THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 23, 1310
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Remarkable Pairallei Between the
MagnificentFIoroitine and the Modern
rmancier
' TsTjf most rccent expansion
"i2 of J. Pierpont Morgan's finan-
r cial resources, in securing con-
irol of the Equitable Life Assurance Com
fany and establishing his undisputed leader-
i ship in American banking, thejremarkable '
I parallel between him and Lorenzo de Medici,
equally famous for his love of power and
' passion for the. arts, has centered in the two
rf great figures unprecedented interest. .
i J he resemblance between them has been
t shown to extend . far, beyond any ordinary -J
similarity of tastes. To those who are prone
to believe in the 'theories of reincarnation -
; they might almost be the same spirit, work- -
ing out, its preferences, its ambitions and its
1 imperious will under conditions of social,
i artistic and political exigencies of vastly dif
ferent periods. . . - ; - t
In minor subjects the two embodiments
' fc that omnivorous and imperious spirit dif-
fer sufjieiently to make the resemblance lack
absolute completeness. But: in their major
' aspects, if they do not incarnate the identical
soul, they present themselves to the modern
student of history as the carnal abiding place
of spiritual twins.
anty, tot Mercantile and the Standard la all, S1T,
IMOO. .' ;' .... '.; ' v
. Thar remained no single banker and no group of
bankers who could dispute 'the pre-eminence of the
man who controlled capital amounting: to $1,884,524,568,
bealdei hla holdlnga la the National City Bank and the
Naw York Trust Company o IJ4M8M71.
. ' And even, that approach to money'a omnipotence
haa not contented him. It la believed to be serving
merely his atepplnr-stones to broader power. ,
. If t were humanly possible for any lndlrldual to
acquire domain over a nation's art as Mr.' Morgan has
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iHE two main lines of character alon which tha
I , modern Mortun a-nd Lorenio the Mairnlflcent
I present absolute parallelism r leva of power
, and lovo of luxury. A third, less characterise
because it la somewhat less peculiarly temperamental,
Is tha relentless, persistent will energy Inspiring both
r&en to tha attainment of their ultimata purposes. .
. To those who know J. Pierpont Morgan only by
the continually ' concurrent reports of hla flhanolal
activities and his mora than lavish Indulgence of hit
taste for art, including, afs tha a,rt bent doea, conspicu
ously splendid rifts and loans for publio (purposes,
. the esthetic, instincts of tha man seem to bo always
far more salient than his longings for riches. ,
But those who know him. Intimately have been
aware that his basic aim in Ms career has been to be
come tha country's foremost banket, ever since, in
February, IMS, he handled tha famous Cleveland bond
Issue required to replenish the treasury's gold supply.
-At tha time there was much talk, in print and in
private, of tha Morgan magnanimity, just as there has
always been when soma fresh occasion arose when
he could exercise his genius for financiering largo en
terprises. But Morgan himself made no pretense to
anything except rapacity -the achievement of his lifelong-ambition
for leadership and power.
"I won't mako any profit,- he told President Cleve
land; "I want to be considered the nation's banker."
Even though he profited not a millionth of 1 per
cent. Is actual money, tha prestige attaching to such a
reputation, in but a solitary transaction, was valuable
enough to compensate' for all tha trouble. And as
every, man in finance knows, the prestige ha got fed
right merrily the flames of his ambition.
APEX OF ACQUISITION " '
' It was nearly fifteen years later, in December last ,
when that ambition of leadership was realized by his
acquisition of the Equitable. It was a fitting crown
to his careera grab that marked the apex of acquisi
tiveness. .; ;... ;;, ;,. v v ;,;...-.
. PB,IntrvnJMr years were crowded with finan
cial battles jrhichaliminated practically all other
, Americans who might have entertained a like purpose'
c.u9. Ilka, the indomitable Harriman. by sheer fail
ure of the vital energies In the atres, of the titanio
, struggle; '-others, nice Thomas SY Ryan, aulttlno- rrnm
? . V?ttV,0T unending confiict wich Morgan's
insatiable ambition kept unfailingly etrenuous.
llorgan .survived in the modern arena, triumphant
because the secret, mysterioua forces inspiring him to
Ms aim a accomplishment were of the same unyieldlnK
At Aha time of his capture of the Equitable he was"
uwiur in control of th
ijtounUln combined capital resouroes of the New
York IJfe Jnntjrance Company and the -Equitable
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acquired It over the capital; if a valuable patntinr
were as like to Davy Crockett's cooh as a bank or a
trust company, a railway or a life insurance organiza
tion appeara to be with Morgan, the Morgan pre
eminence in art, would already have the treasures of
private collections pouring into his capacious or is It
rapacious? lap. Eurone's art lovers tramhin nnw at
.'mention "of hie name. "
He .has the appetite, of a Oargantua, swallowing
whole collections at a single gulp. To him went the .
life work of & H. Wakeman. of New York, devoted to
the assembling of rare and valuable American manu-'
- - -. - v
scripts. To him, for a million, went the -famous Hoent
schol collection In Paris, Including all its carvings,
statuary and furniture. ' . 1 . 1 t..
