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John D.Rockefeller(1839—1937)
John Davidson Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York in 1839. He attended the Cleveland Central High School and at 16 he became a clerk in a commission house. Determined to work for himself, Rockefeller saved all the money he could and in 1850 went into business with a young Englishman, Maurice Clark. The company, Clark & Rockefeller Produce and Commission, sold farm implements, fertilizers and household goods.
Rockefeller's company was fairly successful but did not bring him the wealth he desired. In 1862 Rockefeller heard that Samuel Andrews had developed a better and cheaper way of refining crude petroleum. Rockefeller sold his original business and invested it in a new company he set up with Andrews called Standard Oil.
One of the business problems that Rockefeller encountered was the high cost of transporting his oil to his Cleveland refineries (40 cents a barrel) and the refined oil to New York ($2 a barrel).
Rockefeller negotiated an exclusive deal with the railway company where he guaranteed sixty car-loads a day. In return the transport prices were reduced to 35 cents and $1.30. The cost of his oil was reduced and his sales increased dramatically.
Within a year four of his thirty competitors were out of business. Eventually Standard Oil monopolized oil refining in Cleveland. Rockefeller now bought out Samuel Andrews for a million dollars and turned his attentions to controlling the oil industry throughout the United States. His competitors were given the choice of being swallowed up by Standard Oil or being crushed. By 1890 Rockefeller's had swollen into an immense monopoly which could fix its own prices and terms of business because it had no competitors. In 1896 Rockefeller was worth about $200 million.
In November 1902, Ira Tarbell, one of the leading muckraking journalists in the United States, began a series of articles in McClure's Magazine on how Rockefeller had achieved a monopoly in refining, transporting and marketing oil. This material was eventually published as a book, History of the Standard Oil Company (1904). Rockefeller responded to these attacks by describing Tarbell as "Miss Tarbarrel".
President Theodore Roosevelt, who had been elected on a program that included reducing the power of large corporations, attempted to use the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to deal with Rockefeller's monopoly of the oil industry. This was largely ineffective and it was not until 1911 that the Supreme Court dissolved the Standard Oil monopoly.
The various press campaigns against Rockefeller had turned him into one of America's most hated men. A devout Baptist, Rockefeller began giving his money away. He set up the Rockefeller Foundation to "promote the well-being of mankind". Over the next few years Rockefeller gave over $500 million in aid of medical research, universities and Baptist churches. He was also a major supplier of funds to organizations such as the Anti-Saloon League that was involved in the campaign for prohibition. By the time that he died died on 23rd My, 1937, John Davidson Rockefeller had become a popular national figure.
Key words: businessman founder of Standard Oil
洛克菲勒(1839—1937)
约翰·洛克菲勒出生在美国东北部一个小村，家境贫寒。幼年时，曾将别人送他的一对火鸡精心喂养成群，挑好的在集市上出售。12 岁时积蓄了50 美元，他把钱借给邻居，收取本息。
在克利夫兰商业学校毕业后，曾任一运输公司会计，三年积蓄900 美元。他未参加南北战争，却在战争中捞取了1.7 万美元。他沉默寡言，把全部精力倾注在金钱上。23 岁时起，他靠炼油厂获得了很多财富。1870 年，他把两座炼油厂和石油输出商行合并，创建俄亥俄美孚石油公司。此后不到两年的时间，他的公司以惊人的速度吞并发展。接着，为控制全国石油工业，他操纵纽约中央铁路公司和伊利公司同宾夕法尼亚公司开展铁路运费方面的竞争。结果，在8 年内，美孚石油公司炼油能力从占全美4%猛增到95%。美孚公司几乎控制了美国全部工业和几条大铁路干线。1882 年，它成为美国历史上第一个托拉斯。后来，洛克菲勒财团又形成由花旗银行、大通—曼哈顿银行等四家大银行和三家保险公司组成的金融核心机构，这七大企业控制全国银行资产的12%和全国保险业资产的26%，洛氏家族通过它们影响工业企业决策。
洛克菲勒财团创办基金会，向教育、文化、医疗卫生和其他社会团体赠款，扩大影响和势力。洛克菲勒财团还指派亲信人物担任政府要职，如曾任国务卿的杜勒斯、腊斯克都担任过洛氏基金会董事长的职务;基辛格出任国务卿之前，曾担任纳尔逊·洛克菲勒(老洛克菲勒之孙)的外交政策私人顾问。该家族的成员也活跃于政治舞台，左右内政和外交政策，如纳尔逊·洛克菲勒就曾担任1974—1977 年美国副总统。
n. 禁止，禁令 Prohibition：禁酒
