The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-05-31
GEORGE GOULD IS AN AMBITIOUS MAN Said to be Most Ambitious in
 Wall Street SOME OF GOULO'S TRAITS Looks as If Turn Had Come In Stock Market-RockefelIer Have Blocks of Pennsylvania and New
 York Central.
SOME OF G0ULO'S TRAITS
BY W. G. NICHOLAS.

New York, May 3O.-The ruthless de- struction of the Western Unions poles and wires on the Pennsylvania's right of way a few days ago set Wall street a gasping. It was realized that the action must have been prompted by feeling deeper than that of mere evaporation at the tardiness with which the Western Union went about removing It's property after the lapse of it's contract with the Pennsylvania. Nobody in the financial world doubted that 1t was an extreme measure of retaliation, and there has been ever since a close scrutiny of Gould, Rockefeller and Pennsylvania relations for some clue to the immediate cause ot the high feeling displayed by the Cassatt crowd in ordering the Western Unions poles to be chopped down. The inside his tory of 1t all may never be written. but in what is known and what may be sur missed there is material enough for a fairly interesting story
 The most ambitious man in Wall street is George Gould. He hopes to be able to travel one day in his private car from New York to San Francisco without leav-
  wolves the Greater Missouri-Paelfic scheme For several years after the death of Jay Gould, his son, George, was an unknown and discredited quantity in the financial world. His father left many enemies and very few personal attach ments. Young Gould was handicapped at the outset by the presumption that he was cast in his fathers mold without in herting the elder Goulds almost diaboli- cal genius. This presumption was only half right. Young Gould has not the manipulative genius of his father, but he is builder So far as anybody knows it has never occurred to his mind to wreck a property for the sake of gaining it, but he has demonstrated extraordin- ary ability in opposing lines. Wall street was slow to take young Gould for what he is, and for several years he plodded steadily along with a degree of independ- ence that was bound in the end to excite admiration and confidence. It became ne- cessary for him in the interest of his chief ambition, namely that of a trans continental railroad system, to win the confidence and engage the active support of some very strong financial party. Af- ter numerous firtations he made his ties with the Standard oil crowd, so-called, than which there is no more powerful f- nancial organization in the world. It is, perhaps the only financial party that would dare tilt with the Pennsylvania crowd, and herein lies the shrewdness of George Gould, who foresaw that the Pennsylvania crowd would be hostile to his trans-continental system, especially the eastern tide-water end of it. He was not strong enough himself to antagonize the Cassatt influence; supported by the Standard oil crowd he could defy 1t. Re- cent events have shown that the Gould and Rocefefler interests are drawing closer and closer together. The Stand ard Oil crowd has been shifting from St. Paul to Missouri Pacific and it will be no surprise to hear some day that the Rock efeller interest in Missouri Pacific is sec ond only to the Gould interest. The feel ing between the Cassatt crowd and the Gould Rockefeller alliance had reached an acute stage when the Pennsylvania undertook it's extraordinary financial operation involving practically a doub- ling of the company's capitalization It is believed in the most reliably informed quarters that the Gould Rockefeller con- tingent set out deliberately to make the issue of $75,000O00 new Pennsylvania stock in June a failure. The new stock is of fered at 120. If the Pennsylvania could be made to sell below that price before the new stock was placed, the issue would fail of the subscription at the hands of stockholders and the Cassatt crowd would be placed in a most em- barrassng position The object of the bear campaign in Pennsylvania evidently was to force the stock below 120. It was reaching downward in a very alarming manner, and was already selling around 125 when MT. Cassatt hurriedly made ar arrangements to have the whole issue un- derwritten by New York banking sym dicate for a commission of 21a per cent on the entire transaction Almost simul- l taneously with this announcement came the news that MT. Cassatt had sent gangs of workmen out to chop down the