DICTATOR OF ENGLAND.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 175, 28 August 1909, Page 3

DICTATOR OF ENGLAND.

SOME STORIES 03? LORD ROTHSCHILD. N ho is the most powerful man in England V The Chancellor of the Exchequer says it seems to r oe Lord Rolnschild. And one is tempted to think there may be something in it when it is pointed out that Lord Rothschild i. the official head of a firm controlling lour hundred million pounds sterling. Liu' Rothschilds are said to have douhVd their wealth in eighteen years, and it'' the present rate continues they will -e absolute masters of some two thousand . millions by the middle of the present j century.

I'or the last hundred years or so the London house of the Rothschilds has been constantly mixed up with the history of England. TRANSPORTED SPECIE TO WELLINGTON.

While the Peninsular War was raging vNellingfcon was greatly hampered for. -he want of ready money. The Government were not unwilling to let him have more, but the difficulty of trans-! porting the specie from England to Spain was regarded as almost insuperable. Mr. Nathan Rothschild came tor-. ward and offered to transport the money, taking all risks, for an annual subsidy of £-150,000. The Government' thankfully accepted, and Nathan raked, in a tidy fortune over the transaction. »

One of the greatest coups was broi. !it about immediately after the Battl ;i Waterloo, when' he had staked c\. , •

thing on the overthrow of Napoleon a uj the victory of Wellington. He was on the Continent when he heard the news of the great victory, and he posted off to London as hard as he could. He was the only man on the Stock Exchange who knew the truth, for all sorts of panic-stricken rumois were flying about the City.

It was known that he stood to lose' enormously in the event of a British. 1 defeat, and when he wandered disconsolately about the Exchange it was' taken for granted that he had definite 1 news of a French victory, and the brokers sold frantically. But all the time his agents were buying stocks for all they were worth, while the old man himself did his best to look utterly discouraged. When official information arrived, prices shot up, and' Nathan cleared something like a million. A few years later the Rothschilds! came to the aid of the Bank of Eng-| land during what was probably the most serious crisis in its career. A great commercial panic suddenly took hold of the country, and in the resultant smash an enormous number of small banks were forced to close their doors. >

The great Bank in began to feel the strain. A "run" coiu-| menced, which grew in proportions until it was feared the "Old Lady" herself, would have to share the fate of Uie smaller firms. The house of Rothschild again took a hand in affairs, and, aided by their money, the Bank of England and several othc r banks managed to weather the storm. From first to last old Mr. Rothschild is supposed to have lent £160,000,000, to various Governments, 'but after successfully helping the country through the Railway Panic, a new era for the Rothschilds set in. The Government decided that,'instead of borrowing huge sums from the Rothschilds, they would apply direct to the nation and thus save commiss ; on. After this the Rothschilds' turned their) attention to various commercial undertakings, including railways, mining, aud banking, but they were still ready to open their purse-strings to the Government in an emergency. The most remarkable instance of this was given at the time of the famous purchase'of the Khedive's Suez (Canal shares. An English journalist heard that the Khedive wanted to sell his shares, and, knowing how important it was that England should secure them, l«e rushed off to the Prime Minister. "i ty .Minister listened to his story with -r ne excitement. It would be a splen- : thing, be knew, if this country could s' ' the shares, but he had no money a: h disposal, and it was impossible :.o make the affair public by applying to Parliament. x In his extremity he thought of Baion Rothschild, and in a short time he was in the financier's office, laying his plans l>efore him. Baron Rothschild agreed to lend the five millions odd that the Khedive wanted for his shares, and declared himself willing to take the 1' k of Parliament refusing to approve r the Government's action. The new. <. the 6ale was soon public, and f iment made little difficulty about the v • payment ONE OF KING EDWARD'S FRIEND*. Lord Rothschild is one of King Edward's most intimate friends, and it j was at his magnificent house in Piccadilly that was held the first ball at-l tended by their Majesties after the death of Queen Victoria. At this famous ball the King's rule of "knee* bretdies and decorations" was enforced, and the rumor ran round the clubs that quite a large number of young men decided tosstar3 r awav because they beared to expose their calves to' unfriendly criticism. I

Whenever there is anything wrong financially, it is to Lord Rothschild that men turn, and as a result he is one of the busiest men in the City. Jay Gouid, the American millionaire, found this out when he went to call on him. lie sunt in his name, and the message came back that Lord Rothschild wa-- sorry, but he was too busy to see him. Gould could scarcely believe liis fears. "Go back and tell him," he insisted, "that I am Mr. Jay Gould, the American millionaire." * | But even that failed to move Lordl Rothschild, who sent out the biting re•! ply, "Tell Mr. Gould that England is not for sale."—Home paper. 1