Carnegie

by Raymond Lamont-Brown

  A careful trawl through Carnegie biographical material and commercial papers reveals several clues to his enigmatic character. First a look at his negative qualities, the favourite areas for his detractors. Carnegie was an autocrat: from the early days of childhood when he fought mock battles around the ruins of the Meal Mill on Monastery Street, Dunfermline, Carnegie exhibited his need to command, control and dominate every facet of his life; from boyhood days he had a belief in his own superiority which eventually earned him the nickname in the steel corridors of power as ‘the Great Egotist’. Was it his egotism, self-regard and vanity – traits in his character that his brother Tom abhorred – that made him think that he could buy world peace with his purse? Often too, Carnegie’s ‘selfs’ got mixed up: his small stature and childhood background of poverty helped to make him self-reliant, but it also made him self-serving, and his conceit and immodesty led to a confident air that was often interpreted as arrogance. Consequently too, Carnegie never admitted that he had ever made a mistake, but always expressed in public – without any hint of self-irony – that he was modest. He always advised his youthful audiences at St Andrews and elsewhere never to bear grudges – but he did not heed his own words, for he could be spiteful and loved to ‘rub’ his opponents’ noses ‘in the dirt’. For instance, he never forgot nor forgave Thomas A. Scott for ‘stealing’ the girl Carnegie was in love with; she was Anna Duke Riddle, daughter of the owner of the Pittsburgh Journal. Scott married Anna, and thus Carnegie rejoiced when Scott failed in business.8

  Although Carnegie worked with a large number of colleagues, ultimately he was unable to share power, as his relationship with Henry Clay Frick, for one, was to show. Carnegie also suffered from paranoia and if anything went wrong with his business he took it as a personal attack on himself. From time to time he was unable to be discreet; he tended to think out loud and often did not consider the potential consequences of what he said. His detractors considered him a hypocrite, citing the fact that he said he hated the aristocracy but hobnobbed with lords; he proclaimed he was a pacifist, yet he made a fortune out of armaments of one kind or another.

  Andrew Carnegie was a great meddler in the work he set for others, and in the businesses he handed over to others. When he became rich he seemed to feel that his wealth gave him the right to interfere in American and British politics. His money backed the Republican cause in America and the Liberals in Britain, but in the long run he was only oiling the party machines rather than making a lasting contribution, although his autobiographical writings would give the contrary view. Undoubtedly his biggest blunder was his belief that he could persuade, or even outwit, such men as Kaiser Wilhelm II and become St Andrew, the Bringer of Peace. Although remembered worldwide as a celebrated rags-to-riches industrialist, Andrew Carnegie is still reviled by many in Pittsburgh. Thus no statue has ever been set up for him in the place he made most of his money, although in 2004 the city fathers installed a statue to local boy the actor and dancer Gene Kelly.

  What of Carnegie’s strong points? He had a natural charm, enhanced by his Fife-Dunfermline brogue, which he used to persuade people to see his point of view. Employees like Charles Schwab were captivated by his personality, although there were a few exceptions, notably Henry Clay Frick. His charm led to success as a salesman of steel railways and iron bridges, for instance, and in the promotion of sleeping-cars. It made it easy for him to make friends; Carnegie always needed such folk about him, yet his personality drove him to use them for his own ends. He thus manipulated ‘the Original Six’ as a gauge for his own advancement: were they more popular than him socially? Were they more adroit than him in the workplace, and so on? In a way he also learned this from his mother: ‘What’s in it for us?’ she would ask of his latest ventures. Carnegie found great strength from his family background, with his mother as the pivotal point, yet he was a bully to his young brother and later his wife Louise would feel that she would never in his eyes match up to his mother. Again, although he had youthful respect for his father, and was sympathetic and understanding about the economic problems that William Carnegie faced, in his heart Carnegie really looked upon his father as a failure. No known photograph of William Carnegie ever appeared in the Carnegie archives (nor in Carnegie’s autobiography), and the family relics Carnegie locked away after his mother’s death in 1886 were all hers. It should be mentioned too, that Carnegie could be fiercely loyal to his friends, sometimes when it was not in his interests to do so. Thus he gave his genuine friendship to the Phipps family – after all, they had employed his mother in their lean weeks at Slabtown – but he backed the wrong horse when giving his loyalty to Thomas Miller in the rival Cyclops iron mill venture. Nevertheless, it is from his strong points that one can see how Carnegie found the road to riches.

  Carnegie set out a number of important steps to success in making money and a prominent place for oneself in life. First, he discovered, came a positive appetite to succeed in accumulating money. Then he said one should set out financial goals with a clear idea of the specific sums required. This should be followed by what the individual was going to perform to get this money with the realisation that there was never ‘something for nothing’. And, said Carnegie, endeavour should round off these initial thoughts with a specific date when the main targets would be achieved.

