The Burden of Harriman’s Power
Mr. Harriman, whose recent death deprived him of all earthly power, was in life master of 65,000 miles of railroad, president of sixteen corporations, the directing genius of twenty-seven more great companies, the controller of more than two billion dollars of other people’s money, the arbiter of properties earning $700,000,000 yearly, and employing 250,000 wage-earners. What wonder that he died? It was too much power for any one man to exercise for the good of humanity; it was too much burden for any one to bear physically. His will was one of the shortest on record. It consisted of but ninety-nine words, bestowing upon Mrs. Harriman all his property, real and personal, of every kind and nature, making her the executrix; but one journal has remarked that each word of the will was worth a million dollars—the estimate of the fortune that he leaves to her, making her the richest woman in the world.