They debated
putting Mr. Baruch on the commission to reorganize the executive
departments of the government. All had their eyes on the same
ambition and the same wealth!
Several daily newspapers in New York, and I know not how many
magazines and weeklies, have been offered at one time or another to
Mr. Baruch, for it is known that one of his ideas of public service
is to own and edit a great liberal journal, a "Manchester Guardian"
of America. But an opportunity to buy a newspaper in New York is an
opportunity to invest $3,000,000 or $4,000,000, to lose $500,000 or
more for several years thereafter and to become the national figure
that Mr. Ochs is, or Mr. Reid is, or Mr. Munsey is, certainly
something far short of the American Disraeli or even the Baruch of
the War Industries Board.
Mr. Baruch, you will observe, has no vulgar illusions about what
money will buy. He likes money. It brings with it a certain
personal enlargement. It adds to the romance of himself in his own
eyes, as well as in the eyes of others. It procures the flattering
ears of journalists, and a place on front pages, and, if one
inclines toward ostentation, even the ownership of a newspaper
itself.
But money will not buy a commanding place in public life. And even
if it would buy such a place he would not be content to do other
than earn one.
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