The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1913-01-16
BAKER ADMITS
PERIL TO NATION
Tells Committee Money Concen-
tration Has Gone Far Enough
NO HARM WITH GOOD MEN
Bank Head Declares That There Is No
Money Trust-Says Banking Con-
centration Has Gone Far Enough
Denies Dominant Power.

Washington-That the present con-
centration of money and credit "has
gone far enough; that "in bad hands"
it would have a bad effect on the ma
ton: that the safety of the situation
lies in the personnel Of the men i'll
control" and that present conditions
are mot entirely comfortable for the
country" were a few Of the State
ments made by George F. Baker, mas
ter financier, as the climax of two
days examination before the House.
In the course of his testimony Mr..
Baker admitted there was community
of interests by which issues of new
securities are underwr1tten.
Mr.. Untermyer sought to establish
the fact that or 10 institutions con
troll the financing Of big enterprises
in this country, and that not a single
issue of securities involving more
than $10,000,000 has been floated in
the last ten years without participa-
ton of some of these concerns.
The institutions named were Nor
gan & Co., the First National Bank,
the National City Bank, Kuhn, Loeb &
Co., Speyer & Co., Lee Higginson &
Co., Kidder, Peabody & Co., the First
National Bank of Chicago, and the Hi
nois Trust & Savings Bank.
Counsel sought to show that there
was community of interest chiefly
among Morgan & Co.,, the First Ma
tional Bank, and the National City
Bank, and that the business done by
these big groups was on cooperative
rather than a competitive basis.
Mr. Baker was certain that neither
Morgan nor anybody else was a domi-
nant power in the financial world.
In beginning his questions, Mr.. I'm
termyer asked if the witness believed
there was such a thing as money
trust"
81 do not believe there is" said Mr..
Baker emphatically. Asked what he
understood by money trust, the wit
ness said: 81 give it up; don't know"
Suppose" said Mr.. Untermyer, I'VE
define a money trust as an established
identity and community of interest be-
tween a few leaders of finance, which
has been created and is held together
through stockholding, interlocking, d.
rectorates and other forms of DONNA
ton over banks, trust companies, rail-
roads, public service and industrial
corporations, and which has resulted
in vast and growing concentration and
control of money and credit in the
hads of a comparatively few men,
'Well," replied Mr. Baker, there is
great amount of money that has
come together here, more or less con-
oentrated."
The witness was asked if he did not
know that Morgan & Co. in the last
ten years had bought into a great
many banks and encouraged the con-
solidation of great many with which
they have been identified. Mr. Baker
said he did not know that, nor the
extent to which they had done lit. He
said he was not much concerned In
putting banks together, and mentioned
the Sixth, the Republic, and the First
as all he could think of which he com
bined.
Mr.. Baker pointed to Morgan as the
great general commanding the finan-
cial forces of America, placing himself
and James Stillman, of the National
City Bank, as second in rank and Nor
CAMS chief aids in quieting the panic
of 1907.