The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 13, 1901, Page 8

THE SUNDAY CALL. N the good old colopy times, when we 1 the the ancestors commonwealth the Indians, helped te’s constitution of the dred 1t rank founders »seph rpont - . t 4 r's it was ; his grasp - wt . L " where trou m dre continually is J. P. Morgan, have their e. 1If he the sea he could not ny of the exploiter’s a his o spech 12 estments. He has little sym- k Jjobbers of th class, them such hard squeezes elf felt sorr; and 1 the whole card house of nent tumbling by ex- of flesh he has permit- b=" and cut thelr losses which they could stand. be remembered as.having oc- recently in London, when Northern Pacific nearly 1 of dozens who got caught h-nr-er the shears that Morgan wields. Mr. Morgan has from the beginning of his business life always followed his own advice and been sole dictator of all of the effairs in which he has taken part, for he believes in no divided authority, end even the banking house of J. P. Morgan & Co. is & partnership and not & corporation. action that he It is to this freedom of owes much of his power, enables him to instantly take ad- f turns of the wheel of fortune action of a cum- ctors, the use of words he parsimony. He has on ds are person freely. In atter of eme that wo: things any do flow of limiti is no ay one. The ot eal king method advantage doing business his mine was the key to a zation which Morgan must hold. Mor- gan did not go to the miner. That is not his way. Finally the miner came to Mor- who allowed him to have a good, t in the anteroom to work him- f into that peculiar state of nervous- Snakes one act the owner had come to squceze out a tre- ays fi. Piccpont mendous profit for himself froia the ne- cessities of the case. It surprised him much when Morgan suddenly appeared before him and sald, “I'll give you $—— for your property,” and subsiding into discussions, he usually observes the same sllence that he has shown during the con- vention here, but, like the Irishman’s owl, he keeps up a devil of a thinking. Op- posed to this fortress of silent mental con- sllence left the mine owner to do the,, only thing remaining for him, which was to accept the offer. He is above all things a quick judge of human nature, and it is by his study of men more than facts that he makes up his mind for action. This is shown by the difference in the reception accorded to 2 young broker who had undertaken to finance a rather daring scheme for a -cli-| ent nnd‘?me 1o Mr. Morgan with some trepidatfh to submit what was really a good list of securities upon which his cli- ent wished to secure his loan. Morgan was, as usual, easily accessible. He | looked at the broker with those eves | which seemed to the young man, in his own words, “to be burning clear through him.” Then, after scanning the list, Mor- gan sald, “I'll take the loan,” and the young borrower was passed on to one of the junior partrers of the house. In two minutes’ time, and with the use of only five words, Morgan had done more busi- ness than many a village bank does in a whole year. Mr. Morgan evidentl¥ believes, with the Indian school of philosophers, that the use of words is a waste of strength and that vital energy is conserved by silence. It is his usual habit in accepting invita- tions to public dinners to stipulate in ad- vance of his acceptance of the Invitation that there shall be no speechmaking. In his office, 'even during the most important centration the most eloquent gabblers and supposedly irrzsistible oratorical water- spouts shed thefr words in vain, and come away dumber and wiser men, leaving the field of victory to Morgan. Not only is he silent, but immovable. If other men want to ses him it is thelr move. He runs to the beck and call of none. Even when our great and glorious Uncle fam needs some gilding done in the HIS has been California’s lucky year In things both large and small. Cali- fornia hospitality is famous, and as though she has not enough reputa- tion the richest man in America and the best cook in America have come out here to help sustain it. When Mr. Mor- | gan determined to keep open house for | the notable delegates to the convention he very thoughtfully took away with him the caterer best beloved of all New York's four hundred and brought him-the inimi- table Louis Sherry—out here to delight the palates of our notable guests. It took something more than money to make Louils Sherry leave his elght-story rotisserle, with its cellar full of wines and the roof garden which crowns its glory, and hike out here to California. But the gustatory honor of the country was at stake. It is well known that clergymen have delicate appetites and Bishops, by one degree more of advancement, have still more refined palates. There were Lord Bishops coming from England and Bishops from Asia, Africa and South WHERE HOSPITALITY | AT ITS VERY BEST. America. Furthermore, the American delegates are something themselves, When the convention was at Washington three years ago Was was the brainiest convention which had ever met there, and Washington knows brains when it sees them. Now every- body knows that preparing brain food is 2 delicate matter, 'and for the glory of the convention, of California, of the church and the whole country Louis Sherry left the four hundred to whet their appetites, while he came out here to cook for the one hundred. Mr. Morgan has always been an ardent worker for the church in his quiet way and has attended every convention for the last fifteen years or more, always tak- ipg a large house and doing his best to make the wanderers gathered from abroad feel themselves at home under his roof. It is at great sacrifice of his own interests, without doubt, and sometimes the high pressure under which he works even breaks in on the midst of his trip. An instance of this is given by one who WILL B was at his dinner table one day while in ‘Washington, at the last Triennial Con-| clave. A servant came In and laid a letter on the table by his before he had finished his soup. Mr. Morgan read the letter, whispered to an attendant to whom He had beckoned and, excusing himself, shortly afterward left the table. It transpired that he had upon reading the letter ordered his private car to be telephoned for, a carriage ordered and before his guests rose from the table he was speeding away over the Pennsyl- vania line, going to Wall street as fast as steam could carry him. While Mr. Morgan alone dispenses his hospitality out here all California“ reaps the advan- tage of it, for those people from far-away States and countries, who have the for- tune to be his guests, will always carry inseparably connected in their memories the luxurious interior of the Crocker home, the incomparable catering of Sher- ry, the genial manners of Mr. Morgan and the sunny skies and balmy airs