davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-14

of Europe attempts will be made (and believe are already being tentatively tried) by each nation to secure the sup port of the big financiers. When it comes to the discussion of peace terms it is but reasonable to suppose that Ger many will have on her side the influence and support of at least some of the most conspicuous and powerful personalities in the financial world, who are Germans by descent for the most part.
 But to financers political divisions are not matters of grave importance they are questions of sentiment. Their uti- mate support will go to the countries that can give them the best security for their money and that is what Lloyd-George meant when he said the other day that il is the last million that will decide the war That million may be found in London Paris. St. Petersburg or Berlin, but in no case will it give to the nation who has it the power to ruin the com merce or industry of the others That is what the inter-related conditions of modern finance will prevent. Germany . financial and commercial prosperity is a matter of supreme importance to Russia as Russa's is to France and as the prosperity of all three are to England. '
 Copyright, 1915. by Curtis Brown.)
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-14

which any of the precious metal came into the country.
 This is but one example of how the in ter-related conditions of modern finance render it almost impossible to completely suspend transactions between financers in countries at war with one another. If this were really to be done the whole economic fabric of the world would col lapse, and nations would soon be reduced to starvation.
 A prominent banker in London, speak ing to the writer recently on this sub ject of finance and war, said: Tt is uous and influential men in the financial world in western Europe are Germans or men of German origin, and this fact, in my opinion, precludes the possibility of terms that would render Germany prac- tically bankrupt if the allies were i,, position. so far as their naval and mili- tary strength is concerned, at the end Of the war to impose such terms. London financial houses, which have very large interests in Germany, would unite in op- posing such proposals, and it is abso- lutely certain that the united demand of half a. dozen of the biggest financial houses in the world could not be resisted.
 with the political aspect of the peace terms financiers are less concerned; mean with regard to the encouragement of the map of Europe, though even in that matter financial interests will have ar important influence-but what was more immediately thinking of was the question of an indemnity. It will not be possible for the allies to impose an indemnity that would crush Germany or cripple her industry. As regards the encouragement of the political divisions
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-14

is bound to be immediately reflected in England. Many of the big commercial undertakings all over the world con- trolled by German banks and bankers in conjunction with German-born bankers in London are largely supported through the latter by British capital. As the sue cess of these undertakings depends upon the continued financial stability of the German banks and the strength of the German people 1t is plain to see how com llicated and delicate the whole subject of International finance has become
 Who are these men of German birth or origin in whose keeping may be the future of Europe? Besides Baron Schroder there is Sir Edgar Speyer of Speyer Bros., who is married to a member of the famous Won Gwinner family of Frankfurt whose crief is the head of the great Deutsche bank, the Rothschilds Sir Sigmund Neu- mann, allied in marriage with the Roths- childs; Sir Ernest Cassel, boon companion of the late King Edward, and Sir Carl Meyer In addition there are many houses German in origin like the Earrings, but which are now supposed to be thoroughly British in sympathy. And last, but by no means least is Sir Lelio Schuster, the head of and largest shareholder in the Union of London bank, one of the big gest of the joint stock banks in England, with a capital of more than $100,000.0 900.
 The case of Sir Schuster aptly illustrates the dependence of the British government upon these financiers. At the outberak of the war Lloyd George was confronted with situation that was without parallel in the history of English finance. To all intents and purposes credit collapsed and the peculiar and dangerous feature Of the situation was that the collapse was sud den and to a great extent unexpected. On the Thursday before the August bank holiday there was a partial run on the banks and the London Stock exchange closed. All that was expected, but that the Bank of England did not regard the situation as serious was evidenced by the fact that the bank rate on Thursday had only risen from to per cent. On Fri
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-14
Dug Up the State Line

From the New York Sun.
 Beloit, Wis.--'Oh, that? Why, it was in the way when we were making gar dens, we dug it up and piled it in the corner.'
 This was the situation that confronted Bob Caldwell when he went to do some surveying in the southern part of the city. Diligent search failed to reveal any of the monuments set up to designate the line separating Wisconsin from H. lnois. As each marker weighs several hundred pounds and would require two or three men to handle, MT. Caldwell was perplexed.
 Seach showed that the monuments from the river to State street. 15 in all. were missing. This section is virtually all owned by Italians Several were ques- tioned and knew nothing Finally one wa found who led MT. Caldwe1 to corner of his garden and there, neatiy piled, were the missing monuments. The Ital- ian explained that residents along the line had found the stones a nuisance while they were making gardens. and therefore dug them all out and piled them where they wouldn't be in the way of their agricultural labors.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-14

