The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1927-12-23
CHAPTER XIII

me that THIS Is great uedl VI to-uo
about nothing, when we really have
some important questions to con-
slider. NJ opinion-and | think |
can speak for the otners-is that
Peter has always been too confoun-
dedly conscientious. But | fail to
see that this failing is less broad
than it is long Certainly he has
built this company from bankrupt
state to the point where it is about
to be a fairly large factor in the in
dustrial scheme of the section. And
|, for one. vote that he be given
the usual free hand in whatever he
wishes to do
"A short, stout, jolly man at the
corner of the table made laughing
remark: Peter will do it anyway,
Jonas"
Merriwether knew that he was
beaten. The cold light remained in
his eye, but he was forced to smile.
~ was giving advice-not orders,
Peter"
seThank you, Jonas"
f"And of course, you must not
talk or resignation. | think the ex-
pertinent is Quixotic, but il you in
sist-'
81 do
Lets quit this and get down to
business" 1t was Lambert speak
ing. We've got a financial ques.
ton to consider, and a damned I'M
portant one. Have you brought
your statement, Borden?"
Certainly" The vice president
opened a brief case and took from
it sheaf OF neatly typewriter
pages. Il have prepared this data
carefully and II you wish"
Don't read it. Give us a sum-
mary"
Borden's eye swept the table in
teFrogatively. will that be salts
factory?"
Shoot" ordered the round-faced
man.
Briefly, then, gentlemen-this
company has been built up from
nothing in the face OF some rather
bitter competition. We are ready
" lliONC lA4tO Jul lCN Plctlil
that was necessary if we are To
continue our expansion. The build
ing OF that plant has been delayed
because of strike which mas plac-
ed ourselves and the contractor in
a rather delicate position. Gala.
han has laid his cards face 10 on
the table. He tells me that ii we
force him to pay the forfeit under
the contract for non-dklivery OF the
Plant on the specified date, ne VIII
be forced into bankruptcy That
might give us satisfaction, but Ger
tainly 10 profit. Now, my idea is
that We pool our interests with Cal
lahaii's, finance the settling o. his
labor troubles: On the bass wien
the stfi%ers ask, ourselv IS pay the
difference and rus:! the plant
through"
And that will cost us how much 1?
Nothing in the end. 1t viii re-
qlrire, however, about a quarter OF
million dollars within the next
three months And these may be
the necessity for another call later"
And where are We . get this
money!"
THAT is a matter for you gentle.
men to consider. Actually we will
make a profit on this within two
years. Otherwise our production
will come to a standstill and we
will face lawsuits over non-delivery
of orders accepted on the basis OF
our increased capacity. II we raise
this money"
Eve have exhausted our credit
with the banks. They have loaned
us every possible cent to finance
this construction
Il know that. And since this is
very much of a closed corporation
and can therefore proceed in rath-
er uhorthodox manner, it is my
idea for us, as individuals, to lend
money to the company for-say-
two years"
Howe"
Negotiable securities. Among
us, we hold Liberty bonds, Tor IN
stance, to considerably more than
qaarter-million dollar total Sup
pose, then, that If the crisis cannot
be ayerted any other wa, we lend
those bonds to the company with
out interest. We can borrow face
value on them from the bank and
have the money which is essential
to use if we wish to avoid more
serious condition. Ny idea is &c
finish the plant and rush into biz
production as soon as possible. Oh
course, there is chance that this
will not be necessary. Callahan
is not, entirely pessimistic. But We
must prepare
lambert interrupted I'm for it
There isn't an outside share O.
stock in the corporation and We fel
lows have known each other all oul
lives. What goes on inside the
company is our own business ant
not to be governed by general rules
OF industry. We're rjsking nothins
and buying safety at medium cost
Ny vote is aye.
.And mine 'chorused two others
Borden held out restraints
hand. mo necessity to rush.
merely wanted to explain the stu
alton and sound you out. u YOU