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Andrew Carnegie

Copyright by Viinder-weyde

MR. CARNEGIE IX HIS LIBRARY, DICTATING TO HIS SECRETARY

Andrew Carnegie

The Man and His Work

By

Bernard Alderson

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New York

Doubleday, Page & Co,

1905

Copyrieht, igol By DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY

Published November. igo£

• • •• • •

PREFACE

A KEYNOTE to the true description of a rich man who does good with his money is struck by Ruskin when he defines wealth to be "the possession of the valuable by the valiant" ; for, as he goes on to say, "that man is the richest who, having perfected the fimction of his own life, has also the widest helpful interest."

These words apply with singular fitness to Andrew Carnegie. /The story of his life is a record of high aims and strenuous endeavor, disclosing constant indica- tions of a master mind; so that the rising generation, as they follow the gradual growth of his fortunes, and the development of his character, may gather from an account of the winning of his wealth a strong incentive to courageous enterprise, and also appreciate the inten- tion of his pithy paradox, "A man who dies rich dies disgraced"*^

Who can fail to admire that firm purpose to complete his duties as he interprets them, which has reached a noble climax in the fixed determination to put his mil- lions to the most beneficial use ? He is anxious abo\'e all things to prevent this mint of money from doing harm, by disbursing it worthily during his lifetime, and

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viii PREFACE

although he must accept the penalties with the pleas- ures of his prominent position, he can well afford to disregard petty criticism.

** Wealth," said Gladstone, *'is the business of the world"; and when he added, "the enormous power which it possesses has been used on the whole well," we cannot doubt that he had in his mind this great millionaire for whom he frequently expressed a warm regard, and whose "Gospel of Wealth" he reviewed in the glowing terms which are quoted in these pages.

Mr. Carnegie, himself a thorough and thoughtful student of men and manners, is heartily at one with an old writer who has quaintly asserted that "to amass money and to make no use of it is as senseless as to hunt game and not roast it," and therefore it is one of the main purposes of this volume to prove that he — the self-made Steel King — stands head and shoulders above most of his fellow-millionaires, in that he has undertaken to distribute with his own hands, and at his own discretion after most careful thought, the gigantic funds which he has accumulated by such alert and unflinching industry; holding himself to be no more than a trustee, responsible for their application through such channels, and to such ends, as may be expected to enrich the minds and moral welfare of those whom he thus makes his heirs.

CONTENTS

CHAPTBR I. Birthplace and Boyhood			3
y, II. Stepping-stones			17
\>: III. Fortune's Flood			31
''^V. The Steel Master .			45
|V V. As an Employer of Labor			61
VI. Conflicts with Labor			77
VII. His Political Faith			93
VIII. International Competition			III
^ IX. His Gospel of Wealth .			129
X. His Benefactions			• 153
XI. The Pen of a Ready Writer		. 181
XII. Obiter Dicta .	• 1	» ~—	. 217

IX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Mr. Carnbgib in His Library . . Frontispiece

PACING PAGB

Thb Carnbgib Home at Dunfermline . . 26

Thb Carnegie Company's

Edgar Thompson Works

Homestead Works }- • • 54

DuQUESNE Works

Carnegie Institute 80

Skibo Castle 108

Skibo Castle. View from the Wood . . . 134

The Mansion in New York. Front View . . 162

The Mansion in New York. Side and Rear View,

Showing the Garden . . . • .188

XI

Birthplace and Boyhood

Andrew Carnegie

THE MAN AND HIS WORK

CHAPTER I

BIRTHPLACE AND BOYHOOD

ANDREW CARNEGIE was bom in Dunfermline on - November 25, 1837, the year in which Queen Victoria ascended the throne. Dunfermline is one of Scotland's oldest cities, and has been the scene of many famous episodes in Scottish history. It formerly contained one of the richest abbeys in the land, but to-day only the nave of the church remains among the ruins. In this abbey the renowned Malcolm and his consort and seven other Scottish kings and five queens are buried. Adjacent to its ruins are those of the ancient royal palace in which the hapless Charles I. was bom. What, however, endears Dim- fermline above everything else to Andrew Carnegie is not the fact that it was the burial-place or the residence of Scottish royalty, but that Robert Bruce was here laid to rest in his ** winding-sheet of cloth of gold."

3

4 . — "' ' 'ANDREW CARNEGIE

Young Carnegie early began to study the history of his native land, and it was not long before he became a hero-worshiper of the most pronounced type. Bruce, Wallace and Bums were exalted by his youthful patriotism to lofty thrones of veneration ; the stricken fields of Bannockburn and Stirling became to him a glorious heritage. These democratic feelings of na- tional enthusiasm were intensified by the circumstances of the period. For many years Scotland had suffered under a tyrannical system of government, which had created a feeling of bitter hatred against the landed aristocracy. Kings and nobles were looked upon as mere puppets, and held in common detestation by the rank and file. A succession of weak sovereigns had occupied the English throne, and by their unwise actions had alienated the loyalty of the Scottish people.

These facts were early impressed on young Andrew's mind by his uncle, who took care that the boy should have a proper conception of Scottish history. Andrew attended the local school, but the chief part of his education was given him by his imcle, a man of some ability, who held extreme democratic republican views, which he expressed with unrestrained vigor.

Mr. Carnegie says that his political instincts were first aroused by listening to the speeches of his uncle and father, who addressed in the evenings large assemblies of the people. They were the leaders of an

BIRTHPLACE AND BOYHOOD 5

agitation for reform, and in the course of their speeches they fearlessly denounced the oppression of the English Government. These sentiments found fertile soil in young Andrew's mind. Many years afterward he

said : —

**What we learn at seven sticks! When I was at that age, I awoke one night to hear my uncle had been put into jail. I knew there was hidden in the attic a rebellious republican flag, for all our family were Chartists, and to this day when I speak of a king or hereditary privilege my blood tingles and moimts to my face. Sometimes — ^and not so many years ago — I have felt for a passing moment that to shoot all hereditary kings, one after the other, would not be un- congenial work, for I hate hereditary privileges with a hate nothing else inspires, because I got it at seven, and it requires an effort to keep it within bounds."

One of the proudest boasts he makes to-day is that his uncle was imprisoned for upholding the rights of the people, and vindicating the liberty of free speech.

For eleven years, during the most impressionable period of his life, Andrew Carnegie breathed this atmosphere so strongly charged with republican senti- ment. The lessons of that early training were firmly ingrained upon his mind, and forty years afterward we find the natural result in his book, "Triumphant Democracy." The seeds sown in his boyhood were

6 ANDREW CARNEGIE

destined to produce enduring fruit. His antipathy to royalty and the aristocracy has been to him a consum- ing passion. The environment of his youth, and his residence in the United States, have been chiefly re- sponsible for this uncompromising attitude.

But the condition and general welfare of the masses, when Andrew Carnegie was a boy, were vastly different from what they are to-day. He has learned much since his youth, and now regards Great Britain as a republic, like the United States, with this distinc- tion, that the one is crowned, the other uncrowned. It is only after years of wise monarchical government that the Scottish people have become animated with that loyal devotion to the throne which is now one of their distinguishing characteristics.

Andrew Carnegie's political convictions were thus

J formed by his uncle, but his character and habits were

most happily moulded by his mother. She was a

typical specimen of the strong-minded, warm-hearted,

frugal Scottish housewife. Until Andrew was eight

years old she attended to his education and taught him

the rudiments. He was then handed over to the care

of the local schoolmaster. Here is an amusing incident

of his school life, which throws some light on the way

in which he was brought up.

/x Every morning the lessons were preceded by some

l/xeligious exercises, and upon one occasion each member

BIRTHPLACE AND BOYHOOD 7

of the class had to repeat a proverb from the Bible. \ When it came to Andrew's turn he stood up and boldly proclaimed, **Take care of your pence, the pounds will take care of themselves. ' ' This was not quite orthodox, but it illustrated how the famous maxim had been \ drilled into the lad's mind by his mother.

Andrew Carnegie must be included in the long list of illustrious men whose success in life has been largely due to the greatest of all blessings a youth can have — a wise and good mother. His devotion to her was exceedingly strong. She was the guardian angel of his life — his "saint," as he always called her. In every trouble and sorrow she was his helper and comforter, \ and in every difficulty and perplexity his guide and / counselor. Her strong loving influence supportecy him through all the severe strain of his strenuous struggle for success. It was her practical sympathy\ and cheerful encouragement which sustained his youthful strength and ambition during the darkest days. Never for one moment has he forgotten what she did for him. He has often said he can never adequately estimate all that he owes to her strong will, her far-seeing judgment, and her loving, motherly sympathy.

When he became possessed of great wealth she still remained his constant companion, and accompanied him on all his holidays, both at home and abroad.

8 ANDREW CARNEGIE

While she lived he remained single, choosing to lavish upon her all the love and reverence of his nature. Now that she has passed away, he is never tired of singing her praises and of recalling her goodness. This deep attachment and unbroken fidelity to his mother is one of the strongest features of Andrew Carnegie's character, and herein he has set a worthy example to every youth who desires to become a true man.

His mother, he once remarked, was the mainspring of all his hopes. For her he worked, for her sake alone he sought to acquire wealth, so that her old age might be spent in comfort and in peace. To his great joy she lived to the ripe old age of eighty. -^ The little homestead at Dunfermline derived its livelihood from the staple industry of the town. Andrew's father was a master weaver, and as the owner of four damask looms and an employer of apprentices he was looked upon as a prosperous business man. Those were the days of the hand looms, when the trade in cloth was done through merchants, who issued their orders to master weavers and supplied them with the raw material.

The introduction of the steam loom effected a com- plete change in these conditions. The old methods could not successfully compete with the new steam loom and the factory system of labor. This trade

BIRTHPLACE AND BOYHOOD 9

revolution cast a shadow over Mr. Carnegie's home and future prospects. His business rapidly dwindled, and eventually became unprofitable. For a time he struggled manfully against these adverse forces, but he had at last to give way.

One day he returned from delivering some goods to say that he could get no further orders, and turning to his children he said, "Andy, I have no more work.'* It is in the irony of things that the youngster should have felt in his boyhood the cruel effect of those forces of competition and enterprise of which, in later years, he was to be the stanchest champion, and which were destined to bring him such enormous wealth.

* * No more work ! ' ' The keen-witted boy knew what that meant, and the news, with all its significance and tmspeakable misery, sank deep into his childish heart. He there and then resolved that he would strive with all his strength to drive the wolf of poverty from his home. It was but the impetuous resolution of a boy of ten, yet it was the spark of a strong determination which had suddenly been kindled in his nature, and which never ceased to exert its influ- ence, urging him on through many youthful trials to ultimate success.

Andrew's father was placed in a difficult position. It was useless to move to another town, for the same conditions prevailed everywhere. A family council

lo ANDREW CARNEGIE

was held, and it was decided, after some hesitation, to follow the example of some relatives, who, a few years before, had emigrated to Pittsburgh, America, where they had met with encouraging success.

The parents, no doubt, could have managed very well in the old country, but for the sake of their two boys they decided to take all the risks and endure all the hardships of emigration. The crossing of the Atlantic in the sailing vessels of those days was a rough experience, and the discomforts of a journey from New York to Pittsburgh were by no means insignificant. Such considerations, however, did not weigh much with these hardy Scotch folk.

The hand looms and the business were sold and preparations made for the long voyage. The wrench from their native town, and the breaking up of their home and friendly associations, proved very hard and trying; and in after years Andrew Carnegie gave proof of his attachment to his birthplace when he said: "What Benares is to the Hindoo, Mecca to the Mohammedan, Jerusalem to the Christian, all that and more Dunfermline is to me."

In 1848, the year of the overthrow of kingship in France, this young king-hater and his family set sail for the republic across the Atlantic. The little party — father, mother, Andrew, and his yotmger brother Tom — embarked at Broomielaw, Glasgow, on the 800-ton

BIRTHPLACE AND BOYHOOD ii

sailing vessel Wiscassett, and thus entered upon their seven weeks' voyage to the land of promise — poor emigrants, in quest of fortune. Little did they think as they saw the shores of bonnie Scotland receding in the distance that some day one of their number would return from the quest and "bring his sheaves with him."

Young Andy had plenty of time to find his sea legs, and he thoroughly enjoyed the voyage, and the liking for the sea then awakened has always remained one of his greatest delights. He was only eleven years old at the time, but he has distinct recollections of that parting from the old country and the launch out into a new life in the Western world.

. The family reached Pittsburgh safely, and imme- diately settled down. Mr. Carnegie obtained work at a cotton factory in the town, and when twelve years old Andrew began his business career as a bobbin boy at a dollar and twenty cents a week. The fact that he could now contribute toward the family expenses filled him with intense satisfaction.

"I was no longer," he writes, "dependent upon my parents, but at last admitted to the family partnership as a contributing member, and able to help them. I think this makes a man out of a boy sooner than any- thing else — and a real man, too, if there be any germ of true manliness in him. It is everything to feel that

12 ANDREW CARNEGIE

you are useful. I have had to deal with great sums, many millions of dollars have since passed through my hands, but putting all these together, and considering money-making as a means of pleasure-giving, or of that other feeling much deeper than pleasure — of genuine satisfaction, I tell you that one dollar and twenty cents outweighs all. It was the direct reward of honest manual labor; it represented a week of very hard work — so hard that, but for the aim and end which sanctified it, slavery might not be too strong a term to describe it."

His hours for one so young were exceedingly long, and it is no wonder he has retained such a vivid recol- lection of the hardships of child labor. From early morn till dewy eve — ^from dark to dark — with but an interval of forty minutes for his dinner, he slaved away at his uncongenial task. His next situation proved even more laborious and responsible, and nothing but strong determination and persistent ambition could have stood the test. His work was to fire the boiler and nm the steam-engine which drove the machinery of a small factory. For a boy of thirteen this was, indeed, an onerous position, and the heavy strain of the work soon began to affect his health and to tell upon his nerves. Even in his sleep he was haunted by the dread possibility of calamity, and during the night would vaguely reach forth his hand to test the

BIRTHPLACE AND BOYHOOD 13

water-gauge. One false move he knew might cause the whole place to be blown to atoms.

Those were dark days for the young aspirant, but he had not a thought of burdening his home with his troubles. Cheerfulness almost amounted to a religion > in that little household, and each member strove to put aside all disturbing thoughts. He was blessed with a spirit of keen, dogged determination. The flame of his ambition — most precious of gifts — ^burned brightly within him, and although his surroundings must have filled him with despair, he never showed the white flag, but always had confidence in his future. "I was young and had my dreams; and something within me always told me that this would not last, and that I should soon get into a better position." With Nil desperandum for his motto, he became a confirmed and plucky little optimist.

The other members of his family, including his mother, were toiling hard, but when they gathered to- gether in the evenings all showed their brightest spirits, and kept their personal worries and sorrows to them- selves. His home was a very happy one, full of sweet- ness and love, and to this day he cherishes its memories.

** I always pity the sons and daughters of rich men," he said many years afterward, "who are attended by servants, and have governesses at a later age, but they do not know what they have missed. They have

i

14 ANDREW CARNEGIE

fathers and mothers — and very kind fathers and mothers too — and they think that they enjoy the sweetness of these blessings to the full, but this they cannot do; for the poor boy who has in his father his constant companion, tutor and model, and in his mother — ^holy name — his nurse, teacher, guardian angel, saint, all in one, has a richer, more precious for- tune in life than any rich man's son can possibly know, and compared with which all other fortunes count for little. It is because I know how sweet and happy and pure the home of honest poverty is, how free from care, from quarrels, how loving and united its members, that I sympathize with the rich man's boy and con- gratulate the poor man's boy ; and it is for these reasons that from the ranks of the poor the great and good have always sprung, and always must spring. It seems nowadays a matter of universal desire that poverty should be abolished. We should be quite willing to abolish luxury, but to abolish poverty would be to destroy the only soil upon which mankind can depend to produce those virtues which can alone enable our race to reach a still higher civilization than it now possesses."

Stepping-Stones

CHAPTER II

STEPPING-STONES

ANDREW CARNEGIE is not an example to quote in illustration of the proverb, "A rolling stone gathers no moss." He has referred with scorn to the precept, " Stick to your last," which he seems to think equivalent to "Stick in the mud," and therefore not the motto he would recommend to a youth who desires to make progress.

At fourteen ne made his third change, and forsook the dismal task of stoking for the healthier and brighter work of a telegraph boy. This was his first step forward, which he was able to take through the kindness of Mr. J. Douglas Reed, a Dunfermline gentle- man who had gone out to the States early in life and made a name for himself in the telegraph service. When he heard that Mr. Carnegie's family had also come from far-off Dimfermline, he promised the father that he would give "Andy" a berth, and during the whole time he was in the telegraph service he did all he could to help him forward.

The changed conditions and healthy environment of his new work filled "Andy" with the greatest happi- ness. He was like a caged bird set free. Penned up

17

i8 ANDREW CARNEGIE

as he had been in the reeking atmosphere of an engine- room, a life in the open air seemed an ideal existence. It was, he said, *'a transference from the darkness to light, from the desert to paradise."

When he found himself amidst books and newspapers, and was privileged to use pen and ink in the course of his daily round, the common task immediately began to glow with promise, and he considered himself in his new sphere the happiest boy alive. This youthful joy was the first evidence of the strong attachment Mr. Carnegie has always shown for figures and writing. A telegraph office is not the place where one would expect to find the germs of literary inspiration, but it was while carrying out the duties of telegraph messenger that young Carnegie first entertained the hope of some day writing articles and books himself.

Having secured this congenial position, with a salary of three dollars a week, he was greatly troubled lest he should lose it. He entered upon his new work with two drawbacks: his health had been impaired by the strain of his former occupation, and he was unac- quainted with the commercial quarters of the city — a defect which he feared would hinder him in making his deliveries. So he set himself to remedy it without delay, and eventually overcame the difficulty by calling into use his excellent memory. With characteristic determination he resolved to learn by heart the names

STEPPING-STONES 19

of all the business houses in the principal streets. Soon he was able to shut his eyes and repeat in correct order the names of the firms on one side of the street and of those on the other. " Then," he says, " I felt safe."

When he had successfully overcome this difficulty another presented itself. One of the duties of a tele- graph boy in those primitive days was to climb the poles whenever a stoppage occurred and bring the wire down to be repaired. Try how he would, and he tells us he tried very hard, he could not accomplish this feat. He was not an expert in athletics, and could always place more reliance on his brains than on his muscles.

As it happened, his climbing abilities were never put to the test, and he escaped the awful ordeal he had so much dreaded.

A*he way in which the young telegraph messenger gained his next promotion is in keeping with his whole career. Before the operators arrived in the morning, it was the custom of the telegraph boys to practise on the instruments by commimicating with other boys along the lines. Young Carnegie took full advantage of this opportunity, jt "He was by nature well equipped for the work, having a marvelous ear for sound and being wonderfully expert in distinguishing notes and tones. All the messages in those days were read, but young Andrew was quick to see the immense advantage

20 ANDREW CARNEGIE

of taking them by sound. Mr. J. D. Reed, in his '* His- tory of the Telegraph,'* referring to Andrew Carnegie at this time, says: ** I liked the boy's looks, and it was very easy to see that though he was little he was full of spirit. He had not been with me a month when he began to ask whether I would teach him to telegraph. I began to instruct him, and found him an apt pupil. He spent all his spare time in practise, sending and receiving by sound, not by tape, as was largely the custom in those days. Soon he could do as well as nwself." JLj^ It was not long ere an opportunity came for Andrew / to use his knowledge. One morning while he was practising a death message was signaled from Phila- delphia. Death messages were considered of great importance, but the opening was too good to be lost, and confident in his powers Andrew attended to the call. When the operator arrived he found the message transcribed, and, moreover, it was perfectly correct. This clever piece of work brought young Andrew into notice, and proved for him the first stepping-stone to success. Shortly afterwards he was promoted to the position of an operator, with a salary of three hundred dollars a year.^r

He had long looked forward to the time when he should draw such a sum, for he had regarded it as the ideal standard of comfort. For a youth of sixteen it

STEPPING-STONES 21

was indeed a promising start. This advance came at an opportune moment, for his father had recently died, and the burden of maintaining the home now fell chiefly upon his youthful shoulders.