To him went Baron Oppenh elm's collection la
, Cologne, with its sculptures, Ivories, bronses and
Jewelry. :'.. . -,. . . . - -v.. .. , . '
To him want tha Dn Rurrv nnnnla. nalnted hv tha
inimitable Kragonard for Louis XV. to Illustrate that
1 sensual monarch's liaison with the detested favorite
these at the cost of another million,. 1
To him, for 15,600,000, went the enormous Rodolphe
Kann collection, Includlnpr - eight Rembrandta, four
Rubenses and Sx Van Pycks. ,
f' To him went the glorious Garland collection of
porcelains, price, $600,000. t
To him went countless Individual splendors of art.
such as Reynolds' "Lady Del ma and Her laughters,"'
for $100,000, and Raphael's "Madonna of 6t Anthony
of Padua." for $600,0.00.
Insatiable It is the onlyword. Yet his keenest
pleasure, as his intimates know htm. Is to find himself
alone in his own private Vllbrary and museun, adjoin
ing his residence. In New York, and there pass hours
appreciatively studying the rarities he has reserved
for his exclusive delectation. At most, he admits to
that fane only those who are his most congenial, ap
preciative friends. . fr " ' t '
In the earlier, fiercer, less scrupulous, bloodier day
tJaDaneja Journalism .-tha i
It W6My Up-to-date
1
F AN American were to put in a year in Tokio
or another of tne larger cities of Japan, he
would be likely to account b : the heaviest
penalty he nays for expatriation that ' nn
which deprives him of his daily newspaper, all
alive with the happenings. of his twn, his county,
his state, his nation and not to assume any air
of . impertinent proprietorship-"-hi8 world at
large.
And unless he should become well versed in
the ways and means of living as it goes in modern
Japan, he Would be very liable, to imagine his new
neighbors as badly off as himself.
Only when he achieves Japanese to the extent
of reading it without a lexicon will he be able to
appreciate the strictly up-to-date journalism' that
titillates the Intellectual palate of the Japs. .'
They may not be quite so strong on fine, ar
tistic murder stories as a metropolitan American
sheet, or so close to omniscience as the multifa
rious corps of trained correspondents enables the
American editor to, appear; but they get there
fairly well. :
M. Zumoto, who edits Tokio Y English news
paper, the . Times, told not bo Jong ngo about jour
nalism as' it is now developed in Japan, with
some inside hints that would have made Mark
Twain long 'for tha balmy peace of the Orient
when he was journalizing in the excitable West; '
AN
H, NO," he observed thoughtfully, "in Japan
we never snoot up the editor. Nor do we
sue m the courts for libel damages. We
give no more nominal damin fnr Mhot In
Japan, holding that the libel practically defeats Itsejf.
And, as a- matter of fact, that is what largely hap
pens, for nobody pays any attention to newspaper
statements obviously inspired by malice, . .',V:.
"Our law on the Subiect la n n idnnfaitlnn a H
rrtnea principles or legal procedure. Yet
growing opinion against them and In
dally
Anglo-Saxon principle that
us victim and demands substantial
. .. . . , j a. uiuion or caoltal
In those two alone. He controlled, besides, the caiii.
! of half a dozen national banks: the Firat. th ri.?L
"ie Jisiik of Commerce, the
there Is a
favor of tha
a. llhol rtn. Infll,. .h.
piAiitmi injury iu ua vi
damage compensation.'
Such an indifference to the "power of the press"
as may enable the cultured and courteous, yet haughtv
and sensitive, Japanese hero to read with equanimity
the account of how he poisoned his mother-in-law
would seem to augur utter powerlessness in. the press
o. so. emphatically declares Mr.
In
V...
Japan the Dress is th iiirli th naiiii,, .SI " very snarp ana enterprising reporters. Men
whit? light and an the othVSdeur. thai -r ' fence 'are not. to be Interviewed ofthand.
rJ.tne pre.VeerefmnUr,F! tt,arV'n"- AL
T'wwuwur 10 avoia mention of the unnnuii.d
He controlled seven trust Companies; th Bankers' ih.tlT-f 1?.Ci!"i Jokl Times, of '.-which he is editor,
Asior. tne Jkquuawe, Uie FlfUi Avenue, the Guar- mn K' Aeani, or Asaka,- that
.1 . -. a ... - , ., -j - vfj v a cents per :
month, wita
Immense , circulattons. The Asa hi alone has a
circulation, of 250,000. ', "- t
The' Journalists themselves manage to-i scratch
aiorigr' comfortably enough on their salaries. ; An edl-;
torlal writer of the first class on a Tokio paper is
paid from 800 to 600 yen per month, which is as.
much as, so many dollars amount to here.. . A yen is
60 cents, but Its purchasing power In Japan Is equal .
to $1 in the United States. A local or city editor Is
paid from 200 to 400 yen per month, andVreportera'
wages are in fair proportion, with everybody hustling
to cinch better jobs, Just the same aa they do in New.
