The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
Competition Preferable

Do you think that a competitive condition in the banks and trust com panies of New York is more preferable than concentrated control over those barks?"
 "I would rather have competition" said Mir. Morgan.
 After ascertaning that number of voting trusts in various railroad and in- dustrial corporations were held by mem- bers of the firm of J. P. Morgan X Co.,, MT Untermeyer asked:
 Assuming you were the voting trus- tee for all of the great systems of rail- roads in the United States, it would con- centrate control in you would it not?"
 Tt would be a concentration in my hands, but the board of directors are the ones, and you do not put the same board in every company" said MT. Nor gan.
 "Sometimes they come pretty near it?" saiG MT. Untermeyer
 No, sir. never,'' said MT. Morgan.
 Take the banks of New York, do you realize the identity of directors in the banks?"
 ''I do, but the number of directors is very small in proportion to them all'
 But do you realize this vast and dan- gerous concentration through having these same directors in various institu- tons?"
 NO, SIT, uO not see any danger Tn IL at all,' replied the banker. Do you think that competitive insti- | tutions that ought to be competitive should have the same boards?'' Certainly not"
 l DO you think they ought to have a preponderating influence in each board?"
 "I do not said Mir. Morgan. l Do you see nothing improper in hay l ing the same men looking into one an- l 10th hnr.sS m n1fi f. | tions?" asked Mr Untermye eyer. '"rhey are not looking into each others l business" answered the witness. | Tt is the duty of director to know what is going on in his bank, is it not?"
 1 But a general director does not know He does not see the books" Mir. Morgan said.
 InterlOcked Directors Without Power l MT. Morgan insisted that without ac- tual control of directorate inter- locked directors had not actual power. l You take three hanks, he said. Then take three men and put them in each of those banks. In one bank they are three out of 25 in another ;hey are three out of 20; in another they are three out of 10, ii you like But suppose you have named all the other direetors?' said Mir. Untermeyer. Suppose you have a voting ti ust, and you have, under the power given by that voting trust named the whole board, as has been done in these two cases of the Guaranty Trust and the bankers trust"
 "I am not talking about voting trusts now; l am passing now upon the ques- tion of directors, of three directors who go into three of four or ten banks. ] say that these three direetors-and l have been in a good many banksAand t good many corporations-I defy any man to go into any one of those boards, even 1 myself will say for the sake of argument-I do not believe l could carry one question through any one board that l was a director in ags inst the views of tlie directors"
 "Is that all you wanted to say2'
 "On the contrary. I have greet quantity of cases wherefI could bring in proofs of it. There is no question of control unless you have got aN ma sJorty of the directors, then in all banks said MT. Morgan with empha- sis.
 Early in his testimony MT. Morgan