George Gunton

George Gunton (September 8, 1845 – September 11, 1919) was an influential figure in the labor movement of the United States around the turn of the 20th century and was an avid supporter of industrial combinations and trusts. He was a close colleague of Ira Steward, and upon Steward's death in 1883 he agreed to complete and prepare for publication a book that Steward had been writing. Gunton found only notes, not a nearly complete book. Deciding the notes were not sufficient for editing, Gunton discarded them, instead building on the ideas of his colleague to formulate his own book on the labor movement, ''Wealth and Progress'', which was published in 1887, followed by ''Principles of Social Economics'' in 1891. He founded a school, the Institute of Social Economics, in 1891, with the aim of educating the masses in the path of responsible citizenship.

Gunton was the editor of ''Gunton's Magazine'', a goal-oriented publication, which drew many prominent thinkers of his time. An early supporter and adviser to Theodore Roosevelt, Gunton later became a vocal critic of the president, when the administration began attacking trusts, forming a Bureau of Corporations with full investigative powers in 1903. Though Gunton was accused in his life of being bought by big business, he genuinely believed, and made good argument to the fact, that well organized capital was vital to the protection of the rights of a well-organized labor force. Provided by Wikipedia