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Show .fmZZ V m ' ROOSEVELT, SThree Great Americans -gggsk. 'k U Greatness not all confined to statesmen who are idols of the people Neither are men "who "3 ''do things" meritless because the lives they lead or the work they do fail to evoke public praise or m compel public approbation A well regulated publicity bureau may mantle a multitude of errors 4 Sand magnify the virtues of the one The other may suffer because of the brutality or officiousness of an insensate subordinate A man is not a scoundrel because he is accused. Ttoowelt, Harriman antl Rockefeller, tree "distinct types of Americans, are ' nt conspicuous m the public eye at is time. Public opinion Jins focusod iScli Each has been praised and ad-' ad-' raolv criticized or condemned by tens 't& ' tliohands of thinking Americans the t J timato depending always on tho view Sl tfot one of theso but is a great man "4s (1 a meat American- Not. one but !$ erit's both words of censure and worus ': approbation. IS The spectacular man is the lndoimla-' lndoimla-' i eIr. KoopcvcIL His success in hold-" hold-" w'the stage has been dependent on ' f strong will, his perception and the tarn, ivrcr vested in him as resident. He Vr t'not n diplomat in anything. He i ilea bv force, lie is physically strong 5 aa mentally acute, resourceful, re-il re-il Baleful and irresistible so far as his r jM Ttf powers and the powers of a mighty iwrnmcnt cm make a man. . ''i IVhcn Roosevelt attacked llarrimau CenM io rortnef was very like the-meeting Pi 'the big-hciirted, burly Tom Benton of WCI itc-hcllu-.n (lavs with the cfl'eniinaro S ilhoiui like the rubbing of a lady's T icfiaeninst the skin of a rhinoceros. ''Tii iJIarriman is spare, almost delicate : V hvsicnllv. He has won in the world v brain" power, fidelity to those who faj'i it tfirir money in his hands for ia-W? ia-W? &tment, the courage of enterprise, AM1 tirl hy system and thoroughness. lie 01 elicves he is as loyal an American as frfhc mnn who sought his aid to elect ' g h, and who, failing to impel him a b.'ncenpt his plan of crovernmcnt, has xl ried to crush him J Was CoorcIon Attempted.? -f 'Whether or not Mr. Iv'oosevclt threal-4 threal-4 cd Mr. Ilarriman before ho denom-$ denom-$ cated him "an undesirable citizen" is 'f iBt announced, but it is as likely as it untrue that tho president at a Gridiron H ft Jab dinner two years ago, shook his i inccr at Morgan and Rogers and cx-ihuincd; cx-ihuincd; "Unless you gentlemen con-beei con-beei orm to my policies you'll deal with ho mob! I say you'll deal with tho pr nob!" And later, when one of these . 4 Irotcstcd against, what, ho regarded as ' .) tractive tendencies of tho ndminis-rdlMf ndminis-rdlMf ration, Mr. Roosevelt, is alleged to have Rid: "I mean to enforce 1113' policies. U dt- f you do not yield I. will confiscate r d Wr property! ' ' ' j f'Do ?'ou rneau that, Mr. President?" lalg !"as asked. And when assured that the i V iftter was thought, out, tho financier snil to have returned to New York, jviuf "'have unloaded vast securities on tho ; Cbnl: market, and to have started for 'EM jurope. pfi'fi ISoine sav tho Roosevelt panic dated ,n t,i:lt interview, f tit Mr. Roosevelt believes he is sincere; hotisauds upon thousands of Americaus ilievc likewise. When he questions Ho integrity of men whoso statements ad thus far been regarded as unim-H unim-H reliable, many .say tho president is . iglit. But not all 'do so. There are 5,' fiany Ihousnnds who decline to believe i ;rcat Aniencnn business men and public men are liars because the president has quarrelled with them, differed from them, and talked about them from his high station to the newspapermen. Others, Too, Sincere. llarrimau and Rockefeller also believe be-lieve they, too. arc sincere that each is performing an important part in tho constructing of a great empire that all praise for the development of a republic is not duo to statesmen. Both are members of the president's political partv; both have been appealed ap-pealed to b3'"Mr. Roosevelt for assistance assis-tance have, responded with liberality. Both have done more for the material welfare of the country, it is claimed, than anv two other. men have ever done. But. they are " money-mad." Their critics sav they are not satisfied with reasonable profits. They would control con-trol business and oppress tho. poor; they are not patriotic! They are "undesirables." "un-desirables." Rockefeller cannot be defended in his greed for excessive profits. Ho is not a magnetic man not a man tho people have admired, though many say he is chnnging since he retired from personal activity in the management of his stupendous stu-pendous business and wants to bo better bet-ter understood, trusted moro, loved. His recent testimony was a vevclar tion to Americans, lie