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Show erg merely took advantage of an existing exist-ing Impossibility ty borrow on almost any security to ruin a borrower 'and iprobably start a new panic, a very different dif-ferent situation is presented and a very serious one. HIGH FINANCE IN NEW YORK. The San Francisco Chronicle says that .whether in undertaking in advance ad-vance not to prosecute the steel trust for absorbing the Tennessee Coal and Iron company the president acted wisely or properly, no one Is In a position to Judge who doe's not know what the law is and what representations representa-tions were made. That the President did what he thought it hl3 duty to do we have no doubt whatever, nor is there any room for doubt. The United States Steel Corporation Is a merger of many largo concerns. It was formed subse, quent to the Sherman act, and the absorption ab-sorption of one more institution would not seem to be any more Illegal than the original creation, nor to have any Important effect on the economic situation. sit-uation. Nevertheless the investigation investiga-tion of the transaction by a committee commit-tee of the senate i3, under the circumstances, circum-stances, quite proper and may be made J exceedingly useful. It Is alleged that a certain group of high financiers had loans of some millions of dollars, Secured Se-cured by etock of the Tennessee C6al and Iron company; it is also alleged that a group of opposition financiers In control of or Influential with the banks holding tbe paper caused the banks to demand that1 the notes be paid or other socurlty substituted for the coal and iron steel;. The borrowers borrow-ers being unable to do either, a succession suc-cession of very henry failures 3eemed impending, if, however, the cteel company com-pany absorbed the coal and iron company, com-pany, its paper wcmld be substituted tor tie stocks, and be ample security for .-til tho money required. The President Presi-dent was inad to believe that the vory heavy failures which seomed Impending Im-pending would knock tho financial bct-tcm bct-tcm completely out and that ruin would be widespread. Tho senate committee com-mittee ia endeavoring to get at the truth of this whole matter, and it will . be of great value to the country to ascertain to what extent the power conferred by the control of great Buma of ready cash at critical times can be and is U6ed to effect the ruin of bu&i-ness bu&i-ness rivals and Incidentally of thousands thous-ands or hundreds of thousands of ln nocent people. , as a matter of fact, coal and iron stock had become bo depreciated as to no longer secure the loans. It was tho duty of the banks holding tbe loans to press for payment. If, however, the ntock ' was really worth as much as ever and the bank- |
