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Andrew Carneg-ie
His Methods with
His Men

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•: I Chaeles M. Schwab

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Andrew Carnegie
His Methods with
His Men

Chables M. Schwab

an address delivered at the
Memorial Service, Caknegie Music Hall ,
pittsburgh ,
November 25, 1919

Andrew Carnegie
IT is nearly forty years since I first
knew Mr. Carnegie. As a boy I met
him when he sojourned on the
Alleghany Mountains for his summer
outings, and I little thought at that tinie,
when I held his horse and did trivial
services for him, that fate in later years
of life would so intimately throw our lives
together, and that I would become the
friend and associate of such a great man.
As I reflect on those early days, a
thought occurs to me that I heard ex
pressed by an eminent gentleman who
came here this morning and who is past
seventy years of age; he said to me, "No
man has had a greater influence upon my
life than Mr. Carnegie."
Even in those early days, when I was a
boy, his personality was such as to inspire

one, whatever his station in life, to better
efforts and to an appreciation of the finer
things in life, not by what he may have
said to you, not by what he may have
written or spoken, but just by the tender
attitude of a strong personality that
existed and lived with him through his
whole life.
So as I look back upon those days of
boyhood, when I loiew Mr. Carnegie
only by my service to him, I feel now the
strength of that personality and the in
fluence it had upon me in after life.
Now, the world knows — and it is use
less for me to speak of them on this
occasion — of the great events in Mr.
Carnegie's life — the building up of his
great business, his philanthropies, and
the many interesting things that the
world at large is thoroughly familiar with.
Those are a part of history and are

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within the knowledge of everybody, and
it seems to me out of place to speak of
them to-day; so I wiU speak only of that
inward personaUty and soul of the man
upon which those great commercial
enterprises and those great philanthropic
acts have been based and which could
never have been accomplished without
such a soul.
Mr. Carnegie was an illuminating ex
ample of what strong personaUty will do
in the world — of what loving personality,
interesting personality, will do.
Never before, perhaps, in the history of
industry have you known a man who, not ;
himself understanding the business in its
working details, making no pretense of
being a technical steel manufacturer or a
special engineer, was yet able to build up
such a great and wonderfully successful
enterprise as Mr. Carnegie did.

It was not because he was a skilled
chemist or a skilled mechanic, a skilled
engineer or a .skilled metallurgist; it was
because he had the faculty of enlisting Llie
jjcople who were skilled in those .arts.
And while it may be an easy Uiing to
enlist the intcircst of .such men in an
enterprise, it is quite a different thing to
get tlieir best cfforLs and loyal support.
And in that Mr. Carnegie was para
mount over all men that I have ever
known. I wonder liow many of you have ever
reflected that these tremcndoii.s results
wliicli Mr. Carnegie secured were always
obtained through ajX)inLafLappjoval aiul
ncvcr_flL_ttit'ci.sm? Mr. Carnegie was
always one to take you by the hand and
encourage and approve. It was the
rarest tiling in the world to hear liira

criticize the actions of others, esijccially
in a business sense.
I wonder if you reflect how you your-
.sclves — Iiow every other man rcspimds.
witli his best eirorts under f^^i(^}_con-
ditions? i\i my wide association in life, meeting
witli many and great men in various i)art3
of the \vorId, I have yet to find the man,
however great or exalted liis station, who
dill not do better work and put forth
greater effort under a spirit of ajiproval
than he would ever do under a .spirit of
criticism. NoAV, Mr. Carnegie understood tliis
great tiling early in life, and it was this
fine philosophy, which he practiced
always, tliat made him a great commercial
success. If I may be pardoned in giving you an
illustration of the truth of this by relating

a personal experience, I would like to call
attention to the fact that during the war,
when ships were so badly required by our
nation and the world, and I was en
trusted with the direction of that affair,
the only thing that I did was to follow the
example that Mr. Carnegie taught me
many years ago, which was to stop
criticism and to give the people who were
doing the work encouragement and
approval for what they were doing. The
response that we had from the country
speaks for the success of that theory in life.
Mr. Carnegie believed in that, theory
and practiced it more constantly and
successfully than any other man I have
ever known.
That was one of the personal traits that
made him great. I have seen him often
in times of stress and disappointment,
but he was always encouraging.

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To illustrate that, I am going to relate
a little incident that occurred many
years ago, v/hen I was manager of the
Braddock works — and many of my
associates here to-day on this platform,
Mr. Morrison, Mr. Clemson, Mr. Pea
cock, and the rest, will remember it. It
was at a time when money was not too
plentiful in the Carnegie Company, and I
had asked permission to put up a new
converting mill, and it had been built.
It was everything I expected it to be,
everything I promised Mr. Carnegie it
should be, and he came out to Braddock
to see it.
As I was showing him around the works
and explaining the new mill, he looked
into my face and said, "Charlie, there is
something wrong about this; I can see by
your expression that you are disappointed.
There is something wrong with this mill."

