Frenzied Finance, Vol. 1: The Crime of Amalgamated

by Thomas William Lawson

He nodded. I went on:

"Besides these, there must be a third advertisement, in which some one will tell the strong facts about Amalgamated, and it will be so worded as to bring the public with its money into the City Bank just the same as though it were signed by the bank, Stillman, the Amalgamated Company, and you and Mr. Rockefeller. What's the use of beating round the bush any longer? The one to sign that story and stand behind it is myself, because, owing to conditions, no one else will."

I had said it. Mr. Rogers' eyes snapped just once. Only on two other occasions in all my long and intimate acquaintance with this wonderful man have I seen him lose his self-control. To anger he will give way frankly if the occasion justifies it or he desires to intimidate or impress an individual; but his face, mobile though it is, presents a calm and impassive mask. I caught the snap, and I think he caught me catching it. It meant much to me—more even than if he had said in so many words "I've got him." In such encounters one cannot see into one's adversary's mind nor know what he is trying to do, and any indication is like the sight of a buoy in a fog to a mariner. I gathered that the snap indicated relief at my compliance, and that he had been afraid I might balk. That showed me that consent on my part was important—which meant that he saw no possible way of carrying the enterprise to the end we had mapped out unless I stepped into the gap. Then I knew that he would have to agree to my terms, provided they were not too harsh and that I did not too vehemently insist upon them. It is a cardinal principle of "Standard Oil" never to do anything they decide they won't do, and that which they decide they won't do is what any man on earth says they must do. You may lead "Standard Oil," but you cannot drive it. If at that critical moment I had foreseen all that subsequently occurred, or realized that this copper affair, which was to me a matter of life and death, was to Henry H. Rogers only another device to extort dollars from the public, I should then and there have thrown down the gauntlet and demanded that "Standard Oil" step out into the open and assume all legal responsibility, or have exposed the whole scheme. But my suspicions were suspicions only, and I could not be sure that Mr. Rogers was doing other than discretion warranted, when he desired to have things done in such a way as to allow me to continue to conjure with the magic name "Standard Oil." In other words, wasn't he doing exactly what I myself was engaged upon? I was planning to have him consent to things he was otherwise unwilling to allow, and he, in his turn, was scheming to have the bank and his "Standard Oil" associates pass over things they would be sure to question if presented less adroitly, or if they came from some other quarter. Yet all I was trying to accomplish was honest and best for all. Why might not his intentions be as fair as mine? However, the eye-snap determined me to steer nearer the wind.

"Well and good, Mr. Rogers," I went on. "I will tell the story I know is true and that you know is true, and that you have repeatedly given me your word you would stand by me in telling, but I will only do so in a way I deem safe and fair to myself. Is that agreed?"

He winced a bit. "What do you mean by that?" he said. "What do you mean by a 'way safe and fair' to yourself? You are not suspicious of any of us, are you?"

"Suspicious is not the word, Mr. Rogers. I brought you and Mr. Rockefeller this copper enterprise. We have gone ahead with it upon clearly laid down lines. I have done to the letter all I agreed, and, so far, the enterprise has more than fulfilled my promises. I realize that our success has largely come from our going to the public and openly telling it what we were doing and what we intended to do. Until now, I am the one who has made all the promises, and, legally, up to this point, I am the only one who can be called to account, but it is the fact that for any statement I have made, you and Mr. Rockefeller have been as much responsible as myself, and you as much or more than I have had the benefit which has come from what I have promised. Now we are ready for business with the public, and there must be a clear and distinct understanding with it or it will not part with its money. This understanding can have but one bearing—that what the public read, we must all be responsible for legally and morally, not some of us, but all of us, you, Mr. Rockefeller, the City Bank, James Stillman, and myself. For bear in mind it was you and Mr. Rockefeller who changed my plans by substituting companies and properties of which I knew nothing but what you told me. All the things we ought to tell, you say cannot be put into words, because if they are powers beyond us will refuse to allow the enterprise to go through as it must go through. Then the condition must be implied, must be between the lines. You say this is my task, and that I alone can perform it properly. All right—but I will perform it in a way that will hold every one concerned to his legal as well as to his moral responsibility just as it will me who sign it. To save our enterprise I will concede just this much: The advertisements will be so worded as not apparently legally to involve Stillman, William Rockefeller, or the Bank but in reality they will be bound to as strict responsibility as though their signatures were in the place of mine. In doing this I compromise with my conscience, Mr. Rogers, because it is now of paramount importance that our consolidation go through—as important to the thousands of others who have followed us as to ourselves."

"You mean this, Lawson, that you will insist upon having this done in a way that will make every one legally responsible?"

"I mean just that, Mr. Rogers. In what other way can it be done?"

"As all such affairs are arranged—by allowing the public to think for themselves—but steering our end clear of all possible legal entanglements," he replied in a voice half choked with suppressed rage. Now we were both thoroughly aroused, he fairly seething with fury at my rebellion, and I boiling over at his willingness to sacrifice me to his own safety. By this time he was on his feet facing me, and it was evident the tussle would be serious. Still I slowly and coldly asked:

"How can that be done?"