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** The J.P. Morgan connection has remained predominant on the
Federal Advisory Council. For the past several years, the prestigious
Federal Reserve District No. 2, the New York District, has been
represented on the Federal Advisory Council by Lewis Preston. Preston
is Chairman of J.P. Morgan Company and also Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Morgan Guaranty Trust, New York. An heir to the
Baldwin fortune (a company controlled by Morgan), Preston married
the heiress to the Pulitzer newspaper fortune. On February 26, 1929, The
New York Times noted that a merger had been effected between
National Bank of Commerce and Guaranty Trust, making them the
largest bank in the United States, with a capital of two billion dollars.
The merger was negotiated by Myron C. Taylor, president of U.S. Steel,
a Morgan firm. The banks occupied adjoining buildings on Wall Street,
and, as The New York Times noted, "The Guaranty Trust Company long
has been known as one of ‘the Morgan group’ of banks." The National
Bank of Commerce has also been identified with Morgan interests.
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