I said, "No, Mr. Carnegie, it is just
exactly what I told you it would be, and
we have reduced our costs to the point
that I said we would. But if I had it all
to do over again, there is one thing which
has just recently been discovered that I
would introduce here, and that I am sure
would result in further economy."
He said, "Well,- what does that mean?
Can you change this work?"
I said, "No; it would mean tearing
this down and rebuilding it."
"Why," he said, "then that's the right
thing to do; it's only a fool that will not
profit by anything that may have been
overlooked and discovered after the work
is done. Tear it down and do it over
again." And although that converting mill had
been running only two months, we did
tear it down and we did build it over

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again, and the return upon the capital
thus expended repaid the great firm
many fold. |{
That spirit was characteristic of Mr.
Carnegie. He did not say in criticism,
"Why didn't you think of this before?"
If he had been the type of man who
would say that sort of thing to me, or to
any manager, he would never have learned
of this new idea that had developed, and
as a resiflt the firm would not have reaped
the benefit of the better mifl. But that is
the way Mr. Carnegie inspired us all.
Another phase of his character .was
thoroughness, and that may be illustrated
in a way which shows how his mind
worked all. around la subject. In those
golden days when, p'erhaps, we had made
a profit statement which showed that the
firm had made five or six hundred

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thousand dollars in a month, or possibly
more, and I would go to him with pride
and say, "Mr. Carnegie, we have made
five hundred thousand dollars this
month," it would not be a spirit of
gratification alone that he manifested,
but he would say, "Show me your cost
sheets. It is more interesting to know hov/
cheaply and how well you have done this
thing than how much money you have
made, because the one is a temporary
result, due possibly to special conditions
of trade, but the other means a perma
nency that will go on with the works as
long as they last."
Mr. Carnegie used often to scold me in
a good-natured sort of way for what he
caUed my extravagance with money.
He would say, "Charlie, I don't under
stand you; here you are, a poor boy, born
in the country, and you don't realize the

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value of money, and you spend and
spend for new work extensions, all the
time, as if we had money unhmited."
I always protested that he was wrong,
that I was only spending for the good of
the firm, until one historic day when I
was going to see Mr. Carnegie. Mr.
Curry, one of our dear departed partners,
went first, and a little later I took a
carriage from the HoUand House, and
when I arrived at Mr. Carnegie's home
as I expected to remain for only a short
time I told the cabman to wait. We
started talking, and our interest waxed
keen; time fiew on until the luncheon
hour, when I accepted an invitation to
remain, and our discussion continued.
This old question of economy came up,
and again there was an arraignment of
my extravagance, against which I pro
tested; but just then the butler stepped

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in and asked, "Mr. Schwab, do you want
that carriage to wait any longer?"
Mr. Carnegie always seemed to have
the faculty of getting the best of an
argument of that sort. It was useless for
me, after that, to protest that his con
clusions with reference to my extravagance
were not correct.
One other thought occurs to me about
Mr. Carnegie which perhaps others may
not have expressed, and I wish to refer
to it.
During the Great War the one. spirit
that seemed to animate every man, no
matter how great his station in life — and,
indeed, the greater his station the more
he tried to emulate it — was the spirit
of democracy.
This is an age when a man, be he prince,
king, philanthropist, merchant, manu-

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facturer, politician or plain citizen, can
have nothing better said of him than that
he is truly democratic. That describes
Mr. Carnegie. We are all striving for
that spirit of true democracy.
When the heir to the Enghsh throne
visited this country recently, what was
the one predominating thing that was
said about him everywhere and that
attracted such universal admiration ? It
was the fact that he was a true democrat.
And, by the way, the true aristocrat of
to-day is not the man of birth or wealth,
but the man who has done something for
humanity. That was no new theory with Mr.
Carnegie. He was the simple democrat
that we preach of to-day, all the years of
his life. He never had a, particle of
snobbishness in his character, nor could
he tolerate it in others. He was a true

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example of democracy, and he practiced
that, virtue all his life.
He numbered among his friends not
alone the great and the rich and the
powerful of the world, but the honest
working man or woman in any capacity
who was truly doing the best possible in
a straightforward way to accomplish
something in hfe.
I see a man in this audience to whom I
heard Mr. Carnegie say, "Morgan, I am
glad to see you. You are one of the best
workmen and one of the most straight
forward men it has ever been my pleasure
to know, and I am honored to have you
associated with me." That was Morgan
Harris, the old forgeman who sits in the
front row.
[At Mr. Schwab's request Mr. Morgan
Harris stood up and was warmly greeted by
the audience.]

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I have known Morgan Harris for thirty
years; he was forgeman at the Braddock
works, but I did not know he was going
to be here this afternoon. He loved Mr.
Carnegie just as much as Mr. Carnegie
loved him— and I appeal to you, ladies
and gentlemen, can there be a stronger
appreciation of the true worth and demo
cracy of Mr. Carnegie than that bis old
and favorite, workman comes here to do
him honor to-day?
Now, my friends, naturally you ex
pected that anything I would say of Mr.
Carnegie must be as a tribute of the
highest possible character; nothing less
could do him justice.
But this to me is not a day of grief and
sadness. Of course we feel lonely and
regret that our old chieftain is not here
to join with us in celebrating his birthday.

