Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-10
Threadneedle Street Boss
Continued From First Page.l


domestic steel market from low-cost
European competition.
Banks Left I'm Lurch.
But he collapsed, and the banks were
left with their paper. A few weeks ago
Norman partially liquidated the HAIRY
adventure. He merged flve Of the lead
ing iron and steel firms-all in the
hands of the banks-into two huge new
combines, one steel company and one
coal company. The bank controls these
combines through the power OF the
governor to appoint the directors. IL
also obtains majority voting control
by q holding of mere $2,5OO,0O0 OF
ordinary shares. These shares control
the steel company. which in turn con-
trolls the coal company. A neat job.
The money for the B shares was put
up by the Securities Management Trust.
Note the name; it will recur often mere
after in the history Of British industry
and finance Montagu Norman tormea
this trust a little time back to look
after the industrial side of the bank
over which he presides-a break with
tradition which caused much commehC
and will cause more.
For the bank is not normally in
British or any other industry. IL is the
repository of the national revenue ana
the hub around which all the COM
mercial enterprise of the country re-
wolves. Ultimately any big demand on
an English bank has to be met by the,
Bank of England. And as the gov
ernor and his court of directors (eml-
nent business men with large interests
of their own to keep them busy have
to set the money rate which holds Truly
the balance between the various con-
f1icting phases of finance ana COM
Ynerce keeping the whole delicate faprlc
IF COMMERCIAL and financial life in
nroper equilibrium, and as the banking
interests and the industrial interests
are continually at issue on the tech-
nical subject of cheap or dear money
and scarce or plentiful credit, 1t Is clear
that the more the great central pank
which controls the rate keeps OUT Oh
direct participation In industry ana
commerce the better.
Where Traditional Notice Ends.
But there are times when common
interest and dangerous crisis demands
a departure from traditional practlce
and even from "safety-first' principles;
and this is one of those times In haro-
pressed England.
The bank Is worried about coal anu
AZ is worried about cotton; and pretty
soon one of MontaRu Norman's con-
yenient new financial instruments.
which function for the bank but under
another title and as formally separate
financial entities, may be called in to
deal with one or the other or both.
One-tenth of the entire island popu-
Iation is dependent directly or indirect
lv upon the coal industry. Lancashire,
the most virile and populous county IN
England, the hub of the industrial
north, is dependent upon cotton. These
two great industries are not merely de-
pressed-they are on the verge OF bank
ruptcy. For political reasons the gov
eminent wants to restore them to a
profit-making basis, so that they can
absorb labor and pay wages. For
financial reasons the banks want to get
them back to a profit-earning OASIS
They happen to be loaded up with tneir
paper. ,,,- .,,,..
These and may oshcr like problems
perplex British politicians, bafne the
Industrial leaders end make the imam
cial barons feel q perceptible shake at
the knees. They have combined 10
bring Norman and the central Dank
over which he presideS out OF the realm
of detached finance ana up 10 us "alsC
in the naturalization movement. Inc
fact is intriguing and significant because:
apart from the personal aspect OF
Montagu Norman, the direct participa-
ton of the bank in industrial reorgan-
ization of the largest scale is something
new in the British financial and indus
trial history.
Educated rs British Gentleman.
Norman is a Londoner, a year of so.
He had a conventional English gentle
mans education at Elton and Cam
bridge, but escaped the cut-to-type In
duences of both public school and uni
versity He was destined obviously LOT
finance. He did not have to cut MS
Ia
old. we'll made ones.
His father was a financier; his grand
father, George Worde Norman, was
director of the Bank of England for
half a century, while Sir Mark Coilet,
governor of the bank for two years IN
the latter part Of last century, was MS
uncle.
After his college career Young Nor
man was found place In the old
banking firm of Brown, Shipley g. Co.
which had considerable business with
America. He learned his job there and
made his first American contracts.
But the Bank of England was his ultl-
mate ambition: and, with his family
connections with the bank, it was not
very dif1icult for him to pass on there.
He was made a director Of the bank In
1907, and in 1916 he gave up his
partnership with Brown, Shipley.
he mlklL nave uldQC 81 NC
earlier, but he had broken his banking
career to join in the war in South
Africa. He served in a cavalry regi-
ment. won the D. s. o. CTommy Atkins
in those DAYS translated 1t as Dukes
Sons Only, and ended up as cap
tain.
His appearance bellies all popular pre-
conceptions of q man who, through
long experience with commercial men
and financial affairs, has risen to the
chjeftainship of a nations finance.
One would expect such man to be
suspicious, calculating. granlte-hard,
cold-not necessarily because he had
been born that way but because hls
financial training and experience had
obliged him to develop these traits.
Montagu Norman is entirely without
them.
His Facial Charac .eriSticS.
His face is sensitive and refined and
his manner is gentle. He has almost
dreamy look. But there is nothing of
the dreamer in his conversation. He
talks easily and without emphasis, but
the strength of the mind behind the
words gives each the precision and
hardness of a bronze casting. II he
says 20 words you remember 20 words,
not 10.
He is reSolute, courageous, cheerful,
even gay. There is a spirit Of gayety
even in his contests-and he had plenty
of contests.
Most of Englands great financiers
hive the part, with enormous residences
in the most exclusive part Of Mayfair,
big estates in the country, maybe a
grouse moor in Scotland. often a steam
yacht. Norman possesses none of these
things. He lives a secluded life in a
modest house on Campden Hill, on the
YYpfa him a hia edge Of london He