Random Reminiscences
of Men and Events
BY
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER
New York
Doubleday, Page & Company
1909
COPYRIGHT, 1908, 1909, BY DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
PREFACE
Probably in the life of everyone there comes a time when he is
inclined to go over again the events, great and small, which have made
up the incidents of his work and pleasure, and I am tempted to become
a garrulous old man, and tell some stories of men and things which
have happened in an active life.
In some measure I have been associated with the most interesting
people our country has produced, especially in business--men who have
helped largely to build up the commerce of the United States, and who
have made known its products all over the world. These incidents which
come to my mind to speak of seemed vitally important to me when they
happened, and they still stand out distinctly in my memory.
Just how far any one is justified in keeping what he regards as his
own private affairs from the public, or in defending himself from
attacks, is a mooted point. If one talks about one's experiences,
there is a natural temptation to charge one with traveling the easy
road to egotism; if one keeps silence, the inference of wrong-doing
is sometimes even more difficult to meet, as it would then be said
that there is no valid defence to be offered.
It has not been my custom to press my affairs forward into public
gaze; but I have come to see that if my family and friends want some
record of things which might shed light on matters that have been
somewhat discussed, it is right that I should yield to their advice,
and in this informal way go over again some of the events which have
made life interesting to me.
There is still another reason for speaking now: If a tenth of the
things that have been said are true, then these dozens of able and
faithful men who have been associated with me, many of whom have
passed away, must have been guilty of grave faults. For myself, I had
decided to say nothing, hoping that after my death the truth would
gradually come to the surface and posterity would do strict justice;
but while I live and can testify to certain things, it seems fair that
I should refer to some points which I hope will help to set forth
several much-discussed happenings in a new light. I am convinced that
they have not been fully understood.
All these things affect the memories of men who are dead and the lives
of men who are living, and it is only reasonable that the public
should have some first-hand facts to draw from in making up its final
estimate.
When these Reminiscences were begun, there was of course no thought
that they should ever go so far as to appear between the covers of a
book. They were not prepared with the idea of even an informal
autobiography, there was little idea of order or sequence, and no
thought whatever of completeness.
It would have been a pleasure as well as a satisfaction to dwell with
some fulness upon the stories of daily and intimate companionship
which existed for so many years with my close partners and associates,
but I realize that while these experiences have always been to me
among the great pleasures of my life, a long account of them would not
interest the reader, and thus it happens that I have but mentioned the
names of only a few of the scores of partners who have been so active
in building up the business interests with which I have been
associated.
J.D.R.
_March_,1909.
CONTENTS
I. Some Old Friends
II. The Difficult Art of Getting
III. The Standard Oil Company
IV. Some Experiences in the Oil Business
V. Other Business Experiences and
Business Principles
VI. The Difficult Art of Giving
VII. The Benevolent Trust--The Value
of the Cooperative Principle in
Giving
CHAPTER I
SOME OLD FRIENDS
Since these Reminiscences are really what they profess to be, random
and informal, I hope I may be pardoned for setting down so many small
things.
In looking back over my life, the impressions which come most vividly
to my mind are mental pictures of my old associates. In speaking of
these friends in this chapter, I would not have it thought that many
others, of whom I have not spoken, were less important to me, and I
shall hope to refer to this subject of my early friends in a later
chapter.
It is not always possible to remember just how one first met an old
friend or what one's impressions were, but I shall never forget my
first meeting with Mr. John D. Archbold, who is now a vice-president
of the Standard Oil Company.
At that time, say thirty-five or forty years ago, I was travelling
about the country visiting the point where something was happening,
talking with the producers, the refiners, the agents, and actually
getting acquainted.
One day there was a gathering of the men somewhere near the oil
regions, and when I came to the hotel, which was full of oil men, I
saw this name writ large on the register:
_John D. Archbold, $4.00 a bbl._
He was a young and enthusiastic fellow, so full of his subject that he
added his slogan, "$4.00 a bbl.," after his signature on the register,
that no one might misunderstand his convictions. The battle cry of
$4.00 a barrel was all the more striking because crude oil was selling
then for much less, and this campaign for a higher price certainly did
attract attention--it was much top good to be true. But if Mr.
Archbold had to admit in the end that crude oil is not worth "$4,00 a
bbl.," his enthusiasm, his energy, and his splendid power over men
have lasted.
