George F. Baer Quotes
Anthracite [coal] mining is a business and not a religious, sentimental, or academic proposition.
What is interesting about this quotation is that there was great argument at the time that business—in this case coal mining—had an obligation to provide safe working conditions for the miners, require reasonable work hours, and pay a fair wage. Baer and most other industrialists of the time were of the opinion that the only obligation that it owed was to its shareholders. Business had not moral or ethical obligations to workers. Theodore Roosevelt and the reformers of the day challenged that notion, and it seemed to have been resolved in the New Deal of FDR. However, in the last quarter of the 20th century, there was a conservative economic and political movement that went back to this position of Baer’s. While many corporations adapted that view in the 21st century, many did not, and some like Starbucks and Google urged an even greater ethical obligation to workers than ever.
George F. Baer, 1842-1914, President, Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, President, Franklin & Marshall College Statement, May 12, 1902
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
There were many Americans and Mexicans who believed that the conquest of all of Mexico was well under way, our having earlier obtained Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, California, and Arizona.
At the time, the mine owners and operators claimed that they had NO obligations to their workers—not even to ensure a safe mine. There was no OSHA and workers died and were maimed on the job much more frequently than they do today. Many mine owners now accept that they have obligations to the workers, and the rest are required to have responsible and safe working conditions by law and OSHA regulations.
This was the classic weakness of colonies where the colonial power was only interested in importing a raw material—in this case, gold. Everything else tends to be ignored—even today. With independence, things often do not change and the export of raw material like oil, tin or lumber dominates the whole economy to the exclusion of the rest of the economy
George Frederick Baer was an American lawyer who was the President of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and spokesman for the owners during the Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902.
