Evening star., 1902-08-28
WALL STREETS POWER
Controls Financial Life of the
Country.
J. P. MORGAN AT HEAD
GAME WHICH MAY MAKE OR
MAR A NATION.
he scorns Politics as Something Be-
meath the Range of His
Great Ability.
Special From a Staff Correspondent.

| Special From Staff Correspondent.
! NEW YORK, August 2S.-In small cir
| cumscribed area on the lower end of Man
| haitian Island in a region of narrow,
! crowded streets above which tower sky
| scraping buildings beats the financial heart
| of the United States Its throbbings are
| felt in the remotest sections. pulsing forth
| the life-giving essence of trade and indus
| try, through the great arteries of COM
merce. and so into the most attenuated
| channels.
This area is comprehensively described
| in the term Wall street." Wall street
| proper takes up the least portion of It, But
| one can stand on the top of a sky-scraper
| in the center of the district, and counting
three blocks in every direction take in
| the mightiest financial institutions of the
| Iand and the offices of men who exercise
absolutely unlimited power over the
| finances and industries of this country
| Ireat banking institutions, able of their
own resources to float a government and
"hlch oo IN fact, float business enterprises
upon which depends the livelihood of mil
| mons or people; offices of the principal
| trusts, offices of railway presidents and
| heads of shipping and transportation COM
| blnes, and the offices of individual capital
ISIS are located within this area In the
center of all is the office of the chief capi-
| talist of the land, Mr.. ]. Pierpont Morgan.
1t is wonderful game that goes on daily
! in this little area, and the most wonderful
| part of this wonderful game is the system
| OF 1t. That is the keystone of the whole
arch- Everything moves like clockwork
| ana almost with the precision of clock
work Every man and boy is a cog in Tho
machinery, doing his particular prescriha5
| part, and no more.
one passes along the outskirts and sees
something of the game. enough to impress
| him of its magnitude; but get inside of II
ana 1--we with 1t as | have done for few
days, and then a better realization of the
stupendousness of it all comes home No.
oily that' out there comes also apprecia-
| tion OF the delicacy of the organizatio of
| this monster machine
News Feature of the Game,
The first essential in this great game be-
| tween the captains of industry is to know
| what is going on among their neighbors
and in the world. They do know it., and
know it long before the rest of the world
| at large. One of the most important fea-
| lures of the game is the dissemination Of
| news. In the office of every man of weight
| IN the district is a stock ticker and a ma
chlne which prints in typewriter style on
continuous sheet of paper If is worked
| by electricity from central Office wbicb
| mas Geographic communication with the
world. ~ '4io
Let an event of Importance happen in
london Paris or Berlin, and as soon as
the cable flashes it to this country that lit
tie machine commences to write 1t off
simultaneously in every office in Wall
street Ihe man of affairs hears the click-
ing or the machine. and glances through
the glass cover to see if the news interests
MIN. In that way come quotations of
prices prices IN every foreign port the rate of ex-
ehange' the birth of an heir apparent. the
| death of monarch and rumors NJ war
ana peace The local news of the street,
| OF the treasury in Washington, of the ar
/ rival of John w Gates or ] Piernont M
| gan or James r. Keene from his yacht or
| ms special car is conveyed in like manner
Inc same agencies also distribute ali
bIIIo btnTougn t the business day printed hand
DIS struck off from presses and hot from
the wires, conveying informa ton of Interest
70 the street. These are handed about bv
messenger boys who dart through the
| their going oue' VI
Ihe first thing your captain of industry
wants IS TO know what is happening; the
next is to act ACCORDINGLY and ~ 1nssibin
act before the other fellow does
!hls Wall street is the epitome of the
spirit OF Capitalization of the times, II rem
Tesents computation, organization, systema-
lZdtloh and-monopoly.
What the Bankers Could Do.
Ihe banking houses in this little area
couid IN tWenty-four hours tie I'D the cot
ION crop OF the southern states this fall
aAu prevent IT'S movement just as effec-
tudily as II the bales were chained to the
ginning houses; they could drive every mer-
chant In the Mississippi valley into bsnl-
Iuptcy; they could squeeze the money mar
ket until every small crossroads panera1
store In the middle west felt II. If will NOT
answer to say that they will not do this.
the tact that they can do it is the essential
point. e''eii'idi
Inc railroad owners whose offices arc IN
Sx ,i9 ',uae atea S could meet at luncheon and
,,.hieh IN a rate 5or the TRANSFORMATION of corn
Whicn would cause the farmers of Kansas
Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri to burn II for
iuel' as they did In populist times out west
You say they will not desire to do this.
lrue but the point is they can do II
Just as the finance and industry of the
country center in Wall street, SO does the
interest in Wall street center in Mr.. +
Pierpont Morgan's Office If anvtbinp big
! Is going to happen in Wall street Mr. Nor.
gans office will know it. If ANYTHING hip
IS suspected of having happened you must
| it's details. 1-- ei'
AS Wall street is the material representa-
@ @.ioH OF organization and combination, he is
.heir personifcation With him combination
and organization form the passion of life
Money 1t is said, is secondary 1t is the
game that fascinates him and makes life a
Joy; the lust of conquest, the delight of
overcoming obstacles and vanquishing dif-
nCulties Moreover, he believes in the sys-
tenn The system wins. there is no doubt
of that. He is the head of more vast in
oeSt ioi oSHSihtS IMAM any Olner man in the
world. When he lays down his hand in this
| game 1t will tax the financial resources of
all New York to prevent crash that would
bring widespread disaster.
Morgan Takes Life Easy.
Yet, with all of his responsibilities and
cares, he does not work hard. His organi-
cations do the work. He formulates an idea
and his associates and assistants carry II
| into effect. He calls in one of his partners
and says: II want to consolidate these three
railroads The total capitalization will he
so-and-so, and each road will do so-and-so
Work it out" Then the partner gets To
work with that wonderful organization and
perfects the details. The rounded plan is
some day laid before Mr.. Morgan for his
approval and that ends it.
He is a busy man for a few hours but II
| is the business of grasping subjects in gross
In manner he is abrupt and positive. He
| never permits argument Yea is yea and
nay is ray with him. and no biblical in
| junction could make stronger his practice
| He is easy to see If you have legitimate
| business with him, but he does not want to
| see any one on business that his subordi-
mates or associates can transact He likes