“Furthermore,” continued Ames, with mock gravity, “the interlocking of corporation directorates must be prohibited by law; power must be conferred upon the Interstate Commerce Commission to superintend the financial management of railroads; holding-companies must cease to exist; and corrective policies must be shaped, whereby so-called ‘trusts’ will be regulated and rendered innocuous. Are we agreed?”
“We are,” said they all, in one voice.
“Carried,” concluded Ames in a solemn tone. Then a burst of laughter rose from the table; and even the inscrutable William smiled behind his hand.
“But, seriously,” said Weston, when the laughter had ceased, “I believe we’ve got a President now who’s going to do something, don’t you?”
“I do not,” replied Ames emphatically. “As long as the human mind remains as it is there is nothing to fear, though Congress legislate itself blue in the face. Reform is not to be made like a garment and forced upon the people from the outside. It is a growth from within. Restrictive measures have not as yet, in all the history of civilization, reformed a single criminal.”
“What does Hood say?” asked Murdock.
“That we are puncture-proof,” replied Ames with a light laugh.
“But what about your indictment in that cotton deal? Is Hood going to find you law-proof there?”
“The case is settled,” said Ames easily. “I went into court this morning and plead guilty to the indictment for conspiring to corner the cotton market two years ago. I admitted that I violated the Sherman law. The judge promptly fined me three thousand dollars, for which I immediately wrote a check, leaving me still the winner by some two million seven hundred thousand dollars on the deal, to say nothing of compound interest on the three thousand for the past two years. You see the beneficent effect of legislation, do you not?”