The following incident illustrates the confidence reposed in him by those with whom he came in contact. Pittsburgh had a supply of six newspapers, and they all drew their information from the same telegraphic service. The copyist offered yoimg Andrew a dollar a week if he would do the transcribing. The offer was accepted. He had always desired to see some of his own handiwork in the papers, and he liked to be brought in contact with the young fellows connected with the press. The extra dollar a week he thus earned he looked upon as ''pure business," inasmuch as it repre- sented a transaction entirely on his own account, and therefore he felt justified in retaining the remuneration for his own use. This was his first bit of capital.

Everything yotmg Carnegie was set to do he did with all his might, and there was no half-heartedness or indolence in his work.

Naturally such a diligent young man could not long remain unnoticed in a position which brought him into contact with the principal business men of the city. One of those who frequently visited the telegraph office was Mr. Thomas A. Scott, Superintendent of the Pittsburgh Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

2 2 ANDREW CARNEGIE

Young Carnegie happened to be the operator through whom he sent most of his messages, and his keen eye singled him out as a yoimg fellow of unusual promise. Accordingly, he spoke to him one day about his work, and offered him a situation as operator in the service of the railway company at an advance of ten dollars per month on the salary he was then receiving. Yotmg Carnegie, knowing full well the kind of man who had made the offer, promptly accepted it.

He soon foimd that his new position gave him more scope for the development of his gifts and the exercise of his energies, and it was not long before he had made himself a favorite with his chief and won his confidence both as employer and friend.

/One day Mr. Scott called Andrew aside and informed him that an excellent investment was open if he could obtain five htmdred dollars. Owing to the death of the owner, there was an opportunity to acquire ten shares in the Adams Express Company. The shares were of the value of sixty dollars each, and Mr. Scott volun- teered to advance one himdred dollars if Andrew could find the rest. The young operator knew it must be a genuine opportunity, as his chief had offered it, and his business instinct urged him to accept it. So he an- swered "Yes,*' though at the time he had no idea where the money was to be foimd. The door had been opened for a business investment, and immediate advantage

STEPPING-STONES 23

must, he felt, be taken of the golden opportunity. The fact that the money was not ready for immediate handling did not deter him. He knew there was one member f^f the family whose financial genius had surmounted many difficulties in the past, and he had abtmdant faith that she would devise some scheme for procuring the needful sum.^

A family council wasJ' held the same evening, and when Andrew had explained all, his mother, ever on the lookout to help her industrious son, replied: '*It must be done. We must mortgage the house. I will take the steamer in the morning for Ohio, and see uncle and ask him to arrange it." Her ability, pluck and resource triumphed. The visit proved successful, and the money was obtained. The shares were bought, and the little home mortgaged "to give our boy a start."

Mr. Carnegie refers to this incident in glowing terms. His mother was the exalted ideal "of his youth, and he says he can never adequately express what he owes to her constant love and wonderful business sagacity. "She succeeded. Where did she ever fail?" he once remarked.

/it was her indefatigable energy, sound judgment and strong character which laid the comer-stone of his successful career. It is plainly evident that Andrew Carnegie inherited his genius for finance and his great

24 ANDREW CARNEGIE

commercial ability from his mothey who little thought at the time that her boy would one 'day control millions, and have at his disposal more hard cash than any other

%g man. lis small transaction was destined to prove the forerunner of a long series of gigantic deals. All Mr. Carnegie's investments have yielded good returns, but this does not by any means signify that any young man who can borrow five hundred dollars will lay the basis of a great fortune, for, where one speculation succeeds, a hundred end in miserable heart-breaking failures. Mr. Carnegie was fortunate in making several lucrative investments^Jbut his fortune has not been amassed by speculation, or gambling; it is the solid outcome of hardwork,TndusTfial genius and unflagging jgerseverance. He has never bought nor SQld^.a.share of stock on the Exchange.yF

The Adams Express Company paid monthly divi- dends of one per cent., and in due course the young investor received his first checque, which gave him boundless delight.

In his new position he took keen interest in his work ; step by step he mastered every detail, and gradually acquired a comprehensive knowledge of the whole system. One morning Mr. Scott was late in arriving at the office, and in his absence an accident had occurred on one of the lines, and a very critical condition had

STEPPING-STONES 25

arisen which needed prompt and decisive action. His knowledge enabled Carnegie to grasp the situation at once, and he took immediate action. There was only- one track, and the freight trains were on the sidings along the line, waiting for the express, which had the right of way. He wired to the conductor of the express that he was going to give the freight trains three hours and forty minutes of his time, and asked for a reply. He then wired to the conductor of each freight train and started the whole of them. The telegrams were signed 'Thomas A. Scott."

Mr. Scott thoroughly appreciated the ability dis- played by his yotmg lieutenant. He recognized that he could be depended upon at a crisis, and thence- forth regarded him as his right-hand man. Andrew was now Mr. Scott's private secretary, and gradually a strong affection arose between the railway chief and his protege.

When the Civil War broke out Mr. Scott was made Assistant-Secretary of War. Andrew Carnegie had just entered his twenty-fourth year, and the position given him by his chief was a very responsible one. He had to see to the transport of the troops and stores, and generally to supervise the network of railways and telegraphs. The Confederates had already done considerable damage, but although the work was arduous he manfully stuck to his post, working indef ati-

26 ANDREW CARNEGIE

gably night and day. Precision of movement, prompt- ness and punctuality in the arrival and departure of the traffic, avoidance of muddle, and instant attention to stoppages and breakdowns — ^these things required a clear head and nerves of steel.

Curiously enough, although he did no actual fighting he was the third man wounded in the war. A tele- graph wire which had been pinned to the ground, upon being loosened suddenly sprang up and cut a severe gash on his cheek, but he did not allow the injury to affect his duties. He was present at several battles, and at Bull Run was one of the last to leave the field. But it was at Washington, in the War Department, that he had his most interesting experiences, and it was while engaged in his duties there that he inaugu- rated a system of telegraphing by ciphers which was found to be of invaluable service.

The carnage, the bloodshed and the devastation of the land made so deep an impression upon his mind that he has ever since had a horror of war ; in season and out of season he has been a strong advocate of peace, and the soldier's profession is one which he abhors.

He had no great liking for his duties, and was not

sorry when his chief returned to Pittsburgh on June ist,

18^2.

•^^Jt^ ^In an endeavor to discover the factors of Mr.

Carnegie's success, one is struck by the succession of

n

O 5

o

r- ^

•< «

STEPPING-STONES 27

opportunities that came to him for making money, and the ^isi^i. with which on the one hand he estimated their true value, and the ^ron^tnes^ with which on the other hand he took advantage of them. The element of chance in his investments was reduced to a minimum, and he only put his money into ventures with which he was practically acquainted. This fact was signally demonstrated by his next investment, y^ ^Shortly after his return from the war, while travel- ing on the railway, he was accosted by a strange gentle- man who asked him if he was connected with the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company. On hearing that this was so, the stranger drew from a bag he was carrying the model of a sleeping-car. Mr. Carnegie, in describing the incident, says: "He did not need to explain it at great length. I seemed to see its value in a flash. Railroad cars in which people could sleep on long jour- neys— of course there were no railroads across the continent yet — struck me as being the very thing for this land of magnificent distances. I told him I would speak about his model to Mr. Scott, and I did so enthusiastically." He went so far in its praise as to assert that it was "one of the inventions of the age.'* Mr. Scott saw the inventor, and the outcome of the negotiations was that two trial cars were run over the Pennsylvania Railroad. They proved an encouraging success, and it was decided to form a sleeping-car

28 ANDREW CARNEGIE

company. Mr. Carnegie was offered an interest, which he willingly accepted.

As on the last occasion, so on this, he was faced with the difficulty of providing the necessary funds, which in this instance amounted to two hundred and twenty dollars. He applied to his bank, and it was a delightful surprise to him when the manager, patting him on the back, said, **You are all right, Andy," and willingly discounted his note. Mr. Carnegie, referring to this incident, remarks, "It is a proud day for a man when )ft he pays his last note, but not to be named in comparison with the day in which he makes his first one, and gets a banker to accept it. I have tried both and know." The investment proved a lucrative one, and Mr. Carnegie was enabled to pay the subsequent calls on his stock out of the dividends distributed. The com- pany was eventually absorbed by the Pullman Palace Car Company.

This transaction put Mr. Carnegie in possession of his first substantial sum of capital. Shortly afterwards he received his last promotion as an employee by his appointment to be superintendent of the Pittsburgh Division of the Pennsylvania Railroady

Fortune's Flood

CHAPTER III

FORTUNE'S FLOOD

THE results accruing from his investment in the Woodruff Sleeping Car Company, added to his weekly savings, placed Mr. Carnegie in possession of a fair sum of money. He had repaid all the loans re- ceived from his mother and his banker, and was now free to make what use he thought best of his moderate capital ; nor had he long to wait before an opening was afforded for this. Andrew Carnegie "struck oil," and struck it to some purpose. From that profitable source he extracted a return that far exceeded his utmost expectations. He got in almost at the beginning of the mineral oil boom, when the vast possibilities of the in- dustry were little understood, and the great utility of the product had not been discovered. In conjunction with some friends, he subscribed toward the purchase of the now famous Storey Farm, on Oil Creek, which was bought for the sum of forty thousand dollars. At that time the oil was running into a creek where lay some flat-bottomed scows which were fitted up for its conveyance. Upon a certain day each week the creek was flooded by means of a temporary dam, and these

31

32 ANDREW CARNEGIE

scows were floated down to the Alleghany River. The well was then producing one hundred barrels daily, but Mr. Carnegie doubted if this output could be main- tained. It was therefore decided to store up a large reserve, which it was hoped would command a high price in the time of expected scarcity. For this purpose a reservoir was made with a capacity of 100,000 barrels, or 3,300,000 gallons. This was filled, and its contents were valued at $1,000,000, but as the reservoir leaked very badly and large losses occurred through evapora- tion oil was still allowed to run into it. Time went on, thousands of barrels were sold, but still to the surprise of the proprietors the supply seemed as plentiful as ever, and at last some idea of the extent of the real resources of their property dawned upon them. The well, or rather the shares in it, reached a value on the Stock Exchange of $5,000,000, and in one year the syndicate paid the handsome sum of $1,000,000 in cash divi- dends— certainly an astonishing return on an invest- ment of $40,000.

When he joined in this oil venture Mr. Carnegie was twenty-seven years of age, but though oil has made more than one millionaire, it was not destined to be the means by which he was to amass his fortune. Leaving the oil springs to his contemporary, Mr. Rockefeller, he turned his energies in another direction. He had not long been in his new position of Superintendent on

FORTUNE'S FLOOD 33

the Pittsburgh Division of the Pennsylvania Raihoad, when the company began to make some experiments with an iron bridge. Up to this time bridges had been made of wood, and the Pennsylvania Railroad was the first to give a trial to another material. The experi- ment was completely successful, and ^aye rise to much thought in the mind of Mr. Carnegie. ^?here had been so many delays on the railways through bridges being burned or broken, that he had long ago come to the conclusion that cast iron or some other tough non- inflammable material would have to displace wood in their construction; and after thoroughly considering the matter, he came to the conclusion that there was a great opening for a firm that could manufacture the parts for iron bridges/

As usual, he had no sooner convinced himself that the idea was sound and promising, than he commenced to look around for ways and means to put his plans into operation. No time was to be lost. The future steel manufacturer was fully alive to the truth embodied in Shakespeare's famous lines —

"There is a tide in the affairs of men Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune."

He formed another syndicate and started the Key- stone Bridge Works, ^he first large piece of work done by the firm was to build the great bridge over the Ohio River, which has a span of three htmdred feet. As Mr.

34 ANDREW CARNEGIE

Carnegie had foreseen, the substitution of iron for wood became general, both in bridge building and in many other directions, and the Keystone Company had soon largely to extend its works for increased production. Thus was laid the foundation of what are to-day the finest iron and steel works in the world/"/

For many years Mr. Carnegie had aspired to* enter business on his own account, and to be the employer of thousands of work-people ; and when he felt satisfied that the prosperity of the new company was assured, he resigned his post with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in whose service he had risen from telegraph operator to divisional superintendent. Having relin- quished his official duties, he was free to concentrate all his energy and genius on the development of his own business, and give full play to his marvelous powers of organization.^^radually the superior merits of iron bridges became widely known. [ The Keystone Com- pany were the first in the field, and as they enjoyed an excellent reputation for first-class workmanship and prompt delivery, they soon reaped a rich harvestj Orders flowed in from all quarters, and the increase of business has continued without a break right up to the present time./

hMUclq success of the Keystone Bridge Works was achieved through the most progressive business methods and by the boldest and most enterprising inno-

FORTUNE'S FLOOD 35

vationSw/ Mr. Carnegie has always been a man of great commercial daring, although no one could charge him with recklessness, for all his ventures have been pre- ceded by thorough examination, and consideration of \ the prospects of success. Once having convinced him- self of the value of an innovation or the soundness of a scheme, he never wavered in his purpose, but, confident in his ability, and encouraged by past successes, set himself to carry his enterprises through to a triumphant is^Af Calling to his aid every force that could help him in any way, and perfecting his organization at every point, he was prompt to avail himself of the discoveries of science^^fHis works have always been equipped with the most up-to-date machinery, while he has met the large and continuous increase of business with corre- spondingly large extensions of his works. All this was accomplished only by the most resolute determination, for he had constant difficulties to contend with. His credit, however, was good. He had succeeded so far with everything he had undertaken, and this fact aided him in overcoming the greatest obstacle to his progress, namely, the raising of capital.

Mr. Carnegie's next great effort, and the one that lifted him into the position of the foremost iron and steel producer in the world, was prompted by a dis- covery which he made when on a visit to England. This was in the year 1868, just at the time when the Bessemer

36 ANDREW CARNEGIE

invention had emerged from the experimental stage into an accepted workable process of incalculable value to the industrial world. Mr. Carnegie, of course, had his hand on it in an instant. He learned that in many directions, especially in rails, iron was rapidly being displaced by the steel produced by this new process. To a large iron founder this was a matter of vital importance. The necessity for substituting steel for iron in the manufacture of rails had been recognized for some time by railway experts/^ Mr. Carnegie him- self, when in the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, had suggested a process for hardening iron rails by carbon, precisely the same as the Harvey pro- cess. The company spent $20,000 on the experiment, which was attended with excellent results, for the rails turned out were a great improvement on the old ones, and gave great satisfaction. But^he steel rails pro- duced by the Bessemer process were an altogether superior product, and Mr. Carnegie recognized that he must at once adopt that process in his works. Accord- ingly he acquired all the necessary knowledge and equipment, and immediately returned to America to commence operations by the erection of an enormous plant for the Bessemer process of steel manufacture. As he had been practically the first in America to recog- nize the immense superiority of iron over wood for certain purposes, so now he was the first to realize the

FORTUNE'S FLOOD ■ .^ 37

great superiority of steel over Kxory J ustas ne had reaped a rich harvest through his foresight in being ready to turn out iron bridges, so now he reaped an even richer harvest in being prepared to supply the sudden demand for steel rails^-^

In mentioning England as the source from whence this "Steel King'* drew his inspiration to launch out in the direction of steel production, one cannot help being struck with the keen irony of the circumstance in the light of present day competition. At this time America had not the slightest chance in competition with Britain for the markets of the world, and thousands of tons of iron and steel were exported to the United States by Britain despite the high tariff duties. Mr. Carnegie had little hope that America could compete with England in neutral markets, and none that she could eclipse her. Writing in 1883, he expressed the following opinion: '*Aj2ieriGar>caxLii]lly_^nder herself .ridiculous by entering the„.water. That is England's domain. The first cost of a steel ship is about one-half on the Clyde what it is on the Delaware. Steel can be made, and is made, in Great Britain for one-half of its cost here. Not in our day will it be wise for America to leave the land. It is a very fair division as it stands — the land for America, the sea for England." Nineteen years later, while Mr. Carnegie is still expecting a long lease of life, Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan has surprised

38 ANDREW CARNEGIE

England and the world at large by acquiring for Ameri- can interests a mercantile marine of great ships of several lines. Mr. Carnegie's remarks in 1883 show how utterly in the dark even the most far-seeing of America's industrial leaders were regarding the vast potentialities of their country.

y/^The developments brought about by this introduction of the Bessemer steel process were so promising that Mr. Carnegie found himself face to face with a remark- able situation. He had now reached the supreme crisis in his career. Whatever course he decided to adopt, either that of resting on his oars or of pressing forward to further progress, was almost certain to bring him great wealth. He elected to advance and extend. The next step he took was destined to revolutionize the industrial methods of the world, and to put him on the road to the acquirement of such a fortune as would astonish mankind. A new era in industrial history was at hand, and why should he not head the

Y^vance \/

I /^ close study of the position convinced him that no country in the world could better take advantage of the Bessemer process than the United States, with its vast undeveloped mineral resources and its phenomenal industrial growth. He drew up a scheme as com- prehensive as it was daring. This involved nothing less than the erection of more great works and the

FORTUNE'S FLOOD 39

acquisition of his own coal and iron fields and of his own transport facilities. It shows the indomitable spirit of the man, and the intensity of his ambition, that although already the possessor of a forttme, he should risk all in grappling with such a mighty venture as thi^ Never before had he shown such energy and determina- tion. Neither money nor labor was spared in the building of the vast premises now called the Edgar Thompson Steel Works, across the Monongahela River from Homestead. The most skilled engineers available were employed in equipping the works with the finest plant money could buy; and to supplement this he acquired vast tracts of land containing immeasurable mineral resources. He had to go from 700 to 900 miles away, to the shores of the Great Lakes, in order to procure the bulk of his properties. He followed this up by purchasing a fleet of steamers to transport the ore across the Great Lakes; and by building his own railway of about 425 miles to carry it 1 down to his works round Pittsburgh. "W

All the world knows how splendidly this courageous enterprise was rewarded. /The superiority of steel rails over those made from iron was speedily acknowl- edged, and Mr. Carnegie was simply overwhelmed with orders. /Vast as his output was, it was totally inade- quate'to meet the demand. What he had thought were ample preparations turned out to be altogether

40 ANDREW CARNEGIE

insufficient.^,^Ie was now determined to become the undisputed master of the steel market, and to shrink from no responsibiHty in order to maintain his lead.

r It was imperative that h^ should largely increase his productive capacity^^Y He" nad to "strike while the iron was hot/* and could not wait for the erection of fresh works. .>ile therefore turned his attention to the premises of a rival concern, The Homestead Steel Com- pany, whose enormous foundries were close to his own works, and opened up negotiations with these competitors which resulted in their absorption by the Carnegie combination. --5^t her extensions and acquisi- tions were made until, in 1888, Mr. Carnegie possessed no less than seven great iron and steel works, besides his vast coal fields, iron mines, railways, docks and Jieets of steamers^

— - Two hundred and fifty million dollars is a stupendous sum, but when one considers the unique position Mr. Carnegie obtained in the greatest industry in the world, it is not surprising that he succeeded in amassing even such a colossal fortune. He appeared with his mag- nificent manufacturing facilities just at the period when the prosperity of America was in its infancy. The unparalleled railway extension in the country had scarcely commenced ; great towns were springing up on all sides, and in every direction enormous quantities

FORTUNE'S FLOOD 41

of iron and steel were needed for structural purposes. He had reduced the cost of production to a minimum. By means of his railway and steamboat services he had brought his mineral resources within easy access of his foundries, and had acquired every tool and_process necessary to manipulate with his own materials, and by his own workmen, the rough ore into the finished product. He was thus well able to defy competition from any quarter, and having secured the home trade, he stepped forward to invade the markets of the world. He extended his trade on all sides; but vast as his volume of business was, and rapid as his progress had been, he was able, through his wonderful organization, to keep his business thoroughly under control, so that his profits leaped ahead at a corresponding rate. It was a glorious triumph for skilful organization and dying enterprise^/^

/it is difiicult to realize the full extent of this mighty ' achievement and the influence it has exerted on the progress of the world. No one can deny such a man a tribute of the highest admiration. He is a genius in \ the most exact sense of the word, and he has used his / gifts and powers to stimulate to a remarkable degree the forward march of civiHzation. Mr. Carnegie takes his place among those giants of humanity who, by the heights of their attainments, have lifted to a

42 ANDREW CARNEGIE

higher plane the possibilities of man, and have forced a point upward the human standard of excellence, from which succeeding generations will start forward to further progress.