his estate near Mar del Palta 10| pure bred hackney mares, 60 pure breI Shire mares and 160 mares used Il breed polo ponies.
 Among the other famous estates arI those of the late Gen. Roca, who wal formerly President of the republic HI has one at La Larga, a nights ridl from Beunos Aires. where his magnifi| cent home is surrounded by thou| sand-acre park, containing hundreds o| thousands of trees the most of whicl are only 10 years old. The La Larg1 ranch comprises 14O,000 acres and o| this 20,000 are in crops. Oats, corn and wheat are grown, but the oats ar| sown in the fall and the cattle are all lowed to graze upon them. The most o| the stock is Durham, and there arl 3o,000 head upon this big farm. Ther| are also 20,000 Lincoln sheep and abou 5000 horses. The horses are mostl] Percherons, crossed with the nativl stock. There are also thousands o ostriches of the South American breed The latter feed out of doors and Iiv| entirely on grass.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-14
WILL THESE F1NANCIERS FINISH THE GREAT WAR?

C7oNLoN. February A-(special
 Correspondence.) .)-Will Eng lands German financiers de-
 eide the outcome of the great
 European war? Will they dictate the terms to the British government. This war will be decided by the last hundred million pounds declared Lloyd George, British chancellor of the exchequer. With English international finance largely in the hands of men of either German birth or origin what is the answer?
 Already there are many signs that public opinion in England is fearful of thisI influence. Several of the leading nefspapers have been urging the gov xnment to place these German born fnanciers in position where they will be powerless to bring pressure to bear at the critical moment. Of course these newspapers realize as well as almost ev cry one else who knows aught of finance that the government is helping in the matter. Take the great house of Schroder h& Co.,, of which German, Baron Schro- der, is the head. It is known that the government has assisted this house to the extent of millions of pounds since the start of the war in the matter of ad- vances on securities. J. H. Schroder x Co. is the largest bill discounting house in the world and potent factor in Brit ish international credit. few days be- fore war was declared committee of the cabinet interviewed several of the big fnancieds on the situation. It was agreed that if war were declared between England and Germany and the August Bank Holiday not extended beyond the following Monday until precautions had been taken in the shape of a moratorium, etc, more than s1,750,00000O worth of bills would be protested in England on Tuesday morning Naturally the protest ipg of these bills would have meant the ruin of many of the German financiers in London, but it would g have meant the collapse of hundreds of financial in- stitutions throughout England and the ruination of British credit throughout the world. Thus the government was compelled, for its own preservation, to stand behind many of the alien born iinanciers who so largely controlled the stock exchange and the money market of London.
 This is but one evidence of their enor- nous influences and importance. It must be remembered also that they are com pelled by many circumstances to lool, upon Germany and it's interests with a friendly and even anxious eye. Interna- tional finance is so thoroughly inter woven in these times that the fortunes of these men and the houses they con. IL IA investors are absolutely dependent upon the continued existence and the future prosperity of Germany. Any injury te the financial stability of the German ma. tion of the German financial institutions
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-14

diameter. It was brought as sprig by the father of the family when he came from Europe about 50 years ago. It was one of the first trees planted upon the estate, and before that time the country was nothing but plain covered with grass.
 Now there are trees everywhere. They are planted in the fields as shade for the animals, 10000 new trees being set out every year. Among these trees I saw a herd of deer feeding. There are something like 200 on the estate, and they are all the offspring of male and two females which the owner brought here some 40 years ago.
 As we rode over the farm we now and then scared up a wild ostrich. There are hundreds of them running about through the fields, and the major domo says that in galloping after the cattle he now and then hears splash and finds that the horse has run over a nest of large orstrich eggs.
 I despair of being able to describe the fine stock I am not a cattle breeder, and all that I say must be in the terms of the layman. The first herd we look ed
  fords, ranging in age from three to eight years. Their average weight was about a ton, and they had never been fed on anything but grass. Several oc them were prize cows, and others will go into the shows this year. I looked al one that weigher 2500 pounds, and that, although she was only four years cid. She seemed to be all meat, and when I pressed my thumb into her back it made hardly a dent. This cows name was Lady Clare. Two of her calves have each sold for s12,00O.
 l next photographed 2-year- old Durham COW. This animal weighed al most ton, and it was perfect of it's kind. MT. Pereyra was offered $15,O0O in gold for it last year, but the sum was refused. I said to the major domo that the young COW might yet bring more than Americans. He laughed and said that the price Americus brought was phenomenal and that bulls like him were not sold every year.
 Our next visit was to the stables. where the fine bulls are kept. There are five of these stables each cov- ering perhaps half an acre. They are long low buildings divided up into great box stalls with aisle running through the center. The floors are all of brick but the animals stand upon boards Whlch are carpeted With bedding about a foot deep. The doors to the stalls slide on wheels and everything is of the most modern style. There are perhaps 30 bulls in each stable, but the venti- lat1on Is perfect, and as I went throug. there was no smell from the cattle The animals are washed and scrubbed every morning, and before they enter the shows they are treated to special lotion of hair restorer that makes thei- coats shine like satin. The animals are cared for like so many kings, each bull having its own private stall about IS or 20 feet square.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-14