  ‘Create a plan of action’ was Carnegie’s advice for those wishing to accumulate wealth and position. At various times in his life Carnegie reassessed his own plans as seen in his 1868 memorandum to himself written at the St Nicholas Hotel, New York. He believed too, that one should study exactly how the wealthy accumulated their funds. Another key to success in Carnegie’s eyes was visualisation of success. This he had learned from his uncle George Lauder, whose verbal pictures of the deeds of such heroes as Sir William Wallace had been so vivid for Carnegie. George Lauder also helped the young Carnegie achieve self-reliance in giving him business tasks to do from the grocer’s shop at Dunfermline. From this Carnegie learned the importance of choosing the right mentors – people to help the individual advance – and the need to associate with successful people; he also developed his natural need to be noticed, helped along by his uncle Tom Morrison’s example as a public speaker. Another key for the establishment of a good business structure, the Carnegie way, was to put in positions of responsibility people who were more accomplished than oneself. All of these factors and characteristics made Carnegie the man he was and enabled him to achieve. His vanity and self-absorption, his opinionatedness and business practices made him an easy target for detractors, just as his generosity made him a hero in philanthropic circles. Thus Carnegie became an enigma. To find the real Carnegie, then, one has to look at the entirety of his life and place it within the society and era in which he lived; only then will the conundrum that is Carnegie be unravelled.

  APPENDIX I

  THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNEGIE TRUSTS

  In 1901 Andrew Carnegie sold the Carnegie Company for $480 million to US financier John Pierpont Morgan, and retired from business to devote himself to philanthropy. Although he received an average of 400–500 ‘begging letters’ per day, and responded with personal cheques to individual projects which appealed to him, his philosophy was to help people to help themselves. He did not believe that throwing money at the poor helped them at all; he considered that wealthy persons could manage their own money better for the benefit of the poor, rather than the poor trying to juggle donated money on their own.

  Today in the UK there are a number of main Carnegie Trusts. Three of them are administered from Abbey Park House, Dunfermline: the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust; the Carnegie Hero Fund Trust; and the Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Memorial Fund.

  The Carnegie Dunfermline Trust was founded in 1903. In a letter to the trustees, Carnegie described his thinking behind the promotion of such an establishment: ‘To bring into the monotonous lives of the toiling masses of Dunfermline more of sweetness and light . . . The problem you have to solve is – “Wh
at can be done in towns for the benefit of the masses by money in the hands of the most public-spirited citizens?”’ Slowly from 1903 the trust began to touch many aspects of life within Dunfermline and its environs, from clinics to colleges, and from arts to education. Today technology, art, community projects, music schools, sport and heritage are all among the funding activities of the trust.

  The Carnegie Hero Fund Trust was founded in 1908 with this as the stated purpose: ‘To place those following peaceful vocations, who have been injured in heroic efforts to save human life, in somewhat better positions pecuniarily than before, until again able to work; in case of death, the widow and children to be provided for.’ Today the fund oversees the welfare of some 170 men, women and children with financial assistance apportioned in three categories: the dependants of persons who have died; persons who have been injured; persons who have incurred appreciable financial loss through performing acts of heroism in peaceful pursuits.

  The Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Memorial Fund was founded in 1926 with the intent of recounting the life story of Andrew Carnegie. It was endowed by his widow and in 1928 a Memorial Hall was built next to Carnegie’s actual birthplace at Moodie Street, Dunfermline. Today the museum has a permanent display of Carnegie artefacts and organises relevant exhibitions, events and educational projects, heritage tourism and guided walks.

  During 2002 the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust processed grants totalling £116,173; the Carnegie Hero Fund Trust expended resources of £146,676; and the Birthplace Memorial Fund disbursed £46,772. As well as administrative staff and heritage guides, the trusts are managed by a Board of Trustees.

  The Carnegie United Kingdom Trust is administered from Comely Park House, Dunfermline, and was founded in 1913 and incorporated by royal charter in 1917. Its purpose was defined as ‘For the improvement of the well-being of the masses of the people of Great Britain and Ireland, by such means as . . . the Trustees may, from time to time, select as best fitted from age to age for securing these purposes, remembering that new needs are constantly arising as the masses advance . . .’ In its early days the trustees were busy endowing grants for church organs and libraries; by 1919 some 3,500 organs had been funded and the creation of community-based libraries continued until the implementation of the Public Libraries Act of 1947. Major areas of activity have included the funding of projects ranging from village halls to social services and from youth groups to mental welfare organisations. During 2002 the trust received a total income of £1.44 million and disbursed £968,000 in grants.

  The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland was founded in 1901 and the Trust Deed defined its purpose as ‘Providing funds for the improving and extending the opportunities for scientific study and research in the Universities of Scotland, my native land, and by rendering attendance at these Universities and the enjoyment of their advantages more available to the deserving and qualified youth of that country . . .’ The trust is administered from The Merchants’ Hall, Hanover Street, Edinburgh.