made a good witness, lie was not worsted by Mr. Roosevelt "s agents in the battle in the courtroom. His great offense was overcapitalization, over-capitalization, centralization, excessive profit-taking. Competition at home and abroad was vitiated or crushed, but we believe it wiis proved that, unlike un-like all other trusts, there was a scaling scal-ing down of prices, a betterment of the product not a scaling up and a cheapening cheap-ening of the article manufactured, ns is the usual policy of the great combines. com-bines. Kcnxarkablo Successes. Rockefeller borrowed $2000 in 1S60 to put. up for a small partnership in an insignificant refinery of oil. The business busi-ness prospered, because bis partner was experienced and the conditions were right. As the business expanded groat amounts of capital were required. Vast sums, it is stated, were drawn from ihe foreign fields brought to America to develop American resources and employ American labor. A half dozen American Ameri-can states were enriched by this industry, in-dustry, so vast did it become. Foreign markets were invaded. All opposition was compelled to yield to this tremendously aggressive American oil merchant all but Russia. It would be impossible to estimate the worth of this enterprise to tho American oil land owners and to American labor. The great Stnndard Oil company, with all its greed, because of its financial power, pow-er, doubtlcssl' accomplished greater results re-sults than a dozen concerns with a total to-tal capitalization equalling the Standard Stand-ard could have done. And what man can demonstrate that the American people peo-ple arc loss prosperous than they would have been had a dozou companies becu- pied tho field and explored tho world for business instead of that headed by the" ( 'undesirable" Rockefeller? Ilarriman would have fewer enemies if tho policy of his great business required re-quired his employees to bo less arrogant with the public. Tho average railroad employee seems to regard tho average citizen as an enom' an antagonist. Instead In-stead of laboring to establish amicable relationship, little differences aro intensified inten-sified by browbeating, bulldozing, pigheaded pig-headed 'subordinates of tho real captains cap-tains of the system. Reason Out' of Keach. Some of the most reasonable men in the world are in responsible railway positions po-sitions when they can be reached. But the ordinary citizen with a grievance or a suggestion never reaches the man beyond be-yond whom an ordinary matter need not bo "referred." lie works up to the "buffer" in the outer office, encounters encoun-ters ,i withering scowl, gets away as quicflj' ns is possible, drifts into the legislature, a city council, or on a .iury, and "soaks it to the railroad" on tho slightest pretext. - Fool rules arc invoked, regulations drawn without regard for public comfort com-fort or convenience, train schedules are made regardless of public interests, red tape woven through all departments, a hundred and one things done to irritate the public, and the Jiarrimans o the country are chargeable with over' disa-poiutmcnt, disa-poiutmcnt, every heartache or humiliation. humilia-tion. An insulting clerk, a bulldozing attorney, at-torney, a deceitful or vindictive department, de-partment, chief, or an undiplomatic claim agent does more to create sonti-mcnt sonti-mcnt that approves of the talk of "undesirables" "un-desirables" than every official act a Ilarriman would do in a lifetime. Tho "buffer" if supplanted with a representative repre-sentative with a "glad hand." who would meet tho public graciously and who has sufficieut confidenco of the controlling forces to impress them with 1 the merits of tho public wish, would soon establish a' cordiality between tho public and tho railways that would bo of inestimablo value to both interests. inter-ests. Is Doing Great Things. Mr. Ilarriman has douo and is doing great, things as an American. Ouo incident in-cident alone will illustrate that ho has deep grounded American sentiments as well as keen business capacity and strong desire to control great interests. This incident makes a sinking contrast con-trast between him as a cautious business busi-ness man and a thoughtful American, and his indomitable foe, tho president. To properly understand the forco of this illustration one must reflect on tho apparent Heedlessness of the naval ;junkct which is now on in foreign waters and for which Mr. Eoosevelt is responsible. The battleship trip was announced about the time there was more or less reason to fear a possible rupture with Japan. Some believed the president planned the cruiso of tho sixteen ur-niorcd ur-niorcd vessels as a means of intimidation. intimida-tion. Others hold that it was the personification per-sonification of tho "man with a chip