Evening star., 1944-03-06
Letters to The Star
Rockefeller Legend Viewed
in Light of History
TO the Editor Of The Star:

III Light Ol I11SlOIy
70 the Editor Of The Star:
The passing of Ida M. Tarbell seems
to pose again, in the minds of many.
the question as to whether free enter
prise now must be measured by the
alleged evil done our country by the
methods and the philosophy represented
In the rise of the Rockefeller interests
all this inspired by the younger genera
tion's reading of Miss Tarbells account
of the Standard OIL Co.'S affairs be-
tween 1872 and 1893.
1t generally is known that until the
last few years few books have appeared
about John d. Rockefeller, sr. One
was brief journalistic sketch. another
a rambling and incoherent attack.
chiefly upon his philanthropies. One
prominent author tells the true story
of Mr.. Rockefeller and his times in
spired not from the countless articles
appearing in magazines and newspapers
violently attacking him, but from sim
cere and honest effort to examine i'm
partially the whole record of this ex-
traordinary mans life and to relate his
character and achievements to his times.
This book, has the virtue OF an honest
disengagement of the character of the
subject from the features with which
both hatred and affection have invested
1t and draws a true picture of Mr.
Rockefeller in the times in which he
moved
The congenital sophomores of journal
ism and the like, with no intimate
knowledge of any biographical sketch
of the great philanthropist, quite natu-
rally write critically in their arraignment
Of Mr.. Rockefeller in the picture of a
cold and bloodless incarnation Of scien-
tif1c giving. AS a matter of fact, Mr.
Rockefeller always had his own little
private charities and at the time of his
death he maintained large pension list
on which appeared, until they passed
away, the names of many of the old
timers in oildom, not few of whom
were those who claimed that they had
been crushed" by the ruthless indus
trialist Of the earlier days.
The author Of a recent book aptly
breaches the question as to how we shall
measure in terms of wisdom, virtue and
social utility the extraordinary gifts, so
stupendous in terms of dollars. The
answer calls up the whole question OF
the soundness Of private philanthropy.
Looked at subjectively, the matter in
wolves the intricate and obscure anatomy
Of human motive. AS the author de-
clares, men have said that Mr.. Rookie
feller gave to create an ambush Of good
will behind which he might have carried
forward his schemes Of profit or that
he was silencing the murmurings Of a
guilty conscience, or redeeming his dam
aged fame. AS to the murmurings of a
guilty conscience, there is no evidence
that Mr.. Rockefeller's conscience ever
troubled him. He was always from boy
hood days wei content with his course,
and there is no worthy challenge to the
fact that he always was committed to
that paternal concept of Christian So
ciety In which the management OF
affairs was supposed to be intrusted by
Divine wisdom to the efficient and the
strong, who, in accommodating riches for
eAASAAiSSA'Sor PAONAdSo lUE
their less capable brothers and who,
upon the principle of noblesse oblige are
charged with the obligation to use their
riches for a good purpose. Certainly, it
ought to be conceded that there is some
thing on the side of the rich man like
Mr.. Rockefeller whose weakness is for
giving usefully to world for which he
feels a bond of sympathy rather than
those other rich men of the day who
spent their money chiefly upon them
selves and who got their delights out of
looking down with scorn upon the men
from whom they had squeezed 1t.
Boyhood recollection recalls that there
is supposed to be tide in the affairs
OF men, which, taken at the flood, leads
on to fortune. When we think about Mr..
Rockefeller our minds 60 back to this
bit OF wisdom from the distant past.
With the possible exception of few mis-
informed critics, Mr.. Rockefeller out
lived the men who denounced him and
the generation which hated him. It now
must be said that the old regional FROM
tier lines Of the great Standard confed-
eracy are now almost obliterated. Com
petition of the present day actually has
invaded Standard Oil itself. The Rookie
fellers actually have withdrawn from
most Of the Standard branches The
various Standard units, 80 of them at
the time Of the dissolution in 1911, have
become wholly independent and COM
peting concerns spreading out over their
old boundaries as full-fledged rivals OF
each other. a fact of far greater impor-
tance to our war effort, industrial and
social life today than, perhaps, the
prejudiced opinion of critical commen-
tators that Mr.. Rockefeller's philanthro-
pies were the consequential rewards OF
iniquity. A. NJ S,