THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT
FEBRUARY 19, 1903.
WHY HE WANTED HIM
Dow mnd Why Plerpopt Korf an Hired
. Georgo YT. Perkins at a QaarUr
Million s Year ,
In the January, 1903,, Cosmopolitan
Its editor, John Brisben Walker, made
a special feature, of "Pierpont Mor
gan, His Advisers and His Organiza
tion," bpeaking of George W. Perk
. Jns, junior partner in the firm o J.
P. Morgan & Co., Mr.'Walker says:
' "In Wall street it is commonly said
that Mr. Perkins is the secretary of
'state of the Morgan cabinet. . . .
, Mr. Perkins has the advantage of hav
ing spent some years of his life in
'.the west, .His first great success was
as manager of agencies for the New
York Life Insurance company. . . .
While vice president of the New York
Life "insurance company, he was
brought" into contact with Mr. Mor--gan.
My recollection , is that it had
something to do with a Russian loan
which ,Mfc .Perkins financed. Shortly
after, a tender was made to Mr. Perk
ins to come into the firm as partner.
A, little later the tender again was
made. Both of, them were "on the
condition that he should RESIGN the
vice presidency of the New York Life
Insurance company. Later on, this
was WAIVED, and Mr. Perkins is not
only the PARTNER of Mr. Morgan but
the VICE PRESIDENT of one of the
world's three largest insurance com
panies." (Capitalized words ours.)
Doubtless Mr. Walker believed that
Mr. Morgan really wanted to secure
: the services of Mr. Perkins, untram
'melled by any connection with other
and , probably to some extent antag
onistic . businesswhich simply goes
to show that a great magazine editor
may make a mighty poor newspaper
reporter.
That Morgan's lenders to Perkins,
conditioned on the latter's resigning
his vice presidency of the insurance
company, were simply horse-play" in
tended to deceive the unthinking mul
titude, is amply sustained by facts
subsequently come to light. The
whole negotiations .are on a par with
the recent telegrams from Rockefel
ler to certain United States senators.
The following, from the Weekly Peo
ple (N. Y.) ought to convince even a
mullet head:
. "About December of each year,"
says a Wall street authority, "the New
York Life Insurance company sends
a. jjUl page 'ad.', around to the capitalist-
newspapers. -The papers are
very friendly to the big company for
the very excellent reason that it js
euch a heavy advertiser each year
and are prone not to take heed of
any; 'kick' tha. may ensue from some
minority stockholders , who find the
affairs of the concern are not being
run to the shareholders' interests,
etc.
, "The following will show that the
stockholders are justified in howling
at the injustice of one of its officials
In : foisting upon the company mil
lions of securities, which do not come
within the range of first-class col
lateral. Here are the facts. They
( speak volumes:
, "George W. Perkins, junior partner
iu tuc Jiim ui i. x. luuigau ex. u.,
gets $250,000 a year besides a percent
age of the net profits ol the business.
Wall street has never worried as to
whether or not Perkins earned his
salary, but feels that as Morgan pays
.it,, that is all they are concerned
a. Ti l i . i i ir
aoouu i eriuns is aiso cnaircnan ex
the finance committee of the New York
Life Insurance company, and now we
are getting down to hard facts. In
the advertising matter distributed this
year' by the New York Life Insurance
company there appears a list of its
bond investments. In the list of its
railroad bonds you will find" $11,280,000
worth of Northern Pacific, Great
Northern, Chicago, Burlington &
Qulncy collateral trust 4 per cent
bonds. This is its largest single in
vestment. .They are Morgan bonds.
They,-were tissued by the Northern
Pacific and the Great Northern joint
ly to pay for the Chicago, Burlington
& Quincy system, and are secured by
the old Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
stock held as collateral at a valua
tion of $200 a share. You will also
find $2,322,200 worth of Louisville &
Nashville-Southern Railway joint 4
per cents. These, too, are Morgan
bonds. They were issued jointly by
the Louisville & Nashville and the
Southern Railway to pay for the Mo
non railroad. But that is not all that
.& careful observer finds. This list of
the New York Life's investment is
the most interesting reading that
Wall street has been furnished with
for some time. We find $5,000,000
Coast Line, Louisville & Nashville
purchase money syndicate bonds val
ued at par with no rate per cent giv
en, because up to December, 1902,
they had paid no interest. These are
the bonds (?) issued by the Purchase
Money syndicate that financed the sale
of the Louisville & Nashville rail
road to the Atlantic Coast Line after
John W. , Gates and his . crowd of
plungers, having bought control , of
the Louisville & Nashville from , he
Belmont party in the open market,
forced J. P. Morgan & Co. to take it
off their hands, Besides this one finds
$3,200,oiw worth" of International Mer
cantile Marine Board syndicate bonds,
valued at par and no rate of Interest
mentioned because the bond3 have
not yet paid any interest. The Interr
national Mercantile Marine is Mr.
Morgan's shipping combine, which as
yet has no fixed status in the finan
cial world.
