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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1913)
arp r.T&b vfVpc9wrr I .' The Commoner. VOLUME 13, NUMBER 2 The Commoner. Golden Eggs in Nest of Money Trust ISSUED WEEKLY KJLJlKA.KsLX g J ISntorad at tho Pontofllco at Lincoln, NobraHka, nn Hocond-clanH matter. "W J I.J 1AM .1. HllVAM Fdltornml Proprietor lltciiAiil) I. AIikai.i'i: AHocliitc I'dllor ClIAHI.Itt W. UllVAN Piibllnlirr J'flllorliil INioiiik mid IIiifIiipm OI'fo. lU4Utt Houlli lath Htrcct One Your 91.00 nix nioiidiN no In ClubH of Plvo or more, por yoar.. ,7f Three MoiilliN 28 SIiikIc Copy Hainple Copies Frco. ForclKii PoBt, G2o Extra. ftUllSCHfl'TION.s can be nent direct to Tho Com moner. Thoy can uIho bo Bent through ncwBpapors Which liavo advertlaod a clubbing rate, or through local (iKcntH, where 8Ub-agontH have been ap pointed. All remittance!! should be wont by poBt ofneo money order, rxprena ordor, or by bank draft on Now York or Chicago. Do not Bund Individual cIicckb, ntampfl or money CIIANGI3 (IIP ADimifiSHSubBcrlberH requcBtlng ft chango of addrcBB inuut give old aB well an new addrcflB. EUSMCWAIiM Tho dato on your wrapper nhown tho tlmo to which your subscription la uald. Thus January 21, '11! means that payment lia'i been re cclvod to and Including tho laBt Ibbuo of January. 101 1. Two weekH are required after money has neon received beforo tho dato on wrapper can ba changed. ADVICKTlsuvt rimes will be furnished upon application. AddruBB all communications to THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Nob. Til 13 MAN WHO CAN'T I enn't do tilings that they want mo to. Td lovo to holj) thorn the way they say; But I can't do things that will mako me feel Ab If I had bartored myself away. I can not holp It how it may seem And whether they charge It to greed or pelf For I must romomhor along tho way 1'vo got to llvo with myself. I'vo got to live with mysolf, that's it, And keep respect for myself and ho As straight and truo to myself as I'd ask Somoone else to bo straight to mo. If I did not act as my conscience bids I'd bo a hypocrite so, goodby! I can't do things that thoy want me to, I'd rather drift to tho dust and die. I could not feel, If I did tho things That often como to man to do, That I had boon square with my own clear sense Of tho right and high and tho bravo and true. 1 muct liavo conscience, or what is life, For honor is moro than pelf. And a man must act in a way that shows That ho's got to llvo with himself. Got to live with a conscious friend That will holp him up or drive him down: Got to llvo with his shadow shape In all tho diiBt and heat of the town. Got to live with a comrade tried In manhood's lire, that ho can trust To hold him truo, with a' heart inspired, That he may not stoop to the shameless dust. Baltimore Sun. EVEN THE IIEKALD Public sentiment so strongly condemns Wil iam Rockefeller for his deliberate effort to avoid legal process that American newspapers aro prac tically unanimous in thoir criticism of the oil magnate. It will bo romembored that two years ago John D. Rockefeller was engaged in this same game of hide-and-seek. But ho Anally surrendered in qbodionco to the mandate of pu lie sentiment. Even the New York Herald con demns Mr. Rockefeller's conduct, saying: "If Rockefeller is engaged in studied efforts the' lawUVrUl' and Rock0- is noVaVovo THE PRESIDENT'S CABINET Norman E. Mack's National Monthly Th TV WiH n.ot b far advanced be fore Presi- caebineYilSThe'l 81 J?1"1 th "'ofhte SIKH it , list of ntimes Proposed is an ex ceptionally long one, and man? of the JounI try's ablest democrats have been suggested Or Tllt tJhPl?sidont's appointments will neither bo anticipated nor influenced, but if Mr Brvnn ?aryUof SSilo16 i if ?l h Portfolio the country will hail with San.1"0 mCinl COmins of To gwit Ne How the First National Bank of New York Reaped Profits of $80,000,000 on 'a Capitalization of $500,000-Dividends Amounted to 226 per cent or More Than Double the Total Capitalization, which is Now $10,000,000. Following is an Associated Press dispatch: Washington, Jan. 9. Enormous profits by the First National. Bank of New York city were re counted today by George F. Baker, chairman of tho board of directors of the bank, as a witness beforo tho house money trust committee. Mr. Baker furnished the committee with records showing that since its organization in 1863, with a capitalization of $500,000, the bank has made profits amounting to more than $80,000, 000. In the four years since 1908, Mr. Baker told the committee, tho bank had paid dividends of 22(5 por cent, or more than twice the total capitalization, which is now $10,000,000. When the capital was increased to that amount in 1901, a special dividend of $49,500,000 was de clared, Mr. Baker said, to enable the stock holders to take up an additional investment. In 1908, in order to provide $10,000,000 of capital for the organization of the First Securi ties company to take over the business "which the bank could not do under the law," Mr. Eaker said, a special dividend of $10,000,000 was de clared. This was in addition to the regular yearly dividends. Samuel Untormyer, counsel for the committee, from the figures supplied by Mr. Baker, calcu lated that since he assumed the presidency of the First National bank in 1873, that institu tion has paid dividends of 18,550 per cent on its original capitalization. Mr. Baker flatly opposed tho suggestion made by Mr. Untermyer that national banks are re quired to make public their assets in order that depositors and stockholders might know the nature of securities held by