Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1927-12-12
The OUTER GATE
By OCTAVUS ROY COHEN

Horace Lambert's voice broke in
eheerful and good-natured.
-fou two quit fighting. It strikes
. that this Is q great deal Of TODD
about nothing, when we really have
acme important questions 70 consider.
41y oplnion-and ] think ] can speak
zor the others-is that Peter has al
ways been too confoundedly consci-
entlous. But ! fail to see that this
failing il less broad than ii il long.
Certainly he has built this company
from a bankrupt state TO the point
where IL Is about TO be 4 fairly large
factor IN the industrial scheme Of
the section. And ], for one, vote that
ne be given the usual free hand in
whatever he wishes 20 do"
A short, stout. jolly man az the
corner Of the table made a laughing
remark: Peter will do it anyway.
joaas.~
Nerriwether knew that he was
beaten. The cold light remained in
MS eyes, but he vas forced to smile.
was giving adviee-not orders,
PeteN.n
Z YOU Jonas.
"And Of course. you must not talk
Of resignation ! think the expert
rnent Is Qnixotic, but il you insist
IL de-"
Lets quit this and get down 10
business" IL was Lambert speaking.
We've got a financial question 20
consider, and a damned important
one. Have YOU brought your state
ment, Borden =
Certainly" The vice president
opened a brief case and took from il
a sheaf Of neatly type-written pages.
II have prepared this data carefully
and " YOU wish"
"Dcn't read it. Give Us . sum
mary"
Borden's eye swept the table inter
negatively, "Will that he satisfac-
Shoot" ordered the raund-faeed
man.
Briefly. then. gentlemen - this
company has been built up from
nothing Ia the face Of some rather
hitter competition. We are ready 20
move into our new plant-a plant
that was necessary IL we are to on
tinue our expansion. The building
cf that plant has been delayed be-
cause OF a strike which has placed
ourselves and the contractor in a
rather delicate position. Callahan
has laid his cards face up on the
table. He tells me that IL we force
him 10 pay the forfeit under the con-
tract for non-delivery Of the plant on
the specified date. he will be forced
into bankruptcy. That might give us
satisfaction. bat certainly no profit.
Now, my idea is that we pool our in
tereSts with CaliahRn's. finance the
settling Of his labor troubles on the
basis which the strikers ask. our
selves pay tho difference and rush
the plant through"
"And hat will cost Us how mueh7"
Nothing in the end. 10 will re-
Quire, however, about a quarter mil
lion dollars within the neNt three
months. And these may be the ne
ccssity for another call later"
And where are we to get this
money"
"That il a matter for you gentle
men 70 consider. Actually we will
make a profit on this within Two
years. Otherwise our production will
come 20 n ~standstill and we will face
lawsuits over non delivery Of orders
accepted on the basis Of orr in
creased capacity. II We raise this
money"
"Ne have exhausted our credit
with the hanks. They have loaned
us every possible cen TO finance this
contraction
Il know that. And since this Is
very much Of n closed corporation
and can therefore proceed in n rather
unorthodoy tanner, IL is my idea
FOR Us. as individuals. 70 lend money
20 the company for-ssy-two years"
How
"Ncrotiable securities. Among us.
we hold Liberty bonds. for instance.
~ 70 considerably mora than a quarter
million dollar total. Suppose. then.
that il The crisis cannot be averted
any other way. We lend those bonds
10 the company without interest. We
can borrow face value on them from
the bank ard have the money which
is essential TO use IL we wish TO
AVOID a more serious condition. Ny
idea Is to finish the plant and rush
into bic production r. soon ms posi-
hle. or course, there is 4 chance
that this will not be necessary. Gala
han is not entirely pessimistic. But
we must prepare"
Lambert interrupted. "I'm for ID.
There isn't an outside share Of stock
In the corporation and we fellows
have known each other all our lives.
what gees on inside the company IS
our own buziness-and not 70 Re gov
erncd By general rules 81 industry
We're really risking nothing. and
buying safety at medium cost. Ny
vote is aye"
And minci" chorused two others.
Borden held out a restraining hand.
mo necessity 70 rush. ! merely
wanted 10 explain the situation and
sound YOU out. II Won agree with
my plan, then 7 shall know how 70
proceed. We may not have 10 do X
at all: or again. we may need the
money in an instant TO re-establish
credit. Is il agreed"
They nodded. sounds like the
only way" remarked Merriweather.
81 can spare a hundred thousand
dollars worth now"
"Gocd. And you, Horace"
'Forty."
i can put n forty thousand" said
Borden. "And you. jim"
Ten minutes later the chairs were
scrared back from the table But
when the others left. Jonas Merri-
wether held back. de dropped his
hand on Borden's arm.
Il trust your business Judgment
iurlicitlv. Peter" he said. but I'm
doubtful about this Bob Terry thing
There's no need, Joras The boy
Is nathetic.'