The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-08
Responsibility For Merger Placed on Former Pres
 ident Roosevelt
DENIES STATEMENTS
 MADE BY ,l9SIN GATES
Says MT. Prick First Suggested Buy ing the Carnegie Interests. Stanley Intimates Plans to
 Kill River Shipping

Washington, June 7.--Judge Ebert 1T.
 Gary, executive head of the United States
 Steel corporation, told the House commit tee of inquiry today d version of the formation of that enterprise which con- tradicted the testimony of John w. Gates
 that the threats of Andrew Carnegie to build rival railroads and tube works had
 induced J. Pierpont Morgan to institute negotiations culminating in the gigantic
 steel combination MT. Gary also de-
 clared that if former President Roosevelt
 had not approved of the absorption of
 the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad company by the United States Steel cor poration, he, MT. Gary. never would have
 voted to consummate that deal.
 MT. Gary discussed the financial panic
 of 1907, when the Tennessee company was 1 taken over In claimed effort to avert
 the failure of the New York brokerage
 company of Moore & Schley, and conse- quent disastrous results in the banking
 world.
 You have no idea, he said, "of the | financial frenzy which possessed New
 York in that panic. It would have been
 very easy for that panic to have gone
 beyond all bounds and affected the en-
 tire country. Every night during that
 time 40 or 50 leading bankers of New
 York were gathered in Mir J. Pierpont
 Morgan's library discussing the grievous
 situation, striving as best they could to
 give support to the weaker banks and
 prevent spread of the panic. From day
 to day these men did not know what
 bank would next be attacked by run of
 depositors
 | Any man interested in the banks of
 New York at that time would no more
 think of doing anything to injure any other bank than one of us would think of | throwing a lighted match into a powder magazine near us. He could not injure another bank without injuring himself. and any decent man with sense enough to protect his own interests would not Intentionally do anything to injure an other.''
 | This declaration was made after Mir. Gary had been asked for more details re- lating to his conference with MT. Roose- welt regarding the Tennessee deal. Rep resentative Gardner of Massachusetts asked Mir Gary many questions regard ing the Tennessee Coal. Iron and Rail- road company transaction. particularly as to why the Steel corporation unless lit wanted the Tennessee company as a business proposition, paid more than s3o,- lO0O,O0O in United States Steel bonds, $1l. GOO, 900 more than it was believed to be
 worth, merely to prevent the failure of
 Moore & Schley. whose obligations amounted to $5.o0o0O0 or s6,OoO,00o
 Gardner Asks Questions MT. Gardner also sought to know who were the bank examiners watching the situation in New York when Moore &
 Schley got in trouble because of putting up Tennessee Coal and Iron stock as collateral for loans. He was informed that Clark Williams, state bank exam ! iner Of New York, was in touch with the siluation Mir. Williams probably
 will be subpoenaed to tell what he knows of the Tennessee Coal and Iron company stocks and collateral in the Trust Com pany of America and other banks fof New York and reports which had been made concerning them.
 Former President Robert c. Hall of the | Pittsburg Stock Exchange submitted to the committee letter charging that the
 Steel corporation throttles competition
 through it's banking connections; that 1t >~~~~>------>----- ------~------------