The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-11-30

| Gould and that he Is an migrate 10 TAKE
grounds IN opposition to the interests
grounds by his maker To the state
| ment that he owes so much to Mr.. Gould,
/ Mr.. Hartman enters angry demurrer. II
Is recalled by the Gould clique that Mr.
| Hartman made his grand entire upon
/ the stage of high finance through MS
| connection with the Union racine re-
| organization, a deal engineered almost
| entirely from the offices Of George Gould
and his LAWYERS. II Is well known that
Mr.. Gould enlisted the services OF Mr..
] Hartman at the same time not because
| OF his then transcendant influence IN
| Wall street, but rather as an agent haY-
| ing friendly alliances In desirable quar-
| tiers. Then, as now, Mr.. Hartman was
| on intimate terms with J. H Schin, az
| tive manager of the great banking house
| of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., which was
| large holder of the bonds Of Union
| Pacific This house was reached IN be-
| half Of Mr.. Gould by Mr.. Hartman, II
| is understood. 1t is also claimed by the
Hartman party that the Standard III
crowd was connected through the
same channel.
It is very evident that Mr.. Gould now
| considers himself justified In declaring
| his entire independence of Mr.. Harrf-
| man and he has decided to cut free
from him. The breach is believed in
many quarters to be a forerunner of the
OIL party, which has been Mr.. Harri-
mans main hacker, is now believed to
be more closely allied with the Gould
interests than with Hartman and that
1t can willingly and much more easily
dispense with the aforesaid Hartman
than with Gould. The Rockefellers
as well as Mr.. Gould are large holders
of Union Pacific securities nut their
their interest is in Missouri Pacific and
the Wabash's schemes for extension to
the Atlantic seaboard.
Hartman Unsafe.
Not few of the Wall street giants
| look upon Mr.. Hartman as an unsafe
proposition. They remember unpleasant
| ly the part he took in bringing about the
disastrous corner incident by invading
the northwest and attempting to buy
| control of Northern Pacific away from
| Morgan and fzill. His still later move
against the Southern Pacific pool under
charge of James r. Keene is also re-
membered as an unnecessary disturbing
factor. 1t is barely possible that the fine
Italian hand of Mr.. Keene may be seen
in this rupture between Gould and Har-
riman. although up to the present time
there have been no developments direct
~ pointing to 1t. Wall street has no love
for fire-brands and disturbers-people
who are ever ready to obtrude their
personal ambitions, piques and whims
into the situation to the destruction of
values.
The Hartman rupture will con-
tinue to be the absorbing topic in Wall
street until one or the other is downed
or until Mr.. John d. Rockefeller COM
pels peace. He is the only man that can
do that as neither of the principals in
the fight can afford to incur his ILL
will or dsfavor. Prominent people have
been working on Mr. Rockefeller from
% Il Ii
fiuence and it is not at all improbable
that he will consent to do so.
A Busy ouartette.
Attention is becoming more earnestly
directed to the operations of the quar-
tette of f1nanciers composing the Rock
Island party; namely, Judge William H.
Moore, j. H. Moore his brother; d. G.
Reid and w. B. Leeds. This small group
occupies unique position in Wall street.
1t came into the street" quietly and un-
neutrality-suspicious. stealthily. Its pur-
chase of the Rock Island road created
hardly a ripple in railroad affairs al
though 1t was vastly more important
and involved a much heavier invest
ment than the famous Gates coup in
Louisville and Nashville. So far as the
street" is able to learn the Rock Is
land group stands alone. 1t has no en-
tang1ing alliances. It is immensely
proceeds with amazing rapidlty along
magnificently conceived plans for rail-
road development. 1t has come to be be-
lieved that these men are destined to
figure commandingly in the grand
scheme of railroad combination which is
engrossing the undivided attention of the
greatest minds in the financial world.
There are those who prophesy that they
will, in a surprisingly brief period be
found at the head of one of the three
or four vast railroad combinations hay
ing entire possession of the railroad sys-
tenn of the country. Indications certain
ly point that way They are exception
ally equipped for success in the strug-
gle for supremacy and are in the battle
to win the grand prizes.
Effect of Morgan's Death.
The probable market effect of Mr.. Nor
gan's death has become a favorite topic
for Wall street discussion. There is no
likelihood of any such misfortune over
taking Mr.. Morgan but the interests
which center in him are so vast and
their ramifications so extensive that it is
only natural that people whose money
is invested in them should take lively
concern in this topic and that they should
counsel among themselves in regard
thereto. Commenting on this subject a
very prominent banker himself a multi
| millionaire, said to the writer:
The Greatest Flnancier.
without intending in the slightest de-
| gree to belittle Mr.. Morgan, because l
believe him to be the greatest financier
| America has produced, l have satisfied
myself thoroughly that his death would
| make less disturbance In the securities
market than might be generally antici-
| pated. In his person he illustrates the
| evolution of the period. He did not create
conditions and did not contribute more
than tens of thousands of other men Of
means to the progress of this evolution.
| Being a man of commanding abilities
| however, and great courage he took adj
| vantage of conditions as he found them
| and made great combinations of capi-
tai which would not have been possible
for him or any other man to have eff
fected If the situation had not been ripe
for Just such action. When he dies 1t will
be discovered that he was merely repre-
sentative of the time in which he lived
and that the world will move on with
out him just as well as though he were
alive and directing forces apparently of
his own creation. 1 regard Mr.. Morgan
as one of the greatest opportunsts of
history. He is in no sense a creator, but
he Is a combiner, and his work will out
last the man, because he has operated
on sound theories. The markets did not
go to pieces when Commodore Wander
bilt died; when Tom Scott died; when
Jay Gould died, or when any other of the
great figures of Americas business life
passed away Mr.. Morgan's death would
be a shock, but 1t would not be a dis
aster to the business world in my opin-
ion. Exaggerated importance attaches TO
the personality of Mr. Morgan because