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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (June 23, 1905)
"yfflWjMi"p' v 'W ' Tywr wttw-t: TUNE 23, 1905 The Commoner. KQpJTJIBH , mww ag ity "'n pnu . tpf&gitfgft3B&'. PWPrftflfliii'rBA GDPICSJ ,1. IMMEJT'Tf'"' ' Srfauaf."--V--YfTfc, IN FEBRUARY President Roosevelt appointed Judson Harmon of Cincinnati and F. M. Jud son of St. Louis, to investigate the charges made by the interstate commdrce commission against the Santa Fe railroad, of which, road Paul Morton, secretary of the navy, was at one time traffic manager. As a witness before the United States distriot court, Mr. Morton, while serving as a Santa Fe official, said: "We tried the costly ex periment of being honest in this thing living lip to the law as we understood It, and declining to pay rebates and we lost so much business that we found we have got to do as the Romans did." Messrs. Harmon and Judson made the in vestigation which, as they were assured by Mr. Roosevelt at the time of their appointment, was "with the view of taking such legal proceedings as seemed justified." MESSRS. HARMON AND JUDSON have com pleted their investigation and tile New YorkWorld is authority for the. statement that they recommended that the prosecution of Paul Morton is justified. The World says, however, that the administration has decided that Mr. Mor ton must not be prosecuted, and that Messrs. Harmon and Judson will resign in disgust. THE report that Messrs. Harmon and Judson would "resign in disgust" because Attorney General Moody would not act on their recom mendation and prosecute Paul Morton, has been corroborated. An Associated Press dispatch un der date of Cincinnati June 14, says: "Judge Judson Harmon, who was engaged with F. N. Judson of St. Louis by Attorney General Moody to investigate charges that the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad was granting rebates to the Colorado Fuel and Iron company, today gave out the following statement in which' he confirms the report that he had terminated his commission with the government: 'As the dispatch was given to the press which asked me in connection with Mr. Judson to undertake the duty of investigating and 'reporting on the alleged rebates given by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad to the Colorado Fuel and Iron company, I think there should now be no mystery about what has be come of the matter. Mr. Judson and myself made the investigation and recommended that certain proceedings be taken. The attorney general dis approved our recommendations, as lie had a per fect right to do. The nature and circumstances of our appointment seemed to impose a degree of important responsibility and we thought our duty required us to adhere to our views. We have so notified the attorney general and retired from further connection with the matter.' " WHAT was called a reform in Equitable af fairs has turned out to be the capture of the Equitable Assurance company by the Thomas F. Ryan syndicate. Mr. Ryan has chosen Paul Morton, now secretary of the navy, to be the active head of Equitable affairs. The New York World say's: "Mr. Ryan recognizes that people who haye had experience with his management pf other public corporations will regard with mis givings his control of the Equitable. To dispel this apprehension he seeks to have a former president of the United States, the presiding jus tice of the appellate division and- a great Pitts burg manufacturer stand as sponsors for him. His letter of invitation has been published. Plow can any of the invited accept in view of the warning as to their lack of power plainly stated in these words of Mr. Ryan: 'The duties of the trust would "be very light, as in the nature of things when a satisfactory board is once consti tuted there are few changes, and all the clerical and formal work would be done by the office force of the company.'" But the former presi dent, the presiding justice and the Pittsburg man ufacturer have accepted, and now Mr. Ryan will proceed to build up the Equitable and, as is be lieved by many, to create the most gigantic trust In the history of trust creation. THE New York correcpondent for the Chi cago Record-Herald says: "The purchase of a controlling interest in the Equitable Assur ance Socloty by Thomas F. Ryan and asso ciates has resulted in a closer aliianco between the Equitable and Mutual Life Insurance compa nies, and at the same time gives them joint con trol in banks, trust and insuranco companies that can show assets of nearly $1,500,000,000. The pur chase of the Hyde stock means the passing of control of nearly $800,000,000 additional assets to the Ryan syndicate. The assots of the Equitable and Mutual Life companies and five institutions in which they are largely interested aggregate $1,337,296,000. The list does 'not include smaller institutions that come under the samo head. The assets of this gigantic combination exceed the total net deposits of the associated banks of New York by more than $200,000,000." THE following table gives the assets of seven of the Equitable-Mutual institutions: Equitable Assurance Society '. ..$ 413,950,000 Mutual Life Insurance Company.... 441,000,000 National Bank of Commerce 251,780,000 Equitable Trust Company 52,123,000 Mercantile Trust Company 08,835,000 Morton Trust Company 61,134,000 Guarantee Trust Company 48,474,000 Total $1,337,296,000 The Record-Herald correspondent says: "It was said by a banker believed to be very close to Mr. Ryan that the latter's plan iu connection with the purchase of the Hyde stock contemplates the elimination from the Equitable business control of all the subsidiary companies. This is to result speedily in the consolidation of the Equitable Trust company, the Mercantile Trust company and the Morton Trust company (Ryan's own institu tion) with the last-named, of course, in control. This would mean the largest and most powerful trust company In the United States and one of the most powerful financial institutions in the world." ACCORDING to this same authority the con solidation of the Mercantile and Equitable Trust companies