Jekyll_text

412 THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND
THE LONDON CONNECTION 413
Junius's son, John Pierpont, attended the English High School in
eventually was accomplished by the addition of Edward
Boston but, during much of his youth, was enrolled in European
Grenfell, a long-time director of the Bank of England, as the
tThis
new
schools and became engulfed in British tradition. He had been born
senior partner of what became Morgan, Grenfell & Company. But
in the United States, however, and that made him ideally suited to
none of this window dressing altered the reality that J.P. Morgan &
carry on the Anglo-American role played so deftly by Peabody and
Co. in New York remained more British in orientation than Ameri-
Junius. It was inevitable that the boy would be trained in international
finance and groomed to step into his father's shoes. The first
A casual reading of the events of this period would lead to the
can.
move was to find employment for him in 1857 at the New York : conclusion that Peabody and Morgan were fierce competitors of the
investment firm of Duncan, Sherman & Company. Seven years
Rothschilds. It is true they often bid against each other for the same
later, Junius acquired a competitor New York firm and set his son
business, but it is also true that almost every biographer has told
up as a partner in Dabney, Morgan & Company, which became the how the American newcomers to London were in awe of the great
New York branch of the London firm. In 1871, with the addition of
power of the Rothschilds and how they purposely cultivated their
a third partner, Anthony Drexel from Philadelphia, the firm became
friendship, a friendship that eventually became so intimate that the
Drexel, Morgan & Company. In 1895, following the death of Drexel,
Americans were received as the personal house guests of the
there was a final change of name to J.P. Morgan & Company. A
Rothschilds. The Morgan firm often worked closely with the House
branch in Paris became known as Morgan, Harjes & Company.
of Rothschild on large joint ventures, but that was—and still is
AMERICANIZING THE NEW YORK BRANCH
common practice among large investment houses. In light of subsequent
events, however, it is appropriate to consider the possibility
After the unexpected death of Junius in a carriage accident a few
that an arrangement had
years later, it was decided by Pierpont to reshape the image
been worked out in which the
of the
Peabody
London firm to be a more British operation. This would
/Morgan firm went one step further and, on occasion,
allow the
became a secret Rothschild agent.
New York branch to represent the American side with less suspicion
of being essentially the same firm. By that time, his son, J.P. CONCEALED ALLIANCE WITH ROTHSCHILD?
Morgan, Jr.—known as Jack by his friends—had already been
Some writers have suggested that the clandestine relationship
brought into the firm as a partner, and he was to play an important
began almost from the beginning. Eustace Mullins, for example,
role in the creation of that image. Biographer John Forbes tells us:
writes:
J.P, Morgan, Jr., became a partner in the London house of J.S.
Soon after he arrived in London, George Peabody was surprised
Morgan & Co. on January 1, 1898, and a fortnight later, with his wife
to be summoned to an audience with the gruff Baron Nathan Mayer
Jessie and their three children,... he left New York and took up
Rothschild. Without mincing words, Rothschild revealed to Peabody
residence in England for the next eight years.
that much of the London aristocracy openly disliked Rothschild and
Morgan was sent to London to do two specific things. The first
refused his invitations. He proposed that Peabody, a man of modest
was to learn at first hand how the British carried on a banking business
means, be established as a lavish host whose entertainments would
under a central banking system dominated by the Bank of England.
soon be the talk of London. Rothschild would, of course, pay all the
Morgan, Sr., anticipated the establishment of the Federal Reserve
bills. Peabody accepted the offer and soon became known as the most
System in the United States and wanted someone who would
popular host in London. His annual Fourth-of-July dinner, celebrating
eventually have authority in the Morgan firms to know how such a
American Independence, became extremely popular with the English
system worked. The second was quietly to look about the City and
aristocracy, many of whom, while drinking Peabody's wine, regaled
select British partners to convert the elder Morgan's privately owned
each other with jokes about Rothschild's crudities and bad manners,
J.S. Morgan & Co. into a British concern. 1
1. John Douglas Forbes, ].P. Morgan, Jr. (Charlottesville: University Press of
Virginia, 1981), p. 31.
B. This apparently has not diminished over the years. The December 23, 1991,
ffcsue of Business Week (p. 69) reminds us that the CEO of J.P. Morgan & Co., Dennis
Weatherstone who lives in Connecticut, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth 11.