George Westinghouse

Response to a Toast at the Dinner in Connection with the Annual Meeting of the District Managers of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company at the Duquesne Club, Pittsburg, December 3, 1903.

By Frank H. Taylor, Vice-President

GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE: Mechanic; Inventor; Financier; G Friend of Labor; Tireless Organizer; Founder of Enduring Industries.

What all the world knows needs only to be mentioned to you who are his associates in business:

The revolution in railroading wrought by the developed air brake;

The foresight that recognized the importance of the discovery of natural gas in the Pittsburg district and controlled its development;

The resourcefulness and ingenuity which won the great victory at the World's Fair in Chicago;

The courage that triumphed over the difficulties of a financial crisis;

The power that has led the unparalleled increase in the Westinghouse industries which, started but a few years ago, are now appalling in their size and extent;

The executive ability that has been the controlling factor in these interests, so numerous that no one here in an hour's time could write out a complete list of them.

These interests have grown so large and the number of responsible officers has become so great that Mr. Westinghouse is not as intimately known to you as I should desire, and as I am sure he himself would desire, if it were possible.

Some of the peculiarities which have aided him to acquire his present position may be illustrated. For example, it is unusual for an inventive genius to be so perfectly open-minded to the inventions of others. I sometimes think he is as happy over the discoveries of other minds as though they were his own. He has found a means for the development of new inventions all his life. Great intellects have worked for him, been encouraged and protected by him. I names at random: Shallenberger, Tesla, Scott, Parsons, Nernst, Cooper Hewitt, Thomas, Davis, Bremer, Lamme, Wurts, Lange.

His mind is constantly reaching out into the future, and after one has been much with him it becomes practically impossible to live altogether in the present, because there is brought to view at every turn possibilities of new things yet undeveloped which are to serve future generations at a time when the world has advanced far beyond its present stage. The imagination is constantly stimulated and interest kept alive by the new principle that is struggling on towards definite shape.

There is always present the evidence of good will toward every one; a quick appreciation of the good points of other people. In the course of his life he has been forsaken by friends who lacked courage to follow him, and in its main crisis he was greatly hampered by heart-breaking incidents of this kind. Yet no one has ever heard him say an unkind word of these men. His foresight is phenomenal. The industries in this country have grown up even faster than seemed wise to a great many who were associated with him. They did not see the value of what he was doing as clearly as he saw it, and time alone has justified the thoroughness with which plans have been laid, buildings designed and executed. Energy and expense have not been spared upon any of his works. They have been developed in such a way that they can be extended forever.

No sooner had provision been made for this country than many of his closest friends were startled by a move upon Europe and the markets of the world. Some men have charged this move to a mere ambition to plant his name in Europe. They wondered that he should tax his resources and take upon himself the tremendous strain which has finally resulted in the great organizations and plants in England, France, Russia and Germany.

The associates who questioned his wisdom did not have his foresight and did not see that these things were necessary for the protection of the initial developments in the United States. give no importance to my own judgment in this matter, but Mr. Westinghouse knew that the foundations here would have been insecure had not the foreign field been entered during his period of maximum activity. We shall live to see all the effort justified, and the Westinghouse interests the world over fitting together and helping one another.

After all, what is the ultimate aim of it? Men work for wealth, for social position, for the esteem of professional associates, for the applause of the world. These things may be nominated ambition and of that all men must plead guilty.

In the case of Mr. Westinghouse the aim is not immediate wealth. He has done his work too thoroughly to have that as his goal. From my closer observation of him I should determine that he meant to leave a monument upon the earth that shall be strong enough to stand alone without consolidation with other interests, and that shall bear his name for a hundred years. Napoleon's words to his brother when he was made ruler of Spain were: "My one word of advice to you-be master," and I anticipate that the Westinghouse interests will be master of anything they associate with during the next century. By that time the appreciation of what Mr. Westinghouse has done for the world will be clearer and more just than it is to-day.

Great men cannot be compared one with another. They are moulded by circumstances and no two are alike any more than two great trees are alike, yet no man is great who lacks certain essential qualities: First, he must at all times be just, and in the case before us this quality has prevailed. A great nature shows itself by being kind and considerate. The underlying sweetness of his spirit is illustrated by the watchword that he uses among all his interests-a constant repetition of a plea for harmonious action. Other virtues are shown by the cleanness of his life. You who have, at times, worked for other kinds of men must know the power that comes to those who work for a clean man, and one who demands soundness of thought and expression. He is never satisfied with surface appearances, but seems to look right through to the heart. His mind is so quick that he sees the essential point in a complicated situation even before the story can be fully told to him. Once determined upon his course, he is not to be laughed out of it, frightened out of it, nor bought off.

The boundless hospitality of his home has been often mentioned, but when one has had the opportunity repeatedly of seeing him there, he is impressed with the uniform cheerfulness of the man and of his sustained interest in every detail of household life. I saw somewhere a letter from a wife written upon the birthday of her middle-aged husband. In the letter this sentence appeared: "To me, you will always be my young lover." This one sentence defines Mr. Westinghouse in his home.

To one associated with him in business, it has often seemed that to be loved of the man is an aim worthy of a life of devotion to his interests.

I have referred to the fact that all men have their ambitions. Every one here is anxious for a broader field, and I am sure will attain to it. Yet every one of us has arrived at an age when we can make a fairly good estimate of our probable attainments. This is our annual dinner and it is a good time to take account of stock. My judgment is that there is in our organization an opportunity for every man to be satisfied. For myself, first of all, I want a conscience void of offense. Next, I want to leave some record in the world for my family. I should like to be remembered as one who has accomplished something. I, too, want to leave a monument. My ambition is not for popularity, nor for fortune. I am satisfied if I leave my children the inheritance that their father had been able to catch something of the spirit of a great leader, and that he had been somehow useful in perfecting that leader's work and in developing his plans. For me it shall be enough that I served under George Westinghouse; that I was accounted one of his efficient lieutenants.