was arranged by James II. Hyde last year but the Equitable row prevented its consummation. The Record-Herald's corres pondent says: "The combined resources of the three companies would aggregate the enormous sum of $178,000,000. The Equitable and Mercan tile Trust companies are controlled absolutely by the Equitable. The Morton Trust company is con trolled by Mr. Ryan and some of his associates. It was organized out of the old established bank ing house of Mortpn, Bliss & Co. The president of the company is Levi P. Morton, former vice president of the United States. The vice presi dents are Thomas F. Ryan, James K. Corbiere and Charles PI. Allen. The treasurer is Charles A. Conant. The directory includes Joseph LaRocque, D. O. Mills, R. A. McCurdy, president of the Mu tual Life Insurance company; W. G. Oakman, G. F. Peabody, Samuel Rea, Elihu Root, Jacob H. Schiff, John Sloane, John Jacob Astor, George F. Baker, president of the First National bank; Ed ward J. Berwind, Frederic Cornwall, treasurer of the Mutual Life Insurance company; James B. Duke, the tobacco king; Henry M. Flagler, George G. Haven, A. D. Juilliard, Winthrop Rutherford and Harry Payne Whitney. It is evident from the names of those directors how far-reaching Mr. Ryan's coup is. In fact, it was generally con ceded in Wall street that it means a close work ing alliance between the three big insurance com panies for their mutual benefit and that the Mor gan and First National bank interests were in alliance with Mr. Ryan and associates, chief of whom are the interests identified with the Mutual Life Insurance company." '' IT is plain that policy holders most deeply inter ested in Equitable affairs' do not intend to take anything for granted under the Ryan syndi cate management. One of the directors of the Equitable who recently resigned his position, said that there would be a demand, first, that the trust agreement, under which Grover Cleveland and his associates acted, be made public, and also that all other affairs relating to the Equitable and the transfer of its Interests to the Ryan syndl cato bo itemized for tho inspection of the policy holders. THE arrangement whereby tho Thomas P. Ryan syndicate has secured control of the Equitable has made such a deop improBsion upon Now York circles that Ryan is roferrod to by tho Now York World as "tho Now Rockofollor." Tho World has selected Mr. Ryan as a worthy successor of tho Standard Oil magnato who, as tho World says, "cannot escape tho payment of tho final debt of nature," and must of necessity havo a successor. Roforrlng to "the now Rocke feller," tho World says: "Mr. Ryan In no child of fortune. His steady rise has been duo to no oppor tunity which ho did not aid in creating. Ho is tho logical product of modern economical con ditions. Every rung of tho ladder of success has known Ryan's tread. Ho hns climbed slowly, skipping no round, making every position secure before ho advanced to the next. From ono little crosstown horse-car lino to all tho surfaco rail roads in New York, from one little electric com pany In Harlem to complote control of all the gas and electricity in Now York, from ono little tobacco company making cigarettes to tho control of the tobacco trado of tho United States, from a tiny beginning in New York less than thirty years ago to the proprietorship of Tammany's leader and to the domination of Now York's affairs this is a summary of Thomas F. Ryan's carcor." JAMES CREELMAN writing for the New York World concerning tho differences between Norway and Sweden says that the separation "shows that tho two old Scandinavian countries are irrevocably divided on economic rather than political issues. It is tho world-wide struggle be tween protection and free trado worked out .on, local lines to its logical result." Mr. Creolman explains: "It is truo that the hnrdy, democratic, seafaring Norwegians affect a contempt for tho Swedes as a tltle-Iovlng, sordid, servile and luxuri ous people. But tho suDstanco of tho quarrel be tween the parliaments of Norway and Sweden relates to tho commercial interests involved in the conduct of foreign relations by the king. The two peoples arc of Teutonic origin, blond, tall, mus cular, and devoted to the Christian religion, which was forced upon them by the sword. So like are they in personal appearance and habit that most foreigners find it difficult to distinguish them as separate nations or to understand why a Norwegian becomes angry when ho is mistaken for a Swede. But the Norwegians are crowded along the coasts of their country. They have little agriculture or manufacture. They look to the commerce of the sea. They are sailors and salt water traders. They want open ports every where. Both sentiment and necessity confirm thorn as free traders. On the other hand, the Swedes, a nrore numerous people, living in more fertile territory, have developed large industrial and agricultural interests and are strong support ers of a patriotic tariff." DURING the Napoleonic wars Norway was a part of the kingdom of Denmark. Mr. Creolman says: "The Danish king sided with Napoleon; so, in 1814, the allies, under tho lead ership of Great Britain, punished Denmark by compelling her to code Norway.to Sweden, which was then virtually ruled by Bernadotte, the great French field marshal, who had been chosen by tho Swedes as heir to their throne, Charles XIII. being childless. Four years after the union of Norway and Sweden, Bernadotte, the soldier, once a dreaded rival of Napoleon in France, mounted the Swedish-Norwegian throne as Charles XTV. Tho present king, Oscar II, is a grandson of Ber nadotte. According to the terms of tho union effected in 1814, the two kingdoms were to retain their separate systems, with separate parliaments and separate ministries. But the minister of for eign affairs was to be a Swede, and the control of foreign relations was to be in the keeping of the king. Under a masterful ruler like Berna dotte the antagonisms of Norway and Sweden were kept in abeyance, and the Scandinavian peninsula made great progress. But since that time the separate policies of the kingdoms have I i