The Steel Master

CHAPTER IV

THE STEEL MASTER

M

iron and steel, towered head and shoulders

/ TV yf^' CARNEGIE, as the undisputed monarch of

above all his rivals. He was the chief of a trade com- bination that enjoyed the distinction of being the larg- est employer of labor in the world/ The Carnegie Steel Company, which was reconstructed at the beginning of 1900 with a capital of $100,000,000, owned three im- mense-works — ^the Homestead, the Edgar Thompson and the Duquesne, and seven smaller ones./ When in full swing it is estimated that this huge concern gave employment to no less than 45,000 work-people, and if we reckon the small average of five members to a family it means that this one firm controlled the happiness of over 225,000 persons. / The works at Homestead alone covered seventy-five acres of land and employed nearly 4,000 men. One who has visited these works says: "On first viewing Homestead two thoughts are forced upon a mind of mechanical bent, namely, the vast wealth necessary to build, equip and run a plant of such magnitude ; and the ingenuity and skill required to deviseand manage it.' * /The works were managed by

45

46 ANDREW CARNEGIE

experienced men of great ability, and the workmen were a highly skilled body second to none in the country^/ It was Mr. Carnegie's habit to have mailed to him, whatever part of the world he might be, a tabulated form ingeniously devised, containing the details of the total product for the day of each and every department of the business. In this way he was able to keep in constant touch with the affairs of the firm. Every Monday a meeting of the members of the firm was held, all important matters were discussed and decided upon there, and full minutes of each meeting were regularly sent to any absent member. As Mr. Carnegie lived in New York, this plan kept him well informed on all plans of action.

The Homestead mill manufactured armor plates for the ships for the navy and all kinds of structural material. It contained twenty open-hearth furnaces and two ten-ton Bessemer converters having a daily product of 3,000 tons of steel ingots, which were used in the manufacture of a great variety of articles, from the steel rims of a bicycle to the 200-ton armor plates of a battleship. Here also were constructed the gigantic steel frames for many buildings, and par- ticularly for ** sky-scrapers." In the manufacturing processes electricity plays an important part. This valuable force was used as the motive-power for moving huge blocks of material and in a hundred and one

THE STEEL MASTER 47

other ways. Masses weighing two hundred tons and more were handled with ease by the electric machines, all of which were fed from a single station, whence wires extended, like the arteries in the human body, to the different departments. The workmen became accustomed to the use of the electric agent and handled it as confidently as they would steam or water. In every respect the machinery was of the most modern description, and was supplemented in every possible manner by the latest devices of scientific discovery.

Next in importance to the Homestead were the Edgar Thompson Steel Works, situated on the other side of the river. These were chiefly devoted to the production of pig-iron and the manufacture of steel rails. The furnaces had a daily output of 2,800 tons of pig-iron, a large part of which was used on the premises, and the remainder transferred to Homestead. The rail mill was perhaps the finest in the world, and was capable of producing 1,600 tons of steel rails per day. The third large foundry, the Duquense, on the Monongahela River, had furnaces that produced in one day as much as the largest furnaces thirty years ago produced in a week. They had a capacity for daily converting 2,000 tons of pig-iron into billets, rails, sheets, bars, etc.

In addition to these vast works under Mr. Camegie*s control, there were the wire and nail mills at Beaver

48 ANDREW CARNEGIE

Falls ; the structural works at Pittsburgh ; the Isabella furnaces ; the Lucy furnaces ; and the Keystone Bridge Works. Another branch of the Carnegie combination was the Frick Coke Company, which was the largest of its kind in the world. It owned coal-bearing lands to the extent of 40,000 acres, and in addition possessed more than two-thirds of the famous Connellsville coal- fields. It had an operating plant consisting of 10,500 ovens with a possible daily output of 20,000 tons. Every day a line of railway trucks five miles long con- veyed the product to the various foundries of the firm.* The Carnegie combination also owned vast tracts of land, including the richest iron ore mines on Lake Superior. It possessed a special fleet of steamers for the transport of the ore from the mines on Lake Superior to Cleveland on Lake Erie, a distance of over 700 miles, and had laid its own private railway to take the ore from Cleveland down to its various works round Pittsburgh. The company possessed a large extent of natural gas bearing land, from which the gas was conveyed in pipes to the furnaces. It had a private telegraph system, and its wires ran to all the important industrial centres of the country. Branch offices of the firm were to be found in all the large cities of America, and its total clerical staff was so numerous that at the

* Whese figures were compiled some years ago. The productions of all the Carnegie properties have largely increased since.

THE STEEL MASTER 49

head office, Pittsburgh, a hundred and fifty clerks could take a vacation at one time without causing any dis- organization of the system.

Xl'he plant of the Carnegie works was capable of pro- ducing an annual output in steel alone of 3,000,000 tons, of which about two-thirds would be open-hearth steel. This Titanic concern was held together by the most perfect organization, in which the highest degree of skill was employed./

Here are a few facts to illustrate the wonderful administration of this vast industry. It was possible to transport ore from the shores of Lake Superior to Pittsburgh, nearly a thousand miles away, and convert it into steel in ten days, despite the fact that three separate shipments have to be made ! Some of the open mines at Lake Superior were capable of special treatment, and for digging the ore in these steam shovels were used. One of these shovels could load a 2 5 -ton car in two and one-half minutes. The shovel picked up five tons of earth at every stroke, and filled the car in five operations.

At Duluth, the western head of Lake Superior, there were two loading jetties, each 2,000 feet long, and rows of ore bins built into these, each holding from 150 to 170 tons. The railroad ran over these bins, and dropped down their loads of twenty-five tons, to be subsequently shot into

50 ANDREW CARNEGIE

the holds of the ships. At these docks ore was shipped at the rate of i,ooo to i,6oo tons per vessel per hour. A 6,000-ton vessel, equal to the capacity of 750 8-ton cars, could be loaded with ore in six hours or less. From the Lake Superior district 17,000,000 tons were shipped in 1899. The railway traffic from the ore-receiving ports to the smelting furnaces, in some cases extending to 700 miles, was carried on by mammoth locomotives, some weighing 127 tons each, hauling 1,600 tons of ore in thirty cars — great steel trucks specially built to carry about fifty tons apiece.

At the mills the blast-furnaces were served by a hoisting engine controlled by a single indi- vidual. Here also the Wellman-Seaver electrical charging machines were used. This is the latest mechanical triumph of its kind, relieving human sinew and muscle of the strain and tension of heavy work amid the terrible heat of the smelting furnaces. It traveled on rails past the rows of furnaces, and the attendant, comfortably seated, merely moved an electrical switch which actuated a powerful arm of steel. This took charge of pig-iron, scrap and ore, which it deposited inside the furnaces. The machine fed furnace after furnace with their requirements of half a ton at a time in a few seconds each. The doors of the furnaces were opened and closed by water power.

THE STEEL MASTER 51

And so one might continue to enumerate the vast resources and the wonderful armory of this industrial Im^g.

-;^Such a magnificent aggregation of industrial power has never before been under the dominion of a single man. / This vast organization, with its army of skilled workmen, was the great stumbling-block to the pro- moters when they first schemed to create a Steel Trust of such magnitude as would enable them to dominate the markets of the world. The properties under Mr. Carnegie's control were too great and the value of them too fully realized to allow of easy adjustment of owner- ship. The amounts offered Mr. Carnegie by the Trust / organizers were entirely out of proportion to the value 1^ of the property and the negotiations fell through for the time.

Mr. Carnegie announced his intention of equipping / enormous works at Conneaut, Ohio, at a cost of $15,000,000, to be devoted to special competition with the products of the Trust. He also decided to build up another steel mill which should surpass in capacity any- ^ thing in existence. As for the Trust's control of the \ railways, he boldly declared that he would construct J his own services.

This mood, characteristic of the man, showed more clearly than anything else could his confidence in his properties, and brought out in strong relief the value

52 ANDREW CARNEGIE

of the steel plants. The absolute necessity became evident that they must be included in the combination, and an offer was made Mr. Carnegie for his interests which, though so great as to be almost inconceivable, is believed to be in proper proportion to their value. Mr. Carnegie sold out on his own terms. He received for his interest $250,000,000 of bonds on the Trust's properties, bearing interest at the rate of five per cent, per annum.

In an address to the people of Pittsburgh, Mr. Carnegie explained the reasons that had prompted him to retire from business, as follows : * 'An opportunity to retire from business came to me unsought, which I con- sidered it my duty to accept. My resolve was made in youth to retire before old age. From what I have seen around me, I cannot doubt the wisdom of this course, although the change is great, even serious, and seldom brings the happiness expected. But this is because so many, having abundance to retire upon, have so little to retire to. I have always felt that old age should be spent, not as the Scotch say, in 'makin' mickle mair,* but in making a good use of what has been acquired, and I hope my friends at Pittsburgh will approve of my action in retiring while still in full health and vigor, and I can reasonably expect many years for usefulness in fields which have other than personal aims."

It must not be understood for one moment that

THE STEEL MASTER • 53

Mr. Carnegie's opposition to the Trust was actuated in the slightest degree by any personal objection to the. formation of these mammoth imdertakings. The / Carnegie Company, of which he was the head, was in K^ its way a huge combination ; and on many occasions C he has expressed the opinion that trusts are a great \ benefit to the community, and are simply a result_y of the advance of human enterprise.

So late as May, 1901, he said: "All these consoli- dations of steel trusts, railways and steamship lines are steps in advance of still greater movements which will distinguish the twentieth century. This unifica- tion of transport by sea and land is a mark of genu- ine world-progress. Hereafter American railway lines will be under one interest from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and one management in New York will be able to fix rates to meet the situation. In a short time the great tnmk railways will own steamship lines on the Pacific and Atlantic, thus consolidating transport on land and sea, and the business of the world will be carried on with but little division. It would be unwise not to promote these movements.'*

There is much shrewd common sense in these remarks, but the growth of these gigantic combinations has been so rapid that widespread suspicion exists as to their soundness. If their main object is to be to gain a monopoly, then they deserve to fail, for

54 ANDREW CARNEGIE

monopolies are often an industrial evil both to the work-people and to the community at large. >^In surveying the phenomenal success of Mr. Carnegie, one's curiosity is aroused as to the instruments he em- ployed to attain it and the means by which he exer- cised control over his extensive interests. The most important factor has undoubtedly been his consummate genius for organization, and almost on a par with this J3aust-be-placed his remarkable -insigljt into human nature. ^Mr. Carnegie himself attributes his success chiefiv to the, hand nf r.lftver young men which he gathered roimd hini. He has an unbotmded belief in young men, and he has never been afraid to intrust them with the most important duties. ''It is astonish- ing," he says, "what a young man can do if he is only trusted." His method has been to keep a keen^ lookout for any young fellows of exceptional ability, r whether in his own employ or in the employ oi^ others. ^And rarely did^ his iudgment_ fai^^him. Scores^ of wealthy men in America to-day owe their^ position to Andrew Carnegie's timely encouragement^^

Mr. H. C. Frick, one of the foremost men in tKe commercial world to-day, is one of those whom Mr. Carnegie credited with the making of a first-class busi- ness man, and he took him from the employ of another firm and gave him a position in his own organization. Another instance is that of a young fellow who served

THE STEEL MASTER 55

behind a shop counter in Dunfermline. He sent him to Pittsburgh and gave him the usual opportunities to distinguish himself. The young man rose rapidly, was finally admitted into partnership, and is now a rich man. Perhaps the most striking tribute to Mr. Carnegie's perceptive faculty is Mr. Schwab, who is now receiving an enormous salary as manager of the new steel trust, the United States Steel Corporation. He entered Mr. Carnegie's service as a boy, and by his extraordinary smartness and his rare capacity for work he attracted the attention of his employer. He had neither capital nor influence, but he had merit, and he steadily advanced, each new promotion reveal- ing in him greater ability, until he attained the highest position in the greatest industrial concern and was president of the company before he reached thirty. These are the men who formed Mr. Carnegie's working^ cabinet.

It is hard to define in exact terms the power which Mr. Carnegie had of stimulating his subordinates and infusing them with his own consuming enthusiasm. He had a perfect genius for discovering young men of exceptional ability, and, having secured them, they were given a fair chance to prove their worth. No favoritism of any kind was allowed, all promotion being solely by merit. His first partner, David A. Stewart, and his brother, Tom Carnegie, both had

56 ANDREW CARNEGIE

grown-up sons, but none of these young men were admitted to the concern, and at death their parents* interests were paid out. "Dead heads" were a luxury never tolerated in the Carnegie Company. Having worked his own way in the world, Mr. Carnegie knew how best to encourage a deserving youth. *'Respon- sibiHty," he once said, ''thrown upon a young man, that is the thing to bring out what is in him." But he insisted that the youth himself should be thoroughly interested in his work, and be animated with a strong desire to succeed. "Concentration," he says, "is my motto — first honesty, then industry, then concentra^ -tiQrCL_and^he expected it to be the motto of hi^ employees. If they did not give their whole energies to their work they lost their places or were degraded. Each new man had to maintain the standard of excel- lence reached by his predecessor. Mere mediocrity and languid interest were not tolerated.

On the other hand, hard and conscientious work was promptly and handsomely rewarded, and when a subordinate was appointed to the position of a manager, Mr. Carnegie maintained that the test of his ability was not what he did himself, but what he could get others to do in cooperation with him. " The great manager," he said, "is the man who knows how to surround himself with men much abler than himself. I have always found that a manager of one of our great

THE STEEL MASTER 57

works has been able to make excellent managers out of material which before his magic touch was quite mediocre. He inspires his subordinates to almost superhuman efforts."

It was men of this caliber that were given a stake in the business in the shape of stock, or who were pro- moted to be partners. They worked together, heart and soul, for a common interest, and Mr. Carnegie is proud of the fact that he has never had occasion to exercise his authority over any one of them. He pays to these talented, ambitious young fellows an unqualified tribute of admiration —

"I do not believe any one man can make a success of a business nowadays. I am sure I never could have done so without my partners, of whom I had thirty- two, the brightest and cleverest young fellows in the world. All are equal to each other, as the members of the Cabinet are equal. The chief must only be first among equals. I know that every one of my partners would have smiled at the idea of my being his superior, although the principal stockholder. The way they differed from me and beat me many a time was delightful to behold. I never enjoyed anything more than to get a sound thrashing in an argument at the hands of these young geniuses. No man will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or to get all the credit for doing it. I believe firmly in youths

58 ANDREW CARNEGIE

as executive agents. Older heads should be reserved for counsel."

An English writer has called attention to this and says that *'Mr. Carnegie sets an example that British employers might well take note of. There can be no doubt that to this practice of placing young men in responsible positions is largely due the enterprise and progress of American commerce.'*

The power of organization and the faculty of recognizing and developing dependable assistants contributed largely to Mr. Carnegie's success.

As an Employer of Labor

CHAPTER V

AS AN EMPLOYER OF LABOR

/Y^ PINION regarding Mr. Carnegie as an employer V^ of labor is sharply divided. On the one hand he is looked upon as a man who has violated in practice all the excellent theory that he has written on the sub- ject ; and, on the other hand, it is asserted that he has done everything possible for his work-people compatible with the maintenance of his business in the face of fierce competition.

In attempting to review Mr. Carnegie's record in this respect, it is of the first importance to take into con- sideration the conditions of capital and labor that existed in the United States during his career/ The policy of an employer in America and the policy of an employer in England must be judged from different standpoints, for the two are on a totally different foot- ing with their employees and have to contend with an entirely diverse environment /in America, even at the present time, employers and employees are often at variance, and during Mr. Carnegie's time, ten to twenty years ago, the period with which we are con- cerned, the antagonism between the two was much more intense than it is to-da¥f

62 ANDREW CARNEGIE

^

The set purpose of the employers naturally was to extract from their workmen the maximum of labor at the minimum of cost, both in wages and accommo- dation. The avowed object of the workmen was to obtain the highest wages and the shortest hours possible, and to work no harder than was necessary. Each party was aware of the intentions of the other, and conse- quently each watched every move of the other keenly. Wrecking tactics by the one side at the time strikes were in progress were followed by swift punishment. But in the main the weakest had gone to the wall, and the workman was under the heel of his employer, though occasionally, being supported by public opinion, the workman won./

''•Such a state of distrust between capital and labor could only be regarded as deplorable in the extreme by a man of the temperament of Mr. Carnegie, who has always been astute enough to recognize that good feel- ing between master and workman is essential for the highest prosperity of both. He considers that nothing pays so well in business as generous treatment and mutual good-wilL His experience, he says, goes to prove that V the firm which has a reputation for taking the best care of its men has the best chance, because the best men will gravitate to that firm and stay with it/^^ Mr. Carnegie's prime prescription for smooth working in the industrial arena is the copartnership principle,

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but as that was not practicable he advocated the next best thing, namely, the sliding-scale arrangement of remiineration. This part of his theory he put into prac- tice in his own works. The scale there was based on the price of the product. Once a month a com- mittee approved by the men met, and before this com- mittee was laid all the information necessary to enable it to estimate what prices the firm would obtain. An average price was then agreed upon, and this formed the basis for the wages for the ensuing month.

Of course, the weakness of this system is that, as circumstances change, differences arise regarding the fairness of the percentage of remuneration on the price of the products, and in this respect it is little better than the old method. Its great advantage lies in the fact that it brings masters and men into contact and tends to promote mutual self-respect. Whenever they do come together on such occasions, Mr.Camegie holds that the employer, being the better trained and more cultured party, should exercise great forbearance in regard to the men's behavior. If they are rough and surly in their manners, and at times somewhat arrogant in their bearing, he should overlook this as the outcome of their inferior education and mode of life. He also thinks that it is not too much to expect men entrusted with the management of great properties to devote some part of their time to searching out any

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causes of discontent among their employees, and, having satisfied themselves that they are genuine, to meet the men more than half-way in an endeavor to settle them.

/' But he insisted on the men doing their best. They must work and work hard. He tolerates no slackness. Idlers are an abomination to him. He is convinced that a state of regular labor is the best possible con- dition for the human race, and produces the best citi- zen. He honors the laborer far above the aristocrat. ** The lot of a skilled workman," he says, " is far better than that of the heir to an hereditary title, who is very likely to lead an unhappy, wicked life." Mr. Carnegie was once asked his views on the "too old at forty" problem. He replied: "A man at forty who is in search of something to do has a prima facie case against him. Long before he is forty he should have shown himself to be indispensable and received either a high salary or an interest in the business. Of course, there are exceptional cases where a worthy man is suddenly deprived of work at forty. His is a sad case indeed." He does not advise workmen in comfortable circum- stances to emigrate and take great risks. If a man can make thirty shillings a week in his native land, Mr. Carnegie thinks he would be very foolish to leave it, unless he is impelled by an uncontrollable ambition and has no ties to bind him. Even though men may

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be fortunate enough to earn higher wages, very likely the conditions of life will not suit them and they will become dissatisfied. "Look before you leap" is the adyice he offers.

