The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1908-09-27

When Mr.. Sinclair wrote and pupilsheu
1.-The Metropolis" dealing with the idle
rich Of New York and Whereabouts, no
one ever dreamed that that book was only
an installment. SO to speak, and that Mr..
Sinclair had up his sleeves or some place
or other a series Of such stories, to-wit, d
triology Just as did our old friend, the
Rev. Thomas Dixon IN his triology on
the race question. But SO 1t was, Tor
1.-The Money Changers is the second OF
Mr.. Sinclair's triology. The last volume
to appear later, date not definitely nXea
and will not be until it is made evident
how volume No. of the triology hits II
off with the reading public.
In THE Money Changers Mr.. Sinclair
continues the story dealing with Allah
Montague of Mississippi, his sister Allce'
and his soeial-tout brother, OLVer MON
tague, begun in 1.-The Metropolis. READ
ers Will recall that Allan Montague SICK
ened with "sassiety" in New YORK New
port. etc, and its ways, decided 10 go
down town" as he said, to see II it were
not possible for man TO earn decent
living in that city. Recalling all that
we had a right to expect some good
things of Allan, but nothing doing II
MIR. Sinclair thinks that Allan Montague
is a good picture of the young southern
ers who go to New York to make
fortune, or even a living, he has new
thought Que MIN DY lISl lleiAs SNN
Allan digested mentally any fool thing
told hm-the most obvious frauds, ne
swallowed any kind of gossip given him.
and always woke up to find out that ne
had been taken in by the Unborn pureness
of his heart or pure lack of sense. Read
ers will also recall in 1.-THE Metropolis
that Oliver Montague made his living by
Introducing people into New York society
and shaping men and women on the
wrist when they didn't behave. OllVer
was an awful cut-up. but he was at last
awake. up and doing, but Allan, the
hero, was terribly slow, ana this section
of the south, yea Mississippi would re-
pudate him very promptly ana properly
When The Money Changers opens there
comes to New York from New orleans
a sweet woman, u widow, Mrs Lucy Du-
pree Taylor, an old friend OF the Moi
tagues She has a little money pul not
much. certainly not much Tor Ne" AoIA;
so that Allan Montague, having ioNeo
Lucy since she was a child, attempts 10
act as a philosopher, friend ana guloe
to Lucy about New York. Simply
case of the blind leading the blind.
The subtitle to this book and the chief
mart of the plot is How Wall street
Manufactured the Panic of 1907. All OF
the situations used, the people described
under nom de plumes, and the panic
story is the taking away of the mis-
sissippi Steel company" which is the
name given the Tennessee Coal, Iron ana
Railroad company in the book, from lts
owners by the steel trust. According 10
Mr.. Sinclair the Tennessee company mad
always been controlled more or less py
the steel trust in one way or announcer
If not by absolute ownership of stock OF
bonds. The banker, Mr.. c. 7. Barney,
York, which failed, described as stan
lev RYDER" who afterwards committed
suicide, became the lover of Lucy Dupree
Taylor, against the advice of Allan Mon
tague.
Mr.. Sinclair brought into the book
the supposed construction of railroad
to the chief city of operations OF the
Mississippi Steel company and when
the stock of both railroad and Missls-
sippi company had been hypothecatal,
the steel trust saw its chance and
simply crushed the bank and took the
Mississippi Steel company, or the Ten
nessee Coal, Iron and Railroad COM
pany, after having conferred with
washington" and secured its official
permission to take over that Compel
itor. e. H. Hartman, John w. Gates,
]. P. Morgan, W. e. Corey Charles
Schwab, James Keene, Charles Morse,
Fritz Heinz in fact all of the people OF
whom we have read In the press until
we could recognize them nearly any
place, are fully fearlessly and most
candidly exploited in THE Money
Changers" There is a continuation Of
the descriptions of the awful life that
Mr.. Sinclair says the social lights or
New York live and delight in. The au-
thor goes so far as to say that the
panic of 1907 was not only manufac-
tured with one end in view, afterwards
getting beyond the control of Mr.. Nor
gan, Mr. Hartman and others, but he
insists that the panic came about be-
cause Dan Waterman" the "owner" or
Wall street, wished to take Lucy Du-
pree Taylor" the dashing Mississippi
widow away from STANLEY Ryder"
who already had a wife, as did OF
course Waterman-but Mr.. Sinclair in
Inmates that in New York that is a
slight matter to worry over, the pos
session of a wife, while loving anoth er
woman.
The book will be particularly inter-
esting to Birmingham people because
of the thinly disguised Mississippi Steel
company, used as the Tennessee COM
pany. Mr.. Sinclair is way off on some
of his atmosphere" and southern con-
ditions but he gets a good many true
ones in In all such books there is
always a certain amount of truth, but
awfully exaggerated. 1t is simply the
treatment employed by the metropoli-
tan yellow press" That part of the
press hardly ever fails to state facts,
but the trouble is that, as did the Rev.
Dixon, they treat such things up so
"yellow" that the facts become exag
gerated half truths. So 1t is with THE
Money Changers" and 1.-The Metropolis"
In both books there is not the slight
est doubt that in real life things
happen in New York society and Wall
street as Mr. Sinclair describes them, il
not exactly So at least so close to 1t
that there is a basis for Mr.. Sinclair's
argument. But Mr.. Sinclair turns the
"yellow" and blue lights on what he
has to exploit, with the result that we
have in his two books of the Triology
simply what we have read in the New
York press as news, ehash ed into
novel, sensationally.
But in any event THE Money Chang
ers" is interesting as was THE Met
ropolis." The New York press in it's
book reviews dealing with 1.-THE
Metropolis" insisted that no such sit
nations as therein described ever oc-
CURED in New York; then right in the
same issue of the paper in the news
column would appear a news account
of a parallel case to what Mr.. Sinclair
had been using in his novel.
Birmingham people should read 1.-THE
Money Changers" and see what Mr.. Sin
clair says was done to and with the
mississippi Steel company and how
and why 1t all happened. The book is
easy to read and at least will do no
harm. One cannot say that about
many books.