The Life of Judge Gary: The Story of Steel
by . New York: D. Appleton and Company. xii+373 pp. Illustrated. $3.50.
SINCE Lytton Strachey wrote his Queen Victoria, the reading world has been treated to a succession of biographies which vie with fiction in their dramatization of domestic scenes, analysis of motives, and critical attitude toward their subjects. In her Life of Judge Gary Miss Ida M. Tarbell turns her back upon all such illuminating impertinences, and gives us an old-fashioned tale of a man who is almost too good to be true.
Miss Tarbell finds in the head of the United States Steel Corporation an ethical hero of modern business. From the evidence submitted it is clear that Judge Gary, in the main, has brought to bear upon the heats and greeds of competition a judicial sense of responsibility to the public. In every crisis, with the possible exception of labor disputes which led to two great strikes, he has stood fast for broad, constructive policies. He set his face against the crushing of competitors, the taking of rebates, and stock-market manipulations, while favoring coöperation with government, publicity of financial statements, and shorter working-hours in the industry. Such a record is not to be laughed off; it entitles Judge Gary to substantial recognition as one of the most progressive of American business managers.
The weak spot in the armor of United States Steel is its labor policy, and on that score Miss Tarbell makes out the best case possible for Judge Gary. She shows that the Steel Corporation inherited a mixed and difficult labor-situation at the time of the merger, and that Gary himself was not responsible for labor abuses in various plants. Nevertheless, after making very generous allowances for the difficulties of exerting control over subordinates at a distance, the conduct of the Corporation during the 1919 strike somewhat dims Judge Gary’s record as a public benefactor. In labor matters other than those involving recognition, however, his rule seems to have been in the main benevolent .
The Life of Judge Gary bears the subtitle, ‘The Story of Steel.’ That is incorrect unless ‘Steel’ means merely the United States Steel Corporation. The tale of the, Corporation unfolds vividly along with the life-progress of the Illinois lawyer who has been its guiding spirit for nearly a quarter of a century. ARTHUR POUND