The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-03
l1ler and Women Ue Read Fbcut
CABINET MINISTERS OF THE MONEY KINGS.
 BY DEXTER MARSHALL

Most of the ruling Captains or Tn hustryy Kings of Finance and EmPer- ors of Transportation-the men wno today contradictions to one or two rather loosely defined great general classes.
 These in the first class. such men as Carnegie. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller. to mention only few or the more Nypical, have reached their present lev el over hitherto untrodden paths. orok- en out by themselves.
 Those in the second class have made their upward way along we'll beaten roads. often first as untried employees. then as trusted assistants, then In nIaces of such importance as to warrant being called the cabinet ministers of the Monarchs of Material Affairs.
 Many times better paid. so far as money goes. than the Secretaries who advise the President. these men often the public as their principals. Some times, but not always. they attain even ,4ually to the classic level of complete acceptance by the public.
 This come to pass less frequently Than you might expect J. P. Morgan's ocabinet ministers are more talked about than any others justsnow on account of the startlingly frank testimony given before the insurance Investigating committee recently by George w. Per kins. his prime minister. All Morgan's men have done well, very well indeed, hut none has reached the highest lev el.
 A recently published list of them con sained twelve names, of which Perkins's s appeared at the bottom and Charles Eteele's in next to the last place.
 Undoubtedly Perkins is now the most discussed Morgan lieutenant. though there was time not so very long ago when Steele attracted much the more attention.
 Steele is within two or three years of 30, a solid man physically. weighing, perhaps. 200 pounds. but so tall that he carries fthat amount of avoirdupois very easily. He Is one of those men who look rather older than they are, yet who in their photographs appear younger. In most cases this Is due 10 some specially boyish outline or con- tour, as 1t is in Stee1e's. He has particularly youthful smile.
 Steele was Baltimore boy. After he had been graduated from the Columbia Law School in New York, with the repu- tation of being one of the keenest stu dents in corporation law ever turned out by that institution. he became the Junior member of Edward, Guthrie & Co, a legal firm that handled lot of Morgan's law business. The young lawyer was sent tO Scc 4slOk 6dS PcA eOAA ally about several matters of unusual moment, and the old financier was pleased with him. Little by little the handling of all the Morgan firms busi- ness was left to Steele by his partners. particularly as he and Charles M. Cos ter, then Morgap's most trusted. most important partner, got along so well together.
 cd out the details of most of the early combinations formed by the Morgan firm and, obviously, Coster's work had to he based on positively flawless legal knowledge. Coster found Steele Just the man to work with, and repeatedly urged him to join the Morgan firm. Steele refused to do this, feeilng tnat it would not be strictly fair to ms mariners, the Morgan business being a big percentage of the firms entire Morxan,s Men Are Often Overworked.
 But when Coster died. Charles Steele was induced to regard the situatioh from a different viewpoint. It was then clear to him that J. F. Morsan cs co. needed him more than the law firm aid. For after Coster's death Steele vas the only man alive who had much more than a glimmering of the legal ins and outs of the matters It nad keen Coster's duty to attend to. Unless steele would consent to become a part her and take charge of these things the big banking house would really pc teriously embarrassed.
 Backed by this argument-and the of- ,er of a salary greater than that of the bresident of the United States-Steele Took the place, a place that carried k1;th If a share in the firms profits suerv wear in addition to the Dig sal hry. .oh. r,,s +ha s,aroinr of about three-score ana ten saiiroad lines into the Southern system, n task which pressed into service every last faculty of which he was possessed and left him nerve-worn, exnausteo, nl just the proper condition 10 yielo Wnen attacked by the illness which carried him away. It is understood that either iust before or just after Steele Jolnsu fhe Morgan forces the chief himseiI had a heart-t heart talk with the new partner in which he laid great stress
 ,pon the cardinal sin of allowing wor- ry to get the upper hand as Coster had done.
 Morgan is said to have expiated long and earnestly upon the subject, making 1t clear that 1t would be highly incon- venient and expensive for the hrm tc lose another accomplished legal partner Steele is said to have promised that he wouldn't endanger the life of Coster's successor by overwork, and 1t is un- derstood that he hasn't done so as yet
 Next to the chief himself Steele is said to get along better than any oi fhe partners with the rather nerve racking routine of the big banking house, nearly eyerya. day of whicf brings up some process involving