Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-09
WFFRE a CONTINENT IS FINANCED

South African finance. The fact Is not
overlooked, however, that he is well over
sixty years Of age and that since South
Africa began to cut such an important aa
have been chiefly responsible for develop
ing her resources. Rhodes, Jameson, Bar
nato Joel and Belt were all young men and
practically the pioneers Of South Africa's
activities-industriaI, financial and politi-
cal.
There can be no doubt that Sir julius
Wernher will continue to control and d.
rect the huge interests of the house with
which his name Is associated, but whether
he has the capacity for thinking in con-
tinents" which Rhodes and Belt displayed
is another story. He has not, it is said,
the breadth of view of Alfred Belt. He is
keen, shrewd and enterprising enough In
finance but when it comes to looking at
things imperially, Joseph Chamberlain
Would say, he is rather at sea.
Belt was much at ease in manipulating
millions as Wernher would be in dealing
with thousands. Belt could compel atten-
ton where his partner would court resent
| ment or perhaps invite defeat. There Is no
secret about the fact that Alfred Belt was
mainly responsible for the millions which
| the firm has accumulated. Sir Julius, al
| though described as a good-natured man,
| is a rigid discipinarian, but he is consider
| ed as hardly the hustler that the activi-
demand At the moment, however, he APP
| pears to be the only possible successor to
| Albert Belt, not because he is a man of any
striking capacity or originality or initiative,
| but because his personal wealth and huge
commercial and financial interests place
| him head and shoulders above any multi
millionaire aspiring to fame or prominence
| In South African affairs.
There are other men whose names have
| doomed larger on the South African hori-
zon than Sir Julius Wernher's because they
| have interested themselves more in Its in
ternal affairs They are Abe Bailey, Roche
| fort Mcguire, former Parnellite M. p;
Max Neumann and Sir George Farrar.
| They are all millionaires, and they all pull
many of the strings that control the dark
continent, but they do not control the
money that has fallen to the share of Sir
| julius Wernher and his partners. They
must, therefore, wait.
Personally, Sir Julius Wernher is one of
the most modest men of wealth in London.
He dresses more like a poor grocer than
like a man of many millions. When he
does not walk all the way, his travelling ex-
penses to his office and back home never
cost him more than 10 cents daily. He
stands on the doorstep of his mansion in
Picadilly almost every morning when liv-
ing in town 10 wait for the omnibus that
carries him to the door of his Office in the
city Like his partner, he was punctual to
the extent of being almost eccentric. If
anything occurred in his home that might
delay him In the morning beyond the usual
time he would not go to the office at all
that day. 1.-The only way" he would say,
ito encourage punctuality is to punish your
staff as you punish yourself" Eight solid
hours. work at his Office is his usual day.
Frequently he does not go out to lunch.
| and then the Office boys are heard to gig
gle among themselves that the governor
must have brought sandwiches In his
pocket from home that morning. Away
| from business, he enjoys life mostly as
| other men do. He smokes, drinks. likes a
! modest gamble and plays a good game of
I billiards. In this latter connection it Is
| said that he has the most luxuriously fitted
| billiard table in Europe. When 1t Is point
| ed out that $35 to $40 is considered good
/ price to pay for the cloth on a professional
| match table 1t is easy to imagine the lux
| uriousness of Sir julius Wernher's table
when the cloth cost $3.50.
| Since his elevation to a baronetcy he has
| entertained on lavish scale, both at his
| town house and at Looton Hoo Park, In
Bedfordshire. Hitherto he confined his en-
| PERTAINING to persons in his own immediate
| circle but now many Of the best people in
London are seen at his parties.
| p M HIGGINS.