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12
The Commoner.
VOLUME 10, NUMBER 4
- tip- iryr ipnif ,
77ze Tennessee Coal and Iron Deal
Tho story of how tho Tonnesseo
Coal and Iron Company was absorbed
by tho United States Steel corpora
tion has never boon adequately told.
Perhaps it will not bo so expressed
until it Is written as a story or a
drama, for it Is full of fire and in
trigue. It involves a steal of over
nlno hundred million dollars, which
was accomplished contrary to law,
law, with tho sanction of Theodore
Roosovolt, then president of the
United States.
It was all dono within a few days'
timo. The Steel trust had only one
real competitor, the Tonnesseo com
pany. This company, by virtue of
having bought mineral lands in tho
south boforo their value was suspect
ed, owned bodies of ore greater than
thoso controlled by tho trust, making
it necessary that it bo absorbed if the
trust was to really control steel. But,
true to southern traditions, It re
fused to morge. Then it was that
Harriman, railroad builder and ono
of tho greatest users of steel in
America, if not of tho world, angered
because the United States Steel trust
charged him one-third more than it
did English customers, placed his full
orders with tho Tennessee company,
a fact which meant that it had be-
icomo a real rival of tho larger con
cern. The "young geniuses of steel"
'felt something must bo dono, and in
jtho need of tho Tennessee company
tor reauy casn in oraer to mi its
orders, came their opportunity. Tho
financiers behind the Steel trust con
trolled the largest banking institu
tions in New York, which means of
tho wholo country, and these banks
absolutely refused to advance money
to the Tonnesseo company on any
terms. Moreover, Morgan went to
Europe, returning with $125,000,000
in cash, and the Hill interests, in
veterate enemies of Harriman, joined
in preparing the biggest pool ever
known in history. The battle in
volved the perpetuity of the merger
system, 'Rockefeller and Harriman
standing on one side; Morgan, Hill
and all tho merged institutions on
the other. It promised the greatest
financial battle earth ever saw- But
an unexpected thing happened. When
the battle was just beginning a
Helnzo bank failed, and with the fail-
What Does Hicks Say
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fHmt.
uro a panic came upon tho small
operators. Call money went to 70
per cent, then to 80, and the third
day to 100 per cent. Country banks,
In alarm, began to call in their re
serve, and 'things looked so serious
that tho captains of industry came
together, not to battle, but, if pos
sible, to save the day. Rockefeller
had the best of it at tho time of the
truce, from the fact that his proper
ties were scattered, while the prop
erties of the other side were bunched.
The failure of a Rockefeller bank
would not seriously cripple the man
who controlled Standard Oil and
Amalgamated Copper but the failure
of a Morgan bank would cripple both
Morgan and the Steel trust, which
was backed by Morgan banks. Be
sides, the failure of a Heinze bank
gave Rockefeller a great advantage
in his light to control copper. Be
cause Rockefeller had the whip hand,
and because of the further fact that
ho would have greater influence with
the Tennessee Coal and Iron com
pany, on account of having stood
with it until this time, under the
terms of the truce it was deter
mined to use the panic as a means
of taking over the southern rival of
the Steel trust, and to leave the en
gineering and profits of it to Rock
efeller. One. thing stood in the way of this
move. The interstate commerce law
forbade an industrial organization
owning more than 60 per cent of
the industry in which it was en
gaged. To overcome this -provision
of the law, Frick and Gary were
sent to Washington to see President
Roosevelt, and, under plea of emer
gency and necessity to prevent a
panic, ask permission to buy up
enough stock of the Tennessee com
pany to save it and arrest the threat
ened disaster. These men shrewdly
called on Elihu Root first. After
lining him up, they had a conference
with President Roosevelt, who took
the matter under advisement. The
day after their visit Roosevelt sent
his attorney general the following
letter:
"Washington, November 4, 1907.
My Dear Mr. Attorney General:
Judge B. H. Gary and Mr.H. C.
Frick, on behalf of the Steel cor
poration, have just called upon me.
They state that there is a certain
business firm (the name of which
I have not been told, but which is of
real importance in New York busi
ness circles) which will undoubted
ly fail this week if help is not given.