of the city by the Golden Gate, plate | organ==the {DHan Treasury Department it is the Secrecary of the Treasury who climbs the steps of J. P. Morgan & Co., at the corner of Wall and Broad streets, and not Mr. Morgan who rushes to Washington. % All the good old axioms go to smash be- fore Morgan's way of doing things. He does not look before he leaps, but leaps before he looks half-over a thing, coming to conclusions before explanations are finished and giving judgment immediately by saying “I'll do this” or “I will not do that.” As his words are few it is easier for him to keep them, and it is to this | that the keenest men about him ascribe his wonderful success in inspiring con- | fidence jn those with whom he deals. The | nice old sayings about taking advice are also carefully disregarded by Mr. Morgan, who once, when a very young man, said in answer to a friend who was trying to restrain his impetuous business methods | and get him to seek counsel, “I find that “succcssfu\ men keep their own counsels, and only those who have made failures | are willing to give away advice.”” His own advice is good enough for him, and by his system of non-communicative deal- ings he succeeds in keeping the best part of it for himself. By acting independent- 1y he saves much time, and has surprised other financters more by the rapidity with which he makes financial combinations than by the size of them. The entire work of planning and perfecting the com- bination of the United States steel indus- tries occupied but three months. Morgan was already the head of some branches of the business, and happening to be at a dinner where Mr. Schwab was descanting on the wonderful possibilities of the structural steel industry he foresaw that the time would come when steel would re- place the products of forest and quarry- The process of specialization had sepa~ rated what should have been allied inter- ests until all were.at loggerheads, and the fdea of a gigantic combination of them, while promising wonderful increase of profit, showed almost hopeless obstacles in the way. Yet it was but three mon from that time that the largest corpora~ 1d had been organized by se branches and the stock usually lumped with no differ- their relative e who are the the m ween not r with As a no two are in the same line business. Sage was a money lender pi .and nple; Keene a speculator who watch n of the market as a of a card. Gould profited by the mis- gambler ¢ was a wrecker who fortunes which he ed to br about. The Vandeéthilts and Astors strictly c© ed Ities but Mor- oader lines. It is al- ways by putting co-operation in the place of competition, by g the bills of those who are swamp »od with debt and reaping his profit from increased produe- tion and its attendant prosperity. The railroads of the South offered an inviting field, and there he has secured comtrol of ng on wheels that is pulled am. The methods of the Southern business managers had about transportation an: estate, gan's work is on roads’ wound them up in bankruptcy and litiga- tion. When Morgan k hold of the problem it required months for him to make head or tail out of the confusion. When his plan was formulated it required tw s to vanish ths ghostly equ chancery courts and expenditure of enough money to can- cel two hundred and fifty milllons of in- debtedness. The Southern Railway, which the was the name of the company evolved by thi feat Morgan popular with in to see how the combin ation,” was not rs, who were loth on of a number of failures could make a succ It was In 1593 that Mr. Morgan b his recon- struction of the Southern roads. To-day the combina of them mnkes one of the best paying systems of the country ard has had much to do with the pros- perity of the “New South. Morgan’s upbuilding, helpful policy should be remembered by these who c fcize his v While ot trouble with o & down its cred the price of gold in a vain n the sit vaults in whica nid capital from Se the safe d ken hiding. t fea in the ch Morgan has d al w A ope which t of Mexico for c dollars, The following year he secured twelve million dollars by the sale of E bonds in New York, and since that time one after another of for- ired and ten eign c are learning to come hers for their money, The wo financial and commercial eenter is ra y bein > the west~ his man who n s the commercial s helped to make he looks fart to make the U unit that I s for And still , for already cing two great t Fa road and the Northern business en his hands he is that b nds time to devote ollection of curios, to the raising of fine stock, to supervising the building of his own yachts and a general interest in the sport of yachting which led him to head the syndicate which built the Co~ lumbia. While he loves curies, he does not be- leve in hiding them away to be seen only by himself. The collection of rare fabrics and products from the looms of strange countries which he presented to the Cooper Institute delights thousands, and 80 does the Tiffany cabinet of rare gems which he gave to the American Museum of Natural History. Of less popular in- terest, but more valuable to artists and antiquarians, are numerous rare Greek ornaments donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Millions of dollars have been given by Morgan to charity, but the work in which he takes the most interest is that of Dr. Rainsford In St. George's parish, New York. Here they have all kinds of co experiments in progress for the ameliora- tion of the condition of the submerged tenth. There is a coal yard where coal i3 bought by the ship load in summer, when it is cheap, and sold out by the tin buck- etful in the winter time at the same price. There is also a parish store where are gathered the good as new cast-off clothes of the wealthy parishioners, to be sold at nominal prices to the poor who have many shivering children to cover. A school of domestic economy is conducted free of charge, where women may go and learn to make one dollar do the work of four by judicious expenditure and careful handling of the purchases. A boys' tra ing school and boys’ clubs are on a larger scale than usual, and to these Mr. Mor- gan pays the compliment of giving his personal attention, even making s dresses to the bo Cottages by the sea on Long Island have also been built and are rented at small cost to cover repairs to those poor of the parish who need the sea air to enable them to recover from illnesses that succumb to the atmosphers of the tenements. There is no limit to the amount that he is willing to expend in charity so that it is the kind that helps, but he is wary of the kind of giving which only tends to make the recipients more dependent. So broad are all of the many works of Morgan that it is confus- ing to attempt to even classify them. A story of his life would be the history of America to-day. ort ad-