tally different reasons, i. e., because they were acting as spies or because they were having business dealings with the enemy. When the history of the war comes to be written the story of how those dealings were carried on ought to af- ford vastly entertaining and extremely instructive reading and will reveal the extraordinary part that international financial operations have played in the war and in the making of peace terms.
 Financiers carrying on dealings with the enemy now run the risk of being imprisoned for life, but it is generally believed that the belligerent governments wink at such dealings being carried on in instances, at any rate, where they are of considerable magnitude and import ance
 It would not be- for example, to the benefit of either England or Germany that any of the big financial houses should be ruined by the war. Now the stability of these houses depends to a great ex- tent upon their ability to carry out their obligations with other individuals or financial houses. It is true that the meet- ing of these obligations may be post poned and delayed for time, but un- less it is made absolutely certain that these material obligations will be met fin due course the credit not only of the big international financier but of many other houses would inevitably collapse. It Is practically certain that to avoid such a disaster transactions have been taking place between financial houses in various belligerent countries.
 Here is story that has been going the rounds in the city of London, and it ap- pears to be true. At the outbreak of the war these became due to 8 big London financial house, with heavy interests in Germany, a sum of S100000 as interest on bills. payable in London by a firm in Ber- lin. The Berlin firm wanted to renew the bills, and the London firm would only do this on payment to them of the inter est in gold. One morning an electric launch left Dover and, some six miles out at sea, met fishing smack, an inno- cent looking craft that trailed a Union Jack at her stern. Six leather bags were dropped into the electric launch, whose skipper then handed someone in the fish ing smack a long envelope, and the two crafts quickly parted company: the launch returned to Dover with it's cargo of $100,- 900 in gold and the fishing smack returned from whence it came with the renewed bills upon which the credit of the Ser lin firm depended and the failure of which would have given so tremendous shock to the whole economic fabric of the Ger man capital. That the transaction was carried out without the consent of the t German government is impossible to in- agine, for the gold was most prObably conveyed on part of it's sea journey by a submarine-that the English govern ment was a party to the transaction IS more open to doubt. but it seems likely that it was for gold was far too badly wanted in London for the government to inquire over closely into the manner in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-14

Another big show estate is La Chap from Buenos Aires, near Mar del Plata, the most popular summer resort of the Argentine. It runs along the ocean for more than nine miles and extends about = miles back from the sea, being in the shape of a pear with its head on the beach, This property belongs to Senor Martinez de Hog, who. with his mother has several hundred thousand acres in three or four different estates. One of his estances is all in alfalfa, and upon it 5000 steers are kept the year round, an average of 600 being sold every month As to Chapadmalal, it is something like the estate l have just visited, being noted for its prize stock and for the fine way in which they are kept. With the ex- ception of about 5000 acres devoted to grain, it is all in pasture, being divided up into camps, which are in turn sub divided into paddocks or fields. There is a driveway 45 feet wide between the fields, and this space has been so planted to trees that every field is surrounded by shade.
 Upon La Chapadmala1 there are now 1S,000 Durham cows. 2500 horses and mares and 3S,O00 sheep The sheep are sheared by machinery and the arrange ments are such that the whole 3S,000 can be shorn in two weeks. The owner looks upon his present flock as a small one and it is only half the number he had a few years ago.
 Senor Martinez de Hoz is great lover of fine horses and he breeds race horses here which he takes to London and runs there He has a hunting box or, in nI time he ran a fashionable coach, keep ing from 40 to 50 Argentine bred horses on the road. After a time the fad palled upon him and he sold out his horses at auction. They brought an average of $450 apiece. He has now on
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-14

San Juan Is one of the most beautiful estates in this land of millionaire farmers. l have spent the greater part of the day going over it. The railroad station lies almost at the gates and the house is approached through wide avenues of magnificent trees. Senor Pereyra sent his major domo to meet me and I was driven in a coach drawn by two blooded horses for an hour or more through a mighty park, planted by the family. This park consists of eucalyptus forest, the trees of which are 100 feet high and as big around at the base as a hogshead. There are other trees scattered among them, and here and there are great patches Of wide open space covered with grass as high as your knee. Here stream winds about through the forest and there you find lake over which hang great clumps of bamboos. Some of the avenues are lined with palms of many varieties. There are rustic bridges and islands covered with tropical verdure At times 1 was reminded of some of the forests of Japan, and again of the wonderful gardens of the edge of Biskra in the Sahara, the same that Kitchens took for the scene of his story "The Garden of Allah"
 This part of the estate looks like great English park. There are moro than 750 acres in trees alone, and all of these have been planted by Senor Pereyra. l saw one pine tree which, with its branches, was fully 50 feet in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-14