"Unless my arithmetic is wrong, the
sum of what I find is that during the
year 1902 the finance committee, of
the New . York Life Insurance com
pany bought $21,812,200 worth of the
newest investments MiC Morgan had
to" sell. The fact that George W.
Perkins is a partner in Mr. Morgan's
business and chairman f the New
York Life Insurance company's fi
nance committee may have had noth
ing to do with these transactions.
Some will say that the New York Life
would have purchased these bonds
anyway on their merits. But. not one
man in the financial district believes
it. They ask if Mr. J. P. Morgan him
self believes it. Not to the knowledge
of a Wall street broker has a news
paper dared print these facts. They
cannot plead ignorance of them. The
startling evidence of how Perkins had
been earning his salary has been a
topic of discussion for weeks in quar
ters where Wall street men gather
after the close of the market. In ev
ery office in the stock market world
you might find newspaper prints of
the New York Life Insurance com
pany's annual statement with blue
pencil marks around the 'Morgan in
vestments..' "The itching of Wall street fingers
to get into the funds of the big in
surance companies has been notorious
for a long, long time, and some fin
gers have found a way. One of the
most startling tendencies of the fi
nancial times is the growth of inti
mate relations between Wall street
banking interests and the big under
writing concerns. Several of the big
life insurance companies are already
running trust companies on the side.
The 'Prudential-Fidelity merger case'
Is still fresh in mind.
"That attempt of a small trust com
pany to swallow a big insurance com
pany was so very bold that the courts
stopped it A great deal of money
that people pay as premiums on their
insuiance policies finds its way direct
ly into Wall street. Here, then, you
have Wall street surreptitiously us
ing the 'public's' money to manufac
ture and put out stocks to be sold to
the public. Can this game be beat?
asks Wall street"
Historical Building
House Roll 265, introduced by Bur
gess of Lancaster, provides an appro
priation of $85,000 for the erection of
a fire-proof building in the city of Lin
coln, to be used as a museum and li
brary building by the Nebraska State
Historical society. An average con
tribution of less than cents from
the head of each family in the state
would pay the bill. But, once built,
of course, the building would last for
years.
Eighty-five thousand dollars may be
considered a great deal of money to
expend for a building of this kind at
this time with the state in debt over
two millions; but the expenditure of
such a sum is vastly different in ef
fect than, for example, spending that
much for fire-works or for a display
at the St Louis exposition. The build
ing would be a lasting monument and
of great utility. The show at St.
Louis will be temporary and of doubt
ful utility.
There is need for such a building.
The society for ten years has occupied
crowded quarters in the basement in
the north wing of the state university
library. It has on hand over sixty
thousand books, pamphlets, manu
scripts, volumes of newspapers,
archeological specimen's, relics, indus
trial products, scientific specimens,
photographs and pictures, and as the
years go by these will be increased
to a wonderful extent if the society
has space to preserve its collections.
There never was a better time to
erect such a building, right on the
tile of Rooseveltian prosperity. Why
not do it? The moral effect will be
vastly better than to beg the funds
from some exploiter of American
workingmen.
The house Tuesday decided to in
definitely postpone H. R. 2G5, which
means more money for fireworks and
less for substantial improvements.
It is rumored that the Rock Island
and Santa Fe lines will merge. Event
ually Uncle Sam will do a little merg
ing himself In the railroad business.
TARIFF ON SUGAR
And Its Relation to tno Cuban lUelpradty
. Traaty Sugar Tariff li Now for
Berenna
..Editor Independent: The Ameri
can people are paying a cent a pound
more for sugar than they ought to be
paying. The amount consumed . an
nually is about two million tons, or
four and a half billion pounds. The
extra cent a pound, which we pay,
amounts to. forty-five million dollars
annuallyl There are about eighty mil
lions' of people in the United States
seventy-six millions in 1900 and they
are all eating sugar from day to day,
usually .three times a day. Every
man, woman and child (an an average)
consumes sixty-five pounds a year,
which is three hundred andtwenty
five pounds to every family."
All these families are interested in
knowing why an extra cent is charged.
Some contend that we are paying two
cents a pound more than we ought to
be paying. If this is so, then we are
injured to the extent of ninety mil
lions a year.
The duty (or tariff tax) on foreign
sugar, such as we ordinarily use on
our table, is two cents a pound, or
(to be exact) 1.95 cents. We are
obliged to go abroad to get most of
our sugar. We do not produce one
tenth of what we use. In 1900 we
produced 149,229 tons and consumed
2,219,847 tons, which shows that we
produced less than a tenth of what we
consumed. The price of foreign sugar,
when it gets here, depends upon the
price abroad, plus transportation, plus
import duty and plus the cost of dis
tribution in this country. The duty is
therefore always an element in the
price. If we could produce all the
sugar we consume or were actually
producing all we consume, then the
price would not depend upon the price
abroad or the duty, but upon supply
and demand In this country, or the
cost of production here. If the duty
is one cent a pound more than if
ought to be, then we are paying, at
least, one cent a pound more than we
ought to be paying. I hold that the
duty is at least one cent more than
any one can justify or show cause
for; and that the American people
are robbed out of at least forty mil
lions annually. This falls upon the
rich and poor alike. The rich can
stand it,' because their tax is no more
per capita than that of the poor. The
workingman needs as much sugar as
the millionaire. Consequently a 'Van
derbilt pays no more tax, and is
robbed iio more than the man working
for two dollars a day. If a Vander
bilt family consumes three hundred
and twenty-five pounds of sugar an
nually and pays $3.25 more than thy
ought to pay, this is for a Vanderbilt
nothing, but it amounts to a great
deal to a poor workingman.
