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The American Businessman at the Turn of the Century1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2012

Marian V. Sears
Marian V. Sears
Affiliation:
Assistant in Coursesat Harvard University
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Abstract

The attitudes and preoccupations of businessmen at any given time are deemed important by historians both as clues to and reasons for business action. The year 1900 is a promising one in which to probe those attitudes and preoccupations because at that time a great many important characteristics of the business community were undergoing rapid change. Examination of business literature of the day suggests that the businessman of 1900 was preoccupied with the merger movement and with labor agitation, with shifting distribution patterns, and with trade association activity. His concern with financial techniques and public relations was intense, if erratic, and he was preoccupied with problems of administrative structure. He was, in short, concerned with those developments commonly emphasized by historians, but with so much more besides as to suggest several new research avenues. Surprising results emerge when business attitudes and preoccupations of 1900 are compared with those of 1956.

Type
Research Article
Information
Business History Review , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , December 1956 , pp. 382 - 443
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1956

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References

2 Address of Lupton, H. B., American Steel & Wire Company, at meeting of Southern Hardware Jobbers' Association. The Iron Age (June 21, 1900), p. 55.Google Scholar

3 McNeill, Russell B., “Mechanizing Paper Work,” Harvard Business Review (July, 1948), p. 492.Google Scholar

4 The Commercial & Financial Chronicle (Jan. 5, 1901), p. 6.

5 Ibid. (March 17, 1900), p. 502.

6 The Iron Age (Feb. 22, 1900), p. 16.

7 Ibid. (Nov. 15, 1900), p. 21.

8 Ibid., p. 42.

9 The Commercial & Financial Chronicle (Sept. 8, 1900), London letter, p. 475.

10 The legal form of the trust had largely disappeared during the 1890's, when state holding company acts rendered trusteeship arrangements unneces sary. In this article the word is employed in its popular rather than its literal sense.

11 Supplement to the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (May, 1900), p. 203.

12 He spoke on “The Influence of Corporations on Political Life.” Supplement to the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (May, 1900), p. 79. Quotation from pp. 81–82.

13 Industrial Commission, Preliminary Report on Trusts and Industrial Combinations (Washington, 1900), Vol. I, “Testimony,” p. 1155.Google Scholar

14 (New York: The Ronald Press, 1900.)

15 Conyngton on Business Corporations (New York, 1900), pp. 7 and 8.

16 The Commercial & Financial Chronicle (Jan. 6, 1900), p. 4.

17 Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Convention of the National Association of Manufacturers of the United States of America, Apr. 24–26, 1900, at Boston.

The government currently was collecting statistics and opinions on trusts in two important ways: through the current census and through the Industrial Commission, set up by an act of Congress in 1898 to investigate questions pertaining to immigration, labor, agriculture, manufacturing, and business and to suggest any needed legislation. (Vol. XIX, “Final Report,” 1902, p. vii.) Its first report issued in March, 1900, was on “Trusts and Industrial Combinations,” to which subject it had given priority because it “seemed to be one upon which there was pressing demand for trustworthy information.” (Vol. I, p. 5.) The Commission, originally appointed for two years, was extended for two more and put out a second report on trusts in 1901. (Vol. XIII.)

Another exploration on a small scale had been undertaken in 1899 by the Chicago Civic Federation. It had held a Conference on Trusts in Chicago in September to explore the facts about trusts and to come up with suggestions for remedies for any abuses disclosed. The Civic Federation was a nonpartisan organization of business and professional men. They had chosen this conference subject because they had “realized that no topic seemed so widely discussed as what was designated by the general title of ‘Trusts’ — and that, too, upon no current topic was there so widespread and general an ignorance and confusion of ideas.” (Chicago Conference on Trusts, The Civic Federation, Chicago, 1900, p. 7.) Public officials attended and spoke, as well as representatives of business, labor, and the public. Delegates attended from 33 states from Maine to Texas and from New York to Oregon.

18 Steps in the process of their evolution as a form of business organization and the force behind the process were succinctly explained by The Iron Age (Nov. 29, 1900, p. 45). It saw “the regulation of competition [as] the heart of the industrial situation.” After an era of excessive competition in which “the fittest did not always survive,” had come price agreements among industry members, then pools to maintain prices, then price cuts by others attracted into industry, and, lately, the “drift toward absolute consolidation.”

