The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-03-12
What Jay Gould Knows About Cor
p0ratiOnS.

date contained 4 long and interesting
interview with Mr.. Jay Could on II
dozen or more interesting topics. Be
ginning with the question of growth
of corporations, Mr.. Gould said :
"The corporations are powerful be-
cause the people are powerful. Cor
porate property was never so widely
scattered in this country as it is to-
day. Some years ago l controlled
the Union PFcitic Railroad. l bought
its stock when it was down so low
that it could ardly find a purchaser.
1t was built up and sold out. It's
stock holders to-day are numbered by
the thousand where they were before
numbered by the hundred. A short
time ago Mr.. Vanderbilt controlled
the New York Central. He sold
a large interest, which has passed
into the hands of other peOple-mer-
chants, farmers, insurance companies.
trust estates. The number its
Stockholders j. larger now than eyer
before" Mr.. Gould pOOhpoOhed the
idea that he or any othe" man could
control Wall street, and said that the
telegraph consolidation was neccssa-
ry, and would prove i'm the end prof
liable for the companies and advan-
tageouS to the public. His idea was
cheaper telegraph tolls, and these he
proposed to secure if possible. Speak
ing of new cables which the consoli.
dated companies proposed to lay,
one, he said, would stretch from
Newfoundland to Ireland, another
from San Franci 60 to the Sandwich
Islands, thence TO Australia. and
another from the Sandwich Islands
to Japan. AT Puget sound we pro
pose to start with another cable, car
rying it ACROSS Behring's Sea to
Kamscatka, which will open up
the Russian telegraph system to us,
and thence to China. In addition, it
is intended to further develop the
West India cable service and connect
the east and west coast of South
America with New York. The rail
road outlook, he said, was favorable,
particular attention now being paid
to the opening up of Mexico and the
Southwest. He expressed his opin.
ion plainly that De Lesseps had no
intention of building the Panama
Canal, and thought the Canadian
Pacific Railway project was decidedly
visionary.
Touching the wondrous growth and
bright future Of this country, Mr..
Gould said: "Hhe South is becoming
rich as fast as the other portions of
the country. The new generation of
the South Is altogether different from
the one that fought for slavery and
carried on the war. II will care more
about business and less about politics.
The South has had good crops for
years, and has obtained fair prices
for them. The Southern people are
simple in their habits, less luxurious
and extravagant than those of the
North, and they must have saved Il
good deal of money lately. 1t is a
fact, known to bankers and Others
who have looked into The question,
that since the resumption of specie
payments large amount of gold has
disappeared somewhere. The popu.
lar impression is that it is in the
treasury and in the bank vaults. Tn
doubtedly there is large amount of
it slowed away in this manner, but
not all. l believe there is good
deal of it locked up in the old stock
ings of the c0lored man and brother
in the Southern States, particularly
in the cotton belt. OF course, they
will never tell it, even 10 one an
other. But ! am convinced that my
theory is correct one. The more
intelligent of the Southern negroes
have the instinctsof saving and accu,
mutation very strongly developed.
See what they did within the first
five or six years after they were out
OF slavery. Their savings created
one of the largest sayings banks in
the country. No, there is no part OF
that map (the United States) upon
which you can lay your hard and
not find the classes who have in them
the elements of success succeeding.
AS for the others, they would fail in
All Ell Dorado" Further, Mr.. Gould
expressed his streng opposition ia
what he called "injudicious inter
ference by Congress and state legis
latures with business" in Other
words, legislation which seeks tC
regulate freight charges on railroads
OF course. he was opposed to thu
Reagan bill, and said that Thousands
of millions of dollars of European
capital were frightened from invest
ment in this country on account o
this legislative interference. Mr.