The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-01-25

I OF the railroads IN this group alone agsre-
gates 39.SsI.
Again. the Kuhn-Loeb group Is almost
| equally powerful. The combined capital of
| the thirteen railroads and iuduStrials known
to be under its control exceeds sl.p}i.g00ol
The mileage of the roads here represented
is $3.50. Here is a combined capital which
may some day be used in 4 common enter
I prise of nearly S.G1V'g.pto.
1t is scarcely possible to conceive what
a genuine warfare between two such pow
ers would mean to the country at large.
There have been one or two encounters.
triiing in comparison 10 the possibilities
| of such a conflict. In the fight over tn
Northern Securities a few of the war lords
| of finance found themselves pitted against
one another. Their disagreement. it viii
be remembered. lasted only a few days, but
It left its mark upon a thousand interests
in all PARTS Ct the country.
The parallels between the operations q
these great ffnarciai figures and the cam
paicn of an invading army are many and
curious. The groups of tinarCiers. like their
military counterparts. have secured a CON
trolling Influence in practically all the rail-
roads. the public carriers. throughout the
entire territory in which they operate.
In other words. nothing may pass or the
| great public highways without their con-
sent or without in some way paying tribute
TO them. Their position. it will be seem Is
stronger than that Of an invading army.
which merely builds a fort beside a 1tpiIc
highway. The financial group controls 'Ae
road from end to end.
Again. one Of the first moves of an army
of invasion or occupation IA to get control
of the various means of COMMUNICATION
throughout the field of operations.
The war lords Of finance have carried
this system to an extent Impossible 70 any
enemy. BY controlling the telegraph lines
throughout The country enormous adVantiSe
IS at once obtained. and since the modern
means of communication between foreign
countries affects their position they have
gained control Of most OF the cable lines.
1t would appear that the position OF the
financisrs operating from Their businesses
in Wall street was already sufficiently s.
cure. but the mos; potent means of control
has not been mentioned. In addition TO the
power of the railroads. with their control
in turn OF the industries OF the country
these camps also control the banks, whose
power is even more resolute and far-reach-
ing.
Each group numbers among its resources
many of the richest and most powerful
banks of the country.
Should every other position fail or be So
cured by the enemy this control OF the
banks would alone render the war lords of
finance practically unassailablc.
BY controlling the interest on money or
the price of IL. IN other words. every citizen
of the United States at once becomes Il sub
Ject.
1t is not implied that this power is welded
harshly-in fact. the best interests OF the
country are undoubtedly consulted by the
great %financiers in considering their own.
Such Capitalization Of money power has
probably never been realized before in the
history OF the world.
According TO our laws and the very nature
of our financial system. il is natural and
inevitable, but let US see what control in
the remotest parts of the country it makes
possible.
a group of financiers encamped in Wall
street decide that the interest on the money
available in the banks should be raised l
per cent.
Such decision is but the work OF a mo
ment. and in a few minutes may be an
nounced to the entire country.
The balance in a hundred markets. and
thousands of interests aud enterprises is
instantly changed and must be readjusted.
There are. for instance, millions upon mil
lions of dollars invested In stocks. which
are only profitable while the money rate re- |
mains at a certain point.
II the rate Of interest he raised even