CHAPTER VII 
THE AGE OF MERGERS 
THAT 1922-1927, and after, have witnessed an 
increased “tempo” or acceleration in the formation of 
mergers will hardly be disputed. One who reads the 
daily headlines sees that there is a “Race for Mer- 
gers in Steel”; “Large Mergers on Way in Utili- 
ties”; that there are merger moves in transmission 
and natural-gas pipe lines with systems of various 
kinds in nation-wide links, expected for economical 
reasons; that there is a “Plan Announced to Merge 
Investment Trusts”; that there is 2 “Vacuum Oil 
Merger with Standard Oil Near” with agreement for 
formation of a billion-dollar concern; that a depart- 
ment store merger has been formed; that there is a 
new aircraft merger afoot; that there is a multiple 
merger plan for the railroads authorized by Con- 
gress and published by the Interstate Commerce 
Commission; that there are bank mergers formed 
and forming from coast to coast, heralding the ac- 
ceptance of branch banking, and that the continued 
increase in the number of mergers and consolida- 
tions in the trade association field is presaged by the 
steady growth of combinations in trade and industry. 
Mergers have had much to do with the increase in 
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