Added Name

Many a young member of Congress, serving on the Committee on Lighthouses or whatnot, is known only as a Representative, finds in his office his major reputation. Given sufficient ability and re-elections, however, and he may rise to the finance committee, may become a Reed, a Cannon, a Longworth. As with representatives of the People, so with representatives of the Utilities. The head of a small light & power company is a Utility Man, but his name and influence may extend no farther than his city limits. As time passes, however, he may acquire membership on more and more important directorships, may achieve standing as an "interest," may ultimately rank with Insull, Mitchell, Thorne. The progress of both the Congressman and the Utilitarian may be traced by their appearance in the newspapers, though the Congressman gets the front page and the Utility Man the financial section. Last week every metropolitan newspaper mentioned Floyd L. Carlisle, chairman of Niagara-Hudson Corp. Last week every utility-minded newspaper reader heard of Mr. Carlisle in connection with three important utility developments. Last week every utility-minded newspaper reader realized that Mr. Carlisle, long an important utility figure, had risen to the very foremost rank.

Outstanding, recent Carlisle events included: election to the directorate of New York Edison, of Consolidated Gas and of United Corp.; opening of the new hydroelectric generating plant at Conklingville. N. Y.; and the merger of Niagara Share Corp. with Marine Union Investors, Inc.

Consolidated Gas (of which New York Edison is a subsidiary) is the world's second largest public utility (American Telephone & Telegraph is first). Serving chiefly New York City, Consolidated supplies gas to 1,135,457 consumers and electricity to 2,335,772. Mr. Carlisle's election to its directorate was generally predicted following the death of the late Nicholas Frederic Brady (TIME, April 7).* Significance of Mr. Carlisle's appointment lay in the fact that he is the first member of the Up-State Niagara-Hudson utility group to secure a position in the Down-State Consolidated board; that through him the two utilities have begun to interlock. Ever since the formation of Niagara-Hudson (TIME, June 24, Sept. 23) there have been rumors that the united Niagara and Hudson properties would merge with Consolidated. To these rumors Mr. Carlisle's election gave much point.

United Corp. is the Bonbright-Morgan utility holding company currently engaged in acquiring a 25% interest in Columbia Gas & Electric. Mr. Carlisle's position on the United Board associates him not only with Thomas S. Gates and George Whitney (J. P. Morgan & Co.) and Landon K. Thorne and Alfred L. Loomis (Bonbright & Co.) but also with the heads of Columbia Gas & Electric, Public Service of New Jersey, Commonwealth & Southern, and United Gas Improvement-- potent utilities represented in United's portfolio.

The opening of the Conklingville generating plant will furnish a mechanical connection between Niagara-Hudson and Consolidated just as Mr. Carlisle has furnished a personal connection. Part of the power here generated will be supplied by Niagara-Hudson to the district between Troy and Albany and the southern line of Columbia County; part by Consolidated to the district between Peekskill and New York City.

The merger of Niagara Share Corp. with Marine Union Investors, Inc. represented a unification of Up-State utility men and bankers. Niagara Share was formed last June to act partly as a Niagara-Hudson holding company, partly as an investment trust. It is dominated by the Schoellkopf family, with whom Mr. Carlisle is associated in Niagara-Hudson. Marine Union Investors was formed in January 1929 by the same group -- notably George Franklin Rand, Jacob F. Schoelkopf Jr. and Seymour H. Knox -- who later organized Marine Midland Corp., hundred-million-dollar group-banking unit (TIME, Sept. 30). It also was partly a Marine Midland holding company and partly an investment trust. Inasmuch as the bankers and the utility men were operating in the same northern New York district there was be tween them an obvious geographical com munity of interest. It is also true that both Niagara Share and Marine Union collided with the 1929 Stockmarket collapse, securities for which Niagara had paid some $100,000,000 during the year having declined to a value of some $70,000,000 at its close and securities for which Marine Union paid $32,000,000 having a Dec. 31 value of only $26,000,000, but there seemed no relationship between common losses and a common lot. It was generally believed, however, that the Schoellkopf-Carlisle interests were buying into Consolidated Gas; that the Marine-Niagara combination may have mobilized Up-State resources for Down-State purchases.

Meanwhile, whatever the Marine-Niagara significance, Mr. Carlisle's presence on the Consolidated board marked him as the official representative of the northern branch of New York State utility families.

Cornell University graduated Floyd Leslie Carlisle in 1903, expected him to make his mark in the legal profession. For some years Mr. Carlisle did practice law in Watertown, N. Y., but soon the merger instinct arose within him and he organized Northern New York Trust Co. from a consolidation of two upstate banks. In 1916 he headed the group which bought control of St. Regis Paper Co., became St. Regis president--an office which he still retains--and made the company one of the largest paper producers in the East. In 1920 Mr. Carlisle & syndicate bought Northern New York Utilities, Inc., which in 1926 became a portion of Northeastern Power Corp. Northeastern operated in the extreme north and east of New York state and in 1928 earned a profit of slightly less than $3,000,000. In June 1929, Northeastern Power, together with Buffalo, Niagara & Eastern Power and Mohawk Hudson Power were merged into the present Niagara-Hudson and which in 1929 supplied about 65% of the electric power consumed in New York State. In January 1929, the Morgan and Bonbright houses combined in the organization of United Corp., utility holding company, which now owns 1,673,250 shares of Niagara-Hudson stock. In addition to his great & good Morgan and Bonbright friends in United Corp., Mr. Carlisle is also associated, through American Superpower (also Bonbright-sponsored holding company) with the utilities controlled by Sidney Zollicoffer Mitchell. Considering the vital part that Niagara-Hudson would play in any further consolidation of New York utilities, and the equally vital part to be taken by such utilities in possible developments among Eastern utilities, there remains no question but that Mr. Carlisle has become a great name among great names, a Power among great Powers.

*But Mr. Carlisle was not elected as Brady representative. Interests of the Bradys on New York Edison will be looked after by young James Cox Brady Jr., nephew of Nicholas; on Consolidated by Charles Stelle Brown, realtor.

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