/Thus far we have studied Mr. Carnegie in theory/^ /Wow let us see how he has put all these admirable sentiments and unimpeachable principles into practice./ The best test that can be applied is the condition of labor surrounding his own workmen. Mr. Hamlin Garland, a well-known writer, though having no technical experience, describes the impressions he re- ceived from a visit to the Homestead works, - His train- ing as a novelist naturally impelled him to look at things from the descriptive writer's point of view, and not become interested in the picturesque, both horrible and attractive. In his approach to Homestead Mr. Garland was struck by the desolate appearance of the district, and the wretchedness of the town itself, he says, was deplorable. "The streets were horrible; the buildings were poor; the sidewalks were sunken and full of holes; and the crossings were formed of sharp-edged stones like rocks in a river bed. Every- where the yellow mud of the streets lay kneaded into sticky masses, through which groups of pale, lean men slouched in faded garments, grimy with the soot and dirt of the mills. The town was as squalid as could well be imagined, and the people were mainly of the

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discouraged and sullen type to be found everywhere where labor passes into the brutalizing stage of severity."'

These' depressing conditions are apparently insepar- able from a newly established iron or steel mill in any locality, and this is specially true where soft coal is used. Grime, heat, hard, exhausting labor, these are conditions that are to be found in every steel mill, and the works of the Carnegie Company differed little from other manufactories of the same kind except in extent, but it may be truly said that the larger the mill the mpre depressing the conditions.

/f After commenting on the muggy, smoke-laden atmos- phere, he proceeds to describe the conditions inside the mills, and the men engaged at their tasks, and tells us that they worked with a sort of desperate attention and alertness.

"That looks like hard work," I said to one of them to whom my companion introduced me. He was breathing hard from his labor.

*' Hard ! I guess it's hard. I lost forty pounds the first three months I came into the business. It sweats the life out of a man. I often drink two buckets of water in twelve hours; the sweat drips through my sleeves, and runs down my legs and fills my shoes."

"But that isn't the worst of it," said my guide, a former employee. " It's a dog's life. Now those men

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work twelve hours, and sleep and eat out ten more. You can see a man don't have much time for anything else. You can't see your friends or do anything but work. That's why I got out of it. I used to come home so exhausted, staggering like a man with a

Again and again he is impressed with the general appearence of exhaustion that is shown in the haggard faces of the toilers, and he says " their work is of the sort that hardens and coarsens.** Everywhere in the enormous sheds were pits gaping like the mouth of hell, and ovens emitting a terrible degree of heat, with grimy men filling and lining them. One man jumps down, works desperately for a few minutes, and is then pulled up, exhausted. Another immediately takes his place; there is no hesitation. When he spoke to the men they laughed. It was winter when he made his visit. They told him to come in the summer, during July, when one could scarcely breathe. An old workman, relating the experience of his first day's toil, says he applied for work, and the superintendent, saying he looked strong and tough, set him on the pit work. For the first time in his life he fainted repeatedly, and when he left at night he could scarcely drag himself home. ^They take great risks, too; and the injuries sus- tained are of a most frightful character. An explosion in the pouring of the molten metal, and half a dozen

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men are terribly mangled and one or two killed. Such incidents are not infrequent. The continuous dread of an accident, combined with the intense drive of the work, constitute a fearful strain.-* This is a fearful picture, painted in the darkest, most repulsive colors, but this is but one side of it. Nothing is said of the comfortable homes which steady employment at from four to ten dollars a day enabled the steady^ sober workman to maintain — the self-confidence that continuous employment begets. The environments of the mills were improved as rapidly as possible, streets were paved, schools were established, and public institutions of various kinds were initiated Several free educational institutions were founded by Mr. Carnegie in an attempt to help his workmen help themselves. The other side of this picture is full of light and hope, though there are many exceptions. Many of the men have happy families, and those of the better class are very well off. The company houses are very good, and have all modern conve- niences, and the men who are sober and care for their families, besides being prosperous live comfortably.

The effect of the work on these men was brought out in a conversation with one of them which Mr. Garland had the morning after his visit to the mills. "The worst part of the whole business," said the workman, "is, it brutalizes a man. You can't help

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it. You start to be a man, but you become more and more a machine, and pleasures are few and far between. It's like any severe labor; it drags you down mentally and morally just as it does physically. I wouldn't mind it so much but for the long hours. Twelve hours is too long."

The rate of pay in the works varied with the class of labor. But, speaking generally, at Homestead the workmen received a daily wage of from $1.50 to $10.00. The old experienced men in these works are hardened specimens of humanity, with muscles and bodies as tough as the steel they handle. They are wonderfully deft and skilful, and are capable of turn- ing out an immense amount of work at a high rate of speed.

>^r. Carnegie freely admits that English workmen would not work as these men do, and he calculates that each man does nearly twice as much as his English pro- totype. He considers the climate of America much more invigorating than that of Britain, and he puts forward other contributory causes of the difference.

But there can be no doubt that the extra work is forced by the tremendous drive or pressure of the American system. The men are bent upon earning high wages, and the masters are determined to beat ^^ all competition. Progress, the accumulation of wealth, complete supremacy over all competitors, these are

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the paramount considerations, and everything less is disregarded./'

/nvhat reply does Mr. Carnegie or any other employer make when easier conditions are suggested? He tells you that it is impossible unless all manufac- turers in the same line agree on practically the same conditions: competition is inexorable. If these meas- ures were not adopted, they would be left behind in the fightv' And Mr. Carnegie is certainly not the man to be "left"; rather is he the man to leave others. / He is a typical American employer. Nowhere has the drive and strain been more intense, and the discipline more rigorous and unbending, than in the works of the Carnegie Company. /But if Mr. Carnegie drives his men hard, he pays them well. He claims that the wages paid in his works have been from ten to fifteen per cent, higher than in any other works of a similar nature in the United State^-. Inside his works he was in that respect superiof to the typical American employer, and outside he is far ahead of his commercial brethren. The average manufacturer in America, it is said, compares very unfavorably with his British rival in the interest he takes in the well-being of his work-people during their leisure time. Homestead, as we have seen, was a dismal place. Model working- class communities were conspicuous by their absence. Mr. Carnegie, we know, has done and is doing a great

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deal in the way of providing libraries, music halls and clubs, and he has recently made a gift of $4,000,000 for the formation of a pension fund for his work-people. In another way Mr. Carnegie has shown his breadth of sympathy. On the principle of helping those who help themselves, the Carnegie firm allows every workman to deposit his savings in the business and pays him six per cent, interest on the money invested. On the other hand, the firm is willing to lend to any of its workmen desirous of building or purchasing a house the sum needed for the purpose, charging interest at the rate of six per cent, on the loan.

Mx. Carnegie is also deserving of the highest praise for the strenuous efforts he has made to reduce the hours of labor in America by working the eight-hour instead of the twelve-hour shifts. His action in this matter convincingly proves his real desire to alleviate the exceptional strain to which American people are subject. He says: "I sympathize with the desire to have shorter hours of labor. We have too long hours of labor in America^ There is not a blast-furnace or manufactory that has to run night and day at which the workers do not work twelve hours a day, the twenty-four hours being divided into two shifts. But to reduce the hours of labor in works that have to run night and day can only be done by a general law com- pelling all such works to adopt eight-hour shifts. We

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tried this voluntarily ourselves at Pittsburgh for two years. We worked all the blast-furnace men on three shifts of eight hours each, hoping that other iron manu- facturers would be induced or compelled to follow our example. But only one firm in the whole country did so; and finally competition became so keen that we were forced to go back to the twelve-hour shifts. It was a question whether we were to run the works at a loss or not, and after losing at least $500,000 by the experiment, we had to ask our men to return to the two shifts a day. We offered to divide with the men the extra cost of thirty-three and one-third per cent, which the three shifts involved, so that we might con- tinue the eight-hour system, the firm paying seventeen per cent, and the men sixteen per cent. ; but rather than do this they decided to go back to the two shifts of twelve hours a day."

These facts should be carefully considered by people who make the complaint against Mr. Carnegie that he ought to have been satisfied with a smaller f ortime and rendered easier the conditions of his work-people. This consummation is not very easily attained, because on a turnover so vast as that of the Carnegie Company the slightest -alteration may mean either a large profit or a huge loss. Mr. Carnegie holds his workmen in high appreciation, and he is exceedingly grateful to them for their part in building up his fortune. He

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acknowledges the severity of their labor, and he always speaks of them in the highest terms of admira- tion and respect. There is almost a pathetic ring about the following words: "I remember after Vandy and I had gone round the world, and were walking the streets of Pittsburgh, we decided that the Americans were the saddest-looking race we had ever seen. Life is so terribly earnest here. Ambition urges us all on, from him who handles a spade to him who employs thousands . We know no rest . ' '

Mr. Carnegie stands by the fact that he has been instrumental in giving employment to a vast army of workmen. This is his favorite reply to all attacks upon him, and he thinks more of this achievement than he does of all his benefactions. "Those who insure steady employment to thousands at wages not lower than others pay need not be ashamed of their record; for steady employment is, after all, the one indispensable requisite for the welfare and progress of the people."

In addressing his workmen at Pittsburgh in 1893 he said: **I made my first dollar in Pittsburgh, and ex- pect to make my last dollar here also. I do not know any form of philanthropy so beneficial as this : there is no charity in it. I have hoarded nothing, and shall not die rich apart from my interest in the business. Unless the Pittsburgh works are prosperous I shall have

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nothing. I have put all my eggs in one basket right ,;here, and I have the satisfaction of knowing that the first charge on every dollar of my capital is the pay- ment of the highest earnings paid for labor in any part of the world for similar services. Upon that record I stand."

Conflicts with Labor

CHAPTER VI

CONFLICTS WITH LABOR

LABOR, capital and business ability are the three ? legs of a three-legged stool. Neither the first, the second nor the third has any preference, all being equally necessary. He who would sow discord among the three is the enemy of all." Thus spoke Andrew Carnegie to an interviewer in March, 1901. From time to time he has written freely on the labor ques- tion, especially in reference to strikes and trade unions. In 1886 he said: "My experience has been that trade unions upon the whole are beneficial both to labor and capital. They certainly educate the working- man, and give him a truer conception of the relations of capital and labor than he could otherwise form. I recognize in trade unions, or, better still, in organiza- tions of the men of each establishment, who select representatives to speak for them, a means not of further embittering the relations between employer and employed, but of improving them."

Mr. Carnegie thinks that the individual labor organ- ization is the most useful to the workman — ^that is, each works or groups of works to have their own union which shall be thoroughly cognizant with conditions

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in its own mill. He does not extend the same approval to the ordinary types of labor organization, nor does he agree with all the principles on which they are founded. When asked whether or not there was in the States an organization known as the "Knights of Labor," which is a similar body to the English trade unions, he replied: "Say rather we had. It was one of those ephemeral organizations that go up like a rocket and come down like a stick. It was founded upon false principles, viz., that they could combine common or unskilled labor with skilled." He holds that the man who is doubly as efficient as another should receive twice as much remimeration, and he continues : "If we are not to recognize that one man has brains or ability beyond another, why should a man of superior parts try to do his best?"

Mr. Carnegie would not tolerate any organization among his work-people that propagated such mis- chievous principles, and his firm stand on this question was, perhaps, the chief contributing factor to his first dispute with his men. This occurred at his Braddock steel works. It appears that Mr. Carnegie came to certain terms with his employees which, when embodied in an agreement, the men's leaders refused to sign, incited thereto by the union agitators, at whom the agreement was expressly aimed. The principal feature of the agreement was a substitution of the sliding-

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scale plan of wage-earning for the usual unchanging method. The sliding scale made the workman prac- tically a partner with the company : he either profited or lost with the company. Another feature of the new contract was the abolishment of the eight-hour day — that is, three shifts instead of two to each twenty-four hours. The eight-hour plan was found to be tmprofit- able and a sliding scale at a twelve-hour schedule was proposed as a substitute. The men were also required to sign a cast-iron agreement promising to abide by the contract for a certain number of years.

These documents were put before the men at the end of the year 1887. During that year it was estimated that Mr. Carnegie had made a profit of $15,000,000. The men refused to agree to the terms set before them, and the works were immediately shut down. No work meant no food, no fuel, no clothes, for everything and everybody in Braddock depended on the mills. All efforts toward compromise on the part of the men were instantly rejected, but no effort was made to replace the locked-out men with outsiders. The men held out from December to April. After unsuccessfully attempting to obtain a settlement on their own lines, the workmen decided to give way, and their leaders waited on Mr. Carnegie with the necessary authority to come to terms, but with the intention of making a nominal surrender only, and not binding

8o ANDREW CARNEGIE

themselves personally to the agreement. Mr. Carnegie took the deputation to dinner, joked with them, and then produced the new contracts for their acceptance. The leaders asked if they might be allowed to sign as representatives of the union. "Certainly,'* said Mr. Carnegie, *'you can sign as you please." They signed without hesitation, congratulating themselves on their smartness. **Now," said Mr. Carnegie, ''as I have obliged you by letting you sign as you please, would you oblige me by signing in your individual capacity as well?'* "Begorrah," said the agitator, "begorrah, the game's up." And it was. They attached their signatures a second time, and the strike was ended.

That is Mr. Carnegie's version of the affair, which, of course, has another aspect when described by the workmen. It was said that the men resumed work on a pledge, given by Mr. Carnegie's manager, that the men thrown out of work by the two-shift instead of the three-shift system would be foimd employment in the other mills of the company, and that a general amnesty would be granted to all who had taken part in the strike. This pledge, some of the men say, was broken. But there is no evidence that any such pledge was actually given. As a matter of fact, the sliding scale instituted at Braddock has proved uniformly satisfac- tory to both the workmen and the company, and the plan has been extended to other places.

CONFLICTS WITH LABOR 8i

The second and last dispute that the Carnegie firm had with its employees was at the Homestead works, over which Mr. Frick, the manager, had supreme con- trol. Owing to the atrocious methods by which the conflict was conducted on both sides, this strike at Homestead caused a sensation throughout the civilized world. As usual there is much contradiction of facts by the parties concerned, and great confusion as to the circumstances of the dispute. The following events are gathered from accounts which were current at the time.

On July I, 1889, the firm made a three-year con- tract with a number of skilled workmen, through the medium of . the Amalgamated Iron and Steel Workers' Association, to pay them at the rate of twenty-five dollars per ton for a certain product of Bessemer steel. At the beginning of Jime, 1892, Mr. Frick announced that the rate in future would be twenty-two dollars per ton, which he eventually raised to twenty-three dollars, but the men held firm for twenty-four dollars. Mr. Frick further notified them that henceforth the contracts would terminate in mid- winter instead of midsummer. The men objected to this because it placed them at a disadvantage.

Negotiations were broken off on June 24th and the mills were shut down on the 30th. Then began a series of heart-rending episodes. Mr. Frick, with

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an "intelligent anticipation of events,'* had taken precautionary measures while the negotiations were in progress. He resolved to keep the works going by non-unionist workmen, and to protect these he had engaged three hundred Pinkerton detectives, and had also surrounded the works with fences and trenches until they resembled a military fort. It was reported at the time that along the top of the fence, which was twelve feet high, a barbed wire was laid, which was nicknamed the ''live wire fence" because it was charged with a degree of electricity sufficiently strong to kill any one who touched it. But this was abso- lutely disproved later. On the other hand, it was stated that the men deliberately attempted to murder all the non-union workmen by poisoning their food as it was being prepared in the kitchens.

Immediately the negotiations in progress between the two parties were ended, the men stationed guards at all the entrances to the mills. The river, the streets and the roads entering the town were also closely patrolled, and a rigid surveillance was exercised over all visitors. During the disturbance great damage was done to the mills of the company and to public property in the town. Frick now thought it was high time to use his police force and attempt the importation of foreign labor. It was arranged that the detectives should proceed to Homestead by the river,

CONFLICTS WITH LABOR 83

and arrive there about midnight, when it was hoped they would be able to enter the works unobserved.

At two o'clock on the morning of July 6, three hundred detectives, accompanied by the deputy-sheriff of the district, embarked on a steamer and two barges and left Pittsburgh for Homestead. On their arrival they found the river banks lined with thousands of men, women, and even children. Many of the men were armed with revolvers and clubs, while the Pinkerton detectives had their Winchester rifles. A short war of words was followed by an attempt of the boating party to land. This was resisted by the frenzied workmen, shots were exchanged, and fighting soon became general. Another determined sortie was made by a body of fifty Pinkertons under cover of the rifle fire from their companions, but they met with such a hot reception that they were compelled to retreat.

The strikers now erected a fort on which they mounted a small piece of artillery and opened fire with it upon the barges. They also endeavored to set fire to the barges by pouring petroletmi in the river, but an unfavorable wind rendered their efforts unsuc- cessful. The steamer, with the deputy-sheriff and the wounded men on board, got adrift from the two barges, and, running the gantlet of a heavy fire, returned to Pittsburgh. At 5 P. m. on the following day the Pinkertons surrendered on condition that if they

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gave up their arms they would be guaranteed a safe conduct. Notwithstanding this guarantee, they were brutally assaulted as they passed through the town, and many were seriously injured. The casualties of the whole conflict amounted to six workmen killed and eighteen woimded, nine Pinkertons killed and twenty-one woimded, and a hundred Pinkertons severely mutilated after their surrender.

On learning of the fight, the Governor of the State sent down a force of 8,000 militia, who occupied the works. Rioting, however, continued for a time. On July 23 Mr. Prick was assaulted by a Russian who was admitted to his office on a pretense of business. The loss to the company through the works remaining idle was $50,000 daily, apart from the expense of $20,000 daily for the maintenance of the militia.

A commission was appointed by Congress to institute a thorough inquiry into the whole event, and their report roundly censured every one concerned, but especially Mr. Prick, at whose door it practically laid the entire responsibility for the conflict. It said: *' Mr. Prick seems to have been too stem, brusque, and somewhat autocratic, of which some of the men justly complain. We are persuaded that, if he had chosen, an agreement would have been reached between him and the workmen, and all the trouble which followed would have been avoided."

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Professor Bemis, a high authority on industrial prob- lems, and a man universally respected, published an article on the strike which was distinguished by a judicial spirit of impartiality and moderation. He severely condemned the attitude and policy of Mr. Frick, and stated that O'Donnell, the men's repre- sentative, made every effort to promote an amicable settlement, and when the negotiations were broken off by Mr. Frick he pleaded for a reopening of the discus- sion, stating clearly that he believed terms would eventually be agreed upon. But Mr. Frick was obdu- rate : he had set himself to smash trade unionism.

Attempts were made by the men's leaders to com- municate with Mr. Carnegie. Professor Bemis states that O'Donnell applied to Frick for Mr. Carnegie's address in Scotland, which was known only to his business associates. Mr. Frick refused to give the address, whereupon it was obtained from the American Consul in London. The men's terms of settlement were then cabled to Mr. Carnegie, who approved of them and urged an immediate consultation with Frick. Mr. Frick, however, refused to consider the matter at all, and declared that if Carnegie came in person, in company with President Harrison and the entire Cabinet, he would not settle the strike. Mr. Carnegie, in his reply, guarded himself by saying that he had no power to instruct anybody connected with the Carnegie

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Steel Company. **The officers," he wrote, "are elected for a year, and no one can interfere with them. As for instructing them or compelling them under law to do one thing or another, that is simply an absurd suggestion. I could not if I would, and I would not if I could." This restricted authority is involved in his system of management by partners.

A very different complexion is, however, put upon the outbreak at Homestead by the following summary of events, which is vouched for on the best authority, and which contradicts the personal attacks upon Mr. Carnegie. The issue between the firm and 267 union men, out of 3,000 men employed, was that these malcontents demanded an advance equal to sixty per cent, on the scale, when they were already earning from $10 to $13 per day of eight hours. The firm offered to meet them half way. New machinery, erected at a cost of $4,000,000, had increased the output sixty per cent., and this the firm offered to divide with its union men. When Mr. Carnegie looked into the matter he pronotmced it the most generous offer that had ever been made to employees, as the labor was not harder with the new machinery than with the old.

