Courier Democrat., 1904-09-01
MONEY lNnANDS Off

Concentration Of Power Men.
aces Popular Government.
BANK AND RAILWAY COMBINES,
They Control Half the Nations
Wealth-No Real Effort Made by
Republicans to Enforce the Anti.
trust Lavs-Roosevelt Under Obli-
cations to the Two Dominant In.
terests.
The concentration of wealth in few
hands Is obvious to every one. The
enormous and fast increasing wealth
of the Rockefcllers, Morgans, Wander
bilts, Goulds and others is constant
exhibition of it. But few, however, ap-
preciate the extraordinary tendency to-
ward the concentration of the banks OF
most striking feature of the financial
situation and shows the enormous DOW
er that two interests possess over the
money Of the country. The most I'M
portant Of these interests is the Rookie
feller or Standard Oil group and the
other the so called Morgan life insur-
ance group. This combination of tinan-
ciers, virtually controlled by two men,
has command of one-half of all the
banking business included in the re-
port Of the associate banks.
The ockefeller interest owns the
National City bank, with deposits Of
$2O1 3d., 900 and cash OH hand Of $780,
42S,S00; also the Hanover bank, with
deposits of sea, ,401 200 and cash in its
vaults of $10,697,300. The loans of
these two banks aggregate S235, ,OOO.-
600.
The Morgan life insurance group
controls the First National, the Bank
of Commerce and the Chase National
bank, with deposits aggregating $780,
and deposits S314,s11,o00.
The National Park bank is not in
cluded in either of these groups, but is
allied with them, and if it's resources
are added these six banks account for
over GO per cent of the loans. 65 per
cent Of the deposits and GO per cent of
the cash of all the banks in the New
York clearing house. These banks also
account. according to the last state
ment made, for 20 per cent of the en-
tire surplus Of all the associated banks.
These great financiers are not con-
tent with the control of the New York
banks, but also have acquired control
of banks in the other large cities of
the United States. Through their pow
er to loan money to the stock brokers,
their vast holdings of bonds and stocks
of railroads and the Industrial trusts
they have power to influence the stock
market and can often make or break
at will those who deal in stocks.
The ramifications of these financiers.
with their allied corporations. extend
into every state and city and almost
into every county in the United States
through their attorneys and agents.
This vast money power is part of the
Republican, political machine. for both
the groups above mentioned are ar
rayed against the Democrats. How
great this political influence is may be
Judged when the total mileage of the
Morgan group of railroads is 47,2O6
miles and the Rockefeller group has
2S,157 miles. These railroads extend
into every doubtful state and have at
torneys and agents at nearly every
county seat watching their financial
and political interests.
This concentration Of power in the
hands Of few men is one of the
great dangers to popular government,
and the defeat of the Republican ma
chine would go great way toward
arresting the further development of
such combinations. The Republican
administration has taken no real steps
to arrest this concentration, in spite.
Of the laws on the statute books, and
the common law is ample to prevent it
If rigidly enforced. The SO called "mer-
ger'' trust suit. which Attorney Cen
eral Knox instituted. is worthless un-
less followed by more drastic meas
ures. and. the fact that ]. P. Morgan
has declared for President Roosevelt,
and the New York Sun. which he con-
trolls, is NOW advocating his election.
though formerly denouncing him,
shows that the merger interests do not
fear further legal prosecutions by Mr..
Roosevelt If he is elected. Any voters
who have been led to believe that Mr..
Roosevelt Is fighting the trusts, espe-
cially tie railroad and financial combi-
nations. should remember that he is
directly under obligations to the great
railroad corporations for thousands Of
miles Of travel in special trains and
that the Republican campaign fund is
largely furnished by the same inter-