Chapter 10

by Upton Sinclair

　　ONE day, a month or so later, Montague, to his great surprise,received a letter from Stanley Ryder.

　　"Could you make it convenient to call at my office sometime thisafternoon?" it read. "I wish to talk over with you a businessproposition which I believe you will find of great advantage toyourself."

　　"I suppose he wants to buy my Northern Mississippi stock," he saidto himself, as he called up Ryder on the 'phone, and made anappointment.

　　It was the first time that he had ever been inside the building ofthe Gotham Trust Company, and he gazed about him at the overwhelmingmagnificence--huge gates of bronze and walls of exquisite marble.Ryder's own office was elaborate and splendid, and he himself apicture of aristocratic elegance.

　　He greeted Montague cordially, and talked for a few minutes aboutthe state of the market, and the business situation, in the meantimetwirling a pencil in his hand and watching his visitor narrowly. Atlast he began, "Mr. Montague, I have for some time been working overa plan which I think will interest you."

　　"I shall be very pleased to hear of it," said Montague.

　　"Of course, you know," said Ryder, "that I bought from Mrs. Taylorher holdings in the Northern Mississippi Railroad. I bought thembecause I was of the opinion that the road ought to be developed,and I believed that I could induce someone to take the matter up. Ihave found the right parties, I think, and the plans are now beingworked out."

　　"Indeed," said the other, with interest.

　　"The idea, Mr. Montague, is to extend the railroad according to theold plan, with which you are familiar. Before we took the matter up,we approached the holders of the remainder of the stock, most ofwhom, I suppose, are known to you. We made them, through our agents,a proposition to buy their stock at what we considered a fair price;and we have purchased about five thousand shares additional. Theprices quoted on the balance were more than we cared to pay, inconsideration of the very great cost of the improvements we proposedto undertake. Our idea is now to make a new proposition to theseother shareholders. The annual stockholders' meeting takes placenext month. At this meeting will be brought up the project for theissue of twenty thousand additional shares, with the understandingthat as much of this new stock as is not taken by the presentshareholders is to go to us. As I assume that few of them will taketheir allotments, that will give us control of the road; you canunderstand, of course, that our syndicate would not undertake theventure unless it could obtain control."

　　Montague nodded his assent to this.

　　"At this meeting," said Ryder, "we shall propose a ticket of our ownfor the new board of directors. We are in hopes that as ourproposition will be in the interest of every stockholder, thisticket will be elected. We believe that the road needs a new policy,and a new management entirely; if a majority of the stockholders canbe brought to our point of view, we shall take control, and put in anew president."

　　Ryder paused for a moment, to let this information sink into hisauditor's mind; then, fixing his gaze upon him narrowly, hecontinued: "What I wished to see you about, Mr. Montague, was tomake you a proposal to assist us in putting through this project. Weshould like you, in the first place, to act as our representative,in consultation with our regular attorneys. We should like you tointerview privately the stockholders of the road, and explain tothem our projects, and vouch for our good intentions. If you can seeyour way to undertake this work for us, we should be glad to placeyou upon the proposed board of directors; and as soon as we havematters in our hands, we should ask you to become president of theroad."

　　Montague gave an inward start; but practice had taught him to keepfrom letting his surprise manifest itself very much. He sat for aminute in thought.

　　"Mr. Ryder," he said, "I am a little surprised at such a propositionfrom you, seeing that you know so little about me--"

　　"I know more than you suppose, Mr. Montague," said the other, with asmile. "You may rest assured that I have not broached such a matterto you without making inquiries, and satisfying myself that you werethe proper person."

　　"It is very pleasant to be told that," said Montague. "But I mustremind you, also, that I am not a railroad man, and have had noexperience whatever in such matters--"

　　"It is not necessary that you should be a railroad man," was theanswer. "One can hire talent of that kind at market prices. What wewish is a man of careful and conservative temper, and, above all, aman of thorough-going honesty; someone who will be capable ofwinning the confidence of the stockholders, and of keeping it. Itseemed to us that you possessed these qualifications. Also, ofcourse, you have the advantage of being familiar with theneighbourhood, and of knowing thoroughly the local conditions."

　　Montague thought for a while longer. "The offer is a very flatteringone," he said, "and I need hardly tell you that it interests me. Butbefore I could properly consider the matter, there is one thing Ishould have to know--that is, who are the members of thissyndicate."

　　"Why would it be necessary to know that?" asked the other.

　　"Because I am to lend my reputation to their project, and I shouldhave to know the character of the men that I was dealing with."Montague was gazing straight into the other's eyes.

　　"You will understand, of course," replied Ryder, "that in a matterof this sort it is necessary to proceed with caution. We cannotafford to talk about what we are going to do. We have enemies whowill do what they can to check us at every step."

　　"Whatever you tell me will, of course, be confidential," saidMontague.

　　"I understand that perfectly well," was the reply. "But I wishedfirst to get some idea of your attitude toward the project--whetheror not you would be at liberty to take up this work and to devoteyourself to it."