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We miss him more than any one can ever
say, especially those of ua who have been
closely associated with him.
No man saw more of him in his later
life than I, and oh, my friends, if you
could know the happiness of that later
life of Mr. Carnegie you would realize
that it was the true consummation of a
fine, strong life. His very soul seemed to
be reflected in those later years, in his old
age, and it shone forth in his every action
and animated his thoughts more markedly
than at any other period of his hfe.
Everybody, to Mr. Carnegie, in those
later years, was his best friend and the
dearest man in the world. Now when a
man has that within his soul, his soul has
been right throughout hfe.
Mr. Carnegie never knew anger and
never knew revenge. He never had that
feeling in his heart. No matter how deep

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the hurt, he carried no resentment or iU-
feeling. I remember, once, a man who had done
Mr. Carnegie a great injury came to me
and told me that things were going badly
with him, and spoke of the wrong to Mr.
Carnegie. I said to him, "You mustn't tell me
about it; go and teU Mr. Carnegie."
"Oh," he said, "Mr. Carnegie would not
receive me." I said, "Yes, he wfll; just
go and tell him what you have told me."
And he went to Mr. Carnegie and told
him. the truth, and Mr. Carnegie put his
arms around that man's shoulders and
said, "I am glad to see my old friend back
here again, and we will be better friends
than ever before," and as a matter of
fact they were.
Among Mr. Carnegie's best friends /

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were those he made in business. He had
no weak sentiment as to business, but he
believed that it was best accomplished
under happy conditions.
Those of you who have visited the old
Carnegie mill will remember the picture
of tlic old monk that used to hang on the
wall in the directors' room. It seems that
some criticism was made that it was not
sufficiently dignified for the place. That
reached Mr. Carnegie's ears, and he sent
the picture to me and said, "Hang this in
your room."
It was a picture of a jolly old monk who
owned nothing but the robe on his back;
and Mr. Carnegie added, "Any time that
you feel blue or inclined to be despondent,
just look at this old monk's happy
countenance and your depression will
disappear." He used to say, too, "Always remember

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that good business is never done except
in a happy and contented frame of mind."
That was Mr. Carnegie's philosophy;
that is the way he acted with all of us
boys, and tliat is the reason we loved him
so much.
It was my pleasure, each year, at the
old Carnegie reunion, to propose his
health, and I think I always used the
same words, and I think I will use them
again this year: "Each year that rolled
by made us but love him the more." Mr.
Carnegie has not departed, except in the
body. Ilis influence and the imprint that he
made on the minds of all of us live with
us to-day just as strong as ever b^sfore,
and when we propose his health at the
annual banquet, as we have in years gone
by, if it comes to me, I shall use just the
same words, that "each succeeding ye.ar

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makes us love him and admire him more
and more." He was a great man amongst
men. He has left his influence and the force
of his personal philosophy upon thou
sands — yea, millions — not because of his
great business ability nor his vast
philanthropies, but because of the ideals
that he practiced and that he set for
every man who has his life to live.
As the years went by, Ufe brought to
him all the happiness any man could ever
hope to have. And I must not neglect on
this occasion to pay a tribute to the one
who contributed more than the world
could believe to his wonderful career and
to bis success and character; that is, his
very dear wife, Mrs. Andrew Carnegie.
In her quiet, unostentatious way she
was a tower of strength, and we boys who

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knew Mr. Carnegie best and most inti
mately were wise enough to know that if
we had a doubtful cause our strongest ally
was Mrs. Carnegie.
Now, that is not an un-American
precedent. It seems to me to exist in
most American famiUes, and I thank
God that it does, because with these
hustling, masterful American men, plung
ing forward always for material gain, the
refining and restraining influence of a
good woman by the side of a strong man
is the finest thing that God ever created.
Mrs. Carnegie occupied that position
with her distinguished husband.
My friends, we have not, as you see,
endeavored to make this an occasion of
sadness, but rather one of appreciation of
our good old, dear friend, Mr. Carnegie.
I am sure if he were here he might
object to some of the things that were

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said, thinking they were extravagant, or
at least over-stated, but he would agree
that his birthday should be celebrated in
just the way we are doing here — not to
stand up and express our deep regret at
his death and at the loss the world has
sustained, but rather an appreciation of
the legacy of his good life to all of us.
The influence of his life will live many
times longer than the age of a normal man.
If he could realize that we love and revere
his memory, and that his influence is a
benefit to thousands, that would cause
him great joy and be a supreme satisfac
tion; and if I have added anything to the
thoughts of the friends of Mr. Carnegie
in the praise which I have justly given
him, then indeed am I honored by the
opportunity to speak of my old, my be
loved, my greatest friend — Andrew
Carnegie.

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