  Early Carnegie benefactions were centred on his home town of Dunfermline. In 1873 he allocated $25,000 for swimming baths in the burgh which were opened by him as the Carnegie Free Baths on 12 July 1877. On 29 August 1883 the memorial stone of the Carnegie Free Library was laid by Mrs William Carnegie at Dunfermline; the cost of the building was £8,000. Named after his uncle George Lauder, the Lauder Technical School was opened at Dunfermline on 10 October 1889; it was built and equipped for £10,000. Carnegie himself laid the memorial stone for the New Carnegie Baths on 16 July 1902 and the baths were opened on 31 March 1905. And in 1903, the year of the formation of the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust, Carnegie gifted Pittencrieff Park and Glen to the people of Dunfermline. There followed a multitude of contributions to local amenities and services in Dunfermline, from bowling greens to music benefactions, and from playing fields to the Carnegie Centre in Pilmuir Street (1901–5), the College of Hygiene and Physical Education (1905), Carnegie Clinics in Pilmuir and Inglis Streets (1911–12), and the posthumous Carnegie Hall at East Port (1933–7).

  Carnegie saw his trusts as becoming part of the fabric of both his homeland and his adopted country. ‘It is built to stand for ages and during those ages it is probable that this hall will intertwine itself with the history of our country, said Carnegie when he opened New York’s $200 million grand Renaissance-style Music Hall on 57th Street, New York, in May 1891 (it was renamed the Carnegie Hall in 1894). He was right; ‘making it’ at Carnegie Hall equated with being a success in the United States; here Antonin Dvořák unveiled his New World Symphony on 15 December 1893, and the Beatles played deafening concerts here in 1964.

  A more widespread plan of donations, before Andrew Carnegie finally devoted himself to various aspects of philanthropy, began with the foundation of the Carnegie Institute. This commenced with a gift of money for a library and music hall at Pittsburgh, completed and opened on 5 November 1895; an art gallery and museum were added in 1907. The Carnegie Institute today is sited at 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh.

  Any summary of the main Carnegie trusts and benefactions from 1901 until his death in 1919 also includes the following:

  1901

  Carnegie Relief Fund: this was created for the financial relief of, and pensions for, Carnegie Steel workers.

  1902

  Carnegie Institution of Washington: founded as a research and educational institution.

  1904

  Carnegie Hero Fund Commission in US.

  1905

  Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

  1906

  Simplified Spelling Board; founded to make English easier to read and write for ‘the masses throughout the world’. It was intended to be a platform for Carnegie’s international peace philosophy.

  1909

  Foundation Carnegie, France.

  1910

  Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: intended to promote the abolition of international war.

  1911

  Carnegie Belonningsfud for Heltemod, Denmark.

  Carnegie Corporation of New York.

  Carnegie Heldenfonds, Netherlands.

  Carnegie Heltefond for Norge, Norway.

  Foundation Carnegie, Belgium.

  Fondazione Carnegie, Italy.

  Carnegie Stiftelsens, Sweden.

  1912

  Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh: now Carnegie-Mellon University.

  1918

  Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association: founded primarily to supply pensions for teachers.

  APPENDIX II

  ANDREW CARNEGIE BIRTHPLACE MUSEUM

  The Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum stands at the corner of Moodie Street and Priory Lane, Dunfermline. At 2 Moodie Street, the actual birthplace, is a restored late eighteenth-century pantile cottage with swept wallhead dormer windows. It was once the end of a terrace and a portion of the earlier single-storey building – used as a shop – was demolished in the twentieth century to reveal a north-facing gable pierced with two upper-apartment windows. The south-facing gable was breached to link with the memorial building of 1928 designed by James Shearer, a construction he flavoured with seventeenth-century Scots styles.

  The Carnegie Birthplace Memorial Fund and Museum was founded in 1926 with the intent: ‘To tell the story of Andrew Carnegie’s humble beginnings and his remarkable achievements.’ Louise Carnegie’s original wish was to establish a ‘Memorial Treasure House’ for her husband’s honours. From her original endowment of £10,000 and a further £2,000 in 1932, this fund has received regular endowments and grants; Mrs Margaret Carnegie Miller (daughter) continued the family endowments during her lifetime.

  The first Museums Director was appointed in the late 1960s and during 1983–4 an important renovation programme was undertaken at the museum through a fund supported inter alia by the Carnegie Trusts and the then Scottish Tourist Board.

  The visitor enters the museum though one of the original front doors of the
cottage from Moodie Street whose alignment has greatly changed from Andrew Carnegie’s time, with facing buildings demolished. From the reception area the visitor is led through the series of rooms on two levels that Andrew Carnegie would have known as a child. One room exhibits a loom of the style invented by the French silk-weaver from Lyon, Joseph Marie Jacquard. On such a loom Carnegie’s father William worked his fine damask cloth. Period furniture, a wall-bed and other artefacts show how the Carnegie family lived in the 1830s; the furniture includes a desk given to Mrs Ailie Henderson, who had lent them £20 towards their passage to America in 1848. Other displays show Carnegie family and local Dunfermline history relevant to the period of Andrew Carnegie’s childhood.