The panic of 1907. Run on the Knickerbocker Trust Company,
34th Street and Fifth Avenue.
Closely allied to this movement was the increase in the number of
securities issued by industrial concerns. A few resourceful men, in
order to do away with the evils of unrestricted competition, devised a
remedy in the form of mergers. Others of less capacity but greater
daring saw opportunities for money-making, and a craze for mergers and
for the incorporation of private enterprises swept over the country. By
1907 there were at least $38,500,000,000 worth of securities in
existence. The natural result was speculation. When investors began to