New-York tribune., 1911-01-22

over in Hamburg there IL ? modest little
man who is close personal friend OF the
German Emperor lie is a man of rev
words. but he does big things in the steam
shin business. and his very move ~
Watched by tho big transportation mon o'
the world For wears p" has shar'a INV
destiny Of q German transportation com
rarv whose routes cncirci" ih' g'"u'.
There is no ono. perhaps, who knows '"'
steamship game better than he. t''
originality in daring departures from neat
on tracks. his ability to grasp we'll IN az
vance the value Of apparently hazy oppo'
trrltios and his general acumou I'm dealing
surely and correctly with kuotty problems
cf ocean transportation arc largely respon-
shlc for the keen interest 5isplayed IN ms
work by rivals iu the steamship world.
The name of this modest little man So
close 10 the Kaiser is Herr Albert BALM
director general Of tho Hamburg American
line. who was operated on for appendl-
ctis a few DAYS ago in Hamburg. Accord
inG TO private cable advices received here
from Hamburg. messages " conGratua-
tion have poured I'm upon Herr Ballin from
all parts Of Europe. and tho German En-
peror has been informed daily Of the con-
dition Of his favored subject. Even his
competitors in England, France, Italy and
IN his own country have sent him assur-
ances Of their good will and tho hope that
ne will soon return to the helm of his
great enterprise.
Tho building OF vessels equipped with the
Decil oil engine, although it is the latest
venture of Herr BALM is by no means the
6rst radical departure he has made from
beaten paths. One could hardly call it a
venture or an experiment even, because
al the tests Of the sage director are made
on paper before a pfennG Is laid out In
sctual construction Of the ship itself. lie
ts known in Europe as the sure man,
and when he spends the money of his line
n is almost certain TO bring profitable re-
turn.
This shrswd director general Of the Ham
american Line was born in 1851 At
the age OF twenty-nine ne was the general
passenger agent Of the Carr Line, the
Hsmburg-American Lines most powerful
rival. He grew up in the steamship busi-
ness having entered the shipping company
OF his father when he was graduated from
the gymnasium al Hamburg. His fathef
rent him 10 England for while where he
learned much Of the British methods of
transportati ation. bitter war had been
waged between the Carr Line and tho
company over which Herr Ballin now pre-
sides but in 1856 there was an armisuce,
and the Hamburg American line absorbed
the company Of which Herr Balm was
then passenger agent. Instead of oustiu-
him. the absorbing company took him over
as an asset and year later he was made
director of the line
\ director i'm Germany Is quite different
from the director of an American corpora
ton Hc is neither elected by the stock
holders nor docs ne represent them. The
stockholders in Germany are represented
Ig board of supervisors, which selects a
hl.rd rC directors made up of men who
l.t. .our ocular talent OF fitness for the
u.aaG'm,ct of tho particular corporation
for which they arc chosen. They are paid
officials and instead OF merely attending
.Cm-annual meetings. give their entire
'imc Ia the operation of tho line. Herr
Eann was q director only a short time
when he was suddenly chosen dircctor-gen-
eral. tho highest Office of the company.
Tho line AZ that time had only twenty
,iv vessels. rcprcscutin- an aggregate ot
,sor1 tons tho capitalization being Si,7j0o".
This was hack i'm 1856. but during the
Twenty-Five wear dictatorship of Herr Ball