Los Angeles herald., 1908-10-04
MR.. CORTELYOU AGAIN

Times, takes The Herald to task
" for something that it has said
about the good and great Mr.. Cortel-
you, who, as secretary of the treasury.
has been intrusted with the control of
the finances of our national govern
ment.
The Herald has nothing to retract
that it has ever said about Mr.. Cortel-
you. and it might have added a good
deal that has been left unsaid. How
ever, since our contemporary has APP
peared in the lists as Mr.. Cortelyou's
defender, we desire to repeat a recent
incident in the administration of the
nations financial affairs by Mr.. Cor
telyou, and ask our contemporary if
1t cares to defend Mr.. Cortelyou in
| this matter
Since the organization of the great
steel trust, which, aside from Standard
Oil, enjoys the most complete monop-
oily of the production of staple article
of universal consumption that the
country has been treated to in this age
or trusts, it has been generally known
that the most formidable rival of the
| SlGel IIuSl WAS llG 4CiliIVSSNS NCeii NAfN.
Iron company.
It also has been pretty well under
stood that the steel trust was awaiting
favorable opportunity to acquire con-
troll of this rival. The late panic, with
the assistance of Mr.. Cortelyou, fur
nished the opportunity in this wise:
The Tennessee Coal and Iron COM
t.o5 1ooo,, f1onca6 through the
Bank of America in New York city;
the banks PRESIDENT was largely inter
ested in the company, and the control
of the stock of the corporation was
held in this bank.
When the recent crisis came and all
of the New York banks and big finan-
ciers were in desperate need of money,
the Bank of America and its president
were no exceptions to the general rule.
In jorder to relieve the finances of the
country from the ruin which threat
ened them, Mr.. Cortelyou visited New
York and placed in various banks
about s35, 100000 of the money of the
nation that was under his control as
secretary of the treasury of the United
States; $23,00OO00 of this money was
placed with the City National bank
the Standard Oil bank of New York,
and with ]. P. Morgan & Co. and banks
under Mr.. Morgan's control.
1t is of course known that the
Standard Oil company and the group
of fnancierS represented by ]. P. Nor
gan & Co. largely own and entirely
control the United States Steel trust.
In the recent correspondence between
President Roosevelt and Mr.. Bryan
President Roosevelt admitted that he
knew of and consented to the alb
sorption during the panic of the Ten
nessee Coal and Iron company by the
United States Steel company, and that
such consent upon his part was given
because the holders of the stock of the
Tennessee Coal and Iron company were
in desperate ned of the money which
was paid for their stock, and the sale
of this stock and the obtaining of this
money assisted in averting more Sc
rious panic.
1t is a fact, also, that the money used
bv the Standard Oil interests and Mr..
Morgan to purchase controlling in
terest in the Tennessee Coal and Iron
company was part Of the money of
the United States treasury furnished
these interests by Mr.. Cortelyou. Sec
retary of the treasury of the United
States.
If Mr.. Cortelyou had not been de-
sirous of assisting the United States
steel trust, and the trust makers and
trust managers who are behind that
great organization, he could very cas-
ily have protected the holders of the
control of the Tennessee Coal and Iron
company from the necessity of selling
their stock by assisting the Bank OF
America with some of this money.
More than that, he could have fur
nished the $23, 100000 to Morgan e Co..
which he did furnish, under stipula-
tion that some of this money should
be used by them as loan for the pur-
pose of assisting the holders of the
Tennessee Coal and Iron company
rather than that it should be used for