George Howard Earle Jr. (July 6, 1856 – February 19, 1928) was an American lawyer and businessman from Philadelphia who worked as a receiver and rescued multiple businesses from financial hardship. He was a political reformer and a member of the Committee of One Hundred in Philadelphia which worked to end bossism politics in the city.
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Early life and education
Earle was born in Philadelphia to George H. Earle Sr. and Mrs. Frances ("Fanny") Van Leer Earle. He was a member of the influential Van Leer family, grandson of abolitionist and philanthropist Thomas Earle and great-great-grandson of American Revolutionary War Officer Samuel Van Leer
He graduated from Harvard University (1879) and was admitted to the Philadelphia bar on December 15, 1862. He worked as a lawyer in the firm of Earle & White in Philadelphia.
Career
He was known for his abilities as a "business doctor" and rescued many organizations from financial ruin after being appointed as receiver and reorganizer. He was appointed as president and director to nearly two dozen Philadelphia companies and corporations including The Guarantee Trust and Safe Deposit Company, the Finance Company of Philadelphia, the Trademen's Bank, the Market Street National, the Reading Railroad, the Chestnut Street National Bank, the Chestnut Street Trust Company and the Real Estate Trust Company.
Along with his father, Earle was a member of the Committee of One Hundred (Philadelphia)—"a non-partisan effort in aid of good government" dedicated to ending bossism politics in Philadelphia in the late 1800s. This committee of reformers consisted initially of Independent Republicans who sought to reform the management of the Republican party; however, it would eventually lose influence and effectiveness. Some of the reasons for the ineffectiveness was the division between reformers over the question of partisanship, poor organization, dislike of political activism, an autocratic manner and being geographically isolated from the city. Earle later remarked that it had been "essentially aristocratic in temperament." Despite the committee's failure to bring about a lasting, broad-scale influence in the city, Earle would continue to speak up for good government practices, and for the protection of political liberty for all Americans.
On October 3, 1896, at a Republican meeting in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, Earle urged his "fellow citizens" to vote for McKinley over Bryan, stating:
...a false prophet has come among you... who, in a country where all are in the highest class—that of the American citizens—tries to divide us into many, and then set those classes against each other; who tries to set State against State, section against section, and so nullify the great work for which Abraham Lincoln gave his life; who tries to lead us into paths of dishonor and asks us to disgrace the country for which we would give our lives...
It would not be the last time Earle would warn about the threat of populism. In a letter to Pennsylvania Governor Samuel Pennypacker on May 16, 1906, Earle wrote of his concern that then President Theodore Roosevelt might be yielding to the latest "craze" of "Bryanism"—i.e., yielding to populism instead of standing on principle with regard to public policy—serving to discredit the Republican party:
Personal life
Earle married Catharine H. French on 12 December 1881, two years after he graduated from Harvard. Together they had ten children including George Howard Earle III who became Governor of Pennsylvania from 1935 to 1939.
Earle died on 19 February 1928 at his home in Rittenhouse Square after being ill for nearly a year. He is buried at the Church of the Redeemer churchyard in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
Six years after Mr. Earle's death, his oldest son, George H. Earle III, would run for Governor of Pennsylvania on the Democratic ticket. A New York Times article reported that the candidate's mother, Mrs. George H. Earle Jr., registered as a Republican that election year. Upon being asked why she did not register as a Democrat, she answered simply, "I have always been a Republican." Her party affiliation did not keep her from appearing with her son at a Democratic rally just days before, however, where she would receive an ovation from the crowd. The article also reports that Democratic city chairman John B. Kelly—"former bricklayer who had become a wealthy contractor"—said it was only "through a misunderstanding" that Mrs. Earle registered Republican—although in light of her husband's history with and dedication to the "Party of Lincoln," Mr. Kelly's statement may have been made solely for political purposes. George Earle III went on to win the governorship, and was the first Democratic governor of Pennsylvania since Robert E. Pattison took office in 1891, stating later that he "literally rode into office on the coat-tails of President Roosevelt, and [has] no hesitation in saying so." A grandson, Ralph Earle II—son to the former governor—would be born just months after Earle Jr.'s death, and would become a U.S. Ambassador, and "chief negotiator at the SALT II round of talks on nuclear disarmament."
List of works
The Liberty to Trade as Buttressed by National Law 84pp. (1909)
Plan of Bill Proposed by Hon. George H. Earle Jr., Philadelphia. Proposed amendment/revision to Sherman Antitrust law (1911)
Catalogue of the magnificent collection of ancient Greek and Roman, European, Oriental, early American and United States coins of George H. Earle Jr., Esq., Philadelphia 225pp. (1912)
Does Price Fixing Destroy Liberty? A consideration of certain economic and common law principles applying to governmental interferences with the liberty of trade. 183pp. (1920)
Is Capital Income? Does the power of taxation to destroy extend to the destruction of constitutional guarantees? 42pp. (1921)
Articles
A Central Bank as a Menace to Liberty (1908)
Half a Slap and Half a Boost (1912)
Letters
Letter to Samuel W. Pennypacker from George H. Earle Jr., May 16, 1906
Court testimony
Testimony of George H. Earle Jr. (7 Feb 1891) Seventh meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee to investigate the cause of the failures of state and private banks.
"Testimony of Mr. George H. Earle Jr.", Hearings Held Before the Special Committee on the Investigation of the American Sugar Refining Co. and Others. Vol. 2, p. 1217-1272. House of Representatives: Washington Government Printing Office (1911)
"Statement of George H. Earle Jr., Real Estate Trust Co., Broad and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, PA." (6 December 1911) Hearing Before the Committee on Interstate Commerce, United States Senate, Sixty-Second Congress, Pursuant to S. Res. 98: A resolution directing the Committee on Interstate Commerce to investigate and report desirable changes in the laws regulating and controlling corporations, persons, and firms engaged in interstate commerce. (1912) Vol. I, p. 770-810.
Works about George H. Earle Jr.
George H. Earle Jr., Doctor to Ailing Corporations by John Kimberly Mumford. (Munsey's Magazine, February 1910)
The Wizardry of George H. Earle Jr. (Current Literature, November 1911)
"Shows Monopoly to Have Been a Menace for Centuries: George H. Earle Jr., Noted Philadelphia Business Man, Tells Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce Sherman Law Should be Strengthened—Cites History to Prove Continual Fight Against, and Evils of, Monopoly—How to Amend the Law." (Telephony, 3 February 1912)