Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1896-05-01
MORGAN AND THE n. p.
E. V. Smalley Writes Interestingly OF
the Great Financier Who IS Re-,
organizing the Road.

Gear Of Wall street. His power
is enormous. No one attempts to
float big operation with.
out seeking his good will. There
is an anti Morgan party in the
street-every great man has his
enemies-but it cuts a very small
figure. As re-organizer of
bankrupt corporations Morgan
shows at his best. He IS the
accomplished, d.blooded, logical,
merciless surgeon Of the world Of
finance. He applies the knife to
diseased railway companies with
admirable skill, removing the
excrescences of extravaganza,
cutting out the tumors of bad
management and drawing off the
water of dropsical capitalization.
When the patient is released from
Morgan's operating table at the
corner of Wall and Broad streets
he is depleted and weak, but he
is on his legs and solvent. Morgan
comes high, but sick railroads
must have him. Last year he
charged Erie about million for
his services and this year he will
earn million by operating on the
Northern Pacific. Like great
specialist in surgery, he names his
own terms and allows no one to
dispute his bills. He has reached
his present eminence by process
as logical as those ofalgebra. There
is no sentiment about him. He is
not influenced by fear or favor.
When he sets about the work of
restoring a sick corporation to
health it is useless for one class or
another Of security holders to try
to pull his leg and gain an undue
advantage. He aims to be alb
solutely just, and here is one
element of his great strength.
Another is his remarkable clear
headedness; a third, his courage.
W hen he has made up his mind as
to what is necessary to cure the
ills of a bankrupt road, he puts
out his plan, and insists on having
absolute control and power to-
change any or all features at any
time. The selfish stock and bond
holders may kick and squirm, but
they always end by submitting.
Morgan is now in Europe. If he
has any passion outside Of railway
finance it is for the Episcopal
church, to which he is devoted
adherent.
Speaking Of Northern Pacific re-
organization reminds me of the
grievous losses suffered by the
stockholders of that road. After
the Jay Cooke bankruptcy OF 1873
the company was reorganized and
the bonds were exchanged for $780,
100000 of preferred stock at par,
and at the same time ISL, OOO, 900
of common stock was issued. The
preferred stock was made exchange
able for land east of the Missouri
river. In 1882 the late Sam Wiki
inson, ex.journalist and secretary
of the company, wrote in the di.
rectors' book in his unique and
angular chirography: This day
Northern Pacific preferred stock
sold at par on the New York Stock
Exchange" At the same time the
common sold for about so. There
was then about $40, 000,000 of pre-
ferred outstanding. Yesterday
preferred was quoted at 1Og and
common at II. It is easy to figure
that there has been an actual loss
of about $35,00O,e00 on the pre-
ferred since it was worth par and
of over $23, 600, 900 on the common,
making $ss,o00,00o ca that has
been wiped out. The loss on con-
solidated bonds, which originally |
sold at about 80 and are now worth
50 or on the many classes OF
branch road bonds which were
placed at from IS to 80 and are
now worth from IS to 40, 1 will
not undertake to figure out, but it
would no doubt swell the grand
total losses on Northern Pacific Sc
curities to over 1925, 100000.