New-York tribune., 1911-11-26
Constant Reader Tells What
He Missed in Last
Weeks Papers.

THE Steel Trust inquiry seems TO have
taken an unusual turn" said Busy Man,
as he met Constant Reader last evening.
1T does. indeed" was the reply. when
the special committee Of inquiry Of the
House met on Monday last i'm Washington
TO resume hearings IL was confronted with
objections TO the continuance Of it's work,
made on behalf of the Steel Corporation.
on the ground that the United States gov
ernment had brought suit against the cor
poration' for violation OF the Sherman anti
trust law After several hours delibera-
tion tho chairman announced that ii had
been unanimously decided TO defer action
on the disputed point and In the mean
time to proceed with the hearing OF wit
nesses already summoned. Whereupon the
committee listened with much interest 10
the story OF two lumbermen who discovered
the immense iron deposits Of the Mesaba
Range and worked hard TO build railroad
into the Minnesota wilderness, only, as
they allege. TO have IL snatched from them
by John D. Rockefeller. aided by Baptist
minister.
Alfred Merritt. Of Duluth. Mimi. tho
first president OF the Duluth. Missabc &
Northern Railroad, first told the committee
that through loans Of less than 100000
from John D. Rockefeller he had lost his
holdings Of one-tenth in tae Mesaba iron
mines and the railroad. % jpcrties now
owned by the United States Steel Corpora
ton and estimated TO be worth to-day as
much as $4,000, ,000 Merritt declared that
he was induced through T.. ID. Gates, Mr.
Rockefeler's secretary in charge Of his
charitable work TO put up all his holdings
as collateral for loans from Mr.. Rockefeller
in 1892 and 1898. Ons loan was for $4,000
Others were for various sums. Gates, he
said. was a Baptist preacher in whom he
had confidence and who assured him that
in placing a call loan he would not be
pressed and that ne would be taken care
Of The witness related how. two months
after he had put up his collateral with Mr..
Rockefeller, in the panic of 1898. Rockefel-
Ter called the loan, giving him twenty-four
hours to raise $4,000. and that, being un-
able to raise the money, he lost the prop
erty He acknowledged that Mr. Rockefel-
Ter offered him an opportunity to buy his
property back within year, but said that
the oil man told inanciers to keep their
hands on and he was not able to raise
money anywhere Leonidas Merritt, brother
hl AllTtu htIilNl, came il'Al' AiC oiSO ht-
clared that John D. Rockefeller and his
chief almoner, the Rev. Frank T. Gates,
had stripped him and his brothers Of moro
than $4,000 in three months. The COM
mittee decided TO ask Rockefeller and Gates
IL they wished 20 appear and have an op-
portunty to be heard.
John ID. Rockefeller thereupon issued a
statement. pointing out that denial was
made under oath at the settlement Of GER
tain litigation in 1895 of the same stories
told by the Merritt brothers before the
House committee Mr. Rockefeller set
forth what he says are the facts with re-
gard 10 the loans Of $4,000 which the Mer-
ritts testified he called during the panic Of
1893. lie denied that he called these loans
adding that instead he furnished an addi-
tlonal sum of $4,000 in 1894.
The brothers retorted that they signed
the denial for the purpose of saving the
remnant Of their fortune"
However the dispute may end COM
mented Busy Man, Il cannot help remem-
berng John D. Rockefeller jr., and his
celebrated Bible class parable Of the rose,
when he instanced the gardeners method
of cutting off all but one bud from the
stem to produce the perfect American
Beauty. and showed the application Of the
idea TO the trust question. Did anything
else significant develop in the field of COM
merce?'