of tens Of
millions and the wreckage of the American in
dustrial order.