River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1915-09-30

ms own SnOulQef.
Allison's answer consisted of one
word
Consolidation, he said.
There was a moment Of silence,
While these men absorbed that simple
/ idea, and glanced speculatively, not at
Allison, but at each other. They were
kings, these heads of mighty corpora
tons, whose emissaries carried their
soVereignties into the farthest corners
Of the earth. Like friendly kings, they
had helped each other In the protec-
ton Of their several domains; but this
was another matter
That's a large proposition. Ed,
stated Vance, very thoughtfully. All
! sense OF levity had gone from this
meeting. They had come, as they
thought, TO promote a large mutual in
| terest, but not to weld F'rankenstein.
4 did not understand your project to
! he so comprehensive | fancied your
| idea to be that the various companies
| represented here, with Chisholm as
| financial controller, should take a mu
tual interest in the support Of the At
lanticPacifc. for the purpose Of con-
| s0lidating the railroad interests of the
country under one management, there
| by serving our own transportation
needs"
Very woll put. Vance" approved
Taylor, smoothing his pointed mus
tache
ss1'bat &c :, ,ooro to.;col 1o1oIop,,,.,
of the railroad situation" returned Al
lison. If had not cemented this di
rect route, someone would have made
the consolidation you mention within
ten years, for the entire railroad stu
| alton has been disorganized since the
death of three big men in that field;
and the scattered holdings would be,
and are, an easy prey for anyone vital
~ interested enough TO invade the in
| uustry. / have no such minor Dr0nO~
sition in mind | propose, with the
| Atlantic-Pacific as a nucleus, to, first,
as | have said, bring the financial ter
minals of every mile Of railroad in the
| United States into one central office.
With this | then propose to combine
| the National Dairy Products cOnsolida-
ton. the Standard Cereal company,
the Amalgamated Metals Constructive
company. the Union Fuel American
| Textiles, the United States Supplies,
and the stupendous financial interests
sWayed by the banks tributary to the
| Majestic Trust company ] propose to
| weld these gigantic concerns into one
| corporation, which shall be the might
est organization the world has ever
! known. Beginning with the control of
| transportation, it will control all food
! all apparel, all construction materials
al fuel. From the shoes on his feet
| to the roof over his head, every man
| in the United States Of America, from
laborer TO president shall pay tribute
to the Interna tional Transportation
company Gentlemen, if have
dreamed big, it is because / have dealt
with men who deal only in large
dreams What | propose is an empire
greater than that ever swayed by any
| monarch in history We eight men,
who are here in thiS room, can build
! that empire with q scratch OF a pen,
and can hold it against the assaults
| Of the world"
His voice rang as he finished, and
! Rabbit looked at him in wonder. AL
| lison had always been a strong man,
! but now, in this second youth, he was
an Antaeus springirg fresh from the
| earth. There was a moments lull, al
then nasal voice drawled into the
silence
Allison" ii was the voice Of old
Joseph G. Clark, who had built the
Standard Cereal company out of one
wheat elevator; who is to be the mon
arch of your new empire?"
For just a moment Allison looked
about him. Vastly different as these
men were, from the full-bearded Hav-
erman TO the smooth-shayen old Jo-
| seph G. Clark, there was some one ex-
preston which was the same in every
man, and that expression was mas
terry. These men, by the sheer force
Of their personality by the sheer domi-
nance Of their wills, by the sheer viril-
ity of their purposes. by the sheer dog
stacle and hesitates at no foe, had
| fought and Strangled and throttled
their way to the top. until they stood
head and shoulders above all the
strong men of their respective do
mains, safe from protest or dispute
of sovereignty, because none has risen
strong enough to do them battle. They
We're the undefeated champions of
their classes, and the life of every
man in that group was an epic! Who
was to be monarch of the new empire?
Allison answered that question as
simply as he had the others
THE best man." he said
There had been seven big men in
America. Now there were eight. They
all recognized that.
"Of course" went on Allison, my
proposition does not assume that any
man here will begin by relinquishing
control of his own Darticular branch