Other People's Money, and How the Bankers Use It — John Shaqi
Other People's Money, and How the Bankers Use ItBrandeis, Louis Dembitz
History
Other People's Money, and How the Bankers Use It
Brandeis, Louis Dembitz
Banks and banking -- United States; Finance -- United States
Among the allies, two New York banks--the National City and the First
National--stand preëminent. They constitute, with the Morgan firm,
the inner group of the Money Trust. Each of the two banks, like J. P.
Morgan & Co., has huge resources. Each of the two banks, like the firm
of J. P. Morgan & Co., has been dominated by a genius in combination.
In the National City it is James Stillman; in the First National,
George F. Baker. Each of these gentlemen was formerly President,
and is now Chairman of the Board of Directors. The resources of the
National City Bank (including its Siamese-twin security company) are
about $300,000,000; those of the First National Bank (including its
Siamese-twin security company) are about $200,000,000. The resources
of the Morgan firm have not been disclosed. But it appears that they
have available for their operations, also, huge deposits from their
subjects; deposits reported as $162,500,000.
The private fortunes of the chief actors in the combination have not
been ascertained. But sporadic evidence indicates how great are the
possibilities of accumulation when one has the use of “other people’s
money.” Mr. Morgan’s wealth became proverbial. Of Mr. Stillman’s many
investments, only one was specifically referred to, as he was in
Europe during the investigation, and did not testify. But that one is
significant. His 47,498 shares in the National City Bank are worth
about $18,000,000. Mr. Jacob H. Schiff aptly described this as “a very
nice investment.”
Of Mr. Baker’s investments we know more, as he testified on many
subjects. His 20,000 shares in the First National Bank are worth at
least $20,000,000. His stocks in six other New York banks and trust
companies are together worth about $3,000,000. The scale of his
investment in railroads may be inferred from his former holdings in
the Central Railroad of New Jersey. He was its largest stockholder--so
large that with a few friends he held a majority of the $27,436,800 par
value of outstanding stock, which the Reading bought at $160 a share.
He is a director in 28 other railroad companies; and presumably a
stockholder in, at least, as many. The full extent of his fortune was
not inquired into, for that was not an issue in the investigation. But
it is not surprising that Mr. Baker saw little need of new laws. When
asked:
“You think everything is all right as it is in this world, do you not?”
He answered:
“Pretty nearly.”
RAMIFICATIONS OF POWER
But wealth expressed in figures gives a wholly inadequate picture of
the allies’ power. Their wealth is dynamic. It is wielded by geniuses
in combination. It finds its proper expression in means of control.
To comprehend the power of the allies we must try to visualize the
ramifications through which the forces operate.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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