Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-01-31
THE NATIONS MENACE.
Forty Per Cent of American Property
ContraIIed ny Corporations.

Controlled ny Corporations.
Charles stedman Hanks, a Harvard class
mate of President Roosevelt, last Wednes-
day addressed the Boston chamber OF COM
meroe on the Growth Of Corporate Wealth
in the United States" In these striking
figures Mr.. Hanks set forth the menace OF
corporate control:
THE wealth of this country is getting
more and more under corporate control. II
this continues It will only be a question
OF time when our corporations will have
absolute ownership of the property Of this
country. A census report about to be is
sued gives the wealth OF this country In
1904 as SiO7 1Oi. 1917. This is thirty-six per
cent more than in 1901 and sixty-four per
cent more than In 1890. OF this total wealth
81, 900 is in our steam railroad cor
poratons, S229O 600 in street railway cor
poratons. 100000 600 in telegraph and tele-
phone corporations, Sl2S,OoOOOO in Pullman
and private car companies, SlSS, OOOO in
canal and canalized river corporations, $685.
100000 in private water works companies,
100000 In private gas and electric light
companies. $3.50. 10000 in manufacturing
corporations and S360o,OOO,OOO in industrial
corporations other than manufactures. In
other words, nearly twenty-five per cent of
ready under corporate control.
or the balance s4OO0OoO,OOO is rail and
personal property which belongs to our
municipalities. si,S75, 100000 the surplus and
undivided profits of our national banks,
ST. 400, $1,000 the surplus and undivided profits
OF our state and private banks, savings
banks and loan and trust companies; $500
100000 the property of religious. charitable
and educational corporations, and $500,
100000 the estimated value of our mines.
In addition to this there is the capital
stock and undivided surplus of our fire and
life insurance companies the property OF
mercantile corporations, the property of real
estate Investment companies, and our ship
ping interests and steamboat lines, of which
the Census Bureau has no data. This
roughly estimated amounts to 10 per cent
of the total wealth, so that 1t is fair to
say that only about 60 per cent of the
property of this country is now in the
control of the people"
To show how the vast earnings of various
companies are disguised and distributed the
speaker gave Illustrations "A railroad
from A to b is earning so much money that
1t cannot even conceal its earnings. It,
therefore, incorporates a terminal station
or a switching company. If it is to be
terminal station the cost Of building IL is
paid by selling bonds, the railroad keeping
the stock, which represents the ownership.
The game is to get money out of the
column of earnings from operations into
the column of earnings from other
sources" so that the real earnings will be
hidden and the public cannot demand lower
rates. The statistics of the Interstate Com
merce commission show $3.50 such terminals
and switching companies Their stock pays
30 per cent. As per cent and in one case
$50 per cent.
II have been told on good authority that
certain Wall street men. who controlled a
large railroad system, regularly telegraphed
instructions each month from New York
to the main offices what the books should |
show the net earnings were for that
month