The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-26
New York Financiers, How ever, Are Inclined to
 Doubt the Figures
UNABLE TO COMPUTE
 THE EXACT AMOUNT
Reports Are Now Heard That Recent Loan Floated for France Cost Government 7 Per Cent
By HOLLAND

New York, July 26.-(Specia1)- the authorities of Cleveland O., have evil dence which would be admissible in court as competent showing that John D. Rockefeller has accumulated for our financial district will be compelled to revise some of their estimates of Mr. RockefeIler's wealth. Seven or eight years ago. a report was widely published setting forth that Mir. Rockefeller had -nen accumulated more than billion. Russell Sage used to say that billion of dollars is a great deal of money. It is believed by those who should know that nothing short of discovery of d gold mine. of extraordinary richness and the exclusive ownership of it would enable any one to accumulate in 40 years as muck as billion dollars. The estimate commonly made in the l financial district a few years ago of MT Rockefeller's wealth was that it was not l in excess of s60O,000, 900. That estimate was based upon an assumed market value of some of the securities of which he was then in possession. Not all of Mir. Rocke- fellers investments have been fortunate. l It is understood that he had been obliged l to charge off to profit and loss good
 many. It is admitted that his yearly in-
 come exceeds that of any other American
 of wealth and probably by a good many | million dollars. But it Is also thought 1 that Mir. Rockefeller would be unable to l obtain from those whom ne has employed
 to manage his private anairs any esti-
 mate which would be more than approxi-
 mately accurate of the actual value of
 his estate. That value might change in | few days by the action of the securities market
 from MT. Carnegie. Since MT. Carnegie retired from business. he has known or
 been able to know almost to dollar which his accumulations are. MT. Car negie, by the way, Is this summer in
 much better health than he was last year. He has taken lease of the beautiful
 Stokes place at Norton. Conn.,, on the north shore of Long Island sound, and Is I a neighbor of John D. Crimmins. He entertains many guests there and he is I fond of yachting, a recreation which 1 oe l all interested in financing, having made ! only one or two indifferent inquiries
 about the large loans that we have made
 to foreign countries. In this respect. MT. Rockefeller differs from Mr. Carnegie, for
 he is understood to have invested as
 much as $15.o0o,0oO. possibly s2o,0o0o00, in
 the Anglo-American loan, and there are some reasons for inferring that he will also invest in the new French loans. | On the other hand, MT. Carnegie Is ab-
 sorbingly interested in the European war i about the course of events and still main
 tains his friendship for the Kaiser, al- 1 though he sadly recognizes and admits | that it was the Kaisers signature which
 brought on the world war that so sadly disrupted MT. Carnegie's peace propa- ganda
 l If John D. Rockefeller possesses even
 a billion dollars he would now be unable. ' or at least find it most impracticable, to influence the money market. He might | if so disposed make trouble for few
 days, but that would be sure to react upon himself. Yet when he began his active career as an oil refiner there were l two men in New York, Daniel Drew and l Commodore Vanderbilt, who, if they were l so disposed, could by cooperation com ! pletely demoralize-as they sometimes did the money market to their own advan- tage, although the fortune possessed by Sach of them was not in excess of $15,00U, | 900 or no more than MT. Rockefeller has l invested in the Anglo-French loan.
 l WHAT CONCERNS ROCKEFELLER 1 Several years ago. while sojourning fol l a few weeks at a winter resort near | Augusta, Ga, MT Rockefeller said to an old friend, the late James D. Layng, that \ for the greater part of his life he hao l been absorbngly occupied in accumulate l ing a fortune. Suddenly that purpose
 was changed. He sought no longer to ac- cumulate but only preserve what he hao obtained and to distribute much tho greater part of 1t so that it might in the best way be of benefit to the world. He discovered that it is much more difficul to formulate good plans for distribution of his fortune than to perfect plans
 whereby his gains could be increased
 What he especially sought was distri
 button which did not take the form oi
 charity.
 ATT PER CENT
 The swift closing of the subscription books for the new French loan was, ol
 course, regarded as excellent proof tha it had been instantly absorbed. Coinci | dent with the closing of the subscriptions came a report that it cost the French | government about [ per cent in order tt secure the loan. There is no authority
 for this report, although it may be ap L proximately correct. But the circum stances associated with the making O. | the loan do not justify the view that thu
 American bankers were arbitrary Tn nx I ing upon terms It was necessary t
 consider many things.
 There is recollection of the fact the
 one of the ablest of American construc
 tive forces. the late H. H. Rogers, wal
 compelled to pay at the rate of pel I cent before he could obtain a large loan
 He needed funds for the construction o
 his Tidewater railroad In Virginia. ant