PIERPONT MORGAN, MILLIONAIRE.

North Otago Times, 12 April 1912, Page 1

PIERPONT MORGAN, MILLIONAIRE.

1 In-e«ry rc-specti Mi-Pierpout Mor- ;. gatfis the antithesis' ol the popular idea of tne American millionaire, He : is a strong,.self-reliant, silent:man, 'Of-fiWltaste-'and firia courage,-incap-able of shady methods, outside' politics, foul with' a great and useful patriotism, fllr Ho'vey, his Meg; apher, says: ■' J, P, Morgan,is solid. Furthermore, his rehabilitation of a vast amount olf dcomed property is mightily suggestive of U'oad public service, Other men have -built up industries from the beginning chiefly, for themselves, as Rockefeller constructed the Standard Oil Trust. But Rockefeller soaked up his 'competitors like a sponge, while Morgan put them on their feet and teaches and enforces co-operation amonfe rhem, His sendee to the United States Government al : moments of cius have been invaluable, and there is a 'small -lnsißii'ce vi his paiftoawi t-uat is even more interesting, m l&jf iha 'Government was loreta to pay 11* soldiers in "jay cheques," wh-.cn t&ey wet'u obliged to 'discount with Jewish money-lenders at a cost ol 2-'' per cent, and the soldiers 'were naturally sore, l>ut relief came tp them with uue pews that "J",. P. '.Morgan, of Frcxel) Morgan and Co., had provided the cash to pay all of tho Army salaries'lmmediately, and a discount,, which would barely pay the cost-, of •'' the proceeding—namely, l per cent. -Strugglo with Jay Gould.— Mr Mc-r-rjan first went into the railway business in tho early 'sixties, when he struggled with Jay Gould for the control of the Albany and Saeynt'ljinna I|aihvay, Gould was associated with one Jim Fist, whose methods were of \he roughest, and who topk a crowd of "Bowery toughs" to overawe the meeting which wps to decide the fate of the concern : ' '

''■' When the, hour for the election came, Mr Morgan was standing ac tho head of the atairs leading 10 the meeting room, with President ' Ram£ey 3 of the A, and S. Just Wore the r. .toting was to he called to order, Jim *isk went up the stairs, and a crowd of h;s followers were just about to enter the door from the street, . Ramsey reached Fisk first and threw hiii down -the, entire ilight of sta'rs into the middle 1 ol his advancing retainers. Fisk told Ramsay afterwards itjhat he was the Hind of man he liked to meet." When Bisk struck tho pavement of tho foot of the stajrs the "'boys" he had brought with him ran off, without stopping to pick him up, but an angry policeman grabbed Mm by Olio foliar, jerked Mm io his feet, and dragged him off to the police-sta-tiou, The officer merely thoved liim through the door, however, and immediately disappeared. There being no one to make a complaint, FisK ra soon released, The "policeman" who anested him was one c-f the compauy'n hands dressed up for the occasion. -A Pitched Battle.— After ibis there was a genuine physical light for the possesion of the track, which ended in a pilchi.d rattle. The Erie (the Fisk party) had SCO men at the tunnel a few miles from Baighampton, and held the station near by, and'the Albany parly (Mr Morgan's party) held the other end 0! the tunnel, with about the same num'ter. Just at -dusk on an Auhust afternoon, -the Erie captain determined to the disputed tunnel, He had some two hundred products of the Bowery and neig'L'joring streets on two cars, and, coupling on a locomotive, sent tho train through the tunnel. The train passed through -the darkness in safety, bu-t as it turned a curve at the mouth a train with the RamseyMorgan men onj ijjoard waa seen approaching on the tamo track, The Erie shrieked for down 'brakes but the other train never slackened its speed. Tie engines crushed together gloriously, and the collision was the s'gnal Jot tho fight, Thu men spilled out upon the track and fell upon c-ne sticker.and stones, and revolvers, and matchless profanity. After a time, they, goi too much mixed in the darkness to G'ght any more, and both sides d-rew tack, taking with them tne wounded and the drunken, and encamped heside the rails.

-Superman ol Finam-e.-How splendidly mediaeval it reads! Put the incident is not. characteristic ol Mr-Morgan's Quiet methods. He a a superman,-a ruler, not an e-c;ual among equals. 'When a financial deal is in preparation, lie allots to his associa.us .their vs-..ous risks, and there is no appeal. Bimilftrity. • "-When the paper ia Bent round lor some charity, perhaps a church Benefaction, Mr Morgan, frorr. force U hatit, writes down tiie names of ms friends, with the amount opposite, which they are destined to contribute." And again there is no appeal, n-e counts the Eai«r among b.s acquaintances, and he never talks « he can help it. He hates show and lintlight. -He has no use for publicity. Mr Hovey Bays: "Mr Morgan rules money at ut exact moment of history when money is the thing to rule.; when it is all important to financiers to be able to deny cash or credit to a would-be coiupetitort industry to extend it to the trusts and combinations (hat are established in tho field.