IS HE A HYPOCRITE?

Gisborne Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1579, 9 October 1905, Page 3

IS HE A HYPOCRITE?

It is the religious side of Rockfeller in relation to his business career which is engaging most of the attention ot his critics. Is he a hypocrite ? is a question which is exercising America to-day- For this man, who is said to have developed the Standard Oil business in defiance of public opinion and disregard of public interest, to have crushed relentlessly opponents and friends, to have sworn statements the truth of which nobody defends, and to control organisations which make use of bribery and corruption, is the same man who is devoted to the services of the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church, Cleveland, Ohio. To the children of his Sunday school he says:— “There is nothing in this world that can compare with the Christian fellowship) nothing that can satisfy but Christ, or i he gives them this curiously commercial | doctrine of salvation, “ When you come to the church or to the Sunday school, you must put something into it • •. and according as you put something in, the greater will be your dividends of salvation.” His friends :;ay_ that ms piety is sincere, and they point to the gifts which ha has made to religion and charity, but Miss Tarbell bluntly calls him a hypocrite, and declares he must j so appear to the honest section of his countrymen. •* A good Baptist, but look out how you trade with him,” was the verdict passed on him by one of his own church. If his religion is sincere, it is the only thing he cares about besides money—and long lite. His family and servants are trained to the strictest economy—one of his children earned pocket money by reducing the consumption of gas to a minimum—and he does not entertain. His favourite residence is described as “a monument of cheap ugliness." His recreations are golf and ,cycling, and Americans declare that he pursues them only that they may prolong his iife. *• He has two ambitions," said a life-long intimate, “ to be very old and very rich.” —Press.