The Lever: A Novel

by William Dana Orcutt

"Indisputable evidence, have they? I should like to see it! Please have a call signed by the secretary and sent out at once for a special meeting of the Board to be held to-morrow afternoon at four o'clock. Send with it a waiver of the usual five days' notice. More than a majority of the Board are in the city, and they will be as eager as I am to dispose of this matter."

The formalities in opening the meeting were brief, and the business in hand was taken up with a promptness which showed the strong desire dominating both sides to have the issue met squarely and settled once for all. It was an interesting study to watch the expressions on the various faces. Men who seldom allowed their bearing to reflect the emotions influencing them, gave every evidence of their full appreciation that a crisis was upon them. With the possible exception of Covington, Gorham showed less than any of them the effect of the tense strain which the situation developed. At the last meeting, the committee had witnessed an exhibition of the latent reserve force which lay beneath the impassive exterior, so they needed no further warning that the quiet yet flashing eyes, the firm setting of the mouth, the head bent forward, the general bearing—alert and decisive—all attested a foeman worthy of their steel. It was his business life now against theirs, but they believed themselves strong enough to force the struggle.

Litchfield was again spokesman. "Nothing can be more painful," he said, "to me personally or to the other members of the Board of Directors than to have circumstances arise such as these which have made this meeting necessary. It was a surprise to us, on the occasion of the last session, to have our president take such exceptions to the suggestions which we advanced in good faith. We tried to make it clear to him that we all recognized and appreciated the extraordinary services which he has rendered to the Consolidated Companies, yet we cannot admit that he possesses all the wisdom, or that his policies are the only ones which can be considered. He made it quite evident to us at that time that our judgment was desired only to the extent that it coincided with his own. He has seemed to overlook the fact that the Consolidated Companies is not a private corporation, but rather one in which several of the Directors are even more heavily interested, in a financial way, than he is himself.

"There is no question in the minds of any of us that the services of our president are still absolutely essential to the success of the corporation, and we have no wish or intention of having him separate himself from it; but we have become aware, through the unprecedented position which has been taken, that if those interests which we represent are to be safeguarded, immediate action must be taken to convince him that the Consolidated Companies is not his personal property, that the Executive Committee are not mere puppets, and that even the president of a great and successful corporation is, after all, an employee of that corporation, and subject to its control. The gentlemen who have the honor to serve on the Executive Committee resent the imputation made by him that this code of business morals, which he has originated, is necessarily the only moral code, or that he himself possesses the right or the power to establish the standard by which to measure them as individuals or as officials.

"My colleagues have asked me to state the situation at this length in order that our president may understand that our present attitude is inspired not by any personal antagonism, but rather by what appears to us to be a necessary and simple business precaution. What the Board of Directors propose now is to rescind the resolution, passed upon our president's insistence at the last meeting, which gave him unlimited power in the conduct of the corporation, to divide the responsibilities in such a way that the fortunes of the Consolidated Companies will no longer remain dependent upon the life or services of any one officer, and to insist that the employees of the corporation be used only in the execution of the corporation's business. Our president will still be given a free scope in the conduct of the important matters which will be intrusted to him, but from now on the Board of Directors insist that the corporation shall be dominated by their joint policies, in the establishment of which our president will still have great weight."

Gorham listened to Litchfield's remarks with marked patience. He was relieved that they were free from the personalities and vituperations which the wording of the call had led him to fear, for to his nature it was impossible to work in such close relationship with such a body of able men without acquiring a regard beyond that inspired by mere commercial intercourse. They were wrong in their whole understanding of his position, but he could convince them of that now that there had been nothing said to cause an open rupture.

"My friends," he said, "I can take no exception to the position which you assume, knowing as I do the viewpoint from which you speak. The arbitrary attitude which I have assumed has been one which you yourselves have forced upon me rather than one taken of my own volition—but I shall later refer to this more at length. I agree with you that the employees of this or any other corporation should be used only in the exercise of the corporation's business; but would not the success of any blackmailing attempt, such as the one I am fighting, react upon the Companies fully as much as upon me? As to the gentlemen who form our Executive Committee, even though I have differed from them on a point which I conceive to be absolutely vital to the success of the Consolidated Companies, I consider them the ablest body of business men ever gathered together upon any committee. I am proud of them for the reputation they have given to the Companies, I respect them personally for their own sterling worth. I can conceive no personal calamity greater than to have any necessity arise to make it necessary for us to sever our relations—and I cannot, even now, see that any such occasion exists.

"As to the matter of dividing the responsibilities, I again agree with you. It is not the act of wisdom to have the destinies of any corporation so large as this rest as heavily upon any one man's shoulders as your attitude has convinced me that this rests upon mine. I not only assent to this proposition also, but I will do all which lies in my power to accomplish it. I will even reserve my 'code of morals,' as you are pleased to call it, wholly for myself, considering that it is a point upon which we fail to agree.

"All that remains, then, is for you gentlemen to give me your assurances upon one point: namely, that the present basis of profit-sharing with the public shall not be disturbed. I will no longer put it upon a moral basis—I insist upon it solely as a business policy. With this one point established, I will work with you to the extent of such strength and ability as I have within me, to further the interests of the great Consolidated Companies as it advances triumphantly along its appointed path."

"But this is the main contention upon which our split has come," protested Litchfield.