A FALLEN MILLIONAIRE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 28 March 1907, Page 4

A FALLEN MILLIONAIRE.

E. H. Harriman, the American railway millionaire, who is said to now be embarrassed, is described by the American correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald as "the one commanding figure of the hour," Harriman is president of the " Four Pacifies," whose combined capital is nominally the enormous sum Of 1,363,303,745 dollars. Ho has used the credit of those roads to raise money to buy a controlling interest in other roads, so that he is absolute ruler of one-sixth of all the railroads in the country. The correspondent states that the railway irregularities unearthed by tin; lntcr-Slate Commerce Commission have given the country a worse shock than that caused by the insurance scandals. x \s a matter of fact, the disclosures are a direct sequel to the insurance scandal, , Harriman fliaeko.il (insurance' directorates with his nominees and then borrowed huge Minis of insurance money, and the 'testimony to this effect led to the second enquiry. Witnesses |before the Commission have, made it clear that the control of so many lines in one management has been to stifle competition and exact extortionate prices from the public. As an example of Harriman'.s methods, the correspondent cites the cheating of James Keene and his following out of several million dollars, which is said to have bean clearly proved before the Commission. "Keene knew that the Southern Pacific was earning great sums, and bought heavily in hope of getting enough stock to gain control. The competing road, the Union-Pacific, as was believed, owned some of \U rival's stock, and under the law could have been barred from voting it. ]Jut before the cloction Harriman made a nominal sale of these 300,000 shares to William Rockfeller, and after these had been voted against the Keene party they were sold back at the same price, less 18.1,500 dollars commission. Xow in the course of the struggle the Union Pacific liook had to be produced in court, ami if it can lie shown that there was a conspiracy fo make them conceal the truth, llr Keene may now get his revenge, and, perhaps, even some of his money." The demand for reform is said to be irresistible, and there is talk of a criminal prosecution in the Keene case. It has taken Harriman 45 years to climb from the position of office boy to power greater tiian that possessed by any of the railway magnates of the past, and his fall may be dramatically sudden. The mutterings among the 40,000 shareholders whose property he lias managed are ominous of a storm. He and his followers cer■tainly owned, less than 10 per cent of the properties in their custody, ami, perhaps, much less than that. As with the army of policy-holders, the real owners were at best a secondary consideration. .. i .