The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-09
WEALTH GAN GET COLLEGE DEGREES Big Contributors Are Apt to
 Be HOnOred GOSSIP OF THE BANKS  Department of Commerce Has Issued Bulletin on Nations Wealth Which Is Good Tonic for
 Pessimism
Il. PRESTON c. ADAMS

thing. It Is true that in this demo- cratic land of ours we do not run 10 counts, barons, earls, dukes and the like when titles are being given out for we have no such. But the titles are here nevertheless. For instance, it is a hard matter to take a dozen steps in lower Manhattan without rubbing shoulders with a doctor or two The favorite honor Is IL4 D. The recipient of this title need not possess any marked aptitude for either legal lore or literature.
 One cynic, on reading that a multi millionaire had been elevated to the IL. D. rank, asked: Does that stand for Lots and Lots of Dollars?" The
 universities apparently are believers in reciprocity. For years financiers have
 been donating millions to schools of learning and it Is only fitting that such
 generosity should receive some reward. A degree costs nothing and 1t is a sort of badge of responsibility. Fancy conferring degrees upon some of the stalwarts of the stock market of generation ago Wall street is rising in the sociological scale.
 The intention of the National City
 bank to follow the example of the First National bank in organizing a security company as an adjunct to the banking
 business will be sure to stir up com- ment all over the country.
 George r. Baker, the actual head of the First Securities company, has won for himself the reputation of being the cleverest speculator in America. This distinction, as can readily be imagined, has not been easily achieved, for there have been many, many aspirants for such a place In the financial world. New York contains quite a number, Pittsburg a few, Boston one or two and Chicago two or three spectators of recognized brilliancy, but MT. Baker has had the advantage of being able to summon to his aid virtually unlim- ited resources. He has also been close ly and confidentially associated with certain of the most powerful capital istie groups in the world. Once he demonstrated his shrewdness, his col leagues were willing that he should be given a free hand His operations have been unimaginably successful. But there are those who contend that the president of an important bank-or even an unimportant one, has no right to devote his talents to stock market maneuvers.
 America is a big country and Amer
 jeans believe in doing things on a big
 scale. We were the first to organize d l billion dollar corporation and now we
 have broken all records for mortgages, James J. Hill's $500, 900 Great North
 ern one having never been equaled by any other company. The tendency is toward hugh bond authorizations as has
 been demonstrated by numbers of weak
 as well as strong systems. A Wall | street concern has compiled interest ing data from which it may be gathered that the aggregation of railroad lines into larger systems, the continued re- | quirement of new capital to finance
 their growth and steady maturity of l underlying issues have made desira
 ble and necessary the larger mortgages l We find that there are now some 33 1 railroad mortgages In this country l under which the authorized amount of 1 bonds in each case exceeds s100 000,- | 900. Of these mortgages Is have been | created within the past six years, The 1 total of these B mortgages Is about l s5, 200 000, 900, of which the 6 created | | aggregate $3,150, 100000. of the total l 33 such mortgages seven provide for bonds in the amount of $200,000 900 or l more in each instance. All seven of these have been created since 1908. We l find that there are still outstanding | not including remaining 1911 maturi- | ties, about $50 underlying railroad mortgage bond issues. aggregating slightly over 2.0O0 100000. Some ad : ditional bond issues may, as result of railroad consultations hereafter and authorization of new general mort
 gages, with expenditure of new capital funds thereby, acquire the position of underlying bonds. It is very evident, however, that the amount of invest ment funds in underlying issues is steadily growing less and that the | amount of investments placed In the
 comparatively few larger railroad
 mortgages is increasing relatively very
 rapidly"
 l Among the financiers identified with
 the National City bank are number 1 who have likewise been extremely for 1 tunate in their stock market enter prises. James Stllman, chairman of the