The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1912-12-26

MORGAN'S MESSAGE.

Nothing sensational came out OF
the testimony of j. Pierpont Morgan's
testimony before the money trust
committee. That is to say. there was
no discovery OF of secret plots or evil
manipulations. Morgan, contrary to
popular ideas about MONEY kings
was extremely polite and apparently
entirely frank. But this is not spec
tally surprising. Morgan is essentially
a banker. His connection with cornor.
atoms and their promotion has been
particularly for the purpose of mark
citing their stock or securities. For
this service his company has receiv-
ed handsome compensation. 1t has
never been necessary for him to be.
come a trader and in fact to do Sc
would be contrary to the first tradi-
tons of banking.
The most striking portion of Nor.
gan's testimony is contained i'm the
following two paragraphs:
Men come into my office and ia
give them checks for a million dol.
lars her they have nothing back o,
them. But if | don't trust a mar /
say IN call of the loan-even if i,
was made on government bonds >
Ia rather have combination thar
competition. l like a. little competl,
ton, but | like combination better
Control is the important thing: with.
out 1T you can't do IA thing. but nc
one man could m%onopolize money
one man might get control of rail.
roads or merchandise, but never
money and credit"
This really sums up the attitude OF
big wealth toward business affairs in
TINS modern day. Character stands
above mere possessions still in the
matter of credit. The man i'm whom
the banker has confidence. both he.
cause of his integrity and his ability
to do things successfully, can turn
that confidence into credit at his
bank. Therein lies the greatest ON.
portunity open today to ambitious
,-I
ana square-dealing business men
Through it the a%spirant NAV acouire
the Aladdin touch. He may rear new
industries and in doing so constrnct
a fortune for himself. All of the ro-
nance has o been taken II of life
by any means by the era of combin
alton.
On the other hand, it is recognized
from the standpoint of the banker
mind you-that combination is better
than competition. Why? The answer
Is perfectly simple. The banker is in
terested first of all in the sufficiency
of the securities in which he is deal
ing. lie wants no question as to their
value. If hundreds of millions are in
vested IN some great industrial CON
Germ, and the banker assumes a
measure OF responsibility for the fl
nalciai end. he does not relish the
prospect of intense connection that
may seriously impair the success of
the enterprise. He prefers enough of
combination to make sure that there
will be an adequate margin at ALI
times In the securities he is holding.
This is perfectly natural and. from
the bankers standpoint not at all un-
Justifiable. His first duty to his de-
positors is to make sure of the COL
behind any loans he makes
with their money. This is, no doubt
49, u
the fundamental fact underlying the
general tendency in this day toward
combination. This is why the anti
trust law of the future is just as GER
to take the form of supervision
and control as time is to pass. Indus
-ry has grown too big, requires too
many millions for support. to gamble
with competition. The sooner this is
recognized, the sooner the public will
obtain relief from the evils that fol-
ow in the wake of combination. Let
here be consolidation, but put it un-
Ter a supervisory power that can
will prevent extortion from the