　　"I can see no reason why I should not," Montague answered.

　　"It seems to me," said Ryder, "that the proposition can be judgedlargely upon its own merits. It is a proposition to put through animportant public improvement; a road which is in a broken-down andpractically bankrupt condition is to be taken up, and thoroughlyreorganised, and put upon its feet. It is to have a vigorous andhonest administration, a new and adequate equipment, and a newsource of traffic. The business of the Mississippi Steel Company, asyou doubtless know, is growing with extraordinary rapidity. Allthis, it seems to me, is a work about the advisability of whichthere can be no question."

　　"That is very true," said Montague, "and I will meet the persons whoare interested and talk out matters with them; and if their plansare such as I can approve, I should be very glad to join with them,and to do everything in my power to make a success of theenterprise. As you doubtless know, I have five hundred shares of thestock myself, and I should be glad to become a member of thesyndicate."

　　"That is what I had in mind to propose to you," said the other. "Ianticipate no difficulty in satisfying you--the project is largelyof my own originating, and my own reputation will be behind it. TheGotham Trust Company will lend its credit to the enterprise so faras possible."

　　Ryder said this with just a trifle of hauteur, and Montague feltthat perhaps he had spoken too strenuously. No one could sit inRyder's office and not be impressed by its atmosphere ofmagnificence; after all, it was here, and its seventy or eightymillion dollars of deposits were real, and this serene andaristocratic gentleman was the master of them. And what reason hadMontague for his hesitation, except the gossip of idle and cynicalSociety people?

　　Whatever doubts he himself might have, he needed to reflect but amoment to realise that his friends in Mississippi would not sharethem. If he went back home with the name of Stanley Ryder and theGotham Trust Company to back him, he would come as a conqueror withtidings of triumph, and all the old friends of the family would rushto follow his suggestions.

　　Ryder waited awhile, perhaps to let these reflections sink in.Finally he continued: "I presume, Mr. Montague, that you knowsomething about the Mississippi Steel Company. The steel situationis a peculiar one. Prices are kept at an altogether artificiallevel, and there is room for large profits to competitors of theTrust. But those who go into the business commonly find themselvesunexpectedly handicapped. They cannot get the credit they want;orders overwhelm them in floods, but Wall Street will not put upmoney to help them. They find all kinds of powerful interestsarrayed against them; there are raids upon their securities in themarket, and mysterious rumours begin to circulate. They find suitsbrought against them which tend to injure their credit. Andsometimes they will find important papers missing, importantwitnesses sailing for Europe, and so on. Then their most efficientemployees will be bought up; their very bookkeepers and office-boyswill be bribed, and all the secrets of their business passed on totheir enemies. They will find that the railroads do not treat themsquarely; cars will be slow in coming, and all kinds of pettyannoyances will be practised. You know what the rebate is, and youcan imagine the part which that plays. In these and a hundred otherways, the path of the independent steel manufacturer is madedifficult. And now, Mr. Montague, this is a project to extend arailroad which will be of vast service to the chief competitor ofthe Steel Trust. I believe that you are man of the world enough torealise that this improvement would have been made long ago, if theSteel Trust had not been able to prevent it. And now, the time hascome when that project is to be put through in spite of everyopposition that the Trust can bring; and I have come to you becauseI believe that you are a man to be counted on in such a fight."

　　"I understand you," said Montague, quietly; "and you are right inyour supposition."

　　"Very well," said Ryder. "Then I will tell you that the syndicate ofwhich I speak is composed of myself and John S. Price, who hasrecently acquired control of the Mississippi Steel Company. You willfind out without difficulty what Price's reputation is; he is theone man in the country who has made any real headway against theTrust. The business of the Mississippi Company has almost doubled inthe past year, and there is no limit to what it can do, except thesize of the plant and the ability of the railroads to handle itsproduct. This new plan would have been taken up through the Company,but for the fact that the Company's capital and credit is involvedin elaborate extensions. Price has furnished some of the capitalpersonally, and I have raised the balance; and what we want now isan honest man to whom we can entrust this most important project, aman who will take the road in hand and put it on its feet, and makeit of some service in the community. You are the man we haveselected, and if the proposition appeals to you, why, we are readyto do business with you without delay."

　　For a minute or two Montague was silent; then he said: "I appreciateyour confidence, Mr. Ryder, and what you say appeals to me. But thematter is a very important one to me, as you can readily understand,and so I will ask you to give me until to-morrow to make up mymind."

　　"Very well," said Ryder.

　　Montague's first thought was of General Prentice. "Come to me anytime you need advice," the General had said; so Montague went downto his office. "Do you know anything about John S. Price?" he asked.

　　"I don't know him very well personally," was the reply. "I know himby reputation. He is a daring Wall Street operator, and he's beenvery successful, I am told."

