The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-03
Does Not Know Whether Steel Merger Saved the Moore & Schley
 Brokerage Firm
TOLD MIR. PERKINS OF
 ENORMOUS VALUE OF TENNESSEE HOLDINGS
Manager of Syndicate Formed To Finance Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company Gives Steel Committee Several
 Surprises Concerning
 the Merger

New York, August 2.--When Judge Ebert II. Gary and Henry c. Prick of the United States Steel corporation took a midnight train from New York dur
 ing the financial panic of 1907 to see | President Roosevelt in Washington about the taking over of the Tennessee 1 Coal and Iron company by the Steel corporation in order to avert the crash of the brokerage firm of Moore & Schley, Grant B. Schley. one of the most interested participants in the proposed transaction, knew nothing about the White House expedition.
 Mir. Schley who was one of the or ganizers of the Tennessee Coal and Iron syndicate and it's associate mana ger, today so informed the House com mittee of inquiry into the affairs of the steer corporation. He further sur prised the committee by the admission that he could not say whether the transfer of Tennessee Coal and Iron stock upon which the brokerage firm had made heavy loans was the means of preventing the financial demise of his brokerage business | Though denying any knowledge of the existence of an alleged conspiracy 1 on the part of J. Pierpont Morgan and his interests or the United States Steel corporation or both to discredit Ten nessee Coal and Iron stock so that the Steel corporation could acquire the vast l holding of ore and coal in the Birming- 1 ham district, MT. Sohley averred that when the transfer of Tennessee stock to the Steel corporation was suggested ! in order to clear up a bad money sttua- ton in New York. he had pictured to I George w. Perkins, members of the finance committee of the Steel corpor- alton, how Tennessee Coal and Iron
 would be of enormous value to his cor
 poration, how it's vast ore and coal
 holdings were invaluable and how it's
 acquisition would enable the corpora
 tion to enter the southern steel mar
 ket actively.
 Littleton Queries Witness
 Representative Martin w. Littleton
 interrogated MT. Schley for hours and
 was followed by Representative Stan- ley, chairman; Young of Michigan. Sterling of Illinois. Bartlett of Geor- gia and other members Of the commit tee. After inquiring into the prelim- mary history of conditions which led mn fo the sale in 1907, MT. Littleton asked MT. Schley if he had, prior to the | negotiations, now matter or history gone to J. Pierpont Morgan and dis l closed to him his control of Tennessee l Coal and Iron company stock.
 q never did,, MT. Schley replied
 "Did you tell MT. Perkins, MT. Nor gan's partner, about it?" asked MT. Lit | tleton.
 Mr sohley replied that he met MT. | do and that they talked generally about the proposed sale.
 l Did you urge MT. Perkins, continued Mr I,ittleton, ito advocate the sale Of the property to the Steel corporation and point out to him what a valuable proper | ty it would be7"
 ..I told him I thought the Tennessee company would be a very valuable prop | erty for the Steel corporation I called his attention to it's great physical ad- vantaEes, its vast ore holdings and enor- nous undeveloped coal fields l Now, MT. Schey, there has been much conflicting opinion about the situation, MT I4ittleton proceeded. Was the firm of Moore & Schley facing failure at the | time of this transaction?' l '"rhe situation was serious. Our loans were more extended than they ought to have been."
 MT. Iittleton read from a letter writ ten in November, 19JT by President Roosevelt to Attorney General Bonaparts l in which he related that Judge Gary and Henry c. Prick had been to see him ana | told him that prominent New York | brokerage house would fail within a l week unless the United States Steel cor | poration took over the Tennessee Coal and Iron company and thus came to the rescue.
 Knew Nothing of Trip
 Did you know that MT. Gary and Mir. Prick had gone to Washington to see the President" MT. Littleton asked.
 q did not know anything about it un- til the day following Monday
 Did you tell anyone before that ex- petition that Moore & Schley would | fail the next week?"
 T did not MT. Schley answered.
 Did you know that MT. Gary and Mir. | Prick were going to tell President Roose- welt that brokerage firm in New York was about to fail?''
 | "I certainly did not" Did you hear of a conference bank CTS in New York planning to come to the rescue of Moore & Sehley?" l q knew of the conferences at Mir Nor | gan's house and that there was a question as to whether they should go to the res cue of the Trust Company of America or | Moore & Schley first" Well, are you prepared to say that the failure of Moore & Schley was prevented | by the sale of the Tennessee Coal and Iron company stock to the United States Steel corporation?'
 NO, I cannot say that" was Mr. l Schley's answer.
 In the long examination 1t developed that the Tennessee Coal and Iron stock | was only small portion of industrial ooi- lateral put up with other high-grade stocks for Moore & Schleys loans. No loans were made on the Tennessee stock alone In response to Representative Young as | to why a loan from the Steel corporation