The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-07-08

board air line has been telling about
the manner in which he obtained con-
troll of this important railway system
for comparatively small sum OF
money, and how, since, in defiance of
promises and agreements and other
pledges, he has held on to it, bleed
ing it to the extent of $2,000,OOO by
his clever manipulation. This distln-
guished Baltimorean points to the new
owner of the Equitable as "con-
scienceless man whose strongest i'm
pulse is to gain money, and his one TO-
bust passion to keep it. Patient, emo
tionless, able, he is an acquiring ma
chine and operates himself for the
purpose of getting what others have,
says Banker Williams. 1t was this
Ryan who emerged with railway
franchise on Broadway, the basis OF
the present Metropolitan railway sys-
tenn. from the Jake Sharp Doodle
scandal in New York. He helped w.
c. Whitney acquire the 3d-av railroad
after forcing down its stock In the
market and cornering its owners He
formed the notorious tobacco trust,
and also the national bank of Com
merce in New York and he is now
working to secure the building of the
New York subway. Indeed, he is one
of the very choicest representatives or
the genus, "frenzied flnancier, in this
country today, and in executing the
immense projects he has the daring
to conceive he is deferred by no scru-
pies. 1t is not so many years ago that
this Thomas F. Ryan, soon after put
ting together the various subcom-
panies which form the tobacco trust,
had been baked in floating some hum
dred odd millions of bonds and stocks
on the public at three and four times
their real value, and was pinched~ for
ready money At about this time a
New York bank examiner bounced
down suddenly on one of his trust
companies. Among the securities of
this corporation. the State Trust COM
pany, was a note signed by one Dan
Shea, for 100000. AS it was a
criminal offense for the trust company
to loan on any one name, never mind
how good the collateral, over small
fraction of this note, the examiner
called in the officers and directors and
gave them a choice of telling what
they knew about Mr.. Shea, or sum-
moning them before the grand jury.
Thereupon, Mr.. Ryan boldly an
nounced that Shea was his 14-year-old
office 10y on $3.50 a week. This is
the same Thomas F. Ryan who has
been called in as the savior of the
10000 policyholders of the Equita-
bic with it's $400,000,000 odd of ac-
cumulated funds. He is a sturdy and
powerful person, this same Ryan, and
if you think the discovery of this
transaction phazed him, you don't
realize the caliber of the Wall street
winner. He weathered the storm all
I1Snts oil HIS tOOdCCO
stocks and bonds to the Morton trust
company, and calmly pursued his ac-
customed ways. Today he is cred
tied with possessing $60,000,000 and
he is young yet, and "still a-coming,"
as they say on Wall street.
Paul Morton.
AS for Paul Morton. you of the west
know more about his morals and
methods than I do, for he ran your
Atchison road, and when he was testi-
flying before the interstate commerce
commission as to the rebate evil,
calmly admitted it was a bad prac-
tice, but that he allowed 1t because he
had to do as the Romans did. don't
know myself just what Romans do,
but as I said before, President Roose-
that's good enough for me, but wheth-
er the president meant that he was all
right enough to run the 100000
Equitable policyholders' 412 millions
as lieutenant for the frenziedest of all
frenzied financfers in the home of
'frenzied finance" Is something
must leave to our good president to
answer.
You must have noticed that have
not said anything about the appoint
ment of the three emfnently respect
able gentlemen who compose Mr..
Ryan's voting trust in charge of the
Equitable. To quote John Shelton
Williams again, MIR. Ryan has de-
veloped the voting trust game to a
science. It enables him to work in
secret and reach out and take so that
those who are deprived, while feeling
their loss, cannot quite see who has
is just now up against one of Mr..
Ryan's voting trusts. 1t is unneces-
sary to discuss further the parts of
Messrs. Cleveland, O'Brien and West
inghouse, except perhaps to say that
1 believe their intentions are excellent
These illustrations of 'frenzied
finance I have set before you to show
in round way what this fnscrutable
Wall street tells you is Incompetent
sible to the unframed mind really
amounts to.
when our nation was organized it
was on the basis that all Americans
were free and equal and that the
country belonged to the people. No
man or class of men had any inherent
right to the labors of other men, and
all men owned themselves and the re-
suits of their individual work. From
the earnings of each it was agreed
that a fair sum should be deducted
for the cost of government, but the
people decided what this amount
should be and who should take charge
of it and it's expenditure. There was
no misunderstanding or room for in
direction about these arrangements,
and they seemed to insure to all
square division of such benefits as ac-
crued to the nduon. InlS meant lnat
if the nation throve all the people
shared in the prevailing prosperity in
due proportion to their part in bring
ing it about.
Locate the Stolen Billions.
First we must locate these billions,
for they cannot have vanished off the
face of the earth; then We must decide
if those in whose possession they now
are came by them honestly, that is. let
us look if there is anything in our laws
whereby possession of these billions
could be obtained without stealing
them.
Before the eyes of the American peo-
pie today stand forth little handful
of men, risen from their own ranks,
who within the last 80 years have grown
richer and more powerful than the
kings, princes, earls and dukes of those
1..,c. the r,ec,rnIa are NOT free and