The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-11-23

Last summer W1lIlam -. lieeuSb IAlln-
full to the call OF duty, contrary to the
the many details connected with the
management of the great railroad sys-
tenn he controls. with the inevitable re-
suit, a protracted illness. It is strange
how hard these millionaire railroad and
Industrial kings work for a living and
how little they are supposed to do by
the public at large. Mr.. Leeds is one OF
those who recognizes the Significance
and Importance of eternal vigilance
and he like his friend Mr.. Daniel q.
Reid, stand watchful Of their great in
terests, knowing that In making the rail-
road map west of the Mississippi they
are surrounded by aggressive neighbors.
Now that Mr.. Leeds is giving his whole
attention to affairs some interest is ta-
ken In the attitude he will assume to-
ward Colorado Fuel and Iron. The Rock
Island system is not only one of the COM
panies which seeks the freights of this
much be-battled for corporation, but 10
itself large consumer of steel rails and
other supplies. While Mr.. Osgood abso-
lutely controlled the destinies of fuel
and iron he distributed the freights
equally and sold the steel output at a
market price, showing favoritism to
none. Now the Hawley- Gould-H Hartman
combination seeks to control The ques-
UOn now Is Will IL AeGuS going To QOf
Will he be willingly shut out by his
powerful rivals?
Speaking of Edwin HawIey reminds me
that of all the men in the financial
world who stand near the lever, there is
not one who is more potential than he,
and yet more about whom so little is
known. He is recognized by men who
know as a master mind. Cool, calm.
never hustered, Edwin Hawley wages tho
bloodless battle with all the cnaracteris-
tics of military genius; deliberate in
planning campaign, masterful in grand
strategy terrific in assault. He repre-
sents the heaviest forces Of finance. One
grand coup was the seizure of Louisville
and Nashville, another forcing the deliv-
cry by private settlement of the control
IN Southern Pacific and Others" they
say are on 1.-THE cards.
The decline in the price OF refined SUI
gar is due to competition. 1t looks to me
that the Havemeyers will have to look
to their laurels which means. their trade.
Henry o. Havemeyer, Is without doubt,
the most able of the old group of sugar
You may say ne was born in
sugar. reared on sugar, lived on sugar
and 27ill die on sugar. He can tell the
value of a cargo Of raw sugar from
samples by smell, taste and appearance.
1t to the thirty-second of a
cent have seen him 40 II with low
grade molasses sugar ana high grade
centrifugals. He is a sugar manufacturer
every inch of him. remember him %
years ago, before the days Of trusts.
him when his firm, Have
meyer and Elder was the greatest house
on lower Wall street. I remember when
the new idea" came upon them all and
the sturdy old German sugar ref1ners be-
came feverish with the mania to sell the
plants built up by the frugality, skill and
energy of their ancestors to a company,
a great controlling company. Sugar re-
fners became holders OF handsome certi-
ficates. And then James r. Keene camo
along to teach them how to establish
values for those pretty shares. The late
refiners became interested in stock quo
rather than in sugar QUOTA
tions." Henry o. Havemeyer battled
with the sugar. He never became the
gambler; he remained the manufacturer.
Sturdy, rugged. experienced, he fought
the fight. But the premises had changed.
He now struggled to earn dividends on
stock, that is on the actual value Of
the plants and all that was added there
to termed-''water." The individual en-
ergy of the great promoters of the spec
ial plants which individualized them in
the stern competition of trade dropped
out in the organization of the trust
During the last few years younger men
like Spreckels have come forward. He,
too was born In sugar.. req on sugar,
lived on sugar, worked for sugar. He,
too, knows raw and refined sugars. With
brains and capital he started the Federal
Sugar Refining company and began to
compete. The new addition at Yonkers
will turn out four thousand barrels Of
refined sugars per day. The advantage
of the competition is his His task is to
earn on capital invested not on water.
1t is not uninteresting in these days when
there is so much talk OF ''curbing the
trusts" to see the question practically
answered in straightforward. legitimate
competition. Spreckels certainly repre-.
sents the spirit of antitrust.