The turbulent end of the nineteenth century, the period of fabulous industrial growth, of huge fortunes, of growing industrial armies is one of the most controversial periods of American history. The growing industry created amazing opportunities for profits--some honest and some dishonest.

To explain the great mystery of the enormous wealth of the times came first the apologists: they claimed that the great industrialists were enriching the country as a whole and should therefore be encouraged by all and adequately recompensed for their great work. The literary pendulum then swung to the other extreme with the muckrakers, who exposed the corruption and evils of the business world and ascribed greedy motives to all men of wealth.

Now, from the vantage point of history, Frederick Lewis Allen '12 has been able to make an impartial study of one of the great figures of that time. He takes J. Pierpont Morgan, whose name at the turn of the century was the symbol for economic power, and shows his character and motives. Allen asks, "What kind of man was he, who more than any other was responsible for the growth of huge, monopolistic business enterprise?"

The book presents the life of the great financier, perennial representative at Episcopal conventions, and large-scale art collector, concentrating on one of the incidents which best illuminate the man's character and personality. He goes into detailed accounts of Morgan's financial maneuvers only to show how Morgan's role as a great organizer and leader of Wall Street was influenced by his character and how the milestones in the country's financial history brought out his character. The introduction to this theme at the beginning of the book is the same as the ending--a bit of dialogue from the hearings of a House committee investigating the "money trust":

"Is not commercial credit based primarily upon money or property?" asked Samuel Untermeyer, counsel for the committee.

"No sir," said Morgan; "the first thing is character."

"Before money or property?"

"Before anything else. Money cannot buy it . . . Because a man I do not trust could not get money from me on all the bonds in Christendom."

In giving examples of the strong personality which dominated any discussion, Allen takes his readers behind the scenes of financial manipulations, to the closed door sessions in Morgan's library or on board his great yacht Corsair. Here, are some famous deals--among others the formation of U. S. Steel and the attempts to meet the 1907 panic among others--guided by the powerful hand of Pierpont Morgan. Through this description of Morgan's character in action, the reader discovers the nature of the financial world of the times, its temper and its spirit.

While focusing on Morgan's character, the book clearly reveals the motives that led the financier on his dazzling career. Certainly it was hard to believe with the muckrakers that men of wealth were guided only by an insane desire to accumulate millions. Instead, Allen shows the financial giant with a supreme desire for order. The cut-throat competition of rampant industrialism which he saw after the Civil War was to him wasteful and harmful to the economy. His theory was justified in the 1890's when the vast confusion of railroad systems brought most of them to bankruptcy. Here, Morgan had his chance to bring supreme order to an industry, an order which he thought was essential to all industries.

As he consolidated railroads, he saw that his work could be completely wrecked by bad management. What better way was there to insure good management than to place control of all the roads in members of his firm or friends? He had complete contempt for those men who had used railroads as speculative toys, such as Daniel Drew and Jay Gould, and his method was the only way he could make sure that such men would be kept out of railroad management.

This is the pattern of Morgan's work, consolidation to eliminate wasteful competition and then control to insure good management. The evils of the Morgan system are obvious, but unlike his predecessors, Allen merely presents the motives and lets his readers decide whether they are good or bad. His book contains material for both the muckraker and the Morgan-worshipper. It paves the way for a more scientific evaluation of this period than has been possible in the past.