Evening star., 1933-06-04
SENATE MAY CHECK
POWER OF MORGAN
Disclosures of Firms Control
Over Industry Stir Move
for Legislation.
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press
Legislation to prevent the concentra-
tion into a few hands Of control OF in
dustry and finance is being seriously
studied by members of the Senate Bank
ing Committee as a result Of the dis
closures in the investigation of J. P
Morgan & Co.
While the committee itself has taken
no formal action in this direction, indi-
vidual members said yesterday 1t would
be considered and that meanwhile they
were giving thought to ways of setting
up limitations.
Although most Senators on the COM
mittee agreed the inquiry has disclosed
no violations of law, several OF them
said it had raised the question in their
minds of how far it was wise to permit
one institution to go in extending its
control over industry through financial
means.
Specific Plan Lacking.
Despite the undercurrent OF talk
among the committee members, no spe-
cific legislative proposal was advanced
and the committeeman said they were
not yet ready to discuss it publicly.
Chairman Fletcher said the committee
would take up the question of legisla-
ton when the inquiry was concluded
but that it was not yet time to do So
because further evidence bearing on the
situation would be presented.
Ferdinand Pecora, the committee
counsel who has been steering the in
vestigation, plans to submit compre-
hensive report to the committee at its
conclusion which probably will contain
recommendations for legislation.
New evidence bearing on the extent
of Morgan power was presented yester-
day in a table placed in the record by
Pecora showing the four big utility com
panies in which the firm is interested
receive 16.5 per cent OF the total annual
gross earnings of all power and gas
companies in the Nation.
Previous testimony has shown that
the utility group formed by Morgan in
its holding company, the United Cor
poration, is the biggest in the country
and serves an area with a population
of more than 50,000,000 people.
This table, from Morgan files, showed
the four big United Corporation COM
panies' annual gross earnings were
S448, ,00O, 900 as compared with a ma
tional total Of s2,700, 100000.
Division of Earnings.
The earnings we're divided by COM
panies as follows:
Commonwealth and Southern, $145,-
0,C00.
Public Service of New Jersey, s132,-
900 900.
United Gas improvement Co., $780,
00,O00.
Niagara Hudson Power Co., 5,o0o,-
900.
Pecora and his staff remained ir
Washington yesterday despite the weei
| end recess in the inquiry, to work ou
| plans for a wind-up to the Morgan In
vestigation this week.
The final course of the investigation
depends largely upon the decision OF tht
committee tomorrow as to whether II
go into the individual income tax re-
turns of three Morgan partners, Thoma
S. Lamont, William Ewing and Harolt
Stanley
Pecora swung into this line of in
quiry Friday, but John w. Davis, tht
Morgan counsel, objected and asked fo
a decision by the committee. Fletche
said yesterday he had heard no oppo
sition within the committee to pro
ceedings, despite the objection.
Some members of the committee said
however, they had some doubt whethe
the committee should go into the per
sonal stock transactions of the partner
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