The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, 1913-04-05


one Of the most sinister powers in the
financial district And for the first
time Gould found that be had met his
master.
Immediately after the reorganization
OF the Albany and SuSQuehanna in
1871 the firm Of Dabney. Morgan &
Co. dissolved. Morgan to take the part
nership in the Drexel banking house,
already mentioned. under the name OF
Dre1el. Morgan < Co.
Allied With Vanderbilts.
Out OF bis vanquishing OF Jay Gould
grew this powerful alliance. So also
did It gain Morgan the friendship and
backing OF William II. Vanderbilt.
then the greatest antagonist Of Gould
In the railroad and financial field.
Meanwhile the elder Morgan had
died. leaving his son something In the
neighbOrhOOd OF S1O!OOO.OOO and the
control Of the great English banking
house. formerly Peabody & Co. but
then and for years before J. s. Nor
gan & Co. Added to his own fortune.
It enabled Morgan to branch out into
fields hitherto forbidden him.
II was not. however. until 1878 that
Morgan actually gained entrance to
the first rank OF the cOuntry's finan-
ciers. The country was still suffering
from the terrible panic OF five years be
fore. Specie payments had not yet
he hn
ment had sought TO market an issue Of
4 per cent bonds. but the slOwness Of
the public TO tnke them up promised no
speedy relief TO the situation
Then in November OF that year. IN
der MOrgan's direction. the Morgan
BelmOnt-ROthschild syndicate was
formed TO take up a large part OF the
issue Within a period Of four months.
from November to April. the syndicate
had disposed OF $26O.OOO.OOO Of the
bonds
The taking over OF these bonds and
the marketing Of them at a great
proft-Drexel. Morgan & Co. netting
100000 as their share-in a period
of such great financial depression at
once placed Morgan in the front rank
Of American 6nanciers From that
time on his advance toward his future
proportions was rapid
In 1885. acting as the agent OF VIII
liam X. Vanderbilt. Morgan effected
the lease in perpetuity Of the West
Shore railroad to the New York Cen
tral. which ended a battle that had
continued for years and which threat
ened to throw both roads into bank
ruptcy.
Became Financial King.
II would take a library to tell Of the
great bankers achievements between
1885 and the present time. Railroads
and Industrial corporations came to
him by the dozens and scores for ex-
pert counsel And they all got it II
they were ready to pay the price
By 1900. despite occasional setbacks,
Morgan was clearly the strongest In
dividEal financier alive The combi-
nations that he had fathered repre-
scented billions and billions OF dollars.
In 1895. when. With August Bel
mont and others. he helped Goat the
Cleveland bond issue. he was asked
by the secretary OF the treasury. John
G. Carlisle. for security, ne produced
Endorsements representing SJOOOOO.-
600.
The formation OF the billion dollar
United States steel trust and the In
ternatiOnal Mercantile Marine. the lat
ter perhaps his single serious failure.
In 1901 and 1902 Is sufficient to show
how far be had progressed in that
time.
Morgan was IMAM OF marked char
acteristics. Aggressive in character and
action. his very holiness In smashing
down obstacles. coupled with a knowl-
edge Of how TO apply money and pow
er where they would produce most re-
suits. undoubtedly had much TO do with
bis success.