Instances of all these stages in the evolutionary process were still in existence, either in formal or informal associations. Some formal associations whose purposes coincided in some respects with these, but which also had other purposes are discussed further in the sections on Business Associations and Relations with Employees.

19 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, p. 595.

20 For typical objections see: Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, p. 186, and Henry C. Adams in Chicago Conference on Trusts, The Civic Federation, p. 35.

21 The Iron Age (Sept. 20, 1900), p. 6.

22 Hatfield, Henry Rand, “The Chicago Trust Conference,” The Journal of Political Economy (Dec., 1899), p. 15.Google Scholar

23 The Iron Age (Feb. 22, 1900), p. 16.

24 Ibid. (Sept. 20, 1900), p. 7.

25 Ibid. (Nov. 1, 1900), p. 43.

26 “Trust Competition,” The New York Financier (June 11, 1900), p. 1312.

27 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, pp. 1120–26.

28 The Iron Age (Nov. 22, 1900), p. 28f.

29 Ibid. (Nov. 29, 1900), p. 45.

30 Ibid. (March 1, 1900), p. 43.

31 Ibid. (May 10, 1900), p. 41.

32 Ibid. (May 31, 1900), p. 45.

33 Supplement to the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (May, 1900), pp. 128 and 127.

34 The Iron Age (Jan. 4, 1900), p. 54f.

35 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, p. 546.

36 The Commercial & Financial Chronicle (Nov. 10, 1900), p. 965.

37 The Iron Age (Nov. 8, 1900), p. 40.

38 Vol. XV (Jan.–May, 1900).

39 The Iron Age (Dec. 27, 1900), advt. p. 53.

40 American Trade (Sept. 15, 1900), p. 182.

41 The Iron Age (Jan. 18, 1900), p. 41.

42 Ibid., p. 40.

43 Ibid. (Jan. 4, 1900), p. 54e.

44 Ibid. (June 21, 1900), p. 55.

45 Ibid. (Jan. 18, 1900), p. 8.

46 Ibid. (Nov. 29, 1900), p. 53.

47 Ibid. (Dec. 6, 1900), p. 47.

48 Ibid. (Sept. 20, 1900), p. 25.

49 Ibid. (June 21, 1900), pp. 55–56.

50 lbid. (June 21, 1900), p. 57.

51 Ibid. (Oct. 25, 1900), p. 32.

52 Ibid. (Sept. 27, 1900), p. 20.

53 (Jan. 11, 1900), p. 38.

54 Headquarters were in Philadelphia, as were those of many other business, civic, and scholarly associations of the time. The president, Theodore C. Search, was head of the School of Industrial Art of Philadelphia and on the Board of the Philadelphia Bourse and former treasurer of J. P. Stetson & Company. The majority of the members attending the 1900 Annual Convention were from Pennsylvania. The Association's news organ, American Trade, was published in Philadelphia.

55 N.A.M. Proceedings, 1900, p. 163.

56 Ibid., pp. 175 and 176.

57 American Trade (July 15, 1900), p. 149.

58 N.A.M. Proceedings, 1900, p. 76.

59 Ibid., p. 170.

60 National Board of Trade, Proceedings, 1902, p. xi.

61 Ibid., p. 200.

62 Philadelphia Bourse, Tenth Annual Report, Submitted May 14, 1901, p. 13.

63 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIV, Capital and Labor, p. 441.

64 Ibid., p. 129.

65 The Iron Age (Oct. 18, 1900), p. 26.

66 Review of Business Education and Accountancy, by Charles Waldo Haskins (Harper & Brothers), in The Commercial & Financial Chronicle (May 7, 1904), p. 1762. Quotation from p. 1764.

67 (Oct. 1, 1900), p. 189.

68 (Apr. 21, 1900), p. 497.

69 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, p. 521.

70 Ibid., p. 519.

71 Ibid., p. 608.

72 Livermore, Shaw, “The Success of Industrial Mergers,” The Quarterly Journal of Economics (Nov., 1935), p. 70.Google Scholar

73 By Benjamin Wood (New York: Brentano's, 1899).

74 Ibid., pp. 148 and 149.

75 American Trade (Aug. 15, 1900), p. 165.

76 Daugherty, Carroll R., Labor Problems in American Industry (Boston, 1936), p. 694.Google Scholar

77 “The Railroad Monopolies” (Jan. 27, 1900), p. 97.

