THE ROTHSCHILDS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 143587, 28 August 1911, Page 7

THE ROTHSCHILDS.

PAST AND PRESENT,

(J. F. Marcosson, in Munsey’s.) One day in September, nearly a hundred years ago, an old Jew lay dying in a gabled house that bore the device of a rod shield in the ghetto of Frank-fort-on-the-Main. Grouped around his bed were five stalwart sons. In a firm voice this father in Israel admonished liis children to be loyal to the faith of Moses; to remain united to the end; to intermarry, and to obey their mother in all things. "Observe these rules,” he declared, "'and yon will be rich among the richest, and the world will belong to you.” Such was the earthly valedictory of Mayer Amschel Rothschild.

As everybody well knows, that deathbed prophecy came true long ago. The world’s 011I3’ billionaire dynasty is evidence of its wisdom and foresight. Premiers, cabinets, whole Royal successions have risen, had their brief imperial day, and tottered to their fall; Kingdoms of trade have developed and declined; but the reign of the Rothschilds has continued. Their sceptre lias been gold; their royal decree the bank-note. T hey have reared an unshakable empire of credit, and their capital has been wherever the family flag lias flown. In Europe the name of the Rothschilds is a traditional symbol of vast wealth mid royal favour, and people have almost ceased to marvel at it. Although no man can state the amount ol the combined fortunes of the Rothschild s, it is estimated that they are at least £400,0110,200, This is four times the probable wealth of the. Rockefeller clan, and more than six times greater than the united Aslor possessions, which, form our largest hereditary fortune. Vet ihfi launder of the A.stor estate was a rich man. before the first Rothschild was permitted to do. business. At four per cent, the yearly income from the present Rothschild fortune wotild be £IG,OW3,Oi)O, or more than the whole capital amassed by the original Vanderbilt. None of the other great financial families of Europe approaches the Rothschilds in prestige or possession. The Hirsclt hierarchy is rated as controlling littie more than half a billion dollars; the South African capitalists —the Beits, the Barnatos, the Wertheimers, and the Friedlandcrs—can scarcely muster a billion. The groat German house of Blciehroder, founded by that militant soldier of capital on whoso breast the old Kaiser Wilhelm pinned the Iron Cross for his aid to Bismarck in completing the downfall of France, is but a principality along the Rothschild empire. While their great eminence lias come from their services to distressed nations, they have always been, and are to-day, merchants on a vast Sjcale. In a larger sense, banking is merely another form of merchandising. The banker handles cash and credit just as the wholesaler distributes woollens anci shoes.

At the present time, besides great holdings of stocks and bonds, the family anti its connections owns cotton factories in Lancashire; cutlery works at Sheffield; plantations in Jamaica; rubber Holds in Brazil; looms in Persia and India; lead mines in Spain : vast tracts m Siberia; mills on the Meuse; warehouses in many European cities; gold mines in Africa; whole towns in Australia; and real estate in a dozen world centres, including New York, in short, no frost can nip, no hot wind wither, no devastating storm arouse the waves, without endangering a Rothschild property somewhere. Theirs is a world-wide commercial contract.

Analyse the Rothschild genius and the Rothschild record in the light of present-day financial conditions, ami you discover some interesting things. First of all, this is one of the tew great moneyed oligarchies, founded on daring speculative ventures, that have endured and become sound, conservative, constructive institutions. In the second place, ita vast wealth has not grown, like that of the Asters, through unearned increment—increase in value clue to the enhancement of adjacent property or kindred possession. It iias been built by active work under the guidance of a clear, farsighted vision, ranging from a capitalisation of .Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo to the building of the first great subway under the streets of New lork. The Rothschilds have violated all laws bv marrying their near kindred. Until the last" generation, tho injunction of tho wise old founder of the lino was scrupulously obeyed. When there were no Rothschild daughters for the men to marry, they remained single. Baron James, for years head of the French house, married his niece; Baron Lionel, of England, wedded his first cousin; his daughter Evalina became the wife of Alphonse, who succeeded James;, and so on. When the women left tho family they almost invariably chose husbands who brought either further financial prestige, as shown by the alliance between a (laughter of Baron Gustave with Sir Edward Sassoon, or great social and political influence, as by the marriage of Hannah Rothschild to Lord Rosebery. Despite all tills intermarrying of close blood kin, the family fire has blazed forth with no sign of dying. In no other family, the world over, has such a remarkable spectacle been presented. When Baron Alphonse was gathered to his fathers the Rothschild capital changed to Vienna, where Baron Albert, the grandson of soloinou, was king. His reign, however, was brief, and his last years were clouded by a tragedy. Of'his five sons, Oskar was the youngest and the favourite. Not long ago, accompanied by a companion, the boy went on a tour of the United States. Ho travelled incognito. While in Chicago he fell in love with a beautiful dri of Gorman birth. They became engaged, and young Rothschild returned homo. Meanwhile —so the story goes—an enemy of the girl sent to the old Baron Albert a picture which showed her in short skirts, a costume which alio had worn in a private theatrical performance. When the boy reached Vienna hie father was in a rage. Oskar had some conventional portraits of his fiancee, but he was suddenly confronted by the one that the baron had received. Ho declared that tho abbreviated costume was worn at a private performance. The baron refused to credit it. “No son of mine shall wed an actress,” he said, and insisted on breaking off tho engagement. In tho interim tho young lady and her mother had crossed to Germany, and were waiting in Hamburg. The news was broken to them, and the girl collapsed. Then tho son, the pride of his family and a hope of tho groat lino, shut himself up in a room and blew out his brains. ( Baron Albert never recovered from the shock of this tragedv, which occurred in the autumn of 1910. All last winter ho failed. Toward the end of January he put his house in order, arranged for the succession of his son James, and then died, so his family

and friends say, of a broken heart, on February 10 of the present year.