Among its assets are a majority of
the securities of the Tennessee Coal
company. Application has been
urgently made to the Steel corpora
tion, to purchase this stock as the
only means of avoiding a failure.
Judge Gary and Mr. Frick inform mo
that as a mere business transaction
they do not care to mimTm.eo im
stock: that under ordinary nimum.
stances they would not consider pur-
cnasmg tne stocic because but little
benefit will come to the Steel cor
poration from the purchase; that
they are aware that the purchase
will be used as a handle for attack
upon them on the ground that they
are striving to secure a monopoly of
the business and prevent competi
tion not that thfs would represent
what could honestly be said, but
what might recklessly and untruth
fully be said.
"They further inform me that as a
matter of fact the policy of the .com
pany has been to decline to acquire
more than 60 per cent of the steel
properties, and that this purpose has
been persevered in for several yeaTs
past, with the object of preventing
these accusations, and as n matter
of fact their proportion of steel prop
erties has slighlty decreased, so that
it is neiow this CO per cent and the
acquisition of the property in ques
tion will not raise it above 60 per
cent. But they feci that it is im-
mensely to. their interest, as to tbV
interest o evfcry responsible busi
ness man, to try to prevent a panic
and general industrial smash-up at
this time, and that they are willing
to go into thlg "transaction, which
they would not otherwise go into
because it seems the opinion of those
best fitted to express judgment in
New York that it will be an impor
tant factor in preventing a break
that might be ruinous; and that this
has been urged upon them by the
combination of the most responsible
bankers in New York who are now
thus engaged in endeavorlngr to savo
the situation. But they asserted they
did not wish to do this if I stated
that it ought not- to be done. I an
(Continued on -Page 14)
YOU OAST INTEREST HEM
Any Man Over Fifty
You can interest any man over
fifty years of age in anything that
will make him feel batter. hornnoo
while he may not as yet have any
positive organic disease ho no longer
feels the buoyancy and vigor of
twenty-five nor tho freedom from
aches and pains he enjoyed in earlier
years, and he very naturally exam
ines with interest any proposition
looking- to the improvement and
.preservation of his health.
He will notice among other things
that the stomach of fifty is a1 very
different one from the stomach he
possessed at twenty-five. . That great
est care must be exercised as to
what is eaten and how much of it,
and even with the best of care, there
will be increasing digestive weak
ness with advancing years. .,
A proposition to perfect or im
prove the digestion and assimilation
of food is one which interests not
only every man of fifty but -every
man, woman and child of any- age,
because the whole secret of good
health, good blood, strong nerves,
is to have a stomach which will
promptly and thoroughly digest
wholesome food because blood,
nerves, brain tissue and every other
constituent of the body, is entirely
the product of digestion, and no
medicine or "health" food can pos
sibly create pure blood or restore
shaky nerves, when a weak stomach
is replenishing the daily wear and
tear of the body from a mass of fer
menting half-digested food.
No, the stomach itself wants help
and in no round about way either;
it wants direct, unmistakable assis
tance, such as is given by one or
two, Stuart's Dyspepsia Tablets after
each meal.
These tablets cute stomach
trouble, because their use gives the
stomacli a chance to rest and recu
perate; one of Stuart's Dyspepsia
Tablets contains digestive elements
sufficient to digest 3,000 grains of
ordinary food such as bread, meat,
eggs, etc.
The plan of dieting Is simply an
other name for starvation, and the
use of prepared foods and new
fangled breakfast fo.ods simply
makes matters worse as any dyspen
tic who has tried them knows. -
As Dr. Bennett -says, the only rea
son I can imagine why Stuart's Dys-'
pepsia Tablets are not universally
used by everybody who is troubled
in any way with poor digestion is
because many people seem to think
that because a medicine is advertised
or is sold in drug stores or is pro
tected by ,a trade mark must -be .a
humbug whereas as a matter of truth
any druggist who is observant knows
that Stuart's Dyspepsia Tablets have
cured more neonle of Indigestion.
heartburn, heart trouble, nervous
prostration and run doVn condition
generally than all the patent medi-,
cines and doctors' prescriptions for
stomach trouble combined. Adv.
s&
iJt.
U4.iitaV. nL
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