Volume Vi Part 8 (2/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Portrait.]

Collis P. Huntington.

Great banking establishments, foremost among them the house of J. P.

Morgan & Co., took to financing these schemes. Morgan re-organized the Northern Pacific, and it would forthwith have pooled issues with the Great Northern but for opposition by the State of Minnesota. James J.

Hill was master of the Great Northern, and confidence existed between him and Morgan.

They wished a secure outlet for the products of the Northwest, also access to Chicago over a line of their own. After a survey of the field the promoters selected as the most available for the latter office the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. Purchase of shares in this corporation was quietly begun. Soon the Burlington road was apparently in hand.

Prices rose.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Portrait.]

Copyright. 1902. by Pach Bros., N. Y.

James J. Hill.

The Union Pacific control perceived in the aggression of the two northern lines a menace to its northwestern and Pacific coast connections. The Union Pacific leader, E. H. Harriman, resorted to an unexpected coup. He attempted to purchase the Northern Pacific, Burlington and all. A mysterious demand, set Northern Pacific shares soaring. The stock reached $1,000 a share and none was obtainable. Panic arose; bankers and brokers faced ruin.

The two sides now declared a truce. The Northern Securities Company was created, with a capital approaching a billion dollars, to take over the Burlington, Northern Pacific, and Great Northern stocks.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Portrait.]

E. H. Harriman.

The States of Minnesota and Was.h.i.+ngton, unable in their own courts to thwart this plan, sought the intervention of the United States Supreme Court. Their suit was vain till the Administration came to the rescue.

At the instance of the Attorney-General, an injunction issued from the high court named forbidding the Securities Company to receive the control of the roads, and the holders of the railroad stocks involved to give it over. It was observed, however, that at the very time of the above proceedings the Southern Railways' power obtained control of the Louisville and Nashville without jar or judicial obstruction.

While general, the process of confederation was specially conspicuous in the iron and steel trade. In rapid succession the National Steel Company, the American Sheet Steel Company, and the American Tin Plate Company were each made up of numerous smaller plants. Each of these corporations, with a capital from $12,000,000 to $40,000,000, owned the mines, the s.h.i.+ps, and the railways for hauling its products, the mills for manufacturing, and the agencies for sale. Through the efforts of John W. Gates numerous wire and nail works were combined into the American Steel and Wire Company. The Federal Steel Company, the American Bridge Company, the Republic Iron and Steel Company, huge and complete, were dictators each in its field.

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John W. Gates.

The Carnegie Steel Company long remained independent. Determined not to enter a ”combine,” Andrew Carnegie sought to fortify his position. He obtained a fleet of s.h.i.+ps upon the lakes, purchased mines, undertook to construct tube works at Conneaut, Ohio, and planned for railroads. A battle of the giants, with loss and possible ruin for one side or the other, impended. Carnegie was finally willing to sell. Hence, the United States Steel Corporation capitalized for a billion dollars. Carnegie and his partners were said to receive about $300,000,000 in bonds of the new corporation, while the other trusts and the promoters absorbed the stock for their properties and services. The underwriting syndicate probably realized $25,000,000.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Portrait.]

Copyright. 1902, by Rockwood. N. Y.

Andrew Carnegie.

The trust creators extended their operations abroad. In 1901 J. Pierpont Morgan and a.s.sociates acquired the Leyland line of Atlantic steams.h.i.+ps. British nerves had not recovered tone when a steams.h.i.+p combination, embracing not only American and British but also German lines and s.h.i.+p-building firms at Belfast and on the Clyde was announced.

Of the great Atlantic companies, only the Cunard line remained independent. Parliamentary and ministerial a.s.surances of governmental attention only emphasized the strength of the a.s.sociation.

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