The firm started the works when the few tmion men struck, at the wish of the 2,700 others, who offered to work the mills without the union men. It was these

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latter who, armed with guns and pistols, shot down the police, and so provoked reprisals.

It was the general opinion that if the "little boss," as Mr. Carnegie was called by his men, had been present, the whole matter would have been peacefully settled; but as he was not there it is absurd to charge him with neglect. He did not even hear of it until the works had started. Mr.- Frick, as president, with a board of directors, had been in full control, and the works were running under the protection of the troops of Pennsylvania ; the State had the matter in charge.

The chairman of the union publicly stated that in the eyes of the men the trouble never would have hap- pened if Mr. Carnegie had been at home. After it had arisen a committee of workmen wired to Mr. Carnegie : *' Kind master, tell us what you want us to do and we will do it"; but the riot had occurred before this telegram had reached him, and had rendered him powerless in the matter.

In the course of his brilliant business career Mr. Carnegie has not had any acute differences with his work-people.

On his return to Pittsburgh in January, 1893, he addressed his employees at Homestead, in the course of his speech saying: *' I have not come to Pittsburgh to rake up, but to bury the past. It should be ban- ished as a horrid dream, but the lessons it teaches

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should be laid to heart for future application. For twenty-six years our concerns have met with only one labor stoppage. I trust and believe that this record will be equaled in the next twenty-five years. When employer and employed become antagonistic their antagonism can only be described as a contest between twin brothers. No genuine victory is possible for either side, only the defeat of both." On all occasions he has emphatically denounced labor disputes, but he does not confine his sympathies entirely to the employers. The following paragraph shows that he is capable of looking at matters sympathetically from the men's standpoint. "When public sentiment has rightly and immistakably condemned violence, even in the form of which there is the most excuse, I would have the public give due consideration to the terrible temptation to which the workingman on strike is some- times subjected. To expect that one dependent upon his daily wage for the necessities of life will stand by peaceably and see a new man employed in his stead is to expect much. This poor man may have a wife and children dependent upon his labor. Whether medi- cine for a sick child, or even nourishing food for a delicate wife is procurable, depends upon his steady employment. In all but a few departments of labor it is unnecessary and, I think, improper to subject men to such an ordeal." He thinks that neither the best

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men as men nor the best men as workers are thus to be obtained.

Mr. Carnegie has also detailed a number of sugges- tions for the peaceful settlement of all differences between capital and labor. His main solution of this exceedingly difficult problem is arbitration, work to be continued tmder old conditions until the arbitrators come to a decision. But he does not state whether arbitration should be compulsory, and thereby he shrinks from grappling with the real difficulty of the situation.

His Political Faith

CHAPTER VII

HIS POLITICAL FAITH

PERHAPS Mr. CamegiC'S most striking charac- teristic is his absolute independence, and in nothing is this more evident than in his political faith. He brings to any subject a vast experience of the world, a shrewd intellect and a forceful will, and irrespective of all other views strikes out his line of thought. Authorities are nothing to him: he totally disregards them; and with a bold originality, that in some instances is almost staggering, he judges a question entirely on its merits as it appeals to his own mind. He pierces the very heart of things, strips a question of all superfluities, and concentrates all his energy on absolute essentials, impatiently brushing to one side all the flummery and fancy work that weave themselves aro\md political issues. Opportunism is abhorrent to him, and he heartily detests the art of "sitting on the fence." The views of such a man are well worthy of critical consideration.

The salient feature of Mr. Carnegie's politics is his passionate devotion to republican government such as is embodied in the Constitution of the United States.

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In his book, "Triumphant Democracy,'* and in many magazine articles and interviews, he lauds the glories of American democracy. It is his fetish, and he is an ardent worshiper at its shrine. His views, therefore, on this subject, an English writer says, ''are scarcely likely to be well balanced, and, indeed, they resemble more the rhapsodies of an enthusiast than the judg- ment of a cool, experienced man of the world." The same writer quotes this instance " as an outburst of one- sided sentiment" : — "Ah, favored land ! the best of the old world seek your shores to swell to still greater pro- portions your assured greatness. That all come only for the material benefits you confer I do not believe. Crowning these material considerations, I insist that the more intelligent of these people feel the spirit of true manhood stirring within them, and glory in the thought that they are to become part of a powerful people, of a government founded upon the bom equality of man, free from military despotism and class distinc- tions; 117,000 came last month, and the cry is still they come ! Oh, ye self -constituted rulers of men in Europe, know you not that the knell of dynasties and of rank is sounding ? Are you so deaf that you do not hear the thunders, so blind that you do not see the lightnings which now and then give warning of the storm that is to precede the reign of the people?" But though in some directions Mr. Carnegie allows

HIS POLITICAL FAITH 95

himself to go to extremes, in the main his republican- ism represents a robust and healthy confidence in an untrammeled democracy. He is a fierce opponent of rank and class distinctions, and he holds in supreme contempt the privileged classes who live a life of selfish luxury, contributing nothing by forced industry or volimtary service to the welfare of society. But lie is far from being a socialist, whom he describes as a balloon farmer "wanting to jump to the moon in one bound." His ideal is a government of the people, by the people, for the people.

The House of Lords is to him a monstrosity that ought not to be tolerated for one moment. He holds that its members are drawn from the most incompetent sections of the nation, and that as a whole they are totally unfit to perform legislative functions. He considers that titles have a blighting influence on any one's individuality, and he illustrates his meaning by contrasting the probable places in history of Mr. Gladstone, Lord Beaconsfield and Lord Salisbury. '*I have always regarded him (Lord Salisbury) as a strik- ing instance of the advantage of not being born to hereditary wealth and position. Like the great foimder of the Cecils, Lord Salisbury himself was bom a commoner ; a younger son with a younger son's por- tion, and with the promptings of decided ability in him, he did ever3rthing in his power to prevent being nar-

96 ANDREW CARNEGIE

rowed and restricted by the smothering robes of rank and wealth. His country's law forces him to sink his individuality in a peerage, but for which England might have told of a first and second Cecil, as it tells of a first and second Pitt — men too great to be obliterated as men by any title. It is a sad descent in historical rank from 'Cecil' to the Marquis of any- thing.

**The highest title that a man can write upon the page of history is his own name. Mr. Gladstone's will be there; Gladstone he is; Gladstone he will remain, even if he tried to make future generations lose his commanding personality in the 'Dukedom of Clydes- dale,' or any other title whatever. But who among his contemporaries in public life is to stand this supreme test of masterdom? 'Disraeli' promised well for a time, but he fades rapidly into ' Beaconsfield ' — a shadow of a name. The title proves greater than the man."

Mr. Carnegie is an out-and-out radical, and strongly in favor of drastic social reform. But his enthusiasm for Disestablishment, One Man One Vote, Peasant Ownership of Land, etc., is submerged in his passionate antagonism to the principle of monarchical govern- ment. "Were I in public life in Great Britain," he writes, "I should be ashamed to waste my energies against the House of Lords, Church and State, primo-

HIS POLITICAL FAITH 97

geniture and entail, and all the other branches of the monstrous system; I should strike boldly at the royal family, the root of the upas tree from which springs all these wrongs.**

At one time it was nmiored that he intended to enter the British Pariiament. That was when Messrs. Bright, Chamberiain, Dilke and Labouchere were fighting hard in the vanguard of extreme radicalism. They had Mr. Carnegie's fullest sympathy and support, and he entertained high hopes that the dawn of republicanism for England was at hand. He was on terms of friendship with all the lights of liberal- ism in its palmiest days. For Mr. John Morley, and above all for Mr. Gladstone, he had the profoundest respect and admiration, and he regarded Mr. Chamber- lain as the coming leader of Democracy and future Prime Minister of England.

He gave expression to this opinion in plain terms in 1885, when he presented copies of Scribner's Statistical Atlas of the United States, showing by graphic methods its political, social, and industrial development.

There is a significance about this incident which it is interesting to recall at the present jimcture in English politics, but this does not mean that these views are still held by Mr. Carnegie, who does not now regard the monarchy as a rival to popular self- government.

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On a blank page of one atlas he wrote :

''Presented to THE FREE LIBRARY OF BIRMINGHAM

BY

ANDREW CARNEGIE

Newport, June g, 1885.

"Let the men of Birmingham note what their kin beyond the sea are doing under Republican institutions founded upon the equality of the Citizen — a land where throne and aristocracy are alike unknown.

A. C."

The other atlas he inscribed as follows :

"To JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN

The leader of the masses and future Premier of Britain, I send this record of the reign of the people under institutions based upon the only true doctrine, the political equality of the Citizen.

Andrew Carnegie. "New York, November 18, 1885.''

Foiir years afterwards Mr. Chamberlain presented this interesting document as a companion copy to the Birmingham Free Library. A printed slip an- nouncing the gift was placed inside the atlas for the guidance and instruction of readers.

HIS POLITICAL FAITH 99

Of English M. P.'s as a whole Mr. Carnegie has no flattering opinion. He thinks they are sadly lacking in steadfastness, thoroughness and courage. "So many public men in England 'stoop to conquer,' forgetting that whatever else they may conquer thereafter they can never conquer that * stoop ' which drags down their life." And in another place he scoffs at their timidity. "English politicians are mostly nibblers, small morsels at a time, though Gladstone can take a good bite when put to it."

Mr. Carnegie applies one principle for the United States and an altogether different one for Great Britain, because the one had to create manufactures and the other had them. Take the tariff question. For America he is an out-and-out Protectionist ; for England he is an out-and-out Free Trader. His arguments in favor of Free Trade for England can be readily agreed with, but the reasons he originally gave for his support of a protective tariff for America have long ago disappeared. He maintained that heavy import duties were necessary in order to enable the American manufacturer to hold the home market against the foreigner, and he considered his own industries of iron and steel especially needed this assistance. But to this view he added the important qualification that he was not in favor of protection beyond the point necessary to allow America to retain her home market

100 ANDREW CARNEGIE

in a fair contest with the foreigner. For the last five years at least the conditions have been exactly the reverse of those put forward by Mr. Carnegie as justify- ing the McKinley Tariff. Mr. Carnegie, however, though he has not made any appeal for the abolition of the protective duty, has twice advised reductions which were made, and he is in favor of further reduc- tions now. He has been consistent always in this matter, and offended his party, advocating protection only as a path to free trade.

The keynote of one of his most vigorous articles, ''What Would I Do with the Tariff if I were Czar?" is the taxing of luxuries, the imported articles the rich consider indispensable and can afford to pay for; on the necessaries of life he would reduce the tariff corre- spondingly.

Protection or no protection, Andrew Carnegie's genius was bound to lift him to a high position. Much more absurd and much more venomous is the insinua- tion, at one time freely made in the States, that his influential support of the Republican party was bought at the price of its adhesion to the McKinley Tariff Bill. That he should be attacked in this way is, per- haps, the natural consequence of his prominence in the political arena. Protection, however, was by no means the subject to which he gave most attention. He attached far more importance to the Silver Question,

HIS POLITICAL FAITH loi

on which he was one of Mr. Bryan's most formidable antagonists.

Reverting to his interest in British politics, it is interesting to note that, despite his admiration for Mr. Gladstone and his devotion to Mr. Morley, he could not accept unqualified their Irish policy. He was in favor of simply giving Ireland the fullest measure of local self-government, and making her status in the Empire the same as that of a Federal State in the American Union.

A dominating factor in Mr. Camegie*s politics is his love of peace. His hatred and abhorrence of war amounted almost to a passion. In 1881 he said that to him the real glory of America lay in the fact that she had no army worth the name, and that her navy could boast of scarcely a single efficient warship. **What has America to do," he writes, "following in the wake of brutal, pugilistic nations still under the influence of feudal institutions, who exhaust their revenues training men how best to butcher their fellows, and in build- ing ships for purposes of destruction." He has de- nounced in emphatic terms both the Philippine and South African conflicts as unjust and foolish in the extreme, and he bitterly laments what he considers to be this hateful* relapse of the English-speaking race from its great ideals of peace and freedom. Lifelong Republican though he has been, his feelings on the

I02 ANDREW CARNEGIE

war policy were so strong that he severed his allegiance to the Government and ranged himself alongside the Bryanites, to whom he was opposed on every other public question. No one who does not know the excep- tional strength of party ties and party loyalty that exist in the United States can understand how keenly such a staunch party man as Andrew Carnegie must have felt this separation from old friends and associa- tions. But holding the views that he did he felt boimd to give expression to them. He believed that America was entering upon a policy of imperial expansion and colonial dominion that would lead to a policy of mili- tarism and aggression. Vigorously and vehemently he attacked the Government, and bitterly denounced what he considered its fatal departure from the tradi- tional policy of the nation. He advises both America and Britain to leave the blacks to look after themselves, a sentiment admirably suited for theoretical discussion, but when applied for practical purposes it resolves itself into an utter and impossible neglect of duty.

In his political controversies Mr. Carnegie often indulges in prophecies, and one thing he predicted twenty years ago was the decay of Parliament and pulpit and the rise of the newspaper and the review. *' The brain of a cotmtry,*' he says, "will be foimd where the real work is to be done. The House of Lords regis- ters the decrees of the House of Commons. The House

HIS POLITICAL FAITH 103

of Commons is soon to register the decree of the monthly magazines. In the next generation the debates of Parliament will affect the political currents of the age as little as the fulminations of the pulpit affect religious thought at present. The press is the imiversal parlia- ment. The leaders in that forum make your statesmen dance as they pipe. If any man wants bona fide sub- stantial power and influence in this world, he must handle the pen — ^that's flat. Truly it is a nobler weapon than the sword and the tongue, both of which have nearly had their day."

At one time Mr. Carnegie entertained the idea of covering England with a network of Radical news- papers, through which he could impress the masses with his political views. He acquired no less than eighteen organs of the press, but he does not seem to have entered on the work with his usual thoroughness and determination ; and although he managed to make a commercial success of the scheme, its political results did not realize expectations.

In regard to religious matters Mr. Carnegie takes up an independent position. He is emphatically not an agnostic. He believes in Christianity and in the goodness of God, but his great human spirit is not to be bound by the formulas of sects and creeds. He tells a very amusing anecdote of an incident that happened when he was traveling in China. He essayed his

r^

I04 ANDREW CARNEGIE

powers as a missionary on one of the subjects of the Celestial Empire, and the result was not very encourag- ing for him. He relates the story as follows: ''One day I asked our guide, Ah Cum, a gentleman and a scholar, why he did not embrace Christianity. His eyes twinkled as he replied, 'Where goee, eh? Goee Bishopee ? ' (pointing to the Cathedral). * He say allee rightee. Goee there ?' (pointing to the English church). * Bishopee say damee. Goee Hopper?' (the American Presbyterian missionary). 'He sayee Bishop churchee no goodee, hellee firee. What I doee, eh?' 'Stay where you are, you rogue,'" replied Mr. Carnegie, and he adds, "Confound that fellow, I did not expect to be picked up in that manner." Mr. Carnegie thinks it is useless to preach to the heathen one God and half a dozen creeds. He considers that to-day the pulpit exercises very little influence on the life of the world. He thinks that its sentiments are practically ignored by men of action and work. "Who cares," he says, "what the Rev. Mr. Froth preaches when he ventures beyond the homilies." He describes the parson to suit him to be one who says little and does much. He has, however, very great faith in the refining and elevating influence of music, which he speaks of as heaven's chief mediimi.

We have seen that Mr. Carnegie is an optimist of the optimists. The progress of the world and the advance

HIS POLITICAL FAITH 105

of the English-speaking race are to him as inevitable as that night should follow day, and his faith shines steady and clear through all discouragement. " God's in His heaven, all's right with the world," aptly de- scribes his view of the many mysteries of human life. The following quotation gives one an insight into the standpoint from which he looks out on things: "It is a criminal waste of time and thought to dwell much upon what is to come in the far unknown future. I am an evolutionist. My teacher is Herbert Spencer. It is impossible to set bounds to what the human race can do, or what it may become, physically, mentally, or socially. . . . We are all traveling in the same direction, and finally, I believe, to heaven.**

And now we come to the political project which is dearer to Mr. Carnegie than anything else, and to accomplish which he would gladly sacrifice his fortune. Mr. Gladstone once described Mr. Carnegie as so inter- woven in his interests between America and England that he formed a living link between them. The one supreme desire of Mr. Carnegie is to weave together the interests of the two nations and form them into one vast confederacy. He is an enthusiastic advocate of the Federation of English-speaking peoples, and he is very sanguine about the possibilities of its achieve- ment, believing that the idea would be heartily wel- comed by the vast majority of the people of the United

io6 ANDREW CARNEGIE

States, and that it would command the enthusiastic support of the colonies. The mother country alone, he thinks, is lukewarm in the matter. It is only in political ideas, he points out, that there is any dissimi- larity. In language, literature, religion and law we are a united race. Britain, he maintains, has everything to gain by amalgamation of interests. Her produce would enter the world's finest market — ^the United States — free of duty, and the accession of strength she would acquire by reunion wotdd relieve her from all fear of European combinations. If England holds back on this vital question, he predicts her downfall from her present proud position as head of the Anglo-Saxon race. **The only cotirse for Britain seems to me to be reunion with her giant child, or sure decline to a secondary place, and then comparative insignifi- cance in the future annals of the English-speaking race."

He looks upon this reunion as the one great hope for the peace and progress of the world. He claims that the welfare of humanity imperatively calls for the consolidation of Anglo-American power. Such a fed- eration would be invincible both in the arts of peace and of war, for it would combine the control of the premier financial and manufacturing resources, with the possession of the finest human material on earth. Its supremacy would be incontestable and would com-

HIS POLITICAL FAITH 107

mand universal respect. By reason of its power it could set itself up as the arbiter of the world's disputes. The enormous waste of expenditure in maintaining bloated armaments would be stopped, and never again would legalized slaughter of man dishonor the human race.

But is this noble aspiration of Mr. Carnegie's any- thing more than a castle in the air, and is any progress being made toward its realization? What has he to put forward against the thousand and one practical objections with which his ideal could easily be riddled ? First and foremost he sets forth the exigencies of com- merce and the blood affinity of the two peoples — the mightiest forces for reimion that could possibly be imagined. In addition to this, Mr. Carnegie regards the abridgment of distance as a favorable factor of much importance. The telegraph and the steamboat have greatly facilitated the means of intercommunica- tion and intervisitation, and travel nowadays is attended with every comfort and luxury. Never was there a time when so many Englishmen and Americans intervisited so often between the two countries. And Mr. Carnegie claims that the stanchest supporters of reunion, and those who are most convinced of its practicability, are to be found among those who have most frequently crossed the "pond" and come into contact with both peoples. The more extensive their

io8 ANDREW CARNEGIE

knowledge and their travel, the more confirmed are they in their faith. In social life the greatest cor- diality exists between the constituents of the two nations, while the masses of both seize every oppor- tunity to express publicly their enthusiasm for the project. 'Xet men say what they will, therefore," Mr. Carnegie concludes, "I say that as surely as the sun in the heavens once shone upon Britain and America united, so surely it is one morning to rise, shine upon and greet again "The Re-United States," "The British- American Union/'

International Competition

CHAPTER VIII

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

THE race for commercial supremacy between the old and the new world is now the all-engrossing question of the hour. The last generation has wit- nessed a remarkable change in the rapid advance which the traders of the West have made upon the markets of the world. The development of the United States as a trade competitor with European countries is the most conspicuous landmark in the commercial history of the nineteenth century. Supported by unlimited natural resources, it has made enormous strides as a manufacturing country. Its citizens, buoyant with youthful energy and ambition, have utilized to the full every advantage within their power. Armed with the latest weapons they have successfully attacked foreign markets, and to-day American manufacturers hold a strong position in almost every commercial comer in the world. This wonderful progress has been due to several causes, prominent among which are its enormous mineral wealth, cheap locomotion, protectionist duties, a dogged enterprise, and an inherent commercial skill.