York and Akron, Ohio. . .. . . .. . ,
' "The Intellectual level of Japanese'- Journalism,"
explained Mr. Zumoto, "is high, very high. , Editors
and editorial writers, as evolved-under Japan's, half :
century -of Journalism, are now either university ;
men or experts who have risen through sheer ability. ;
m "Our interviewers do not carry their Insistence so
tar as is aone in America, although we have some :
very sharp and enterprising reporters. Men of prom-
, as tney , ;.
jialist whom they do not know intimately a letter of
Huiuaiiiiiun ironi some sponsor Who 'shall be ample -guarantee
for a faithful report of their utterances.
"Our greatest interviewers are those few distln- :
grulshed men of the profession who never need such. '
He" H m
' :
At
a letter and rarely publish what they are told. Such
-men are Pokutoml, editor of the Kokumi, a morning
dally in Tokio; Ikebe. editor of the Tokio Asahi, and
.Chikami, of the Tokio Nichl-Nichi. , They are on Inti
mate terms with those who are highest in our polltl- .
cal' affairs and, of course, nave the " discretion and
sense of responsibility that entitle them to Inner
facts and important confidences." -
' Japan has its fakea and Us scoops,' like the Jour
nalism of all the world; and sometlmea a scoop is
'too trus to be good, because the suspicious Japs sus-
pect it is too good to be true. r -. -
r ThaV happened aeven years Ago, when one -of
Toklo's yellowest journals had a clear, sure scoop,
: two months in advance, , on the alliance impending ;
between Oreat Britain and Japan. Did it print the
scoop? Why, it printed it from front page to back
and worked both ends down into the middle. ,
., It cut out cash advertising to get it all inl
And the Japs of Tokio, when they read it, simply
remarked to one another! .
"ft Busk Tull Bee! Our honorable Journalistlo
grandmother Is having' another fit" ; -
of the Medici tn Klorene tse basty notations of
s . character and grafts "would have been Instantly identt--.
fled with the dominant figure of the, powerful Lorenso,
after his emergence from the mass of cabals and as-,
' sassins' plots through which he had to fight his way 'to
an even higher emlnsnce Uian Morgan boasts.
. Those were the days In Italy when politics preoeded
.'financiering as (he desirable means to , the end of
' . ambition. The publle. purse was open to the tyrant
who could command the public government.. , -'
Lorenso de't Medlol, Inheriting genius as great as
' has been displayed by Morgan, and fertune and posl-
v tlon far greater than Morgan began with, displayed
earlier his fondness for luxury and art, but on the
' same scale of munificence exhibited 'by this modern
Midas.' ' -. .'"''..: , :- . - .". Vv V:
. - Morgan had to acquire wealth to Indulge his tastes.'
Lorehio da' Medici Inherited It under two guises. One
was the Immense, hoard accumulated by his famous
-,- , grandfather, Costmo de' Medici. . The other was the
- publlo strong box' at his disposal could be keep his
. power. ' ; -...." 1 .'.-v.,.;;- ,; v.. .
- , lie kept it, and having devoted his talents te
surrounding himself with, the ' most , distinguished -,
writers and the most brilliant artists of his period, to
the neglect of his commercial affairs, unhesitatingly
dipped into the publlo funds foas many thousands as .
he happened on occasion .to 'require, " ;." V ,
. 1 . CULTIVATED CULTURE ,
His' gorgeous villa' a, Flesols-was the assembly 4
' place of the wit and poetry of Florence and, indeed.
of cultured Italy. ' He made only modest pretense to
. being a gourmet, Just as Morgan today betrays no
' unusual fondness for the refinements, of the cuisine.
But, as Morgan one passion of the senses is for good
"... tobacco $125 piece Is the price of his inseparable
clgaiwao Lorenio relished and prided himself Upon
- ' his wines, the hallmark of tha gentleman of hla era.
k, He'wroteto Marslllo Ficlno: . . ' V ; "v
, .."'Coms to me.-1rou shall not sup worse, and per- .
y chanee you shall drink better. : For the palm of good
wlhe I am ready to , contend, even with Pico himself."
