The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-10
J. P. Morgan Has WOrthily Upheld the Traditions of
 His Great Father
FINANCE PROBLEMS
 ABSOLUTELY NEW
The Inference Is That Big Men Would Not Be Abroad Unless Big Events Were
 Impending
By HOLLAND

from the common purpose, if there be any, which has led to the visit of J. P. Morgan to Europe and the expected sail ing of his partner, E. R. Stettnius, to- gether with Benjamin Strong, Jr, follow ing by a few days the departure of A. M. Anderson, who is an expert authority of high standing so far as bonds are con- cerned, so excellent an authority that he had been for sometime at the head of the bond department of J. P. Morgan & Co.,, there is the interesting and important fact that these men represent the stu pendouS movements in finance and trade which are associated with the relation of the United States to world affairs since 1914
 Of course, it is unnecessary to speak in detail of J. P. Morgan, but it may be worth while to recall the doubt which was expressed in all sincerity by many who, after the death of Mr. Morgan's father, found themselves wondering if the
 son would have the opportunity to make it clear that he is i'll all respects worthy of his inheritance
 No one knew at that time whether any opportunity would arise which would dem-
 onstrate that the present J. P. Morgan
 would show that his fathers confidence
 in him was abundantly justified. It did
 not seem likely that there would be an
 occasion for attempting that kind of
 financing or reorganization which was
 chief among the achievements of the late
 J. P. Morgan. It seemed more likely
 that the son would demonstrate his capac- ity by conservative management of the in-
 ternational banking house which his father founded.
 Of a sudden, very great opportunity and an equally great and wholly new re-
 sponsibility were faced by Mr. Morgan.
 It was due to the unprecedented and dan
 gerous condition which was caused by the
 outbreak of the war in Europe. To him,
 when there seemed to be an impasse in
 our trade relations few weeks after the
 beginning of the war, the bankers of New
 York went with one accord, as formerly they were accustomed to go to his father in moments of great peril. He was the
 center of a very powerful and very able group which worked out the difficult prob
 lem of financing in gold the payment by
 New York city of it's obligations then due
 or about to become due in Europe, the
 aggregate of which was about $100, GOO.
 That was an achievement so successful
 that it was followed by the organization
 of a nationwide syndicate which sub-
 scribed to a fund of $1O0, 100000 in gold,
 which made it possible for American mer-
 chants who owed large amounts on cur
 rent account abroad to make their pay
 ments. Subsequently, there were various
 pieces of financing with which Mir. Mor
 gan was prominently, a<most eminent
 y, identified, although he always as- serted that other bankers were entitled
 even to greater recognition than any that
 had come to him.
 THE GREAT ACHIEVEMENT
 The late J. P. Morgan never contem- plated-because he never had the oppor- tunity to do so-such a work of interna- tional financing as the placing of the An glo-French loan of $500, GOO in the United States involved The aggregate amount was less than the aggregate involved in the financing of the organization of the United States Steel organization by the late J. P. Morgan. Nevertheless, daring as that financing work was it was asso- ciated with purely domestic concerns The Anglo-French loan was the largest ex- terior loan ever place by Great Britain or by France. MT. Morgan's name will be associated traditionally with that trans action The opportunities and responsibil- ities came suddenly and MT Morgan was equal to them, so that now no one who is fair minded fails to recognize that the present J. P. Morgan is the worthy heir of his father.
 The three others of this group, or what will be the complete group when MT. Stettinius sails for Europe, are to be numbered among the young men, or men
 of the present generation, who have achieved greatly and who have gained nationwide recognition for their achieve ments. MT. Anderson, it is true, has chiefly maintained his reputation among men of finance, for he, like the great masters of foreign exchange-Max May, for instance, or John A. Gardine-has been chiefly occupied with the technical prac- tical side of one department of banking namely, that of bonds. Benjamin Strong, Jr., governor of the reserve banks for the district of which New York city is the center. was one of the first to call atten- tion to the lurking danger that lies in the almost overwhelming currents that are bearing money to the United States to bring about undue imitation. MT. Strong called attention to that danger in an ad- dress which he delivered a year ago at Saratoga.
 Like Paul Warburg, who sacrificed a large income in order that he might be- come, at what was for him a compara- lively trivial salary, a member of the federal reserve board at Washington, MT. 1 Strong yielded a handsome salary as bank president in order that he might 1 become governor of the federal reserve board of New York, although the salary of that post was much less than the one | he had been receiving. He is recognized as having handled the reserve bank in l this city with great ability There are reasons for believing that it is in part due to his experience and information | that he felt justified. in visiting Europe | now with intent to give and take conn