WORLD’S MONEY KING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5491, 23 October 1929, Page 3

WORLD’S MONEY KING.

’ MR. J. PIERPONT MORGAN.

A MAN WITH SIMPLE TASTES.

A multi-millionaire who dominates American industry and banking, J. Pierpont Morgan, may be said to be the money king of the world (says a writer in the Sunday Chronicle). The chiefs of big business and the governing classes in the United States are almost wholly Anglo-Saxon. No more typical of this class could be found than J. Pierpont Morgan. By far the most powerful figure in business, in the second largest capital in the world, Pierpont Morgan is a typical American of his generation. It was in the seventeenth century that his ancestor emigrated to New England, a common ancestor with the English family of the same name, but who spell then- name in the old way of Pierrepont, the head of which is Lord Manvers. A Country Squire. At his beautiful estate at Aldeham, in Hertfordshire, Pierpont Morgan leads the simple life of a country squire. Every Sunday the family attend the village church, and during the week Pierpont Morgan is to be seen with his agent inspecting his Jersey cows, or the wheat crop along the banks of the beautiful river Colne, which runs through his land. He has a town house at 12 Grosvenor Square, but he is seldom there, as unlike his father, he "prefers the quiet of the country to that of society. During the hectic days of the war Pierpont Morgan manifested his vote for England in no uncertain way. He was appointed by thtf-British Government to act as their agent in arranging loans and the purchasing of munitions in the United States. Night and day he worked on his task, and he refused to make a penny profit for himself or his firm, considering it to be his duty to help the Mother Country. Murderous Attack. On one occasion he nearly paid for his pro-British sympathies with his life. In the summer of 1915, a German named Holt, who considered that by killing Pierpont Morgan he would aid his country, managed to gain access to the financier’s house in New York. The German fired two bullets, both from a revolver, both of which entered the body of Pierpont Morgan.

Mrs Morgan, who was standing beside her husband, threw herself between the two men, but he pushed her aside, and wounded as he was, threw himself at the German. In the meantime the butler, who had heard the shots, rushed in and hit the man on the head with a piece of coal. The assailant was subsequently found dead in his cell in mysterious circumstances in the Nassau Street Gaol.

Once it fell to my lot to interview Pierpont Morgan. If I had expected to meet the type of American millionaire which the story books have made popular I should have been disappointed. He is a tall, good-looking man over six feet in height, with a pleasant smile and a charming manner. He talks English with scarcely any trace of an American accent.

I discovered, amongst other things, that he does not play golf. His opinion of England is quite definite. England’s industry must and will regain its former prosperity. The sooner the better, as far as the United States is concerned. He believes, and rightly so, that the hardships which the country has had to endure since the war have disciplined the rising generation. "Members of the English aristoccracy,” he said, “are going into business in a way that they never did before. In this they are following the example of America, which is a good thing both for them and for business.”

Panama Canal Deal.

Pierpont Morgan speaks from experience. He started\life with every disadvantage. To his father, millionaire head of the firm, recognised as a leading financier in two continents, there appeared nothing left for his son to do..

After leaving Harvard he worked for a time in the Lpndon office, gaining valuable experience in the methods of the British Stock Exchange. On his return to the United States he became associated as a partner with his father, but he was dwarfed by the side of that mighty man.

Still, he got his chance ; he acted as the agent for the United States Government in negotiations with France over the purchase of the Panama Canal, which had been commenced by de Lesseps, the French engineer, and originator of the Suez Canal. ffey to Success. Pierpont Morgan was distinguished in these negotiations by his business acumen and foresight. He succeeded in closing the deal for the ridiculous sijm of £8,000,000. Since that day his fame has never waned. He has come to be regarded as an international financier of the best and, at the same time, most astute type. Frequently he has been called upon by the American Government to advise them regarding international finance. The power he wields in America is enormous. Nevertheless, he is always mindful of his heritage, and he uses his influence for what he considers to be the good of Englishspeaking peoples. Like most other men, Pierpont Morgan owes much of his success in life to hard work. On the death cf his father he found the family fortunes in a precarious state. Pierpont Morgan, sen., had during his lifetime acquired innumerable art treasures. In the latter years of his life, with failing powers, he was greatly imposed upon. Many of his purchases were made at prices far exceeding their value;'