Ill

112 ANDREW CARNEGIE

No American has made such an impress upon the trade of the worid as Andrew Carnegie. The greatest iron and steel producer, he has led the American attack on all the markets in its most important sphere, namely, the region of i:on and steel manufacture. The pros- perity of a manufacturing coimtry is to be measured in the main by the prosperity of its iron and steel industries, and it is in this realm of industry that Andrew Carnegie has earned his title of King. His ability to deliver promptly owing to his skilfully equipped works, and the low price he could accept as a result of having at his elbow cheap material and quick facilities for production, gave him an immense advantage over his competitors. He conducted his business on a large scale, fully confident of securing a fair share of the world's patronage. His strong faith told him to cast his net, and he obeyed. The harvest he has brought safely to land is now the admira- tion of the whole world. Having won a great industrial victory, Mr. Carnegie should be in an authoritative position to speak upon the present state of trade and the commercial prospects of the old and new worlds. His innate sense of justice, his well balanced intellect and his wide experience entitle his views to careful consideration.

Although a Scotchman by birth, hard-headed, thrifty and industrious, Mr. Carnegie is by training a typical

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 113

American. He has won his fortune in the land of big things, and it is only natural he should have a very high opinion of America's industrial resources and commercial future. He considers the United States in many respects far ahead of Great Britain, and holds that really the mother country will have to bestir itself if it is even to occupy a second place on the list. **The Briton has now," he says, *'to meet in industrial rivalry men of his own blood ; what is more, men of his own blood developed under more favorable circimi- stances." But although he considers the American workman "the ablest, quickest and most versatile worker the world has ever seen," he at the same time believes the old country will yet make a gallant struggle, especially if she will change her methods and show more enterprise. America has the great advantage that "whereas her resources have only been scratched, as it were, the raw materials of the old coimtry are rapidly being worked out."

Probably very few Britons will agree with his gloomy view of the future, when he pictures their islands as the ancestral home and the garden and pleasure-groimd of the race. This elysium is to come into existence when "British manufactures have gone one by one," and when, as a nation, "we shall not be able to support a population of more than fifteen millions."

He contributed a practical and stable article to the

114 ANDREW CARNEGIE

pages of the Nineteenth Century and After review for June, 1 90 1, and one which, although somewhat un- palatable to the imperialistic taste, contained much food for thought. The article was couched in a more optimistic strain, and made a bold attack on ''British Pessimism," which he was surprised to find had obtained such a strong hold on English industrial life. Although he has visited his native land for thirty years or more, he could not recollect having met with such a state of despondency amongst the leaders of British industries. But continuing, he immediately strikes a cheerful note, and says that "though your monopoly has gone your supremacy has not ; that so far there is no actual retrogression or inherent decay."

Mr, Carnegie is of the opinion that England's legis- lators would spend their time more profitably if they paid more attention to commercial affairs and less to political wrangling. He argues that "a profitable home market is the strongest weapon that can be used to conquer markets abroad." The qualities of the race, he says, "lie dormant, and are still there; the dogged endurance, the ambition to excel, the will to do or die, are all there, but it has not been found necessary to drill them into disciplined action."

Not until British manufacturers are face to face with ruin, and are compelled for lack of work to close their mills, does Mr. Carnegie think they will rouse them-

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 115

selves from their lethargy bom of custom and monopoly. When this hour arrives he little doubts that they will rise to the occasion and manifest to the worid their true qualities ; but by that time he is very much afraid the financial burdens of the coimtry will be so heavy that they will be imable to make up their lost ground. He regards with misgiving "the aggres- sive temper which has alienated other governments and peoples, and mistaken territorial acquisition for genuine empire building." This dangerous growth, he maintains, will not only largely increase the nation's financial burdens, but will deprive it of its productive capacity and decrease its volume of trade. If ever a nation had a clear and unmistakable warning that the time had arrived when it should henceforth measure its responsibilities and ambitions throughout the world with its resources, and cut its garment according to its cloth, Mr. Carnegie thinks, it is /'the dear old mother- land of the race, with its trade stationary and an army of thirty thousand men or more to be provided for in South Africa even after peace comes ; its expenditures and taxation increasing, and its promises to pay already at such a discoimt as to attract capital from acrgss the Atlantic."

He has often pointed out that in the United States and Germany the controlling factor of diplomacy is the expansion of trade. Mr. Carnegie looks at this

ii6 ANDREW CARNEGIE

question in the dry light of hard business experience, and the test he applies to the policy of Great Britain is — "Does it pay?" This test may seem harshly materialistic, but this is a materialistic world, and how- ever glorious may be her traditions, however extensive may be her empire, however powerful may be her army and navy, if Great Britain loses her trade these things cannot prevent her downfall. To-day com- merce is the life-blood of a nation, and should be regarded as its paramount consideration. This fact has been lost sight of in the territorial expansion of Great Britain. They go to an enormous expense in opening up vast territories and in conquering subject races, but they receive no corresponding compensation under their policy of free trade which gives the German and American equal commercial opportunities with themselves. They acquire shadowy supremacy with- out any material benefits. ''Trade does not follow the flag/* Mr. Carnegie argues; ''it follows the lowest price current y

The gist of his argument is that Great Britain should have a Minister of Commerce, whose special work would be to protect the interests of British traders, and utilize to the full for commercial purposes their world-wide possessions. This office will no doubt be created when international competition has captured more of their markets abroad.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 117

Foreign trade has not such a strong fascination for Mr. Carnegie as may be supposed. He told the Institute of Civil Engineers, in May, 1901, "You must look at home, and develop the material you have there. The way to get hold of foreign markets is to get hold of and conquer the markets at home."

Commercial supremacy and commercial education are indissolubly linked together, and when we turn to examine Mr. Carnegie's views on education we find much that is worthy of notice. We have already mentioned his firm belief that the policy he pursued of throwing responsibility upon young men and taking those of exceptional ability into partnership has con- tributed more than anything else to his success in busi- ness. It is not the unrivaled resources of America the English have cause to envy most, he says, nor its wonderful machinery, but the class of yoimg men that manage the undertakings there, and, he adds, he can find no such class in England. The reason why English yoimg men are not the equals, in his opinion, to their American cousins is simply because they have not had the same educational opportunities.

"It is a result of your system of education," he told a representative of the Daily News Weekly. " The universities of America do not exalt science above classics, but they do place them upon a more equal footing than you do. Classical subjects have received

ii8 ANDREW CARNEGIE

encouragement and have been developed, whereas scientific education has not been. Now, I believe that the continuance of Great Britain as one of the principal manufacturing nations will not be secured by having a greater number of her people learning the dead languages of dead nations, dwelling together in the past, but by a larger percentage of her young men becoming experts in various branches of science, and being taught to be scientific managers of her industries, displacing the rule of thumb managers. It is a ques- tion what type of a man is now needed to keep England abreast of her competitors."

In connection with this question of trade supremacy, the following information relating to commercial educa- tion in America will be of interest. No less than five of the leading colleges and universities of the United States have given a place in their curriculum to commercial courses or have established Schools of Commerce. The students are given a course of teaching comprising the most serviceable instruction in the following subjects: bookkeeping, commercial geogra- phy, transport systems, money and banking, busi- ness organization and management, economics and economic history. In addition, it is recognized that the prospective manufacturer should be familiar with the various processes through which the chief articles of commerce have to pass before they reach their

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 119

finished state. This knowledge is imparted through a course on "The Materials of Commerce," which is illustrated as far as possible by practical experiments. A knowledge of law is a further advantage to a business man, and this is provided by courses on commercial law, tariff legislation, and the laws pertaining to labor, capital and corporations. The usual instruction in modem languages, chemical research and physical science is given, and students are at liberty to study for a particular trade or for work in a foreign country. Candidates for a degree must pass in all these branches.

A thorough commercial education is the strongest foundation for business success, but Mr. Carnegie believes that another phase of knowledge is also requisite. He says : " The study of human nature is the best education for any business man. But whether a young man chooses a scientific or a classical educa- tion, if he wishes to pursue a business career he should not remain long at college or at the university. All my brilliant partners began hard, practical work in their * teens. I think a course at a modem university from nineteen to twenty-four will not teach a young fellow to be as successful a business man as if he had been sent into business in a subordinate capacity. This is not disparaging university education, for I limit the -observation to the business career."

I20 ANDREW CARNEGIE

Mr. Carnegie is, above everything else, a man of action. He is a self-made millionaire, and has built up his huge fortune by the power of his brain; it is therefore only natural he should have a strong admira- tion for those who seek practical experience and are desirous of adding to their knowledge by contact with hard work. He has, however, a strong faith in educa- tion, as was so strikingly illustrated by his munificent gifts of $250,000 to the Birmingham University, $10,000,000 for the Scotch universities and $10,000,000 to the Carnegie Institute, and in this sphere it may be taken for granted he will distribute a large share of his wealth. Compared with other nations Mr. Carnegie recognizes the backward state of technical education in England, and if they are to retain their commercial position he thinks it will be absolutely necessary for them to overhaul and modernize their educational machinery and to put it in proper and efficient working order. To keep in the forefront of the international trade fight will mean a stem struggle, but it can be accomplished, he says, if Britain goes to the root of the question and arms the rising generation with a sound and practical education. In the letter he sent to the Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, M. P., offering to give $250,000 to the funds of the Birmingham University, he stated his views on commercial edu- cation in a very plain and businesslike manner.

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"Dear Mr. Chamberlain: — ^You have interested me in your proposed university at Birmingham for the people of the Midlands.

*' May I suggest that an opportunity exists for such an institution to perform a great service for the whole country ?

"After the members of the Iron and Steel Institute had returned to New York from their tour of observa- tion through the United States, the officials dined with me. Many pleasing short speeches were made. The close of one I have never forgotten. A partner in one of your foremost steel companies said: 'Mr. Carnegie, it is not your wonderful machinery, not even your unequaled supplies of minerals, which we have most cause to envy. It is something worth both of these combined — ^the class of scientific young experts you have to manage every department of your works. We have no corresponding class in. England,^

"Never were truer words spoken. Now this class you must sooner or later secure if Britain is to remain one of the principal manufacturing nations, and it seems to me the Midlands is the very soil upon which it can most surely be produced.

"If I were in your place I should recognize the futility of trying to rival Oxford and Cambridge, which, even if possible, would be useless. The twin seats of learning have their mission, and fulfil it ; but Binning-

122 ANDREW CARNEGIE

ham should make the scientific the principal depart- ment, the classical subsidiary. If Birmingham were to adopt the policy suggested, taking our Cornell University as its model, where the scientific has won first place in the number of students, and give degrees in science as in classics, I should be delighted to con- tribute the last ;£5 0,000 of the sum you have set out to raisCj to establish a scientific department.

" I am sure our people of the Birmingham across the Atlantic will heartily approve this gift to their proto- type on this side of the water, for what does not the younger owe of its greatness and prosperity to the old land. Bessemer, Siemens, Thomas — the triumvirate through whose inventions we have been enabled to make and sell steel by the millions of tons at three pounds for a penny — all made their experiments in your midst.

''Let the gift, therefore, be considered as only a slight acknowledgment of a debt which Pittsburgh, the greatest beneficiary of your steel inventions, can never hope to repay.

"Wishing you speedy success, " Sincerely yours,

"Andrew Carnegie."

The object of this broad-minded millionaire is to place before the youth of Britain the same educational opportunities as are enjoyed by young men in the

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United States and on the Continent. If words of warning and magnificent pecuniary assistance can rouse his native land to make adequate preparations for com- mercial training, he should be eminently successful. He lays great stress on the need of giving the young men who are to be the future captains of industry a suitable and practical education. Much depends on the artisan, he once said, but still more depends on the commercial skill of the man at the wheel. Clever managers with up-to-date methods and modern ideas will be almost certain to secure good paying orders, and it is this class of men he desires to see controlling England's industries; and then he has little doubt she will hold her own against the competition of the world. In Mr. Carnegie's opinion England's national indus- tries are at the present time handicapped greatly by obsolete machinery. Their equipments, he says, need not merely to be altered but "revolutionized." In one of his journeys through England he came across a tanyard in charge of which was a workman of the extreme rural type, who informed Mr. Carnegie that his old master had just sold out. The fresh owner had new-fangled notions, and was spending "heaps o* money" in building a steam-engine, which he invited the visitor to inspect. This engine was expected to do the work much quicker, but, remarked the old work- man, " I've heard tell by some as knows it's na sae gud

124 ANDREW CARNEGIE

for the leather." This incident, Mr. Carnegie says, aptly illustrates the tenacity with which Britishers hold to what their fathers did before them. Although somewhat exaggerated, this conclusion contains much truth, and the ill-advised obstinacy of the British workman and the short - sighted policy of trade unionism is largely answerable for it. Mr. Carnegie absolutely fought trade unionism in his own works, when it attempted to encumber him with restrictions and to dictate to him how he should manage his business.

For the saner type of trade unionism, as we have seen, he has considerable sympathy. The American workman comes up to his ideal as the quickest and most versatile industrial hand in the world. In sharp contrast to his prototype in England, he is distinguished for his habits of sobriety and thrift, and these, in Mr. Carnegie's opinion, largely accotmt for his superiority. England's drink bill per head of the population is nearly fifty per cent, higher than that of the United States, and to this marked difference he attributes their inferiority to the Yankee in business foresight and industrial skill.

But the faults of the working classes by no means exonerate the masters from blame. It is, indeed, in fertility and originality of ideas that Brother Jonathan so easily surpasses England. They are fearfully slow,

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 125

Mr. Carnegie says, in adopting new improvements, and pointing to electricity as a concrete instance, and referring to the achievements of Edison, "the wizard of science," he mentions the significant fact that a capital of over $200,000,000 is invested in about 20,000 miles of electric railways in the United States. England is just awakening to the value of this form of locomotion, and so far nearly all the great electrical undertakings in England are worked by American capital. But where British manufacturers are most heavily handicapped is in their means of transport. The " miserable little trucks on your railways and the extortionate charges" fill Mr. Carnegie with disgust and amazement. He once said that if all the existing rolling stock in England were destroyed it would be a blessing to British industry rather than a calamity.

His views on this great question of International Competition as it affects British interests have been severely criticized, but there is no denying the fact that many of his suggestions and opinions contain much sound common sense and are of much practical value. He is a man of conviction, and having satisfied himself upon the justness of his cause, is not afraid to express his views. He is a candid friend to his native land, and all who are open to conviction will thank him for the genuine interest and thoughtftil counsel. Britain could do with more men of Mr. Carnegie's

126 ANDREW CARNEGIE

caliber, who put duty and conviction before fame and applause. British manufacturers can draw many- valuable lessons from his industrial methods and his views on the question of International Competition.

His Gospel of Wealth

CHAPTER IX

HIS GOSPEL OF WEALTH

IT is rare indeed to hear ''the advantages of poverty** eulogized by a millionaire. In a world where selfish interests are ever3rwhere pursued it seems almost an irony to ask any one to believe that a man with unfettered millions can delight to sing its praises and to condemn those who hoard wealth from selfish motives. Of all the puzzling paradoxes surely this is the greatest ! At first sight it would seem that the author of such a doctrine must be a confirmed miser. But Mr. Carnegie is neither a millionaire miser nor a meddling moralizer, for if any man practises what he preaches, that man is Andrew Carnegie. Yet he is not a philanthropist. He lays no claim to such a title. A philanthropist he defines as a man who gives his wealth and follows it up by personal labor. Mr. Carnegie has given vast sums away, but he has not carried out the second stipulation, and therefore the honor of being styled "a philan- thropist" is not, he says, his right. As it would be" impossible for him to concentrate his energies upon one particular kind of work, owing to the enormous amoimt of labor involved in the distribution of his fortune, he

129

I30 ANDREW CARNEGIE

has an excellent excuse, and we must forgive him for his modest interpretation of the title. But if he is not a philanthropist, what is he? A _ trustee for the Englishes peqkmg_j^^ he says, should be

held in trust for the benefit of the whole commimity. Attached to its ownership are great responsibilities, and if the millionaire fails to carry them out it will be counted by future generations as a gross neglect of public duty^^

/Mr. Carnegie's gospel has many different aspects, but it falls into two main parts: the advantages of poverty and the responsibilities of surplus wealth. His views on the distribution of wealth have always excited a good deal of interest. They are distinguished by characteristic thoroughness, striking originality, lofty ideals and a large-hearted spirit; and coming from one who is a millionaire many times over, it is only natural they should have attracted world-wide atten- tion./ Mr. Carnegie during the last fifteen years has written several prominent articles on the subject of wealth, and given expression to his' views in a number of speeches and conversations, y^e was asked some years ago, "What are the gifts a youth, who has the ambition to make millions, should be endowed with at his birth ?' * The steel millionaire replied : * ' The great- est of all advantages with which he can begin life is that of being poor. The man who wishes to make

HIS GOSPEL OF WEALTH 131

millions should not be born with a silver spoon in his_ mouth. He must feel that it is sink or swim with j him. , He must start his life with no bladders, no / life-preservers, no support." This advice is character- istic of its giver, and there is no doubt as to the ' conviction which inspired it.y/ ^

fl^hQ same may be said of all Mr. Carnegie's views. He holds that there is no better schoolmaster than adversity, and that the youth who has witnessed the struggles of his parents against poverty's hardships has had the best of all incentives to successy Having driven the wolf from the door of his own home, he can speak from actual experience, and though many will find themselves unable to follow Mr. Carnegie all the way, yet it cannot be denied that if poverty teaches nothing else it impresses the virtue of thrift, and in some cases, but not all, urges a youth to make his position in the world by industrious and honorable effort. When Mr. Carnegie refers to the "poor" boy he does not mean the unfortunate urchins of slumland, who are reared amid the vilest surroimdings of immorality and filth. To contend that such conditions were *' advantageous" would be absurd. To quote his own words: "It is not so much to raise the submerged tenth, but to help the swimming tenth to keep their heads above water." It is the members of this "swim- ming tenth" — in other words, the industrious poor, who

132 ANDREW CARNEGIE

have to struggle hard day by day to earn an honest living, and who try, little by little, to improve their position, that Mr. Carnegie is concerned with.

In 1 89 1 he contributed an article on 'The Advan- tages of Poverty" to the Nineteenth Century Review, in which he dealt at considerable length with the ques- tion of hereditary wealth and the influence of home life on the careers of young men. Poor boys reared by their parents have, he maintained, many advan- tages over those taught by hired strangers and exposed to the temptations of wealth; and to him it is not surprising that they become ''the leaders in every branch of human action." He pictures them as athletes trained for the contest, with "sinews braced, indomitable wills, resolved to do or die." Such boys, he says, "always have marched and always will march straight to the front and lead the world ; they are the epoch-makers." The men who have lifted and advanced the race and been supremely great in every field of human triumph, he argues, have not been those endowed with wealth and hereditary rank, the posses- sion of which "is almost fatal to greatness and good- ness," but young men who have been nurtured "in the bracing school of poverty — the only school capable of producing the supremely great, the genius."