day at noon it jumped to 10 per cent and the financial situation became very crit ioal
 Every interest was clamoring for spe- cial protection. Financiers, bankers, man. ufacturers. railway magnates poured in messages and demands upon the treasury. cabinet council was immediately called to consider the situation, and it was at this moment that the peculiar genius of Lloyd George showed itself. He asked his colleagues to adjourn and to meet again in the evening when he would have definite proposals to make. The chancel- Tor Is a politician not financier; what he desired was the help and advice of one financier who would map out a general plan for dealing with the whole financial situation and avoid the confusion and de- lay that would arise from a multiplicity of councils.
 The man selected by Lloyd-George was Sir Felix Schuster, and the whole finan- cial policy of the government was there after inspired by this comparatively little known but most remarkable figure in the London financial world.
 Sir Felix comes of a German family. his father was a German and became a naturalized British subject when he founded the banking firm of Schuster in England. Subsequently the firm acquired a controlling interest in a number of English banking concerns. Sir Felix was appointed by the late Sir 1T. Campbell Mannerman, a member of the Indian council, to which he acts as financial ad- wiser adviser, and he is the only banker in London holding an important govern ment position. The reason of his ap- pointment to the Indian council which has been of immense help to him in aid ing him to develop his interests in eastern financial affairs, was the help he rendered a member of Sir Henry Campbell Ban nerman's government to extricate him self from an unpleasant position in which he found himself as the result of his close association with a company whose failure attracted a good deal of angry criticism. Sir Felix indeed seems to pos sess a certain talent in this direction. by which tine government has benefited more than once.
 Last year rumors of sinister character arose over the contracts for silver coin for India that had been placed by the government with the firm of Montagu X Sons, silver brokers, one of the partners of which firm is a member of Parlia- ment Rupert Gwynn, specialist on h. dian finance, for some weeks kept put ting questions on the subject in the House of Commons to Mir Baker, the assistant under secretary of state for India. The answers to these questions were supplied by Sir Felix and MT. Gwynn. after he had put something like 800 questions to the treasury bench on the subject of the silver contracts. gave up ,the effort to obtain any information on the matter beyond that wihcl, the government, under Sir Felix's skillful ad- vice chose to give.
 But the bills introduced by the govern mept dealing with the financial situa- tior caused by the war were the most
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-14

10 or 12 pounds per day, and If small only three or four pounds. Two animals are killed every day for the use of the estancia alone.
 As we rode from field to field the majordomo told me how tue cattle are sold on the estate. The agents of the great packing companies come out and the stock Is brought forth in large herds. There may be thousand in single herd, and the buyer may take the whole thousand or he may select only seven or eight hundred. He buys what will make the best chilled beef and pays by weight. The average steer on the hoof will bring from 100 to 200 pesos. or from ssO to s160 of United States money.
 As far as It's fine stock Is concerned, this estate of San Juan is one of the best of the republic. It is de~Sted rath- CT to breeding than to the raising Of beef, and the animals born here are shipped to the other estancias of the owner to improve the stock. Some of those estancias have thousands of cat tie which run practically wild, and the only thing to be done is to look out and see if any be wounded or killed. The animals eat out of doors and the meat is nearly clear profit On some of the Pereyra farms they have large fields of alfalfa. There is one of 27 square miles which is altogether alfalfa. It is used for stock raising.
 In addition to the pedigreed animals required for improving the stock, are ncn F., s,1.
 shows. The Pereyra herd has often led at such shows and it is now especially famous on account of Americus That bull was born on the 18th of February i9ll. He was the son of Centennial victor and Ravenswood TIL and he has a pedigree running back to the ff- teenth generation, his fifteenth great grandfather in order of his birth being named Julius Caesar
 In addition to the Pereyra estancias S there are many others in the republic that are famous for their fine cattle. horses and sheep. This is one of the chief grazing countries of the world and the farmers are steadily improving the stock. They gre paying enormous prices for fine buliG and rams and have been spending fottunes in bringing in fine blooded stock from England and France. Take Manuel Cobo, who has an estate of 25,oo0 acres. He recently imported bull named Rufus that cost him $15,00O and he has several Durham and Hereford bulls that each cost from $70o0 to sI0Go0. At one time he imported flock of 930 head of Lincoln sheep, for which he paid s150,00O in gold, and he has sold one bull that brought him $l1,OO0. He raised only pure bred cattle and sheep and has on his estancia 800 pedi- greed shorthorn cattle, 70 shorthorn stock bulls and 10000 pure bred Lincoln sheep The Cobo estate has 80 windmlls to water the stock, and it kills bullocks and 20 sheep every day to feed the 200 men em- ployed upon it.