Book: Problems of To-day

Overview
Andrew Carnegie’s 1908 collection Problems of To-day gathers his arguments on the new industrial order, its wealth, its conflicts, and its proposed remedies. Drawing on the experience of a self-made magnate turned philanthropist, he surveys the relations between capital and labor, the rise of vast combinations, the temptations of socialism, and the responsibilities of private fortune. The essays advance a consistent thesis: modern industry has multiplied national wealth and living standards, but to retain legitimacy it must be disciplined by law, enlightened by public spirit, and humanized by philanthropy that enlarges opportunity rather than dispensing alms.

Wealth and Philanthropy
Carnegie reiterates the doctrine often summarized as the “Gospel of Wealth.” Large fortunes are a by-product of productive enterprise and should be viewed as a trust. The best uses of surplus wealth are those that create ladders, libraries, schools, universities, research institutions, parks, and cultural endowments, enabling the motivated to improve themselves. He condemns indiscriminate charity that fosters dependence, and he criticizes the bequest of immense estates to heirs, arguing that it harms both society and the heir. He favors steep inheritance taxation to recycle unneeded fortunes into public purposes, praising such taxation as the least objectionable and most civic of levies.

Labor, Wages, and Industrial Peace
The book acknowledges the dignity and power of organized labor while warning against the destructiveness of strikes and boycotts. Unions are “inevitable and often beneficial,” provided they are led responsibly and anchored in accurate knowledge of business conditions. Carnegie urges regularized conciliation and arbitration, open books when necessary to establish facts, and long-term wage agreements that tie compensation to market realities and productivity. He insists that antagonism between employer and employee is not a law of nature; mutual prosperity depends on cooperation, frank communication, and mechanisms that settle disputes without violence or interruption of production.

Socialism and the State
Carnegie rejects state ownership and collectivist schemes on practical and moral grounds. He argues that private initiative and competition are the engines of progress, turning scarcity into abundance through invention and efficient organization. State control would sap responsibility, slow improvement, and politicize industry. Yet he does not defend wealth without limits: he welcomes regulation against abuses, supports publicity for corporate accounts, and endorses taxes that prevent the ossification of privilege. Equality before the law and equality of opportunity, not equality of results, form his ideal.

Trusts, Competition, and the Tariff
Industrial combination, in Carnegie’s view, is a natural stage of development. Large enterprises can produce more cheaply, standardize quality, and reduce waste. The task of government is not to smash efficiency but to prevent monopoly power from being used to extort the public. He calls for federal oversight, transparency, and the curbing of unfair practices. He links the problem of monopoly to high protective tariffs, arguing that tariff walls shelter trusts from foreign competition, tax consumers, including workers, and foster inefficiency. Lower tariffs and exposure to world markets would discipline combinations more effectively than lawsuits alone.

Civic Life, Immigration, and Education
Carnegie defends the openness of American society and the contributions of immigrants, insisting that assimilation, public schooling, and English-language education are the proper remedies for social friction. He places particular hope in libraries and technical education to bridge class divides, equip workers for modern industry, and enlarge the middle ground where labor and capital can meet on common interests. He also extends the ethic of arbitration from industry to international relations, arguing that the same reasoned settlement that averts strikes can avert wars and release resources for human betterment.

Significance
Problems of To-day distills a reformist capitalist program: preserve competitive enterprise, temper it with fair regulation and transparency, channel private fortunes to public ends, and institutionalize arbitration in place of industrial war. It is both a defense of the gains of modern industry and a blueprint for making those gains socially tolerable and widely accessible.