the banks, the wit ness declaiming that he saw no possible good that could come of such a provision. That there is no impropriety in one man holding director ships in two or more potentially- competitive banks, railroads or industrial corporation was another stand taken by Mr. Baker. Mr. Untermyer reviewed with him a long list of railroads in which he was a director, some of which, tho lawyer held, were potentially com peting lines. Mr. Baker declared that it was rather an ad vantage to hold such directorships, "because differences between the companies can thus be readily adjusted." "Such a situation," he continued, "is often beneficial to all parties concerned." The witness did not approve of the "voting trust form of control of corporations by which the stockholders turn over their voting rights to voting trustees, but said he would not disap prove it if stockholders desired it. He further said tho voting trustees of the Guaranty Trust company, himself, with M. Porter and H H Davidson, had never held a meeting What became .a test in the courts of the power of the committee investigating the affairs of the national banks developed today when the committee and the house unanimously directed the speaker to certify to the district attorney of the District of Columbia the case of George G Henry, the New York banker, who refused to divulge the names of national bank officers who profited by the flotation of California Petroleum stock. The district attorney will be asked to proceed against Mr. Henry for contempt In discussing the voting trust agreements, Mr. Baker said the election of directors by the voting trusty of tho Guaranty company was "purely for- "Then the directors are a self-nfirnotiintop body?" asked Mr. Untermyer. perPetuating "Yes," replied the witness. "Thincs nr rfnn in New York that way without muchoidera tion. If a corporation is going along all right and is Paying dividends there is no question about the re-election of tho directors " luesuon Mr. Baker said his bank and J. P. Morgan tf- S'coSmeJce.0 direCtrS th NatIonal Bank "Would you object to giving the committee the list of your individual holdings in the vari ous banks and trust companies in New York''' asked Mr. Untermyer. iK ni3f,"TePJie? e witness Ith mo em phasis. "I think the committee has no more concern with that than with my tailor's bill?" . Isn t it tho concern of congress whether one national bank controls another such bank?" "I see no reason why one bank should not control another," declared the financier. Mr. Untermyer argued with the witness at some length and after a conference with his counsel, Mr. Baker finally consented to give the list. Ho said ho owned 4,G00 shares in the Na tional Bank of Commerce, fifty shares in the Chase National bank, 1,500 Bankers' Trust, 1,000 Guaranty Trust, 2.50 New York Trust, 100 Farmers' Loan & Trust, and 350 Astor Trust company. Mr. Untermyer took up the acquisition of about 42,000 shares of National Bank of Com merce stock by Mr. Baker and George H. Still man from the Mutual and Equitable insurance companies. Mr. Baker said he could not re member the details of the transaction, but that he and J. P. Morgan and Mr. Stillman had con ferred about the purchase and they had tacitly agreed that the stock was to be divided after the purchase. A part went to Mr. Morgan, Baker said. The purchase of the stock of the Equitable Assurance society by Mr. Morgan, with a con tingent interest by Mr. Baker and Mr. Stillman was also discussed. "Oh, Mr. Stillman and I just backed up Mr. Morgan in one of those charitable things he is prompted to do," said Mr. Baker in explaining tho transaction. Mr. Untermyer ellcted that an attempt was now being made to mutualize the company and have the policyholders take over the stock in terest at the price Mr. Morgan paid for it. Mr. Baker said he did not believe, from his experi ence with mutual insurance companies, that the mutualization would change the management and control of the company. He further stated he had never been asked to take over the one fourth interest in the Equitable stock he agreed to take. Mr. Baker admitted that he and IVIr. Morgan and Mr. Stillman consulted frequently about large financial operations and that he and Mr. Morgan were interested in many vast financial enterprises, but he could not say just how many. In answer to further questions Mr. Baker said he was a director in the Burlington and Northern Pacific railroads, which were com petitors between certain points; a director in the New York Central, the Erie, the Lehigh Valley and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroads, competing between New York and Chicago. Mr. Baker asserted that he could see no objec tion to one man holding directorships in two companies that might compete Mr. Untermyer asked about the conduct of coal roads in which he was interested, when the l57nfnriCe8ithel? dlspose of their control of the coal mines in the anthracite region. They 3ust formed a sales company; sold the m nes and the companies sold the coal to the railroads at the mines," said Mr laker". aske'rtermr11 ar0Und th stum'?" "Yes, that is it." Mr. Baker will resume the stand tomorrow Comptroller of the Currency Murray? it wis made known today will decline to furnish The house money trust committee in response to its request, a list of loans of $1,000,000 or more sessed and would feel constrained to refuse to divulge it unless otherwise ordered by the Wi dent. Only thirteen banks are permitted to foun as much as $1,000,000 to anFividuai anS It was pointed out that the committee might (9 Subscribers to The Commoner who I 0