Chapter 13 Processing - Interview With an Industrialist

Suppose you are an industrialist being interviewed for an article in a national newspaper. The journalist interviewing you has brought up some questions about your role in industrialism. Use your Reading Notes and the quotes below from various U.S. industrialists to help you respond to the questions.

Quotes: The conditions of human life have not only been changed, but revolutionized . . . The “good old times” were not good old times. —Andrew Carnegie, steel industrialist

I believe the power to make money is a gift from God . . . to be developed and used to the best of our ability for the good of mankind. —John D. Rockefeller, oil industrialist

Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community. —Andrew Carnegie, steel industrialist

There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible. —Henry Ford, automobile industrialist

Well, I don’t know as I want a lawyer to tell me what I cannot do. I hire him to tell me how to [get around the law so I can] do what I want to do. —J. P. Morgan, banking industrialist

Whenever it is necessary I can buy a sufficient number of Senators and Congressmen or State Legislators to protect my interests, and when it is necessary I can buy the Judiciary. —E. H. Harriman, railroad industrialist

What are some of the important inventions of this time period? What role have industrialists like you played in their development?

Large corporations and trusts have led to the failure of many smaller businesses. Are these new, larger companies better for Americans? Why or why not?

The government has remained largely uninvolved in regulating the economy. Do you support the government’s laissez-faire business policies? Why or why not?

Many people call industrialists like you robber barons. How do you respond to this?