Mr. Carnegie's glowing defense of poverty's blessings is open to argument; but nevertheless we cannot but

HIS GOSPEL OF WEALTH 133

admire his ardent enthusiasm and strong convictions. Poverty has an altogether opposite effect on different natures, and in some cases its environment acts as a wet blanket on youthful hopes, and its menial work tends to bltmt the intellect and overtax the physical and moral strength. Mr. Carnegie's career is a singular exception . We cannot judge by one particular instance , but apply the principles generally. With a feeling of sincere pleasure we quote the following paragraph from an article by one who has experienced all the bitterness of a hard struggle with poverty and, while successful in his fight for fortime, has retained intact the simplicity of his soul amid all the enticements of superfluous wealth. "Among many advantages aris- ing, not from the transmission of hereditary wealth and position, but from the transmission of hereditary poverty and health, there is one which, to my mind, outweighs all the others combined. It is not permitted the children of king, millionaire or noble to have father and mother in the close and realizing sense of these sacred terms. The name of father and the holier name of mother are but names to the child of the rich and the noble. To the poor boy these are the words he conjures with, his guides, the anchors of his soul, the objects of his adoration. Neither nurse, servant, gover- ness nor tutor has come between him and his parents. In his father he has had tutor, companion, counselor

134 ANDREW CARNEGIE

/' and judge. It is not given to the bom millionaire, noble or prince to dwell upon such an inheritage as is

i^ \ his who has had in his mother, nurse, seamstress,

^4 teacher, inspirer, saint — ^his all in all.'*

Mr. Carnegie's whole article was distinguished by- great force and clearness. It consisted chiefly of a spirited reply to Mr. Gladstone's and the Rev. Hugh Price Hughes's criticisms upon his famous article ^'Wealth," which appeared in the North American Review for June, 1889. This created a great sensation at the time of its publication, and drew forth comments from a number of public men in England and America, prominent among whom were President Cleveland, Cardinal Manning, Rabbi Adler, Cardinal Gibbons and Bishop Potter. It formed the topic of a com- prehensive discussion in the principal reviews and newspapers, and though generally commended, it did not escape trenchant criticism from some quarters.

We would have liked to have quoted in full many- striking passages from this article, but must be con- tent with some brief extracts. At the present time, when Mr. Carnegie is just entering upon the gigantic task of distributing his wealth and carrying into practice the principles he then laid down, his written views on the subject possess additional importance. The three articles he has written on the influence and use of

HIS GOSPEL OF WEALTH 135

wealth will repay study by those who are interested in the great social questions of the hour.

The article opened with a reference to the changed conditions of industrial life and the transference of labor from the home to the factory. He ridiculed the suggestion of "good old times," and strongly main- tained that every section of society is now living under happier and better conditions. The laborer has now more comforts than the farmer had a few generations ago, and the farmer more than the landlord previously enjoyed. These changed conditions have caused a division between employer and employee, but this, he holds, has not been without its good results. The law of competition is now the dominating influence in the commercial world, and ''the survival of the fittest" the recognized basis of individual action. He quoted the maxim, "If thou dost not sow, thou shalt not reap," and gave a well-deserved reproof to the growth of idleness and wasteful luxury. Socialistic theories which mean "revolution, not evolution," were severely treated. "There can never be equality of power or pay in this world," he wrote, "where individualism is necessary to its progress and proper government." /lie then went on to state that there are three modes ^ which surplus wealth can be distributed. It can be left to the family, or bequeathed for public purposes, or administered during their lives by its possessors. /^

136 ANDREW CARNEGIE

Under the first and second modes most of the world's wealth has been applied. Both, in Mr. Carnegie's opinion, are injudicious, and especially the custom of leaving wealth to the eldest son, which, he says, is done simply to gratify the family pride of maintaining titles intact. To leave fortunes to children is *'to impose upon them a burden and a disadvantage." This assertion bears the stamp of originality, but we are afraid it will not find many disciples among modem millionaires. ''Beyond providing for the wife and daughters mod- erate sources of income, and a very moderate allowance indeed, if any, for the sons, men may well hesitate, for it is no longer questionable that great sums bequeathed oftener work more for injury than for benefit to the recipient. Wise men will soon decide that for the best interests of the members of their own families and of the State such bequests are an improper use of their means." Mr. Carnegie believes in the millionaire giving his son a good and efficient education, and, if he enters public life, according him proper support ; but to the idle spendthrift he would not give a penny, idleness and waste he detests, and he is never tired of denouncing these abuses in rich and poor alike. Work is the oxygen of a happy and contented Hfe, and without it man degenerates. The indolent and listless habits of the modem ''aristocratic" young man form a typical illustration^

HIS GOSPEL OF WEALTH 137

Mr. Carnegie is strongly in favor of death duties. First, because they are a profitable source of income for the State; and, secondly, because men should dis- pose of their surplus wealth while living. He thus characterizes the leaving of wealth for special uses: "As to the second mode, that of leaving wealth at death for public uses, it may be said that this is only a means for the disposal of wealth, provided a man is content to wait until he is dead before he becomes much good in the world.*'

He can see no grace in the gifts of a man who, imao.e to take his money with him, is compelled, by mere force of circumstances, to make some bequests before he dies. The man who leaves his wealth at death *' erects a monument to his own folly," for it is very seldom his expressed desires are realized afterward. *'By taxing estates heavily at death, the State marks its condemnation of the selfish millionaire's tinworthy life,,"

/Mx. Carnegie holds that the man of wealth should personally superintend the distribution of his assets.^ To quote again from the article : ^

"There remains, then, only one mode of using great fortunes ; but in this we have the true antidote for the temporary unequal distribution of wealth, the recon- ciliation of the rich and the poor — a reign of harmony another ideal, differing, indeed, from that of the

138 ANDREW CARNEGIE

Commtinist in requiring only the further evolution of existing conditions, not the total overthrow of our civilization. It is founded upon the present most intense individualism, and the race is prepared to put it in practice by degrees whenever it pleases. Under its sway we shall have an ideal State, in which the sur- plus wealth of the few will become, in the best sense, the property of the many, because administered for the common good; and this wealth, passing through the hands of the few, can be made a much more potent force for the elevation of our race than if distributed in small sums to the people themselves. Even the poorest can be made to see this, and to agree that great sums gathered by some of their fellow citizens and spent for public purposes, from which the masses reap the principal benefit, are more valuable to them than if scattered among themselves in trifling amounts through the course of many years.

He says: "It is well to remember that it requires the exercise of not less ability than that which acquired the wealth to use it so as to be really beneficial to the community." That is one of the most significant tenets of his gospel, and those wiseacres who take such supreme delight in offering the Laird of Skibo advice, and proposing to him schemes, would save themselves much time and disappointment if they made a note of this decisive principle, and the fact that Mr. Carnegie

HIS GOSPEL OF WEALTH 139

has an unbroken law "to help only those who help themselves."

/Rich men, he says, have cause to be thankful for one inestimable boon — "they have it in their power, dur- ing their lives, to busy themselves in organizing bene- factions from which the masses of their fellows will derive lasting benefit, and thus they will dignify their own lives. '^

/X)ne of the most striking passages in the article was the one which denounced indiscriminate charity. " It were better for mankind that the millions of the rich were thrown into the sea than so spent as to encourage the slothful, the drunken, the unworthy .i/Of every thousand dollars spent in so-called charity to-day, it is probable that nine hundred and fifty dollars are unwisely spent — so spent, indeed, as to produce the very evils which it hopes to mitigate or cure." Busi- ness methods are indispensable, he maintains, in the task of distributing wealth. Before a gift is made the donor should institute inquiries to find out if the object is worthy of support. This is a rule which, though liable to err on the side of severity, has many sound recom- mendations, and is likely to be mor^ generally adopted in the future by men of wealth. pJlr. Carnegie has an. idea that many well-meant bequests greatly encourage idleness, and rather support those who " neither toil nor spin," he would keep his millions under lock and ke^^

I40 ANDREW CARNEGIE

While approving of Mr. Carnegie's businesslike methods in the distribution of his wealth, many think he would be well advised to widen his horizon and take a more liberal view of the world's voluntary work. So far his attention has been confined to one particular corner. That is a very promising field, and one of the most worthy, there is no doubt, but yet there are ^ther plots which have very strong claims, and only need developing to yield abundant harvests. With more leisure to look around, he will doubtless discover some of the good qualities which distinguish other noble branches of social work in which self-help is the sus- taining force.

'Mr. Carnegie has laid down what he considers to be the duty of the man of wealth. ' ' First, to set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display and extravagances ; to provide moderately for the legitimate wants of those dependent upon him; after doing so to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust fimds, which he is called upon to administer, and strictly botmd as a matter of duty to administer, in the manner which in his judgment is best calcu- lated to benefit the community. The man of wealth thus becomes the mere agent and trustee for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience and ability to administer, and doing for them

better than they would or could do to thpmselvesy^

C>4rL Vto./

HIS GOSPEL OF WEALTH 141

This is a high-minded ideal scheme of excellent merits, and when the world's millionaires embrace it one and all we shall look with greater faith to that

.Xh

"One far off divine event To which the whole nation moves.'

'hat his gospel is sotmd and practicable the world has already had many convincing proofs, not the least in scope and results being Mr. Carnegie's own bene- factionsV He has written a list of commandments, specially suited for millionaires, and we trust his gospel will, yet find many adherents. One thing is certain, those who follow it will write their names indelibly upon their country's history, and be venerated by succeed- ing generations.

Mr. Carnegie has given his gospel the best possible christening, and there are significant signs that he is likely to have many worthy followers. While millions are a burden to some men, and crush both soul and energy, he finds in them no source of anxiety. They are his, and yet they are not. Their disbursement will give him the greatest happiness and abolish all thoughts of anxiety from his mind.

Mr. Carnegie has taken a glimpse into the future, when he hopes the problem of rich and poor will be solved. *' The laws of accumulation and distribution," he says, * * will be left free. Individualism will continue, but the millionaire will be but a trustee for the poor,

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entrusted for a season with a great part of the increased wealth of the commtinity and administering it for that community far better than it could or would have done for itself. A stage in the development of the race will thus be reached, when it will be clearly seen that there is no mode of disbursing surplus wealth creditable to thoughtful, earnest men into whose hands it flows, save by using it year by year for the general good."

Mr Carnegie thinks this new era in the world's

history has already dawned ; and as the light becomes

more distinct he prophecies that the voice of the people

will strongly condemn the man who hoards wealth

instead of wisely allotting it to better his fellow men.

Making handsome bequests before the last hour will

not earn the full reward. Giving during life is, in

his opinion, the only just and proper course.

^-^ "The day is not far distant," he says, ''when the

I man who dies, leaving behind him millions of available

— J wealth, which was free for him to administer during

\ life, will pass away unwept, unhonored and unstmg,

/ no matter to what use he leaves the dross which he can-

^-~4iot take with him. Of such as these the public verdict

V \ -will be: 'The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced'

\ Such, in my opinion, is the true gospel concerning

V. wealth, obedience to which is destined some day to

solve the problem of rich and poor, and to bring peace

on earth and goodwill to men."

HIS GOSPEL OF WEALTH 143

This noble ideal, drawn so vividly and urged so forcibly by the Pittsburgh millionaire, is what the world is waiting to see realized. Mr. Carnegie has already proved by practice that he believes in his great ideal. It is something more than words to him. He is con- vinced that it can be applied, and now that he has cut himself clear from all business duties, and has at his unrestricted command more than $250,000,000, the world may expect some epoch-making announcements during the next few years.

In his review of the "Gospel of Wealth," Mr. Gladstone hailed Mr. Carnegie as a philanthropist of the highest order: "This self-made millionaire has confronted the moral and social problem of wealth more boldly, so far as I know, than any previous writer. His coiirage and frankness, both of them superlative, are among the attendant virtues which walk in the train of munificence not less modest and simple than it is habitual and splendid."

The Rev. Hugh Price Hughes, in commenting upon Mr. Camegie*s "Gospel of Wealth," asserted that "the progress of millionaires is inevitably accompanied by the growing poverty of their fellow-countrymen."

To this line of argument Mr. Carnegie made a very powerful reply. "The progress and the evolution of the millionaire," he insisted, " is beneficial to the whole community. So far from it being a fact that 'mil-

144 ANDREW CARNEGIE

lionaires at one end of the scale mean paupers at the other/ the reverse is obviously true. In a country where millionaires exist there is very little excuse for pauperism. Millionaires can only grow amid general prosperity, and this is largely promoted by their exer- tions. Their profits accrue in periods when wages are high, and the higher the wages that have to be paid the higher the revenues of the employer." The Rev. Mr. Hughes, in his criticism, also said that in a State under really Christian principles "a millionaire would be an impossibility." Mr. Carnegie neatly retorted that there would also be "no need for parsons," and he jocularly added, *'the successors of Mr. Hughes and myself, arm-in-arm, will make a pretty pair, out in search of some light work with heavy pay."

In the North American Review for 189 1, Mr. Carnegie wrote a second article on his ''Gospel of Wealth." It was characterized by the same earnest spirit and busi- nesslike suggestions, and consisted in the main of a scheme by which the millionaire could, to the advant- age of the community, distribute his wealth. He again severely chastised the miser for his sins. Mr. Carnegie is thoroughly well versed in Biblical quotations, and very often when speaking or writing he repeats some well-known passage of Scripture, and draws his similes from the best of all books, but not always with due reverence. "There will be nothing to surprise the

HIS GOSPEL OF WEALTH 145

student of socialistic development," he wrote, **i£ society could approve the text which says that a camel can go through the eye of a needle more easily than a rich man can enter the kingdom of heaven."

In the course of the article Mr. Carnegie dealt with seven objects which, in his opinion, were worthy of the / attention of those possessed of wealth, (i) To found or enlarge a university; (2) The erection of free libra- ries; (3) Establishment of hospitals or laboratories; (4) To present public parks; (5) to open public halls with organs; (6) To start swimming baths; (7) To build churches.

At a time when all the world is wondering how he will dispose of his surplus wealth, his views as to the merits of these channels of usefulness will be interest- ing: ^ To found or enlarge a University.

" Standing apart by itself there is the founding of a university by men enormously rich. By adding to and extending those tmiversities in existence a wide field remains for the millionaire as distinguished from the Croesus among millionaires."

To found Free Libraries.

** The result of my own study of the question : What is the best gift that can be given to a community? is, that a free library occupies the first place, provided that the community will accept and maintain it as a public

146 ANDREW CARNEGIE

institution, as much a part of the city property as its public schools, and indeed an adjunct to those. Closely allied to the library, and, where possible, attached to it, there should be rooms for an art gallery and museum, and a hall for such lectures and instruction as are pro- vided in the Cooper Union."

To establish Hospitals and Laboratories. "We have another most important department in extension of hospitals, medical colleges, laboratories, and other institutions connected with the alleviation of human suffering, and especially with the prevention rather than the cure of human ills. The forms that benefactions to these may take are numerous, but probably none is more useful than that of building schools for the training of female nurses."

To present Public Parks.

" In the very front rank of benefactions public parks should be placed, always provided that the community undertakes to maintain, beautify and preserve invio- late the parks given to it."

To open Public Halls with Organs.

"We have another good use for surplus wealth in providing for our cities halls suitable for meetings of all kinds, especially for concerts of elevating music. Our cities are rarely provided with halls for these purposes. The gift of a hall to any city lacking one is an excellent

HIS GOSPEL OF WEALTH 147

use of surplus wealth for the good of a community, provided the city agrees to maintain and use it." To erect Swimming Baths.

" In another respect we are still much behind Europe, A form of beneficence which is not uncommon there is providing swimming baths for the people." To build Churches.

" Churches as fields for surplus wealth have purposely been reserved until the last, because, these being sec- tarian, every man will be governed by his own attach- ments ; therefore it may be said gifts to churches are not in one sense gifts to the community at large, but to special classes. The millionaire should not figure how cheaply this structure can be built, but how perfect it can be made. But, having given the building, the donor should stop there ; the support of the church should be upon its own people. There is not much genuine religion in the congregation or much good to flow from the church which is not supported at home."

With this last statement there will be a general agreement. A religion bereft of self-sacrificing charity is not worthy of the name. Mr. Carnegie has given liberally to many of the objects specified in this article, including the presentation of some hundreds of organs to places of worship and public halls ; but he has yet to build his first church. The main reasons for his abstinence from this branch of philanthropy are the

148 ANDREW CARNEGIE

narrowness and sectarianism which distinguishes the church of the present day. A united church, with one plain form of religion, would probably find in Mr. Carnegie a generous supporter ; but while there are so many sects, so many divisions, so many conflicting creeds, it is impossible for one of a very broad mind and national sympathies to give his money to one par- ticular branch of religion. So he holds himself aloof, leaving the work to those who have more faith in their self -chosen mode of worship.

It is a matter of general surprise that Mr. Carnegie has not helped any branch of church work, and there have been many hasty judgments passed upon his attitude by good people, who have written him long letters asking for support toward "their forthcoming bazaar or church extension scheme," but to their disappointment and vexation no notice has been taken of their carefully posted epistles. A little thought and study of the man and his views would have convinced the good-hearted letter-writer that to build hopes of receiving either help or a reply would be entirely delu- sive. Nothing can be lost by asking. It is well to cultivate faith and hope, but also most unwise to live tmder the delusion that every rich man appealed to would send his cheque by return of post. It may be very impolite of Mr. Carnegie not even to reply, but has not the bombarded millionaire some excuse when it is

HIS GOSPEL OF WEALTH 149

remembered he is the recipient of some five himdred letters — some very bulky and formidable — every day. They flow from all comers of the globe into one silent grave— the waste-paper basket. Not one in a thousand reaches Mr. Carnegie's hands. They are sifted by keen, watchful eyes, and the majority meet with the same cruel fate. It is certainly good for the paper trade, but troublesome for the secretaries, and mercilessly destructive to the fond hopes of the senders.

Mr. Carnegie concluded his article on "The Best | Fields for Philanthropy" with the following impressive Ik/ declaration: "The Gospel of Wealth but echoes/^ Christ's words; it calls upon the ^millionaire to sell all he hath and give the highest and best to the poor, by\ administering his estate for his fellow men before he is \ called to lie down and rest upon the bosom of mother / earth. So doing he will approach his end no longer the / ignoble hoarder of useless millions; poor, very poor indeed in money, but rich, very rich in the affection, gratitude and admiration of his fellow men, and sweeter far, soothed and sustained by the still sweet 1 voice within, which whispering tells him that because \ he has lived perhaps one small portion of the great \ world has been bettered just a little. This much is 1 sure, against such riches as these no bar will be found / at the gates of Paradise." '"^"^

Mr. Carnegie has put before himself a noble and lofty

I50 ANDREW CARNEGIE

ideal. ^^lis "Gospel of Wealth" found general accept- ance. The world was amazed at its generous and liberal- hearted suggestions, and the spirit of unselfishness and practical charity which characterized it throughout. It was in many respects a imique manifesto, ably con- ceived, wisely arranged and strongly democratic in tone, and must be regarded as a valuable contribution to social science/Mr. Gladstone gave it his cordial approval and support, and a number of pubHc men of all shades of thought were imanimous in their eulogy of its high tone and practical utility. The Pittsburgh millionaire leaped with one bound into the world's public arena and became one of the foremost and most discussed men on this side of the Atlantic and in America./' It was one millionaire laying down the law for his brethren, a law which did not quite suit some tastes and inclinations. It was a bold attack upon miserly habits, selfish greed, and, of course, aroused some personal opposition and bitter criticism, but it was not without its good effect, and many wealthy men realized for the first ,time the great responsibihties attached to their riches.

Mr. Carnegie has not only theoretically discussed his "Gospel of Wealth"; he has emphasized its utility by putting its principles into practice, and in this respect the future promises to be even richer in results than the past. This leads us to a consideration of his numierous gifts and benefactions.

His Benefactions

CHAPTER X

HIS BENEFACTIONS

GIVING is at once the easiest and most difficult of arts. It is an art, because before proficiency can be attained much experience is necessary, and the judg- ment needs to have imdergone a strict course of training. Liberality requires cultivation and care, like every other quality, and this more particularly applies to the man entrusted with millions of available wealth. It is somewhat of a paradox to find that wealth which has been amassed by conspicuous ability and hard toil is often distributed without discretion.

