The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-01-18
P|ERPONT MORGAN ;, MAY SOON RETIRE 5a a < TT Rig Financier Preparing to
 Shift Responsibility GOSSIP OF WALL STREET After a Fashion, It Is Said, Morgan Loves Notoriety and Likes to Ad- f1s vertise Himself as One of the e. Great Financlers.
GOSSIP OF WALL STREET
sY W. 0. NICHOLAS.

2 story Is again going the rounos III iliai- c;ai ouarters that J. Pierpont Morgan is E manning to reduce his responslpihties and put his affairs in shape to better en- ! iov the last years of his life. This does not mean that he will retire, for 1t would j he imnossible for him to do so. His in- s terests are too varied and extensive and , for him to give up direct connection with I the large affairs of the financial world 2 with which he has so long been identified ! would be suicidal The understanding ! is that he will gradually shift large proportion of the actual burdens upon < the shoulders of his assistants and as- sociates and slowly work himself into position that will require less of his per- { sonal attention. As long as he llves he ! will be really commander-in-chief of his k armies. but he has wearied of incessant struggle and enormous mental and physl- s cal strain, incident to the planning and s execution of great campaigns. The last E two years have been full of extraordinary s effort and he has been so engrossed with business cares that he has been obliged E to almost abandon pleasures and enjoy z merts in other directions. MT. Morgan. aside from his Wall street affairs, has several fads which afford him great enT ioytnerit He Is a tireless art collector and5 has sunder his wings a variety of philanthropic religious and charitable en- E terprises To these pursuits he has not been able to give yone-tenth of his time andshe is determined to give himself more lesures t>
 N Moroan Loves Notorety.
 9 After a fashion Mr. Morgan loves noto- q riety E He likes to see himself adver- tised as one of the greatest financiers or the world and delights in the advertise 2 ment attaehing to that sort of reputa- tion. That is, he did enjoy it until he A awolxe to. the unpleasant realization that N penalties as we'll as rewards go with the assumption of extraordinary responsibil- E itiesg He organized the Steel trust for & the purpose of averting a destructive war among the rival corporations engaged Tn R therdron and steel trade. He had previ- 2 ously. re-organized several great railroad 2 systems to save solvent transportation interests from further ruinous competi- ton from bankrupt lines He formed the Anthracite Coal trust to lift that business to a paying basis. In these vast under takings he felt that he had been the sal E vation of the investment interests of the 4 country and had done heroic work in # their behalf His genius in this regard q is generally appreciated by the substan- $ tial people of the United States and En- % rope. sy .-fa N Not until he was singled out as the re- E sponsible party behind the scene who Y could personally settle the coal strike N last summer, did he ever shirk or evade A responsibilities. In this instance 1t was X a long time before he could be induced s to employ. the powers with which he was M credited and then only under duress he fO al nd no sa mining to be resumed. During this period x he was subjected to violent criticisms N and attack Almost simultaneously N war; was begun on him in England and ss throughout the continent because of his q industrial aggressions and on account of T the International Shipping combine. Eng # fish papers called him crazy for paying M English owners five times as much for < their steamship properties as they were T supposed to be worth. In many ways X his judgment was assailed and MT. Nor K gan finds himself today suffering In pres x tige by reason of these attacks At home # he was subjected to insidious opposition 2 by rivals In the financial world, and all Es through the stringency and sacrifices of % last 4fall his numerous enterprises were < the center of liquidation.
 M Ordeal Was Severe.
 N The ordeal was a severe one and he M did not pass through 1t unscathed. The esaexperience got on his nerves as every
 body testifies. who has come In contact
 with him. It was not until the real trial ,sswas oyer,s however. that he decided to E tighten the load. His mind once made up sq he has been proceeding with great energy fs along the lines marked out The first hs big thing he has done was to pave the z way for the winding up of the coal trust E by parceling the properties out among H. Hr-ef -to z in this direction was the lodging of con- E trol of the great Reading system be- 4 tween the Vanderbilt and Pennsylvania H interests. The plans for final disposi- @ ton of Erie are approaching completion, $ and the other anthracite coal roads are on
 z their way to 8 resting place where they F, can no longer threaten the eastern coal H and transportation situation. MT. James q Js9 Hill has relieved Mir. Morgan of a x large share of the responsibilities for Y the railroad properties in the northwest G in which they are Jointly concerned. The stSouthern railway situation has been turn q ed over to lieutenants, of which MT. Spen- y cer~ is the. leader, and under whose direc- ton the problem Is being worked out.
 sss&IFhe. international steamship combine is
 the biggest undigested mass in the Nor
 gan stomach. It is giving him trouble
 and no end of unpleasant advertising
 Morgan's enemies have been saying that
 it Is his Moscow and marks the beginning
 of an unfortunate end to his career. It has certainly given them a chance to at-
 tHck and they have availed themselves
 of 1t to the utmost. That enterprise has
 done more than any half dozen projects
 .she has undertaken to discredit the great
 financier. Among other things it has
 stuck his underwriting friends for
 round $50,000 000 and there is tedious trav-
 cling before they can expect to get any
 of it back But be that as it may, MT.
 Morgan Is going to treat himself to pleas
 ures which have been denied him in the
 later days of his career. It Is safe to say
 he will take on nothing new in the way
 of Notation or expansion. The lessons of
 the last six months have been quite
 enough to cure him of any ambitions for
 further conquests. He has put on the
 brakes and is slowing down. His best
 Friends are heartily glad that such is the
 case and the financial district is breath
 ing sighs of relief The pace he set was
 tiring them out.
 Great Financial Change Expected.
 European financial papers are casting
 horoscopes and predicting that ere long
 the credit and debit status of the old and
 new world will be reversed. During the
 season of liquidation in the stock market
 last fall Americas floating indebtedness
 abroad was greatly reduced. Late esti-
 mates are that the amount of floating
 obligations to Great Britain and Europe
 is now down to $125 coo, 900. In view of the