The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1911-11-01

""N S'o""ShhP NoHipuIleS OF the L nj
ted States. such powerful concerns as
the Standard OH Company. the Pull
man Company. the International Har-
'vester Company. and the Western
Union Telegraph Company, and with
the overwhelming majority, in money
and power, Of banks and trust COM
panies OF the United States. The pos
sibilities Of the power and control
that may thus be exerted over trade
and commerce is lnestimable.
THE power and control thai have
been exerted by the corporation
largely through the grasp of it's ten
acles. thus thrown out upon the con-
| sumer, competitors and capital is in
compatible with the healthy CONNER
cial life Of the nation"
The Government reviews in great
detail the conditions in the steel trade
before the consolidation Of 1895
1899 and the formation Of the Fed
eral Steel Company. the Carnegie
Steel and Wire Company, the Nat
ional Tube Company. the National
Steel Company. the American Tin
Company and other corporations prior
to the formation Of the United States
Steel Corporation itself in 1901.
Describing the corporations acquisi-
ion Of the Tennessee Coal and Iron
and Railroad Company. the petition
relates:
I'm 1907 the corporation acquired
the control and almost entire owner
ship Of the Tennessee Coal. Iron and
Railroad Company. The properties
OF this company were located mainly
In Alabama and Tennessee.
Owing to the character Of it's coal
and iron deposits. the Tennessee Com
pany could manufacture pig iron
cheaper than 1t could be made in
| any other part OF the United States.
On account Of It's vast holdings of
coal and iron properties it was a
strong probable future competitor of
the corporation. Most Of the rails in
the United States have been made out
OF Bessemer ores. On account Of ac-
| cidents. attributed to weakness in
such rails. a demand arose for an
open hearth rail and for such process
the ores owned by the Tennessee
Company were available.
"In 1907 a sensation was created
In the steel rail market by E. Fl. Har-
riman ordering from Tennessee COM
pany 157.500 tons OF open hearth
steel rails at 81 more per ton than
the price OF Bcssemer rails. This at
once put that company into a posi-
don Of an actual competitor. that
could not be ignored. of great poten-
tiality. The corporation was not slow
to discover the situation. James Gay
ley. hrst vice president OF the cor
poration. having acquainted himself
with the properties of the Tennessee
company. had already recommended
to- Mr.. Frick. who was then a direc-
tor OF the corporation, that IT acquire
the properties Of the Tennessee COM
pany.
Grant B. Schley. Of the firm of
Moore and Schley and Co. was one
OF the syndicate holding majority
pf the stock. This was known to the
officers OF the corporation. Moore and
Schley, In October. 1907, owed large
sums OF money In New York and else
where. from s35. ZOO, 900 to $4,000,
oeo, upon call and time loans which
we're running to maturity. Some of
these loans were partly secured by
pledge Of 100000 shares of the Ten
nessee stock. the amount fiuctuating.
In October, 1907. the great panic
came and New York was the storm
centre.
Those In control OF the corpor-
alton obtained knowledge of the af-
fairs of Moore and Schley and OF their
holdings OF Tennessee stock. The
condition OF Moore and Schley and
the character OF their stock holdings
such as Tennessee stock, iron and
steel stock and other industrials, was
discussed on the street among bank
ers and the question Of their failure
was mooted. The Tennessee stock
vas especially subjected to criticism
and. In Wall street parlance. was
hammered as collateral. III. c. F'rick
and Il. III. Gary. representing the
corporation. took up the negotiations
with Schiey for the purchase Of the
syndicate stock OF the Tennessee COM
pany Offering him. first. the equiva-
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