New-York tribune., 1911-02-05
London. January 81.

Long hefore / knew Mr.. PierpOnt Nor
gan ! knew his father, Mr.. J. :. Morgan.
name then and now held in respect
and admiration in the City OF London
that IS I'm the English world Of finance
rs i hope and suppose il still is in New
York. 7 remember him for many kind
resses. and many pleasant associations.
and still more for force and dignity OF
character rare at all times He was a
successful man in the City before he be
came a power there. The date Of his be-
coming a power was 1871. Gambetta
VAS az tho head OF the Government Of
National Defence at Bordeaux. and sore
u. IN want Of money. NJ. Laurier was his
Minister Of Finance and undertook to
negotiate a loan for S5O.O0O,OOO London
WOULD not look at il. one great house
after another declined 10 find the money.
=, VAS not so much question Of price as
~ security. The English bankers and
.,anciers had no confidence in the sta
bri-v or this government. They had not
fo-rotten that Thiers had called Gam
betta a fou furicUr, They thought the
Germany. and that Germany would re-
store the Emperor 70 his overturned
,brone. that the provisional government
a. Bordeaux would be swept out Of eX
,sterce. and that with it would go all its
rro~ks. financial and other. one and all
.bsv refused 70 put the Laurier loan on
the market.
a, this iuncture Mr.. J. s. Morgan. not
=, that time one Of the great houses OF
ersrce. came forward and offered to
.,le the whole Sj0moO0O loan. His
So vas accepted. To the surprise Of
a. Po,rschilds. the Hambros and the
r.s, NJ. Morgan's operation proved
,...c.ss The loan was 1oated. The
r,b'i- bought The price went UP. Mr.
,,o~rsr made q great deal of money
,-d 81 reputation not 10 bo measured IN
,,o,sv He stepped al one stride into
,Ae front rank.
Al this heard AT tho time or not
Inc after from various good sources.
=, ,o,odv seemed 10 know why he mad
s,re s- or whether it was anything hut
gamble. followed by good luck one
6av asked Mr. Morgan
..yv,r did YOU take the Laurier loan
To thought 4 moment before answer
Ing then said:
aor there's mo- secret about H. nor was
.,.o~.tl,or luck as I SeHeve some Of
,,,v friends thought. When it first
lc,,,-~ed 10 nc that something might
- done. 7 looked up the financial MS
49,. NJ France 7 found that since l'o'
,s.~e had been thirteen separate gov
,.--,s,+s-NIonarch First Republic d.
.,,.o-, Consulate. Empire, the Bour
s.,z arain then the OrIeanists. then the
Second Republic. followed by the second
~ t,i~dl Empire. and so on Between
,b.ss successive governments there were
,-7,,-,se or many kinds-dynastic, per
s,r,1 7orfcaI Each successor. WIN
one ev-e0-ion. hated its predecessor. II
was one long civil war-
Put found this also: Not one OF
,1ase governments had ever repudlateo
~ questioned the validity of any fnan-
rial obligation contracted by any other
Tho continuing financial solidarity or
France was unbroken. II was plainly
roiiov rooted I'm the minds Of the people
and ~ the governing forces Of France.
saw no reason why it should be broken
" this case more than in any other: less
re-hape than in many others. since tnis
r,rev was wanted for the defence OF
-re country. That was good enough Tor
ne There was no gamble. l though'
- safe operation. as IL turned out
Tia. IS rho whole story"
~ course. Mr Morgan knew II had
beer a great coup. knew what an au-
-ro-i+v II had given him in tho City, and
there vas a fire in his eve as he spoke
which showed he was not insensibie to
the triumph he had won. Why should
he bs7 r. was considered, and has ever
since boe- considered. an event in the
rstor, of English finance. No" and
then have asked one Of the big men IN
the CITY.
"Why did none Of you except Morgan
think Of it?"
Generally there was no answer except
q regret. or Snrug OF tIe SIi'4'NN~
one Of them said.
Because Morgan was better man
than any Of us
And 10 the day Of his death he heId
the position he had won.
Where is the American who does not
read such a narrative as that with PRIDE
We have had many men who have done
Us honor abroad. none that 1 know OF
who did more for himself and his coun-
try than Mr.. ]. :. Morgan. He made a
great fortune He left a great name /
The TWO 90 not always go together.
There are private memories which
cherish. and perhaps one or two which |
need not keep TO myself Dover House /
al Roehampton. now MI Pierpont Mor- |
gan's. was not an important country |
place. but a suburban villa standing IN
pleasant grounds which In America |
where land is scarce would be thought /
SPACIOUS But in this narrow island III |
the narrow seas nothing IS thought spa !
cious till YOU begin 10 reckon by thou- /
sands OF acres However, you don't eX- /
pect thousands Of acres in the near ,
suburbs OF London. and Dover House /
has as many as you need care for ana /
be hsppv Mr.. Morgan's tastes were IN /
a sense. simple. He cared nothing Tor /
display Beautiful things he loved ana /