: There, installed in the-'Flesole villa,, above cellars
.stocked, with the .rarest f vintages and amid statuary,
'paintings and looka which, like Morgan, he had'as-
- sembled from, every source - available in his . time,
Ixirenso do Medici played the Maecenas role to all the
v arts, and turned a very pretty sonnet himself When
1 ever his muse caught a pleasing Inspiration, yj:'
''. Not only was his palace .the , resort of the Ulus
. trleul, but it became their veritable school. Mlchel-
angelo there 'flrst essayed the chisel under Lorsnso's
generous encouragement: the "Morgan te" of Pico deUa
Mlrandola had there its first reading.'.
, , Inspired by no philanthropy such as creates the
beneficent autocrat, but rather by the artist's longing
to surround himself with a whole world of comforts,
'luxuries and refinements, he did In his generation for
the people of Florence what Morgan now doea In aft
for popular education, both at home and abroad.
Under his sway, industry, commerce, publlo works,
art generally and publio education advanced with giant
ctens. Unlike Morgan, he wa.s acting on a little stage,
and his energies could expend themselves on a wider
diversity of matters. But, like Morgan, his eminence
was ultimately so assured that the entire world of
- power and culture came to pay to him the tribute of
, deference and. admiration. ? '
i - The verdict passed upon Lorenso s de' Medici by
Oulcciatdlni would not bi so wholly1 unfitted to Mor
' gan, if a composite could be taken nowadays ef all
' that Is thought of him by enemies and friends:
"If Florence. was to have a tyrant, she could never
have found abetter or , more, pleasant one.'' : '
Yet one would be more certain of De' Medici than
Morgan. 1 ,
" Curious Facts
(- AN ADA'S available water powers represent a com.
'' blned energy which, if maintained by steam force
, generated from coal, would involve an annual
coal consumption of 5l2,l6S,SS tons.' t; - t
On an average a man requires 1100 rounds -of food
. per annum, a woman . 1200 pounds, ind a child 100
i pounds. ...',' - .'".'".-'. 1 i., . ... v. " 'i'
- v Bled eight feet from the ground a rubber-yielding
x tree of fifteen Inches diameter gives three pints of
. liquid. , "
Boys over 14 and girls over 12 are legally entitled
to get married without the consent of their parents
, or guardians In Scotland.
. Just closed, the Yarmouth and Lowestoft herring
season has yielded 800,000,000 herring, which sold for
.$5,000,000. - ,
v There are five admirals of the fleet, thirteen ad
mirals twenty-two vice admirals and fifty-five rear
edmirel8Con the active list of the British navy. ., .
In Oermany marriages by. any foreign consular
Officer are strictly prohibited except where there are
special treaty stipulations. . '
In Ceylon the manufacture of salt is a government
monopoly, and yielded, in 1808, 1,760,661' rupees
- ($588,860) to the revenue. - .
The London General Omnibus Company find that
the average profit on a motor bus In London is $3t
fier month, while on a horse bus there is an average .
oss of $13.60. . - . . ."..",.' ' ..
, Prison rations in England give 61 2-tth ounces of
food daily to the prisoners doing hard labpr, but only
46 4-6th dunces in the case of a (prisoner doing light
labor. . i ." . . ..,.'
On a ride of 1250 mlle,'at an average of 44 miles
dally, a Russian cavalry offlner lost only pounds In
weight, while his horse nearly twenty years old lost
45 pounds.. One day eighty miles were covered. '
v : A; Curious Moss
THE material so closely resembling horsehair, which
- I is extensively used for stufflfig carriage cushions,
. 'is not horsehair at all, but a curious kind of moss
which grows in Alabama and Louisiana. The : moss la
gathered mostly by negroes, and after a. tre l atrtmwi .
it, is allowed to rest for seven years, during which time
:tbe moss .renews Itself.''' -.' s,.w:--'-' v-ii.:A';'..'t....';.
Cypcesw moss is preferred, as it is the longest apd
.most tenacious of all the varieties. After the moje is
gathered it Is placed in. a sunny spot and left to the ac
tion of the wind and weather for a month. At the end of
.that time the grayish bark-peels off, leaving the hair
almost clean. It is then sold tp the plantation store
keeper or country groceryman for from one to two cents
a pound, according to quality, . :
The next move is to send the material td New Orleans
or other cities to manufacture. After the moss reaches
the factory it Is subject to the action of the wssher,
which la a large cylindrical arrangement, with a wheel
Inside which pulls the moss hither and thither and lashes ,
it through a vat of boiling water and soap until the stuff
is cleaned, 1
Then it is hung out upon the rocks to dry. This done,
It is put into the dusher a fan-mill which entirely re
moves all the dust that may have survived the washing
process. As a result the moss comes Into the factory u
yellow in-ctjor and goes out inky black. The article is
then made ftito. bales and marked according to quality.
The highest grade van hardly, be distinguished from the
finest fcorseaaor. .. .,.,' . . : i ,