of course, appreciates this, and is grateful for the support of so noble and disinterested a worm; he writes:
Your letter of May 3rd is received. I thank you for your words
of approval in connection with my stand on the question of the
rights of the independent workers.
But of course, as a business man, Mr. Rockefeller has to
be cautious. He has to know what he is buying. He will pay
for the silk which a worm can make, but not until it is made.
I have looked over the number of the "Fra" which you have sent
me with interest, and shall be glad to see the article which you are
proposing to write regarding the Colorado situation.
Not too cordial; but the worm has written books on Salesmanship,
explaining how you must not give up at one rebuff,
but must come back again and again, wearing the other fellow
down. He tries again:
On May 3rd I sent you a copy of the "Copper Country" number
of the "Fra" magazine. Our friends up north have distributed a large
number of these, sending the magazines out from here, duly blue-penciled.
I have upwards of a million names of members of Boards of Trade, Chambers of Commerce, Advertising Clubs, Rotarians, Jovians, school teachers, all judges, members of Congress, etc.
It seems to me that we could well afford to circulate a certain number of copies of the "Fra" containing a judicious and truthful write-up of the situation in Colorado.
"Judicious and truthful," you note. Never would our
noble worm write anything that was not truthful; while as for
being judicious, it is a virtue desperately needed in this crisis,
while agitators are parading back and forth in front of the
entrance to Mr. Rockefeller's office building! The judicious
worm has observed our antics and their success and he tactfully
reminds Mr. Rockefeller of this:
Just here I cannot refrain from expressing my admiration for
the advertising genius displayed by those very industrious, hardworking
people Bill Haywood, Charles Moyer, Mother Jones, Emma
Goldman, Lincoln Steffens and Upton Sinclair. They are continually
stating their side of the controversy. I believe if we would state ours,
not of course in the same way or with the same vehemence, that we
would be benefiting the world to a very great degree.
The worm is all for benefiting the world; not for benefiting
the worm—nor even for benefiting Rockefeller! But the