THE ROTHSCHILDS OF TO-DAY

The passing of the unhappy Baron Albert brought Nathaniel, Lord Rothschild, who had boon head of the English nou.se since 1879, to the headship of the family. Leadership with the Rothschild is never achieved by iavour or social prestige. It was always been determined by two things—seniority and ability.

Now tor Lord Rothschild. You clatter over the cobbled court, pass a giant flunky, go through offices alive with clerks, and then you come to a simple, high-eeiled room, with two 1 hit-top desks in the middle and a third desk off to the side. At one of these central desks, and sitting so as to command the door, you see a medium-sized man with a short white beard, keen, piercing eyes that seem to reach straight to the heart of things, and a jaw which, despite the whiskers, you know is firm and hard. The moment you enter, you feel the influence of his presence, for it Is masterful and compelling. -Many, people have characterised him as imperious, cold, and overbearing; but this is only his manner, the armour that the very rich so often wear. He looks pre-<ftcupied, and usually is so. Ho contradicts people by asking questions, for this is his method ol bringing out reasons behind statements. Contrary to the general belief, he. is not a speculator. He is very conservative, and it is the impression in London that ho is growing more so all the time.

He has studiously cultivated the habit of silence, and lie is never interviewed; yet he is very accessible to people who have real business with him. tinkers are constantly coining and going. With a word or a nod ho dismisses the business at hand.

His principal work to-day is the care of tlie immense personal fortune that lie has amassed. Yet every bm move made by representatives. of theltimily, anywhere in the world, passes across his desk. Lord Rothschild was the first avowed Jew to enter the House of Lords. Before he was raised to the peerage ho was lor 20 years a Liberal member of Parliament, representing the borough ol Aylesbury, The late King Edward was his intimate friend, and ho r,hared with oir Ernest Cassel the privilege of being the King’s banker. Across the flat-topped do.sk area from Lord Rothschild sits his brother and partner, Leopold Rothschild. Although much less masterful, he is an impressive iigiirc. _ He is polished, suave, and lacking in his brother’s aggressiveness. Ho inherited Gminorsbury Park, the favourite home of life strenuous father. He has another estate in Buckinghamshire, and his favourite diversion is horseracing. He has a big stud at Newmarket.

The second brother, Alfred Rothschild, occupies the desk in the corner. Ho is the dilettante of the family, and his interest in the business is little more than nominal. He is a bachelor, and is devoted to science. THE RISIXG ROTHSCHILD GEXEiiATIOX. -

These three brothers are nearing the time when they retire. Who will bo die future king of the clan? The hope of the family, so i.ir as the English branch is concerned, rests with young Xatbfiniel Charles, second son of Lord Rothschild, born in 1817. He is a fine, upstanding Britisher, with his father’s nose for credit, as wall as his undo Alfred’s love of science. He has published several papers on entomology. His cider brother Lionel Walter, is not a business man in any sense. Ho. is not even a member of tho firm; ho is a bachelor, and ids interests are scientific. His particular study is zoology, and at the family place at Tring he maintains a largo private zoological garden. lie has written several books on this subject. Leopold has three sons—Lionel Xathan, whose interests are purely social; and Evelyn and Anthony Gustave, who arc being trained in the business, and who are keen and commercial. Tho succession at Vienna rests with Alphonse and James Rothschild. Both of these young men—they arc in their oariy thirties—visited the United States in 1007, and served for a time in t.'ie Belmont house to get :: practical insight into American methods.

Tho next ruler of :ho French house will bo Robert Philippe. son of Gustave, who was brother of the brilliant Alphonse. Gustavo is still alive, but is old and feeble. I'Mmund James, another brother of Alphonse, horn in 18-iA, has two sons, James and Moritz, who are in the business, and who have shown every evidence ot being worthy of the name. The future of the house seems secure,. One interesting feature in connection with the Rothschilds remains to be noted—they assume- the appearance of tho nation in which they live. Lord Rothschild, for example, is essentially British, and used to be mistaken for Lord Salisbury. Some members of the Frankfort House are fair-haired Germans. Tho Paris Rothschilds are typical Frenchmen.

Although institutions like the Deutsche Rank, tho Credit Lyonnais, tho Bank of Germany, and others, have risen to dispute their former unquestionable sway, and while their state relations lack tho Royal proportions of other days, the prestige of the Rothschilds remains undivninishod. it is safely entrenched behind colossal wealth; and wealth, in the end, simply spoils power. Tiie allied branches of the house io* day present the spectacle of being a huge family trust. In the unity of the Rothschilds have been their strength and safety.