If the tax on dwelling or other
property of a workingman is raised
$3.25 and he has to pay this increase
when his annual tax bill comes in,
he makes a great fuss. Why should
he not make the same protests, when
he finds himself taxed the same extra
amount on his food especially when
he finds the food of a millionaire is
increased no more?
The price of raw (or unrefined) su
gar is usually quoted in foreign mar
kets at about a cent and -a half a
pound, or little more, so that it can
be landed in this country at less than
two' cents or not to exceed two cents
if there is no duty. If the duty is
two cents, then raw sugar costs our
refiners about four cents. Raw sugar
is what is known in our tariff law as
sugar "not above No. 16 Dutch stand
ard." That above No. 16 is refined.
Why should the duty be two cents,
when the article itself costs only two
cents? This is a 100 per cent tax.
It is a doubling of our sugar in price
to the consumer.
After the suear is brought here and
refined, it sells at about 5 cents and
sometimes more.
If the dntv on foreign sugar is for
the protection of our domestic sugar,
then certainlv it ought not to be
more than one cent a po"nd or KQ
per cent ad valorem. I believe it is
good policv to protect and enpouraee
our American sugar. We have start
ed out on that nolicv and it would be
follv to ston now. There are no rea
sons for stonning. We have been
producing cane sugar pvr since we
aoanired TonieJnua in 1803 and have
protected it. Bep-inninn -were mde
with mnle frntrnr in 171 in New York
and orher -northern otatoci, jn Ver
mont, th mn1e sucar indufctrv rimv
ranks next, in importance to dairying
and tbe rnnnl outn'it ia worth be
tween $i nnn(W and 1 kwvom.. Ma-'
rle RtfT Is 10 nrnduped evtonejirp
1v in NW T-Tornnahiro qnd OMr. ha.
ides being produced to the same ex
tent in New YorK The bep-lnninp of
be beet snp-ar indusrv ju the United.
States, dates from 1835, having been
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then transferred here from Germany
where it has been developing for a
century. It has been encouraged by
the several states by bounties. The
United States has encouraged it (as
well as all other sugar industries) by
import duties on - all foreign sugars.
The sugar beet industry has grown
rapidly within the last four years.
(See final report of industrial com
mission, vol. 19, p. 85.)
The total quantity of raw and gran
ulated beet sugar as produced in the
United States in 1890 was 163.458.075
pounds, valued at $7,272,581. Califor
nia and Michigan being the two great
beet sugar producing: states. Having
started out on the line of protection,
we cannot go back until we can pro
duce all our own sugar. It Tnaes
work for the farmer and the refiner.
It contributes to the growth of our
country and makes us independent of
foreign countries, with respect to a
commoditv that has become a neces
sity. But one centis enoueh for pro
tection. Whv, then. i there a duty
of two cents "per pound?
As long as fore?? countries pro
duce' nine-tenths of the sugar we con
sume, thev will regulate the price. We
cannot control the price until we can
produce enough to satisfy our de
mands. If we stop now and do not
encourage the production here, for
eigners will always control the price
and they will make all the money
made in this industry. They will do
the work, have the profits and we
shall have to contribute to their
wealth and prosperity.
Germany and other foreign coun
tries encourage and protect the sugar
industry by bounties and import du
ties. Why should we not? Should
we allow our sugar industry to be
killed by Germany?
If one cent is enough for protection,
why is the duty on foreign sugar two
cents?
The republican party favors pro
tection. Let us suppose protection to
be the fundamental plank of the re
publican creed. But the republican
party puts two cents a pound on su
gar when one cent is enough for pro
tection. Why is this?
The republicans are always talking
against tariffs that are for revenue
only. They do this so strenuously
that you would not suppose that they
have ever imposed a tariff tax on any
commodity for revenue only.
The democratic party is in favor of
free trade or tariff for revenue only.
This is the fundamental plank in the
creed of the party. To be sure, there
are democrats who are in favor of
protection, but these few do not con
trol the policy of the party. Mr.
Bryan, who represents the most lib
eral wing of the party, never says
anything against tariff for revenue
only, while he is always watching for
protective duties, that, he says, are
too high. Would he object to a tariff
duty of two cents a pound on sugar if
it were for revenue only?
The republicans put a duty of two
cents a pound on sugar when one cent
is enough for protection. This indi
cates one cent is for revenue and the
other for protection.
It is a fact that sugar is a great