The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-02-04
Power Of the Chief
Rulers Extended

Age, AZ banks each reported de-
posits of over 100000 and to-
gether had about one-third of the
total deposits in all commercial
banks in the United States. During
1882, while the total deposits in all
banks had declined by 20 per cent,
deposits in these AZ biggest banks
had fallen by only IL per cent.
Even a hasty survey of these
biggest banks shows that all of
those in New York City, Philadel-
phia, Boston, Newark, Pittsburgh,
Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit
have direct or indirect links with
Morgan, Rockefeller, Mellon, or
Kuhn, Loeb q Co.. or with two or
more of these overlords. Less OBJ
vious links with Wall Street cor
porations are doubtless present In
the scattering dozen in other
states.
Passage of the Glass-Steagall
bill by the Senate, with its opening
of the door to statewide branch
banking by national banks, shows
that the big financiers are deliber-
ately planning to expand further
the. large dominant units.
INDUSTRIAL POWER @
INCREASED
Control of commercial banking is
one important element in the
financial control OF industry. AS
a larger percentage of banking
funds is linked to the Wall Street
rulers, the industrial power of these
rulers is increased.
3. The investment trust IS a
device that gained great popularity
during the boom. 1t draws small
investors funds into the hands Of
investment bankers who thereby
secure large amounts for buying
stocks and bonds of the chief in
dustrial corporations. Many Of
these trusts" have been liquidated
at heavy loss. Some Of the big
gest are still in the process of
REIMBURSEMENT to the current low
prices on the stock market. But
two have been busily absorbing
others during the crisis. 1t Is no
accident that these two are Atlas
Utilities Corp, general invest
ment trust in spite of it's name and
very close to the Morgan Bon
bright utility crowd, and the Tri-
Continental Corp, in which Selig-
man and Rockefeller are interested.
Also last summer j. P. Morgan
& Co. took the lead in setting up
a new corporation with authorized
capital of $10000O,000, which other
leading bankers were invited to
join, for the purpose of buying up
bargains in stocks and bonds.
INDUSTRIAL MERGERS
CONTINUE
4. Giant industrial corporations
have taken advantage Of the crisis
to buy up additional properties at
bargain prices. This policy has
been openly stated by Melons
Gulf Oil Corp. as reason for
emitting dividends. Such giants as
U. S. Steel, Bethlehem Steel, West
ern Electric, Armour, American
Smelling & Refining, Phelps Dodge,
American Radiator &c Standard
Sanitary Corporation, Allis-C Glal-
nners, Hercules Powder, National
Lead, dupont and others have
been quietly extending their do
mains.
THE Standard Oil companies,
broken up in 1911 by order OF the
Supreme Court, are gradually re-
assembling the pieces of their en-
pire into larger corporate units.
The merger OF Prairie and Sinclair
companies into the New Consoh-
dated Oil marked a definite ex-
pansion OF Rockefeller power in
oil. +
8. While thousands OF little
storekeepers have been driven into
bankruptcy and larger independent
stores have had marked shrink
age of trade, the chains and mail
order houses have had the smallest
decline. Total retail trade is es-
timated to have fallen from $40
billions in 1881 TO $31 or $32 bill
lions in 1882, drop of at least 20
per cent. But recent survey Of
leading chain stores and mail order
houses by the New York Tines,
January IS, 1888, sfoun. tNcir total
sales had dropped b. less than IA
per cent,
s. AT least two OF the special
devices worked out during 1899 by