78 The Iron Age (July 19, 1900), pp. 13 and 14.

79 (Sept. 7, 1901), p. 1335.

80 The Iron Age (May 10, 1900), p. 32.

81 Ibid. (May 17, 1900), p. 10.

82 “Trusts and Their Relation to the Engineer,” The Iron Age (Aug. 30, 1900), p. 8.

83 “Dangerous Tendencies in Recent Consolidations,” The Iron Age (Jan. 11, 1900), p. 5. Quotation from p. 7.

84 The Iron Age (March 29, 1900), p. 17.

85 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, p. 636.

86 “Commercial Education in the United States,” by Henry A. Stimson, D.D., The Commercial & Financial Chronicle (March 3, 1900 ), p. 405.

87 American Trade (Oct. 1, 1900), p. 189.

88 “The American Foundrymen's Association, Fifth Annual Convention,” The Iron Age (June 14, 1900), p. 5. Quotation from pp. 8 and 9.

89 N.A.M. Proceedings, 1900, p. 116.

90 “Foundry Management,” by James A. Murphy (June 14, 1900), p. 26b.

91 The Iron Age (Oct. 4, 1900), p. 22.

92 Vol. XIX, p. 637.

93 Supplement to the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (May, 1900), p. 112.

94 “The Finance [sic] ering of Trusts” was the subject of a paper read before the American Economic Association (N. Y. Financier [Jan. 1, 1900], p. 14). See also United States Investor (Dec. 23, 1899), p. 1749: “… peculiar methods of financiering,” and “who is responsible for such financiering as this?”

95 “Industrials as Investments for Small Capital,” Supplement to the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (May, 1900), p. 112.

96 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, p. 617.

97 Letter in The [London] Economist (March 31, 1900), p. 465.

98 United States Investor (May 5, 1900), p. 564.

99 Industrial Commission, Vol. I, “Review of Evidence,” p. 12.

100 The Iron Age (Aug. 23, 1900), p. 17.

101 Letter in The Iron Age (April 12, 1900), p. 21.

102 Supplement to the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (May, 1900), p. 111.

103 “Trusts Here and Abroad,” United States Investor (Aug. 24, 1901), p. 1269.

104 Conyngton on Business Corporations, p. 23.

105 The Financier (Oct. 28, 1901), p. 1448.

106 The Iron Age (July 19, 1900), p. 14.

107 Ibid. (May 24, 1900), p. 27.

108 The Commercial & Financial Chronicle (Jan. 12, 1901), p. 64.

109 United States Investor (Jan. 27, 1900), p. 104.

110 Ibid. (Jan. 20, 1900), p. 88.

111 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, p. 619.

112 Ibid., Vol. 1, “Testimony,” p. 7, quoting from a circular of Watson & Gibson, New York bankers and brokers.

113 United Stares Investor (May 5, 1900), pp. 564–65.

114 (Jan. 27, 1900), p. 111.

115 Industrial Commission, Vol. I, “Testimony,” pp. 1164–65.

116 Ibid., p. 966.

117 Ibid., p. 973.

118 Supplement to the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (May, 1900), p. 115.

119 Industrial Commission, Vol. VII, Capital and Labor, “Testimony,” p. 128.

120 Ibid., Vol. I, “Testimony,” p. 1175.

121 The Iron Age (June 28, 1900), p. 17.

122 Supplement to the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (May, 1900), p. 96.

123 “Dangerous Tendencies in Recent Consolidations,” delivered before Ithaca meeting of American Economic Association and reported in The Iron Age (Jan. 11, 1900), p. 5.

124 “Modern Accounting,” letter to editor, United States Investor (May 13, 1899), p. 603.

125 United States Investor (Jan. 20, 1900), p. 74.

126 New York Financier (Sept. 3, 1901), p. 1105.

127 The Iron Age (Nov. 29, 1900), p. 16.

128 “It Makes One Suspicious,” Untied States Investor (June 30, 1900), p. 827.

129 Industrial Commission, Vol. I, “Topical Digest of Evidence,” p. 243.

130 The Iron Age (Jan. 11, 1900), pp. 5–6.

131 Industrial Commission, Vol. I, “Testimony,” p. 136.

132 Ibid., p. 138.

133 Ibid., “Topical Digest of Evidence,” p. 231.

134 Ibid., pp. 230–32.

135 (Jan. 13, 1900), p. 78.

