Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-01-06

'hc h'ianttc coast SnlpplnH is owned
by the railroads and two corporations.
The report of the House Committee on
Merchant Marine says: The steamers
OF the railroad controllcd lines com
bincd with those OF the Eastern Steam
ship Corporation and the Atlantic. Gulf
and East Indies Steamship Lines num-
Der 10y, or Si.I per cent of the above
mentioned total for the twenty eight
lines. and represent 5l6,055 gross tons,
or 1919 per cent of the total gross ton
mage. Not only do the railroads and
the two shipping consolida lions domi-
nate over nine-tcnths of the tonnage,
but II is Significant that very few of
the principal routes on our entire At
lantic and Gulf Coasts are served by
more than one regular steamship line
STEAMSHIP SYSTEMS
RAIItOAD-CONTROL
The railroad controlled lines re-
fcrrcd to in the report OF the commit
tees are: the Southern Pacific. or Nor
gan Line, the Old Dominion Steamship
Company, and the Ocean Steamship
Company, or Savannah Line. These,
with the Eastern Steamship Company
and the tliRtic Gluf and West Indies
Steamship Lines constitute practically
the entire coastwisc shipping for. the
Atlantic Seabourd. 1t is Il remarkable
fact that the interests allied in the
ownership and control of all of these
the foreign American shipping. TAX
ing the companies in the order above
named we find that i'm the southern
Pacific Henry W. DeForrest, a promi-
nent director. served on the board OF
the National Bank of Commerce, with
Henry +. Davidson. with j. T.. Morgan
& Co. with Frank 4. Nanderlip and
William Rockefeller. of the National
City Bank. l.. +. Lorce. another d.
rector is on the board Of the Seaboard
Air Line Railroad and part owner Of
the Old Dominion Line. Ogden Mills,
another director. is associated with the
Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and
he. with Cornelius Bliss. another di-
rector. are on the board of the United
States Trust Company, of New York,
on which board the same interests
found dominant.
pany is controlled by the Atlantic Coast
Line. Seaboard Air Line Southern,
Chesapeake and Ohio and Norfolk and
Western Railroads. The same interests
appear here. Frank a. Vanderbilt, Of
the National City Bank. appears on the
board OF two OF the railroads Charles
Steel. member of the firm of J. +. Nor
gan & Co; Ebert II. Gary, chairman
of the board of directors Of the United
! states Steel Corporation; Victor Moro
WITT, a prominent member OF the board
Of the National Bank OF Commerce, and
others or the same interests are found
on the boards of these railroads The
Merchants and Miners Transportation
Company was. until recently. owned by
the New York, New Haven and Hartford
railroad, which. from recent invcStiga-
tion by the Interstate Commerce Com
mission and the Department of Justice.
IL was disclosed that this was controlled
by J. l.. Morgan 81 Co. The govern
ment required the railroad to sell the
Merchants and Miners interests. The
new owners, however. belong to the
, same aggregation. The chairman OF
the board of directors of the Merchants
and Miners is on the board of the At
lantic Coast Line Railroad, of which
J. l.. Morgan & 60. are the fiscal
agents. and others have similar aflilia-
tons. The Ocean Steamship Company
'thc Savannah Line) is owned by the
Central of Georgia Railroad. on it's
board are found gentlemen who are
interested in New York banking houses
with the Morgans and Rockefellcrs.
EASTERN STEAMSHIP COMPANY
MERELY HOLDING CONCERN
The Eastern Steamship Company is
holding company, which controls and
operates eleven different steamship
lines of the New England Coast. and
controls practically the entire trade Of
that region. According to Moody's
Manual, on June sc. 1913, the New Eng
land Navigation Company owns $4,000
600 in the stock of this company. j.
+. Morgan is n director of the New Eng
land Navigation Company. The Eas-
tern steamship Company, il is under
stood, to be financed and large con-
trolled by Hayden, Stone & Co. of Bos-
ton and New York. q. l.. Stone and j.
w. Hayden, of that firm, are on it's
board of directors. The same firm are
understood to control the Atlantic. Gulf
and West Indies Steamship Lines. of
which company G.. l.. Stone is vice pres
ident. and III. II. Mallory. member Of
the board of directors of the Eastern
steamship Company, is president This
company owns the majority of the
stock of the Clyde Line, the New York
and Cuba Line, Mallory Line and the
entire stock Of the New York and Por-
to Rico Line, and the Texas City Steam
ship Company. Edward ]. Berwind one
of the directors of the Atlantic. Gulf
and West Indian Steamship Lines, the
holding company for the various sub
sidiary lines. is also a director of the
Guaranty Trust Company, and on the
board of directors of the National Bank
OF Commerce with Nanderlip and 9TH
ers. Berwind is also the head of a big
coal company in New York City, whose
business Is that of furnishing coal TO
the various steamship lines"
Declaring the position of the United
| states as nation was anomolous