on , his shoulder," who looked for trouble but was unprepared to meet it did it come. The president sent tho fleet , into foreign waters, where it would have been helpless should war actually have been declared. There is no American merchant ma-rino ma-rino to furnish supplies. Neutrality laws would compel foreign coaling vessels to keep hands off. There could bo no rolief of the fleet if attacked when supplies were exhausted. Thcro could bo no refuge in a friendly port until the United States could buy or build supply ships. Ship Subsidy Champions. President William McKinloy and , Senator Marcus A. Ilanna years ago foresaw the possibility of tho holplcss-uess holplcss-uess of the American navy in time of ( war that called for naval operations in J foreign waters, and advocated the en-I en-I couragement of American shipbuilding by government subsidies. But tho cry of graft at. onco was raised. When McKinloy was cut down and Ilanna died the spirit; of tho movement move-ment died with them and no statesman states-man of particular power has dared revive re-vive it, meritorious though it is, and important though it be to meet the I very situation created by tho reckless I daring of tho President in sending tho 1 fleet unprotected into foreign seas. Tt will cost the United States for this display and this risk of sixteen battleships and 21 000 men, a tremendous tremen-dous sum. Tho fleet left Hampton Roads Decerabor 16. 1907. and is scheduled sched-uled to return Februarv 22 next, or an absence of '131 days. The cosL of provisioning pro-visioning tho men is estimated at 30 cents a day, or $1,822,S00. The cost of coal to Manila was estimated at $2,500,000. and an additional $500,000 from there home. The canal tolls, passing pass-ing through Suez, is based 011 a charge of $5000 per armored ship, or $80,000. Damage to the Fleet. Tho wear and tear of the ships on this remarkably long cruiso must bo appalling. The extra supplies in tho way of coal and ammunition for practice prac-tice purposes a vast sum. Tho peril of the trip through treacherous waters, even though peaceful, was such as to have halted any man but Roosevelt. And what was it all for? The Pacific Mail Steamship company is practically the only owner of American, Amer-ican, vessels that do a regular transpacific trans-pacific business. These vessels are subject sub-ject to tho command of the United States in time of public , necessity, but at best could but insufficiently respond to tho great demands of so great a floot ns that now in foreign seas. Remove Stars and Stripes from the Pacific mail ships and our navy would bo in the ox-tremost ox-tremost peril. The Pacific mail fleet loses upwards of $380,000 each year. They are liar-riman liar-riman boats. Tho attempt to operate theso is an cxamplo of the inability t hus far of American merchants to establish estab-lish a profitable trndc-cai-rying business on tho high seas. Mr. llarrimau doubtlessly doubt-lessly would bo glad to unload his Pacific Pa-cific mail boats on somo one. But ho realizes the danger of doing so, lost those vessels pass into foreign hands. Wouldn't Sell to Foreigners. During tho Japanese war talk he was approached b' a representative of a foreign power. lie was asked to transfer trans-fer his holdings. Ho was confronted with figures as to his losses. He was told that tho proposed purchaser would ngroo to operate the lino as auxiliary to hia American railway interests that he would lose nothing on this account and would cover tho $380,000 annual do-1 do-1 Jlcit in the ship company. I "Yos; I see all this," he is reported I to have- replied. "I'll admit there is t a heavy loss, but I bcliovo I am too sensitive to the.( necessity for theBO vessels to negotiate this business at this time. I cannot measure my Americanism Amer-icanism by such a standard as a business busi-ness loss of $380,000 a year." Tho Pacific Mail still flies tho United States flag. It would rush to tho do-fenso do-fenso of any stranded American battleship, battle-ship, or transport under escort of the Pacific squadron supplies or men through foreign waters to tho relief of the Atlantic At-lantic fleet junketers. It might havo been, and might yet bo, a godsend to the American navy and to tho 24,000 mon whom President Roosovelt, for some reason, sot adrift without support in an emergency of unexpected un-expected war. The American president has played a great game of chance. Tho American Ameri-can industrial captain has silently met his losses, but this sacrifice in itself makes one forget the railroad magnate in romcmbcriug tho Amorican, and it answers most eloquently the charge that Harriman is "an undesirable undesira-ble citizen," even though so great an American as tho commander-in-chief of tho arm3r and navy of tho United Stales has uttered and reiterated it, |