The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-18

NEW YORK, Feb 1.-THE report from
London that insurance on the life of j
Pierpont Morgan had been taken by tn,
foreign holders of American stocks VIII
claim that his death would cause then
pecuniary loss, again calls> attention tc
the central figure in the great bull market
in American shares. Mr. Morgan's i'm
portance as a factor in the market is no;
to be overlooked, but he by no means
stands alone. There is a vast difference
between the bull movement which he is
conducting and that which was handled
by the late Roswell P. Flower. Stocks
were put up by Flower and his followers
through manipulation and talk, and when
Mr.. Flower died suddenly a panic ensued,
which was followed by long and gradual
decline of market values. This occurred
the more easily because stocks had OBJ
tanned a fictitious value. some non-diyi
dend shares selling well above par. When
the bubble burst there was no sustaining
force to. rally about securities and help
TO protect them.
The present movement is altogether diff
ferent. In the first place Mr.. Morgan is
but one of group. He is simply the rec
ognized representative or agent of a
coterie of very rich men who are working
in accord and who are sustaining Mr..
Morgan in all of his undertakings. His
sudden death might brighten some timid
holders of stocks and thus cause selling
which would lead to a temporary and per-
haps sharp decline. but the rally which
would be pretty sure to follow would be
even more astonishing. 1t would not take
z. H. Hartman very long to spring into
the harness and be off with the speed of
a well-trained fire horse. In his work
Mr.. Morgan is backed by Mr.. Hartman,
John d. Rockefeller, the Vanderbilts and
a. J. Cassatt. The interests OF these
wealthy men in the market are entirely
too great TO permit them to be sacrificed,
and in an emergency they can be relied
upon to stand by their guns.
Moreover, Mr.. Morgan has already ac-
complished such wonderful Things that a
good foundation has been created for the
unfolding of values. His death would not
undo the combination Of the anthracite
properties, and ii is doubtful il 1t would
more than temporarily delay the compile
ton of the plans among those companies
which are not yet executed. The Fries
purchase of the Pennsylvania Coal Com
pany would not fall. The Readings pur-
chase of the Jersey Central would not fail
of contamination. The sale of the hold
ings ofLehigh Valley stock by the Packer
estate and by Lehigh University are now
matters of history and cannot be urdone.
The community of interest brought about
through the purchase by the Pennsylvania
Railroad of stock of the Baltimore and
Ohio, the Norfolk and Western and the
Chesapeake and Ohio is an established
fact not dependent upon the life of any
man. And so it is with all of the other
deals which have been pushed to conclu-
sion. such as the Southern Railway and
the Mobile and Ohio and the Union and
Southern Pacific combination. 1t is very
doubtful if the death of any one of the
great men who have been referred to
above would have more than a temporary
effect upon the market. and the plans for
further mergers already made but not exc
cuted would probably be carried out on the
lines already laid down.
Consideration of an emergency of this
sort naturally leads to reflection of the
permanency of the huge financial struc-
lures which are now being constructed.
Are they built upon rock or upon the
sand? The one thing of Importance which
would seem to favor huge combinations Of
the Industrial companies is that when
hard times come they will be in better
position 10 meet them than ever before.
The more expensive plants can be shut
down, and thus production may be kept
down to the actual demand, avoiding cut
rate competition, and while the concerns
may not make great deal of money, they
certainly will not lose as much as they
otherwise would. The railroad combina-
tons thus far made public appear TO be
In the interest of the holders Of securi-
ties. one great purpose being the uphold
ing of rates, SO that every railroad will
make fair profit upon all business which
# handles. The real test will come when
traffic falls off and each railroad will
make mighty efforts to get business.