The Washington herald., 1907-05-03
GATES AS A PROPHET
"Bet-a-milliOn" PlungerG Gets
Reminiscent.
LIKES ROOSEVELT AND TAFT
Expects 10 See President Renom-
mated and EIected-DecIares Chi
caEO VIII Rapidly Grow in IN
haence as a Financial Center-Dis-
eusses Ethical Side OF the Market.

New York, May 2.-Though John ".
IGates. fnancier, oil town boomer, Wall
lstreet manipulation, railroad hustler, and
worshiper of the goddess OF chance (he-
lroic size, piesse), is going away frcm here
his departure is not for good He goes,
but he returns He said so this evening in
his apartment at the Waldorf-Astoria. All
the same, he has abandoned the Wall
street game for keeps. he declares.
Il am through with Wall street." he
said. I've been busy down there off and
on for quite a few years. and / am done
with it. Hereafter. when I return to this
Icountry. shah devote myself 70 the man
agement of the business interests with
which j am identified entirely apart from
the stock market. III have enough to do
to keep me busy at that I think"
Mr.. Gates smiled blandly when he was
iremlnded that reports were current that
the savage slump that / il the market last
March had put quite a crimp into his for
/ tunes and those Of his son.
Nothing in that" he replied. Il only
hope that when other operators quit the
/
no more regret than / do
Mr. Gates and his son. Charles G.. have
leased a hunting preserve about forty
miles from Paris It contains about 1900
/ acres. Mr.. and Mrs John w will sail
/ from New York about July Is. and will
not return until some time in October.
/ They viii spend about a month Non the
| French hunting preserve. Mr. Gates
would not say from whom he had leased
| it, but he stated that it was from a MEM
Der Of the French nobility. While there
| he will shoot birds in drives" according
4 10 the English fashion.
Mr Gates took few pufs at one OF
the huge cigars that he Is constantly
smoking Some Of his friends call
them the big stocks of finance" He
gazed refectively at the missioaier
that decoratcs the opposite side Of the
room. and continued:
~ am of the opinion that it will be
good long time before the market
gets Strengthened out again after this
March affair. 1t viii not be a simple
thing 20 readWst all values properly,
and 1t viii be many months before the
market is wholly normal again. All
the same, it viii IN the end be "a good
thing for everybody concerned.
Financial affairs in this country are
! undergoing a pronounced change. II Will
not be such a long time before New York
ceases being the whole thing financially
TO anything ike the same extent IL Is
now. The Western cities are constantly
growing in financial independence. Chi
cago, ST. Louis, st. Paul, Omaha. and
other cities have got TO be reczoned with
more and more as the years 20 by. I
think few people realize the fact that the
total deposits IN Chicago banks are not
so vastly inferior 10 those of the New
York banks at the present time. The
bankers who do business west of the
Mississippi are even now preferring 70
keep their heaviest balances IN the
greater cities of the Middle West. It's
easier for them 20 make personal visits
there than TO come 10 New York The
financial center is vislbly inclining west
ward.
our currency system, too. is antiquat-
ed 1t has been neglected, II seems 10
me. The administration attention has
repeatedly been called 20 the fact that
the currency of the country Is far too
small for the business that h has TO do.
Yet no adequate steps have been taken
70 meet the difficulty. But we have got
TO come TO il, and the sooner the better
Admires President Roosevelt.
Mr. Gates is not one of the Presidents
detractors. President Roosevelt is an
extraordinary man." he said. Perhaps
he is too prone to go to extremes But
he's done things. And. perhaps. it takes
haps the railroads had been going it just
bit too strong. Personally, I think
President Roosevelt is the most popular
man in the country to-day-far and away
the most popular Every little while he
does something that causes a howl but
he's one of the shTewdest politicians /
that ever did business in this country. /
and his popularity goes mounting up all
the time He cant be beat"
do You think President Roosevelt win
be nominated for a third term?" Mr..
Gates was asked.
It's hundred TO one he will" he an
swered emphatically. ITS the surest
thing, you know. l know perfectly well /
that he has said he won't accept a re- /
nomination. and I haven't any doubt he /
same, he viii be renominated, and the /
nomination will be forced on him He 4
told me that he would not accept a third /
term. but ! told him he would have TO, 1
just rs / am telling you tonight"
Mr.. Gates has a high admiration for /
Secretary Taft and thinks he would make /
a wise and efficient President, but he /
can't see how his nomination Is going to /
he brought about. He thinks, In short, /
that President Roosevelt is as good as |
started upon his third term.
Mr.. Gates has some ideas about the |
ethical side of the stock market opera /
tions that are In keeping with his record 1
Life is gamble he said Everything !
is n gamble. When the farmer plants his
corn he is gambling. He is practically
betting that the weather conditions will 4
favor him TO raise a good crop Some I
times he loses; sometimes he wins Every
man who goes into business embarks
upon speculation. OF course, the element /
Of judgment enters in, but the element /
of chance cannot be rooted out When /
ever a man starts out on a railway jour /
ney it's gamble whether he ever
reaches his destination. All life is a
gamble, you see"