This cannot be said of Mr. Andrew Carnegie. He has acquired his wealth by the power of his brains, but he has not squandered his earnings by indiscriminate charity. There may be some dissent with his methods, but general approval will be given to the munificent gifts he has made and the schemes he has financially launched. /His aim has been to help the masses, and to encourage those who are striving by personal effort to cultivate their intellects and to improve their positions in the world. Self-help has been the motive power which has influenced most of his benefactions,

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and in this respect he has offered many splendid induce- ments to yoimg men to climb the ladder of success by the rungs of education^

Up to June, 1902, Mr. Carnegie's benefactions amounted to nearly $100,000,000. This huge total is probably the largest aggregate of money given away by one man. It is really impossible accurately to estimate what the Pittsburgh millionaire has distributed in gifts during the past thirty years, but any estimate is likely to be under rather than above the mark.

Before he sailed for England in 1901 he left four letters announcing gifts amounting to $9,000,000. This munificent sum was made up of $4,000,000 to pro- vide a pension fund for the workmen of the Carnegie Steel Company, $1,000,000 for the support of the libra- ries established for workmen at his works, $5,200,000 for the erection of sixty-five branch libraries in New York, and $1,000,000 to the city of St. Louis, Missouri, for a similar object. Although these four letters bore the same date, March 12, this does not signify that these magnificent gifts were hastily decided upon. The facts are just the reverse. These endowments were the result of careful inquiry, and had been under Mr. Carnegie's consideration for some time. Mr. Carnegie thinks before he gives, and often consults with intimate friends before he finally decides.

At the time of his departure from New York he said :

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"I have just begun to give away money," and based upon that assertion the future should reveal unparal- leled gifts to an expectant world. One possessed of his great fortune has unlimited opporttmities at his command and immeasurable responsibilities placed upon him. His position is unique, and without parallel in modem history. The world lies at his feet awaiting his endpwments and wondering how he will fulfil his gospel, y/rhe greater portion of the money Mr. Carnegie has given away so far has been for the erection of free libraries. This is the steel millionaire's favorite sphere. He firmly believes it contains the most prolific soil, and only needs developing to play an important part in the world's educational progress^^r

Speaking of circulating libraries he once said: **In all my experience I have never known so little produce such great, and as I believe, real beneficial and enduring results. I cannot but think it only needs to be known that the opportunity to do so much good is within the reach of wealthy men for so small a pittance from their store." His robust faith in the far-reaching results of well-equipped libraries is, like other strong convic- tions, the heritage of his boyhood. He has culled a leaf from his own life and applied it to the needs of the struggling poor and the respectable artisan, and it is from this source that his liberality in founding free libraries and public rooms has sprung.

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When a boy in Pittsburgh, striving with all his might to improve his prospects, he was permitted with some other youths to borrow books from the library of a gentleman named Colonel Anderson. Every Saturday afternoon the good-hearted Colonel was in attendance at his house to lend any of his four himdred books. Young Carnegie eagerly looked forward to those Saturday afternoons. They were the simny days of his youth, and the great joy they gave him has never faded from his memory. The opportunity of reading another book made the week swing along more smoothly. This privilege was shared by his brother Tom and his future partner, Mr. Phipps. The young telegraph messenger resolved in his buoyant enthusi- asm that if ever wealth fell to his lot he would use it to establish free libraries, so that poor boys might have opportunities of reading the best books. His two companions little thought that Andrew's resolve would one day be realized, and that he would earn for himself a name as the greatest friend free libraries have ever had since their birth. Mr. Carnegie holds the memory of Colonel Anderson's kindly act in the deepest rever- ence, and it is as his disciple he has entered upon his labor of love in presenting libraries to those towns that will undertake efficiently to maintain them. There is an element of romance in this striking episode which gives to the task he has set himself an additional

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charm. It is a magnificent testimony to the far- reaching value of a thoughtful action, and teaches a significant lesson, especially to those who have it within their power to help boys to rise to positions of usej^ulness.

/Mr. Carnegie has made grants for the erection of more than 375 libraries in the United States alone/ and the following among a large number of American towns have benefited by his generosity: New York, $5,200,000; Pittsburgh, $9,500,000 for Institute and Technical School; St. Louis, $1,000,000; Alle- ghany, $275,000; Braddock, $500,000; Washington, $10,350,000, including the Carnegie Institution; Johnstown, $50,000; Fairfield, $40,000; San Fran- cisco, $750,000 ; Louisville, $250,000 ; Detroit, $750,000. The list of these gifts has now reached a magnificent total.

He has been nearly as liberal to the people of his native land, and has presented or aided free libraries in Edinburgh, Dunfermline, Aberdeen, Peterhead, Inverness, Ayr, Elgin, Wick and Kirkwall, and has contributed to the establishment of many public halls and reading-rooms in various other towns.

As an acknowledgment of his patriotic support he has been presented with the freedom of eleven towns of his native land, including the capital, a record of which he is justly proud. He greatly prizes these

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honors and the cordial welcome extended to him by his own countrymen.

This does not, however, complete the list of his gifts to Scottish libraries. He signalized his return to his native land in May, 1901, by making a handsome offer to the Corporation of Glasgow. The Lord Provost, who presided at a meeting of the city council on May 1 6th, announced that the following letter had been placed in his hands the previous day :

"My Dear Lord Provost : — It will give me pleasure to provide the needed ;£i 00,000 for Branch Libraries, which are sure to prove of great advantage to the masses of the people. It is just fifty years since my parents with their little boys sailed from Broomielaw for New York in the barque Wiscassett, 900 tons, and it is delightful to be permitted to commemorate the event upon my visit to you. Glasgow has done so much in municipal affairs to educate other cities, and to help herself, that it is a privilege to help her. Let Glasgow flourish ! So say all of us Scotsmen throughout the world. Always yours, Andrew Carnegie."

Before we pass on to refer to his other benefactions, a description of the magnificent library he gave to Pittsburgh, the city of his commercial triumph, and

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those he presented to Allegheny and Braddock, will not be out of place; it will at least show how thor- oughly Mr. Carnegie carries out his free library schemes, and the efficient manner in which he launches these educational instruments upon their careers.

The first library he endowed was the one at Braddock, a town of about 20,000 inhabitants, who are most of them employed at the Carnegie Steel Works. The library gradually outgrew its accommodation, and the formation of a Carnegie Club necessitated a large addition to the buildings. A new hall to seat 1,100 people was built, and a large gymnasium with a swim- ming bath was added. In addition to these a billiard- room was opened for the use of club members. The club proved a great success, the members paying an annual subscription of six shillings.

Soon afterward he offered to present to the neigh- boring town of Alleghany, at a cost of $375,000, a library with shelving accommodation for 70,000 vol- umes, a concert hall with a $10,000 organ, a lecture room, and an art gallery, providing the corporation found the site and the $15,000 per annum necessary to maintain it. The offer was accepted, and the buildings were formally opened by President Harrison on February 13, 1890. Four years after it had been opened the number of books in circulation was returned at 125,000 volumes, and it was* estimated that

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160,000 periodicals had been in use throughout the year. The government of the library is invested in a committee elected by the City Council.

The largest block of buildings Mr. Carnegie has erected is the vast fabric at Pittsburgh known as the Carnegie Institute. The name of Carnegie is indelibly associated with the great steel centre. He offered to provide $1,100,000 for free library buildings, on condition that the City Council agreed to spend annually on its maintenance and equipment $40,000, and that the management of the institution should be invested in a commtitee, half the members of which were to be nominated by himself, the other half by the Council. The offer at first was not accepted, but as the result of a popular agitation the sleepy Council were aroused to a sense of their duty, and after some manceu- vering, during which Mr. Carnegie's playful humor was highly successful, he agreed to renew his offer.

The institute, which was opened in November, 1895, is a magnificent structiure of gray sandstone in the Italian renaissance style of architecture. On the ground floor a spacious entrance hall leads to the circulating library and reading-rooms. On the second floor are located the main reference library and the stack-room with a capacity of 1 50,000 volumes. One portion of the building comprises a music hall, capable of seating 2, ICO persons, and a stage for sixty musicians and a

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chorus of two hundred. It is enriched by a splendid pipe organ, on which every week a free organ recital is given. Mr. Carnegie borrowed the idea of giving free organ recitals from Birmingham, where for the first time he heard the city organist give a public recital. Another section of this vast block of imposing architec- ture is set aside as an art gallery and museum, and one wing of it supplies a spacious lecture hall and rooms for debating and scientific societies. In the basement are a number of classrooms, where instruction is given in various kinds of technical work. The building is illuminated throughout by electricity, and is fitted up with the most modern ventilating and heating appa- ratus. Connected with this library are seven distribu- ting stations in the outlying districts. The institute has been used to a remarkable extent by the workmen in the iron and steel works for improving their knowl- edge and gaining technical information about their work. Special literature on engineering, natural philos- ophy and the useful arts is widely read. Two million dollars has also been given to establish a Polytechnic School in Pittsburgh. These magnificent gifts speak louder than words of Mr. Carnegie's interest in and affection for the city wherein his success was won. There are many evidences that these great gifts of Mr. Carnegie have proved an immense influence for good on the life of the city.

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■ Next to his adopted country his native land has been the largest recipient of his generosity. Dunfermline, his birthplace, may almost be regarded as an endowed city. To Mr. Carnegie it owes its swimming baths, library and technical school — a building which was opened in October, 1899, and is a most practical seat of learning. It has fine spacious workshops, fitted with modem tools for instruction in wood- work, metal- work, mechanical engineering and mining, and also a physical laboratory. Special attention is given to local indus- tries in the weaving department, which is equipped with two power looms and six hand looms.

- England has so far participated but little in his lavish endowments. He, however, made an open offer to English-speaking towns in May, 1902. When he received the freedom of the city from the Guild of Plumbers in London, he stated in a speech that he stood ready to contribute toward the erection of a free library, provided the local authorities would spend not less than ten per cent, of his gift a year on its main- tenance. This offer has already been taken advantage of in several instances, and as it becomes more widely known no doubt there will be an increasing number of applications. This was not done on the spur of the moment, but after deliberate study, and we may be sure he meant what he said.

While the majority of Mr. Carnegie's larger gifts

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have thus been made to his adopted country and to his native land, there is one conspicuous exception — his donation of $250,000 to the endowment fund of the New Birmingham University. This handsome recog- nition of Birmingham's effort to estabHsh in her midst a modem university, where her sons can receive an educational equipment to enable them to vie success- fully with foreign competitors, was made through the Chancellor of the University, the Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, M. P., who, in communicating the offer to the Lord Mayor, wrote: "I feel convinced that this munificent offer of Mr. Andrew Carnegie wiU be grate- fully accepted by the promoters of the new university, and will be thoroughly appreciated by the people of Birmingham." Mr. Carnegie's tmexpected assistance was heartily welcomed by the inhabitants of the Midland metropolis, whose feelings of deep gratitude were admirably reflected in the leading columns of the two principal morning papers, the Daily Post and the Daily Gazette. It not only gave a fresh impetus to the scheme, but aroused widespread interest throughout the country. His letter, which we have already pro- duced, was made the theme of mmierous articles in the daily press, and stirred up hopes that the gift was to be the forerunner of others of a similar nature. Mr. Carnegie's generosity is always preceded by careful consideration, and there is no reason to doubt that he

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will repeat his offer to any other English city desirous of f otinding a modem university with a faculty of com- merce as one of its distinguishing features.

Mr. Carnegie's mtmificent help put the Birmingham University scheme on the highroad to success. It drew attention to the need of such a seat of learning in a district where nearly the whole of the inhabitants are dependent upon manufactures and industrial pur- suits, and also led to a movement being set on foot for the support of the scheme by employers of labor. To-day the Birmingham University is a reality, having received its charter and conferred its first degrees. Its endowment fund has reached the splendid total of $2,000,000, a result largely due to the strenuous efforts and personal influence of Mr. Joseph Chamberlain. As Mr. Carnegie views the progress this Midland university is making, and the sphere of usefulness it is aspiring to attain as a commercial power, he must feel thankful that he extended to it a helping hand. It promises to be one of his most fruitful gifts, and the future is sure to justify the wisdom of his decision and the thoughtful suggestions contained in his letter.

A noticeable feature of Mr. Carnegie's benefactions is, as already stated, the small amount he has given to strictly religious work. In his " Gospel of Wealth" he gave his reasons for this decision. He has no

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atheistic prejudice against Christian work, but he believes that those who hold a particular creed should render it pecuniary as well as moral assistance. The millionaire who appoints himself a trustee for the English-speaking race cannot, in justice to his posi- tion, favor one special denomination, as his boimden duty is to distribute his wealth so that all may derive some benefit. His aims must be cosmopolitan, and the channels through which his benefactions flow wide enough for the whole race to participate in. Such is Mr. Carnegie's conviction, and although many people may think that he is thus cutting himself off from a f niitful sphere, and that his attitude is too rigid, it does not seem probable that he will depart from his line of action. Although Mr. Carnegie has not given directly to the maintenance of religious work, he has presented churches with a great many organs. He is passionately fond of music, and, like many others, he can derive greater benefit from its fascinating and soul-stirring eloquence than from listening to scores of sermons. He once said he would hold himself responsible for what the organ pealed forth on the Sabbath, but not for what issued from the pulpit. It is this inherent love of music, and faith in its boundless power, which has induced him to subscribe toward the cost of church organs. The founding of a National School of Music has engaged his attention upon more than one occasion.

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In 1 89 1 he erected at a cost of $2,000,000 a mag- nificent concert hall in New York for the use of the general public. This hall, which is situated in Fifty- seventh Street, will seat 3,000 persons. It is arranged on modern lines, and illimiinated by 4,000 electric lights. It is one of the finest concert halls in the United States, and has been greatly appreciated by the public since it was opened. The donor of this magnificent hall enjoys holding the office of President of the New York Philharmonic Society, which has its offices in the great building.

We have already mentioned Mr. Carnegie's hand- some endowment of $4,000,000 as a pension fund for the work-people of the Carnegie Steel Company. The object of this fund is to provide small pensions or aids to such employees as, after long and creditable service, through exceptional circumstances need such help in their old age, and who make a good use of it. It is intended to give aid to the injured, or to their families, or to employees who are needy in old age through no fault of their own, and to secure Some provision against want as long as there is need, or until young children can become self-supporting. In his letter announcing the gift he said: "I make this first use of surplus wealth upon retiring from business as an acknowledgment of the deep debt which I owe to the workmen who have contributed so greatly to my success." Mr. Carnegie

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has set a splendid example, and one that is worthy of more general adoption by employers of labor in this country and in England.

And now we turn to review Mr. Carnegie's princely gift of two millions to Scottish University education. No man has a more ardent love for his native coimtry than Andrew Carnegie has for Scotia's "Isle.** Like every Scotchman, he has his own high estimate of the national virtues. The greatest compliment he could pay the American was to describe him as a " Scotchman with his coat off and his sleeves rolled up." Scotch- men, he firmly believes, are capable of doing anything human power can accomplish. Whether he considers them the superior of the American, which is perhaps an impossibility, or puts them both on the same level, is a doubtful point. Anyhow, he is never tired of singing their praises, and he has said that he is more thankful for being a Scotchman than for any other circumstance. In his opinion, no nation has more to be proud of than that which has for its heroes such men as Wallace, Bruce and Bums. It is not surprising, therefore, that he should honor Scotland with a great act of munificence. His patriotic benefaction was decided upon after careful deliberation and consulta- tion with the principal educationalists in Scotland. The source from which Mr. Carnegie drew his inspiration was an article which appeared some years ago in the

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Nineteenth Century Review, advocating free university education. The writer, Mr. Thomas Shaw, M. P., is also a native of Dunfermline, and has also made his own way in the world. The son of a baker, he rose by sheer merit to the position of Solicitor-General for Scotland in the last Liberal administration. This article attracted the attention of the Scottish-American millionaire, and the two Dunfermline men had many conversations about its main idea. After a lapse of a few years Mr. Carnegie has carried the principles of the scheme into practical effect, with an endowment of ;£2, 000,000.

The preamble of the deed conveying the gift states that, having retired from active business, he deems it "to be his duty and one of his highest privileges to administer the wealth which has come to him as a trustee on behalf of others." Being fully convinced that one of the best means of discharging that trust is "by providing funds for improving and extending the opportunities for scientific study and research in the universities of Scotland, and by rendering attend- ance at these universities, and the enjoyment of their advantages, more available to the deserving and quali- fied youth of Scotland, to whom the payment of fees might act as a barrier to the enjoyment of these advan- tages,'* he decided to transfer to a body of trustees bonds of the United States Steel Corporation of the

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aggregate value of $10,000,000, bearing interest at five per cent, per annum, and having a currency of fifty years. The income to be derived from this endow- ment by the trustees will be therefore $500,000 per annum.

The trustees appointed include some of the foremost public men of the day, and it is worthy of note that they are all connected with Scotland, either by birth or by adoption, or as representatives of Scottish con- stituencies in the British Parliament, and that they comprise all shades of political thought.

The names of the trustees are the Earl of Elgin (chairman); the Earl of Rosebery; Lord Balfour of Burleigh; Lord Kelvin; Lord Reay; Lord Kinnear; Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, M. P.; Mr. A. J. Balfour, M. P.; Mr. Bryce, M. P.; Mr. John Morley, M. P.; Sir Robert PuUar; Sir Henry E. Roscoe; Mr. Haldane, M. P. ; and Mr. Thomas Shaw, M. P. The following are trustees ex officio: The Secretary for Scotland; the Lords Provost of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dunfermline. The four universities are each to be represented by one trustee, to be chosen by the University Courts. The trust deed is followed by a constitution, which provides that the administration of the trust shall be conducted by an executive com- mittee of nine members. The first committee is con- stituted as follows: The Earl of Elgin (chairman),

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Lord Balfour of Burleigh, Lord Kinnear, Sir Henry E. Roscoe, Mr. Thomas Shaw, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, the Lord Provost of Glasgow. The two remaining members are to be two of the four trustees nominated by the University Courts, the members for Edinburgh and Aberdeen acting during the first two years and the members for Glasgow and St. Andrew acting during the second two years. The committee have full power and discretion in dealing with the income of the trust, and expending it in such a manner as they consider will best promote the interests of Scottish university education.

The trust deed states that one-half of the net annual income is to be applied toward the improvement and expansion of the imiversities of Scotland in the facul- ties of science and medicine, also for improving and extending the opportunities for scientific study and research, and for increasing the facilities for acquiring a knowledge of history, economics, English literature and modem languages, and such other subjects, cognate to a technical or commercial education, as can be brought within the scope of the university curriculum by the erection of buildings, laboratories, classrooms, museums or libraries; the provision of efficient apparatus, books and equipment; the insti- tution and endowment of the professorships and lecture- ships, including post-graduate lectureships and scholar-

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ships, more especially scholarships for the purpose of encouraging research in any one or more of the subjects before named.

If it is found necessary the future income of the trust may be mortgaged to further the above objects, subject to the consent of the majority of the trustees being obtained.

The other half of the income, or such part thereof as in each year may be found requisite, is to be devoted to the payment of the whole or part of the ordinary class fees exacted by the universities from students of Scottish birth or extraction, and of sixteen years of age upward, or scholars who have given two years' attendance after the age of fourteen years at State- aided schools in Scotland, or at such other schools and institutes in Scotland as are under the inspection of the Scottish Educational Department. The student must have passed in the subject-matter of the class in which payment of fees is desired an examination qualifying for admission to the study of that subject at the universities with a view to graduation in any of the faculties. The students are to make application for the payment of their fees in such form as may be prescribed by the committee. The decision of the committee in all questions of qualification is to be final, and the fees of all applicants declared to be eligible are in each case to be paid by the committee as they become

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due to the factors or authorized officers of the universities.

If the committee, after due inquiry, are satisfied that any student has shown exceptional merit at the tmi- versity, and may advantageously be afforded assist- ance beyond the payment of ordinary class fees, they are to have power to extend such assistance either in money or other privileges, upon such conditions and