The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-01
MORGAN AROUSES HIS ANTAGONISTS Has Fight of Life on His
 Hands THE STEEL SITUATION South and Southwest Offer the Only Really Encouraging Features in the Present Industrial
 Situation
THE STEEL SITUATION
BY W. C. NICHOLAS

BY W. C. NICHOLAS
 New York. September So-tspecial.)- Wall street has been violently and sharply divided in opinion as to the wisdom and expediency of the Morgan-Gary declara- tion that the Steel trust intended to fight to the last end attempts by the federal government to compel its dissolution. Ap- paNntly there is the same division of opinion throughout the country. Advices t.nate a strong preponderance of senti- ment against the Morgan-Gary attitude. and even in the street there is a manifest shifting of sentiment against the Morgan combination. The declaration of independ- erce issued by Messrs. Morgan and Gary is very generally construed as an open defiance. Its reception by leading busi- ness men and representatives of corpora tions in general has been a severe dis appointment to MT. Morgan and his as- scciates. Big business has not followed in behind Mir. Morgan as he had antici- pated. Harsh criticism of the great bank CT and his arrogant stand is not spoken aloud by important people excepting those who are openly antagonistic to him and his interest, but there is none the less a strong and growing opposition to his leadership For years he has been dominating character--a ruthless per- sonality. He has always had his own way and few dared to openly oppose him. The late Mir. Hartman was one of the few who had the nerve to stand up and fight him with bare fists, so to speak Every time these two men clashed, Harri- man got the best of 1t. Others have op- posed him, but quietly and with no ardent desire to gain his i'll will.
 It almost looks as though he had gone too far this time and that his last move has cost him the prestige of long leader slip in the great affairs of Wall street. Ever since the supreme court decision in the Standard oil and Tobacco trust cases, big business has been framing it's af- fairs to conform to the rulings of the court, and its construction of the anti trust statute. The frank expressions by President Taft and Attorney General Nickersham setting forth the purposes and programme of the administration looking to the enforcement of the Sher- man law hastened the decision of the srokesmen and representatives of ''big business" and they made it known wherever they could do so that they would fall in with the administration's ieeas and put their houses in order. They made no objection to the Attorney Generals suggestion that each trust go to work independently, and submit plan which could meet with the indorsement of his department and become court order before going into effect. He made his position plain that he could not act as general counsel for the corporations de- siring to come in out of the wet, but that he would cooperate with them as far as lay in his power, his object being the en- toreement of the law-that and that only He bore big business no ill will, but 1t must get its feet down to earth the same as common people.
 Then came the Morgan outbreak and its influence, as far as it went, was to kick the fat in the fire and interfere with the orderly readjustment of corporations under the ban. The hard, horse sense of the leading bankers and business men of the country makes them slow to accept the Morgan attitude as being the correct one. Only a very small minority have a willingness to enlist under the Morgan banner and defy the government to do its worst. MT. Morgans enemies, and they are springing up in greater number and showing more boldness than ever before, see in his latest movement indications of weakening powers. He is an old man, 73 years of age, and it would be singular indeed if he retained all his great mentality unimpaired. He has grown more crotchety with advancing years and his associates have confidentially admit ted for some time back that he is harder man than ever to get along with. In his personal relation he brooks not the slightest opposition and those with whom he is brought in contact have fallen into the habit of agreeing with him in everything he says as the best way to keep peace. The pride and pet of his old age is the Steel trust, and it is now realized that he took to heart the re- ports that it was about to be proceeded against by the government. Many of the directors were in favor of adopting tho easiest and smoothest methods to meet the administration S views and so eX- pressed themselves, but they counted without realizing the opposition they were to meet from MT. Morgan, who is in ab- solute control of the policies of the cor poration. Some of his associates in the management of the trust would have liked very much to have taken the con- ciliatory course adopted by the Harvester trust, but he would have none of it.
 The division of views in the directory was galling to MT. Morgan and with his usual directness he brought matters to an issue. The result was the declaration of defiance and the incidental stock mar ket convulsions
 Leading up to the fateful meeting of the Steel trust directorate, there was inaug- urated a tremendous manipulation in the Steel issues. It will be difficult to con- vince the public that the colossal buying of stocks which began on Monday was not based on foreknowledge of Tuesday afternoons action. Operations of that size are never undertaken by men with resources and experience to carry them through without full knowledge of sensa- tional development ahead. The market on Monday was demoralized, and at the very climax of panicky liquidation and reckless short selling one house stepped in and bought 100000 shares of Steel. Taking the cue from this, the alert pro- fessional element jumped in and bought everything on the list There was rally of to points in all the active stocks. On Tuesday the buying was on a still heavier scale and concerns with whom Steel trust insiders had in times past done the bulk of their trading com peted in a wild rush to take on Steel