　　"Price began life as a cowboy, I understand," continued the General,after a pause. "Then he went in for mines. Ten or fifteen years agowe used to know him as a silver man. Several years ago there was areport that he had been raiding Mississippi Steel, and had gotcontrol. That was rather startling news, for everybody knew that theTrust was after it. He seems to have fought them to a standstill."

　　"That sounds interesting," said Montague.

　　"Price was brought up in a rough school," said the General, with asmile. "He has a tongue like a whip-lash. I remember once I attendeda creditors' meeting of the American Stove Company, which had gotinto trouble, and Price started off from the word go. 'Mr.Chairman,' he said, 'when I come into the office of an industrialcorporation, and see a stock ticker behind the president's chairwith the carpet worn threadbare in front of it, I know what's thematter with that corporation without asking another word.'"

　　"What do you want to know about him for?" asked the General, afterhe had got through laughing over this recollection.

　　"It's a case I'm concerned in," the other answered.

　　"I tell you who knows about him," said the General. "Harry Curtiss.William E. Davenant has done law business for Price."

　　"Is that so?" said Montague. "Then probably I shall meet Harry."

　　"I can tell you a better person yet," said the other, after amoment's thought. "Ask your friend Mrs. Alden; she knows Priceintimately, I believe."

　　So Montague sent up a note to Mrs. Billy, and the reply came, "Comeup to dinner. I am not going out." And so, late in the afternoon, hewas ensconced in a big leather armchair in Mrs. Billy's privatedrawing-room, and listening to an account of the owner of theMississippi Steel Company.

　　"Johnny Price?" said the great lady. "Yes, I know him. It alldepends whether you are going to have him for a friend or an enemy.His mother was Irish, and he is built after her. If he happens totake a fancy to you, he'll die for you; and if you make him hateyou, you will hear a greater variety of epithets than you eversupposed the language contained.--I first met him in Washington,"Mrs. Billy went on, reminiscently; "that was fifteen years ago, whenmy brother was in Congress. I think I told you once how Davy paidforty thousand dollars for the nomination, and went to Congress. Itwas the year of a Democratic landslide, and they could have electedReggie Mann if they had felt like it. I went to Washington to livethe next winter, and Price was there with a whole army of lobbyists,fighting for free silver. That was before the craze, you know, whensilver was respectable; and Price was the Silver King. I saw theinside of American government that winter, I can assure you."

　　"Tell me about it," said Montague.

　　"The Democratic party had been elected on a low tariff platform,"said Mrs. Billy; "and it sold out bag and baggage to thecorporations. Money was as free as water--my brother could have gothis forty thousand back three times over. It was the Steel crowdthat bossed the job, you know--William Roberts used to come downfrom Pittsburg every two or three days, and he had a privatetelephone wire the rest of the time. I have always said it was theSteel Trust that clamped the tariff swindle on the American people,and that's held it there ever since."

　　"What did Price do with his silver mines?" asked Montague.

　　"He sold them," said she, "and just in the nick of time. He was onthe inside in the campaign of '96, and I remember one night he cameto dinner at our house and told us that the Republican party hadraised ten or fifteen million dollars to buy the election. 'That'sthe end of silver,' he said, and he sold out that very month, andhe's been freelancing it in Wall Street ever since."

　　"Have you met him yet?" asked Mrs. Billy, after a pause.

　　"Not yet," he answered.

　　"He's a character," said she. "I've heard Davy tell about the firsttime he struck New York--as a miner, with huge wads of greenbacks inhis pockets. He spent his money like a 'coal-oil Johnny,' as thephrase is--a hundred-dollar bill for a shine, and that sort ofthing. And he'd go on the wildest debauches; you can have no idea ofit."

　　"Is he that kind of a man?" said Montague.

　　"He used to be," said the other. "But one day he had something thematter with him, and he went to a doctor, and the doctor told himsomething, I don't know what, and he shut down like a steel trap.Now he never drinks a drop, and he lives on one meal a day and a cupof coffee. But he still goes with the old crowd--I don't believethere is a politician or a sporting-man in town that Johnny Pricedoes not know. He sits in their haunts and talks with them until allsorts of hours in the morning, but I can never get him to come to mydinner-parties. 'My people are human,' he will say; 'yours aresawdust.' Sometime, if you want to see New York, just get JohnnyPrice to take you about and introduce you to his bookmakers andburglars!"

　　Montague meditated for a while over his friend's picture. "Somehowor other," he said, "it doesn't sound much like the president of ahundred-million-dollar corporation."

　　"That's all right," said Mrs. Billy, "but Price will be at his deskbright and early the next morning, and every man in the office willbe there, too. And if you think he won't have his wits about him,just you try to fool him on some deal, and see. Let me tell you alittle that I know about the fight he has made with the MississippiSteel Company." And she went on to tell. The upshot of her tellingwas that Montague borrowed the use of her desk and wrote a note toStanley Ryder. "From my inquiries about John S. Price, I gather thathe makes steel. With the understanding that I am to make a railroadand carry his steel, I have concluded to accept your proposition,subject, of course, to a satisfactory arrangement as to terms."