136 In its regular column “Commercial Epitome” (p. 87) the Chronicle said, “Refined sugar has been in fairly active demand and 10 points higher, closing with the independent refiners at 4.90c. net and the American Sugar Refining Co. at 5.05c, less a rebate of 15 points.” The previous week's quotation for the trust had been 4.95c., less the 15 point rebate. Commercial & Financial Chronicle (Jan. 6, 1900), p. 41.

137 (Jan. 27, 1900), p. 109.

138 The Economist (March 31, 1900), p. 466.

139 The Iron Age (Feb. 8, 1900), p. 21.

140 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, p. 723.

141 Ibid., p. 152.

142 The Iron Age (Aug. 9, 1900), p. 20.

143 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, p. 805.

144 “The Right to Work,” The Iron Age (March 15, 1900), p. 19.

145 The Iron Age (March 15, 1900), p. 19.

146 Ibid. (Dec. 27, 1900), p. 21.

147 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, p. 821.

148 The Iron Age (May 24, 1900), p. 22.

149 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, pp. 833 ff.

150 The Iron Age (Aug. 9, 1900), p. 21.

151 Ibid. (Aug. 16, 1900), p. 8.

152 “The Strike Epidemic,” The Iron Age (June 14, 1900), p. 26h.

153 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, pp. 830 ff.

154 The Iron Age (July 5, 1900), p. 17.

155 Ibid. (Sept. 20, 1900), p. 17.

156 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, p. 893.

157 The Commercial & Financial Chronicle (Nov. 17, 1900), p. 1021.

158 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, p. 805.

159 The Iron Age (Dec. 27, 1900), p. 16.

160 Ibid. (June 28, 1900), p. 17.

161 Ibid. (Nov. 22, 1900), p. 30.

162 “The National Metal Trades Association, Its Aims and Its Organization,” The Iron Age (March 8, 1900), p. 9.

163 The Iron Age (Jan. 11, 1900), p. 17.

164 Ibid. (March 8, 1900), p. 17.

165 Ibid. (May 31, 1900), p. 21.

166 Ibid. (March 22, 1900), p. 17.

167 Ibid. (Sept. 27, 1900), p. 37.

168 Ibid. (Jan. 11, 1900), p. 30.

169 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, pp. 537–38.

170 The Iron Age (Jan. 4, 1900), p. 13.

171 Ibid. (Sept. 20, 1900), p. 31.

172 Ibid. (Jan. 25, 1900), p. 31.

173 The Commercial & Financial Chronicle (Jan. 5, 1901), p. 45.

174 The Iron Age (Feb. 8, 1900), p. 22.

175 Ibid.

176 N.A.M. Proceedings, 1900, p. 173.

177 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, p. 502.

178 The Iron Age (Dec. 13, 1900), p. 30.

179 Ibid. (Jan. 4, 1900) p. 48.

180 Ibid. (Nov. 22, 1900), p. 28g.

181 Ibid. (Nov. 15, 1900), pp. 21 and 22.

182 Ibid. (Jan. 11, 1900), p. 16.

183 Ibid. (Feb. 22, 1900), pp. 2–3.

184 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIII, p. xxxv.

185 Ibid., Vol. XIX, p. 1065ff.

186 N.A.M. Proceedings, 1900, p. 125.

187 The Iron Age (Jan. 25, 1900), p. 9. This particular measure failed, but a bill for a Department of Commerce and Labor passed in 1903.

188 N.A.M. Proceedings, 1900, pp. 14 and 15.

189 Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, p. 575.

190 Ibid., p. 574.

191 “The Consular Service,” The Iron Age (May 3, 1900), p. 25.

192 N.A.M. Proceedings, 1900, p. 54.

193 Ibid., p. 53.

194 Supplement to the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (May, 1900), p. 100.

195 The law did not pass but was to come up again in 1901–02, in much more controversial circumstances when the International Mercantile Marine Company was being formed.

196 The Iron Age (Jan. 18, 1900), p. 12.

197 “The Fifty-Sixth Congress” (June 9, 1900), p. 1121.

198 American Trade (Jan. 15, 1900), p. 63.

199 N.A.M. Proceedings, 1900, p. 7.

200 (May 26, 1900), p. 1019.

201 Supplement to the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (May, 1900), p. 79.

202 Ibid. p. 95.

203 The Wall Street Journal, April 10, 1956.