The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1903-11-13
BIG Syv'INDIE!
q How the Masses Of he People Are
aleecedg gsby Social 90 81

q doW the M sea tnas are;
eecedS by socall led s
PrlAINs i Of ,NDUsTRY d d
Tie ssse fethots Employed BY CHARLES
1 ss5ss5 q. q ohWnb ana .. Pierpont
nldorg with sespe OF 20
the shipbniIdingT Trust. sssis
There was something OF a sensation
q In Wall street when Daniel L. Dresser,
president OF the Trust Company Of
& the Republic, revealed under oath the
mt thoasss ssTIa pioYed by Charles 81 nj. Il
Schwab and j. Pierpont Morgan with
u respect to the shipbuilding trust. The
i newspaper Of the country have paid
h great attention to Dresser's testimony
j and. some people pretend TO be surpris-
ed because OF the revelations. Mr..
s. Dresser testified at q hearing before a
special United States examiner,
Henry D. Oliphant, that the first
ss mortgage bondholders had obtained
the appointment Of q temporary re-.
y ceiver for the shipbnilding company
and Dresser'S testimony was introduc-
ed u for the purpose OF showing that
the company was fraudulently impos
S ed upon and y rendered insoivent
& through. the Vaccinations OF certain
men.
Dresser's revelations are recited In
an interesting story written by
4 Samuel G.. Blythe, the special CORES
pondent for the New York World.
Mr. Blythe says that Dresser's testi-
mony threw considerable light on
z the great game of o. P. M.-other
peoples money! He points out that
the era of prosperity that began In
the fall Of 1896 and rose to high tide
three years later was fostered by a
gigantic bull market In the securities
listed on the stock exchange and sold
elsewhere. The country went money
mad. Millions we poured into Wall
street and millions were made. Nearly
every stock went up. It was as easy
to make money as it was to breathe.
All that was necessary was to buy and
take profit. Walters, cabmen, Office
boys, laborers, clerks, merchants
everybody dipped into the golden
stream flowing from the church to the
river on Wall street and brought out
handfuls Of profit. 1t was also the
era Of combination. Industries were
consolidated. Trusts were made Of all
sorts of factories and all sorts Of com.
moditieS. Clerks in the state Offices
In New Jersey, where most OF the
combinations were incorporated, grew
weary OF inscribing giant rows OF
figures on the records. The prevailing
idea was to capitalize everything at
any exorbitant number of millions
that fancy might dictate and sell the
stock to the people,"
During these days Of Frantic ex-
ploitation, the shipbuilding trust was
planned. Mr.. Blythe says that the
idea was to combine the leading ship
yards Of the country and control ship
building business. Daniel T.. Dresser,
the president Of the Trust Company
Of the Republic, was one Of the NOV
ing spirits. According to Mr. Blythe,
the true exempli6cation Of the high
finance began when Charles M.
Sclwab bought the Bethlehem Steel
company, OF Bethlehem, Pa, con
cern that made much Of the govern.
ment's armor plate. This steel com.
pany was under option year and !;
half ago &c Kuhn, Loeb &c Co. and the
Morton Trust company, Uf New York
The plan was to sell it to the Vickers
Sons & Maxim company, Of England
There was an option which carried al
agreement to sell the stock to tn,
Americans for S22. SO share, they tx
unload at a profit on the t.nglishmen
Of course. 1t was Thought on boti
Ann1 = \,
Still, the owners of tl.4f- BeJhlehen
company are business men, and the,
cast about FOR better price. A let
ter, entirely non -committal, but in
forming him that the company migh1
sell, was sent to MIR. Schwab, presi
dent of the steel trust and competitor
to the Bethlehem company. Schwat
saw a chance to turn an honest
penny. He promptly bid S24 share
for the bethlehem cOmpany's stock
and his offer was accepted. There
we're 299,9lO shares Of Bethlehem
stock. Mr.. Schwab's increase Of 81. sc
share made a tidy sum, and the
directors Of the Bethlehem company
were we'll pleased. The Kuhn-L
Morton Trust company syndicate
protested vigorously, but we're told ii
was business and finally decided tt
let the matter drop. Things were not
going we'll with the shipbuilding trust
MIR. Schwab, having turned promoter,
had decided to sell his bethlehem com
pany to the shipbuilding promoters
but soon discovered that the time was
not propitious. This left him in the
position Of owing great steel com.
pany that was competitor to the
steel combination of which he was
president. 1t also left him with q
large sum OF money to pay for the
stock he had acquired"
at this stage Of the proceedings
Schwab called upon Morgan. Mr.
Blythe says that Schwsb explained
that he was owner Of the Bethlehem
company and president of the steel
trust. Why not let the steel trust
take over the Bethlehem company, he
asked Mr.. Morgan, who was ma0agel
Of the syndicate Of underwriters That
guaranteed the billion dollar stee
7 trust bonds. The Bethlehem pro-
perty was added to the list of the
billion dollar steel company. No pub
lie mention was made of the fact
The public did not know that the
steel trust owned the Bethlehem com
h,,%