The National's Blinkers

Andrew Carnegie was the wealthiest Scot that ever lived, and at one point was the richest man in the world with a fortune that some experts have estimated at the equivalent of $200 billion in current money, or more than twice the worth of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. However, The National’s hagiographic portrayal of Carnegie, as the man who worked himself up from nothing with hard work omitted certain unsavoury aspects of his life. He is absolved of all responsibility in brutal strike-breaking because as the newspaper has it – “he was on holiday”.

The truth is that he did not have the courage to execute his own murderous designs so he commissioned another to carry out the crimes while he mixed and mingled with the upper classes until the ghastly work was done. Just before he left for his Highland estate, Carnegie instructed the head of the plant Henry Clay Frick to reduce wages by 25 percent and end union recognition. Carnegie was not holding back from any confrontation with his strikers. Frick had reputation for ruthlessness against unions and strikers. Carnegie may not have been at the scene of the crime at the time and although he may not have personally pulled the trigger, he had loaded and aimed the gun for Frick to fire. In the cables sent to Frick it clearly shows he supported the move to employ strike-breakers and gave instructions to Frick do whatever was necessary to win the battle against the strikers. Carnegie was fully complicit in how the Homestead incident was handled and he himself wrote: "The handling of this case on the part of the company has my full approval and sanction." 

 Carnegie broke the strike and slashed wages even further, imposed a longer work day and blacklisted over 500 men who would never again work in the mills again. The union lost virtually its entire treasury supporting strikers and successfully defending them against attempts by Carnegie to have them convicted of murder and other crimes. Carnegie effectively crushed the workers at Homestead and as a result, unionism would die in steel plants throughout the country. By 1900, not a single steel plant in Pennsylvania remained union. By 1910, the union had no members at all. Unionism had been eradicated from the entire steel industry, and though the output of steel mills had doubled and the number of working hours had increased from 10hrs to 12hrs a day, pay barely increased. In many mills, it actually decreased. Workers would have virtually no say in their conditions or wages, and while the company's profits soared, its work-force was reduced to a state of semi-slavery. So just remember whose blood, sweat, and tears paid for those libraries.  

Unlike The National newspaper, Henry Frick held a more honest view of his and Carnegie’s morality.

“You can tell Carnegie I’ll meet him. Tell him I’ll see him in Hell, where we both are going.” Frick explained.

Likewise, this anonymous poem well understood the Carnegie that The National refrains from exposing.

"A Man Named Carnegie"

Sing ho, for we know you, Carnegie;

God help us and save us, we know you too well;

You're crushing our wives and you're starving our babies;

In our homes you have driven the shadow of hell.

Then bow, bow down to Carnegie,

Ye men who are slaves to his veriest whim;

If he lowers your wages cheer, vassals, then cheer.

Ye are nothing but chattels and slaves under him.