The Man of The Hour.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 3, 15 January 1903, Page 18

The Man of The Hour.

By universal acclaim the man upon whom the eyes and minds of the greatest number of the people are fixed at the present moment in the old world is Mr. Pierpont Morgan. Not ten years ago he was only known as a banker in London and New York, who had inherited great wealth and had displayed great energy and business capacity. To-day he is the most conspicuous man in the world, except, perhaps, the German Emperor. He has created a vast railway consolidation, giving him control of a group of the great lines of the United States. He created the Steel Trust, which is the biggest thing of Its kind the world has ever known. He next purchased the Atlantic liners, and was competing with another American, Mr. Yerkes, to gain possession of the tube system in London. He is behind the Electrical Trust, waging war against municipal enterprise in England. He is also supposed to be at the bottom of the movement to improve the Thames so as to block off the opposition of Southampton, Bristol, and Liverpool. It is certain that he is behind most things in America, and this was evidenced by the fact that a word from him terminated the recent disastrous coal strike in the Pennsylvania anthracite regions. That strike lasted from May until the end of October. The dispute originally rose about a demand for higher wages and shorter hours. It merged into a struggle for an eight hours day and a minimum wage, which was to be under the control of a joint Board of Conciliation. The workmen, who were mostly foreigners, being recruited chiefly from the Slavs of Hungary, ceased work on May 10. During the first few months the strike attracted little attention, but as winter approached uneasiness began to be felt at the prospect of a short supply of fuel, and impelled by the prospect of widespread injury and perhaps mortality. President Roosevelt adopted the unprecedented course of intervening. But the President's attempt at reconciliation failed, and he then sent for Mr. Morgan, upon whose word to appoint a commission to inquire into the whole subject the miners laid down their arms and took up their tools. The five months' strike came to an end, and both parties have pledged themselves to abide by the decision of a commission which has been appointed by tho President. Such an achievement was only an interlude in the game of high finance played by this new Colossus.