He has always had a well-developed sense of humour, and on one serious
occasion, when he was on the witness stand, he was asked by the
opposing lawyer:
"Mr. Archbold, are you a director of this company?"
"I am."
"What is your occupation in this company?"
He promptly answered, "To clamour for dividends," which led the
learned counsel to start afresh on another line.
I can never cease to wonder at his capacity for hard work. I do not
often see him now, for he has great affairs on his hands, while I live
like a farmer away from active happenings in business, playing golf,
planting trees; and yet I am so busy that no day is long enough.
Speaking of Mr. Archbold leads me to say again that I have received
much more credit than I deserve in connection with the Standard Oil
Company. It was my good fortune to help to bring together the
efficient men who are the controlling forces of the organization and
to work hand in hand with them for many years, but it is they who have
done the hard tasks.
The great majority of my associations were made so many years ago,
that I have reached the age when hardly a month goes by (sometimes I
think hardly a week) that I am not called upon to send some message of
consolation to a family with whom we have been connected, and who have
met with some fresh bereavement. Only recently I counted up the names
of the early associates who have passed away. Before I had finished,
I found the list numbered some sixty or more. They were faithful and
earnest friends; we had worked together through many difficulties, and
had gone through many severe trials together. We had discussed and
argued and hammered away at questions until we came to agree, and it
has always been a happiness to me to feel that we had been frank and
aboveboard with each other. Without this, business associates cannot
get the best out of their work.
It is not always the easiest of tasks to induce strong, forceful men
to agree. It has always been our policy to hear patiently and discuss
frankly until the last shred of evidence is on the table, before
trying to reach a conclusion and to decide finally upon a course of
action. In working with so many partners, the conservative ones are
apt to be in the majority, and this is no doubt a desirable thing when
the mere momentum of a large concern is certain to carry it forward.
The men who have been very successful are correspondingly
conservative, since they have much to lose in case of disaster. But
fortunately there are also the aggressive and more daring ones, and
they are usually the youngest in the company, perhaps few in number,
but impetuous and convincing. They want to accomplish things and to
move quickly, and they don't mind any amount of work or
responsibility. I remember in particular an experience when the
conservative influence met the progressive--shall I say?--or the
daring side. At all events, this was the side I represented in this
case.
ARGUMENTS VERSUS CAPITAL
One of my partners, who had successfully built up a large and
prosperous business, was resisting with all his force a plan that some
of us favoured, to make some large improvements. The cost of extending
the operations of this enterprise was estimated at quite a sum--three
million dollars, I think it was. We had talked it over and over again,
and with several other associates discussed all the pros and cons; and
we had used every argument we could command to show why the plan would
not only be profitable, but was indeed necessary to maintain the lead
we had. Our old partner was obdurate, he had made up his mind not to
yield, and I can see him standing up in his vigorous protest, with his
hands in his pockets, his head thrown back, as he shouted "No."
It's a pity to get a man into a place in an argument where he is
defending a position instead of considering the evidence. His calm
judgment is apt to leave him, and his mind is for the time being
closed, and only obstinacy remains. Now these improvements had to be
made--as I said before, it was essential. Yet we could not quarrel
with our old partner, but a minority of us had made up our minds that
we must try to get him to yield, and we resolved to try another line
of argument, and said to him:
"You say that we do not need to spend this money?"
"No," he replied, "it will probably prove to be many years before such
a sum must be spent. There is no present need for these facilities you
want to create, and the works are doing well as they are--let's let
well enough alone."
Now our partner was a very wise and experienced man, older and more
familiar with the subject than some of us, and all this we admitted to
him; but we had made up our minds, as I have said, to carry out this
idea if we could possibly get his approval, and we were willing to
wait until then. As soon as the argument had calmed down, and when the
heat of our discussion had passed, the subject was brought up again. I
had thought of a new way to approach it. I said:
"I'll take it, and supply this capital myself. If the expenditure
turns out to be profitable the company can repay me; and, if it goes
wrong, I'll stand the loss."
That was the argument that touched him. All his reserve disappeared
and the matter was settled when he said:
"If that's the way you feel about it, we'll go it together. I guess I
can take the risk if you can."
It is always, I presume, a question in every business just how fast it
is wise to go, and we went pretty rapidly in those days, building and
expanding in all directions. We were being confronted with fresh
emergencies constantly. A new oil field would be discovered, tanks for
storage had to be built almost over night, and this was going on when
old fields were being exhausted, so we were therefore often under the
double strain of losing the facilities in one place where we were