The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-08-06

1
last spring supplied the United States
treasury with gold and foated the
latest issue Of United States bonds
1t has been assumed that these syn
dicates were pledged to prevent the
export Of gold from America, but
so far as the public knows this is not
so. The promise to try to do this was
made by Mr.. Morgan individually be-
fore the syndicates were formed, and it
has never been authoritatively stated
that the members of the syndicate
agreed to share his responsibility. In
one sense their work is now finished,
since the needed gold has been placed
in the treasury and the bonds allotted,
but as yet no one knows how large their
profits will be. Even the members of
the syndicate themselves will net be
certain upon that point for some time
to come.
A full list Of the membership Of tho
two syndicates has not yet been made
public, and probably never will be. For
long time it was believed that there
was but one syndicate and that it accom-
| plished both achievements of furnishing
the gold and marketing the bonds. Lit
tie by little, however, the main details
have come out, and the public now un-
derstand, both that it required two syn
dicates to do the work, and among tho
chief lieutenants of Morgan and Bel
mont were Mr.. George F. Baker, presi-;
dent Of the First national bank; Mr..
Fred D. Tappen, president OF the Gala
tin national bank; Mr.. J. Edward Sim
mons, president of the Fourth national
bank, and Mr.. Henry W. Cannon, pres
ident of the Chase national bank.
ALI these men are well known in
financial circles throughout the entire
country. Like both Morgan and Bel
mont, they all belong to the Bankers
Wall street, which Is quite different
thing from the stock exchange "Wall
street" so roundly denounced in heated
political campaigns by stump orators,
In high financial circles "Wal street"
does not mean the stock broker inter.
ests at all "The exchange" Is the
term used by the railroad managers
and the bankers to designate these in
terests, while ''the Bankers Wall,
street" means the clearing house, which,
instead of being an element productive
of fluctuations and uncertainty in
prices, always makes for frraness and
solidity. Upon several occasions of
great financial peril, when the stock
exchange has been absolutely helpless,
the clearing house has proven the one
element of safety to the entire
community; the strong, deep-founded
dam. so to speak, that has kept back
the rushing current of overwhelming
disaster.
To the general public perhaps, Mr..
Bakers name is not SO familiar as those
of the four other ieutenants here mem
toned, and yet he was a very important
factor in the immense transactions OF
the syndicates of 1895, has been pFomi-
nently identified with banking il New
York TOR upwards of thirty years, and
was one of the chief pillars of the syn
dictate which handled the first great
issue of bonds made by the government
during the civil war. Mr.. Bakers father
was a friend of the late William II.
Seward, and when Seward was gov
ernor acted as his official adviser At
that time young Baker was studying
the rudiments of finance as a clerk in
the Office of the New York state bank
ing superintendent. When Seward
went to Washington as Mr.. Lincoln's
secretary of state, the elder Baker went
with him, while the younger man
located in New York, entering the en-
ploy of tho late John Thompson, the
bank note detector mar, who at that
time had private banking house on
Wall street, near Broadway. Shortly
after that the First national bank was
with Mr.. Baker as cashier.
When the syndicate TO handle the first |
issue Of bonds put out by John Sher-
man. then secretary of the treasury,
was formed, the First national was one |
of its most prominent members, and |
Mr.. Baker and Mr.. Thompson, his for |
mer employer, were among the most |
ective of all who took and sold these |
bonds. 1t will be remembered that |
they were absorbed by the syndicate |
as fast rs issued, and it is traditional in |
New York banking circles that these
two men handled more bonds in this |
country than all the other members of /
the syndicate combined.
In New York members Of this syn
dictate were known as the Fort Sher-
man crowd" the name Fort Sherman |
having been applied to the Broadway
building, In an upper room Of which /
Secretary Sherman and the members Of
the syndicate used to meet Ever since
those days Mr.. Baker has been held To
be the best au-round authority living
with reference to United States secu-
rites, and this makes il clear why his
selection as leading lieutenant IN thu
formation of the recent syndicate was
emiRently sensible on Morgan's part
At an early stage of the syndicate's
operations, Mr.. Morgan found it neces.
sary to go TO Europe in order to estab-
lish a market for American securities,
and credit to draw against in case i:
We're necessary. for the purpose Of pre-
venting the export of gold, 20 sell bills
of exchange al loss During his alb
ence il was needful that some one Ct
experience and Judgment should have
charge of affairs here. and this post
was assigned to Mr. Baker. Il NAV
therefore be said that he was the man
who personally kept the needed gold in