Evening journal., 1899-11-13

ed among thousands OF stockholders in
all parts of the country, hut Whitney,
Widener and ElSin direct them rs alb
solutely as though they were the sole
owners.
Nor does this represent the extent
of their financial power and their IN
dustrial enterprises. They control to
large extent the gas supply of phila-
deiphia, Chicago, New York and Pitts
burg. They are the masters Of the elec-
trio light power and transportation
facilities in these and other cities.
They represent roughly speaking,
half a billion of invested capital pOssi-
bly, the greatest aggregation of corpor-
ate wealth this country has ever seen
SO centralized. They have made vast
fortunes for themselves and the men
behind them from the control of mu-
nicipal franchises. They have develop
ed a new occupation, one that provides
another avenue to multi-milliOnairedom
that Of the municipal cOrporationist
More than this, the union of brains
and capital represented by the cOmbln-
alton between Messrs. Whitney, Wide
ner and Elllins is new development
of the trust idea In this land of trusts.
Heretofore the owners of vast forces
of capital have worked together for the
carrying ont of some single enterprise
perhaps. hut for the most part they
have worked. each for himself or one
against another These men have seen
the mutual and individual advantages
of working together all the time. They
are the pioneers of what will prove TO
be, perhaps, the last and greatest Of all
trusts-the trust of millionaires.
This combination Of interests is un-
doubtedly n good thing for the men
concerned. Their fortunes in each
case rated by the tens Of millions, bear
eloquent testimony to that fact. Is 1t
a good thing for tie publicI Opinions
differ on this point, but Mr.. Widener,
who has been the most active of the
three i'm building up the combination,
does not hesitate to say that It is. In
his Philadelphia Office a few days ago
hc said to the writer in the course of
an interview
The extension and Improvement OF
street railway lines made possible 10y
the Capitalization of management AMI
control has invariably resulted in great
en- benefit 10 the public than 10 the
owners of the lines. The combination
of the street lines i'm any city makes Il
possible to extend the system into out
lying districts where q car line is Il
great convenience to the residents. hul
where II would hardly Doe profitable "a
operate an independent line. II pro
vides i'm most cases a longer haul for a
single fare
ION the Philadelphia. Chicago and
New York lines to-day passengers arc
carried distances ut which there is pos
itively no profit TO the companies. But
the loss I'M this particular is cOunterbal
anced by the profits from short hauls
| In all the case of street railway con
soliGatiou with which / am familiar the
combination has resulted in the intro
duction of improvements and In mor'
rapid transit In Philadelphia tn,
change from the old system of traction
TO the trolley. early brought about b!
! the consolidation OF separate lines. ha
| been worth hundreds Of millions TO th'
! city.
in my opinion all successful combin
ations of capital are beneficial TO thi
/ public. Combinations do not rails
prices. III they attempt TO do So the!
invite competition and are bound tl
prove unsuccessful.
'The old order Of things is changing
Bushes Is no longer q matter of com
petition between individuals. II Is
/ competition between nations. BY tn
combination Of capital iu business W
| viii master the trade Of the world.