27. "This work is the outgrowth of an effort on the part of the editors of McClure's
Magazine (who) decided a few years ago to publish a detailed narrative of
the history of the growth of a particular trust. The Standard Oil Trust was
chosen for obvious reasons. It was the first in the field, and it has furnished
the methods, the charter, and the traditions for its followers... Its vast profits
have led its officers into various allied interests, such as railroads, shipping,
gas, copper, iron, steel It has led in the struggle against legislation
directed against combinations. Its power in state and Federal government,
in the press... is generally recognised. The perfection of the organisation of
the Standard, the ability and daring with which it has carried out its projects,
make it the pre-eminent trust of the world-the one whose story is best fitted
to illuminate the subject of combinations of capital."
-- from The History of the Standard Oil Company, 1904
This passage is from the preface to whose Muckraking masterpiece?