Wealden Group

“ Arthur said. “I think, sir, it is really Wolley’s affair that is troubling you.”
“If it ended with Wolley it would be a small matter. No, I am not thinking of that.” He looked before him and drummed upon the table with his fingers. “But the positions calls for—caution. We must go no farther. We must be careful how we grant accommodation no matter who applies for it. We must raise our reserve. See, if you please, that we do not discount a single bill without recourse to me—though, of course, you will let nothing be noticed on the other side of the counter.” ”

“ Be it enacted by the legislative assembly of the territory of Oregon that George H. Williams, Alfred Stanton, Joseph Watt, Joseph Holman, Daniel Waldo, William H. Rector, E. M. Barnum, J. G. Wilson, and J. D. Boon, and their associates, stockholders in the joint-stock company known as the 'Willamette Woolen Manufacturing Company,' and their successors, are hereby declared a body corporate and politic by the name and style of the 'Willamette Woolen Manufacturing Company,' for the purpose of creating and improving water-powers and privileges and manufacturing ”

“ You can come in or you can stay out, but if you come in I shall ask you never to mention the name of the enterprise to a living soul."
"The Green Rust Syndicate?" whispered Mr. White fearfully. "What—ah—is Green Rust?"
"I have offered the scheme to my—to a Government. But they are scared of touching it. Scared, by Jove!" He threw up his arms to the ceiling and his voice trembled with passion. "Germany scared! And there was a time when Europe cringed at the clank of the Prussian sword! When the lightest word of Potsdam set ministries trembling in Petrograd and London. ”

“ Wolley’s case had been before them that morning and sharp things had been said about his trading methods.
“No, it’s not Wolley.” Having got so far Ovington paused, and Arthur noticed that his face was grave. “No, though Wolley is a part of it. I am always uneasy about him. But——”
“What is it, sir?”
“It is the general situation, lad. I don’t like it. I’ve an impression that things have gone farther than they should. There is an amount of inflation that, if things go smoothly, will be gradually reduced and no harm done. ”

“ There are men to whom the business of elections—a life of secrecy, excitement, speculation, and combat—has all but irresistible charms; and Tom Wealdon, the Town Clerk, was such a spirit.
A bold, frank, good-humoured fellow—he played at elections as he would at cricket. Every faculty of eye, hand, and thought—his whole heart and soul in the game. But no ill-will—no malevolence in victory—no sourness in defeat. A successful coup made Tom Wealdon split with laughing. ”

“ You will be unlucky if one does not.”
The two men who had been summoned came in, each after his fashion. Wolley entered first, endeavoring to mask under a swaggering manner his consciousness that he stood in the presence of his betters. A clothier from the Valleys and one of Ovington’s earliest customers, he had raised himself, as the banker had, and from the same stratum; but by enlarging instead of selling his mill. During the war he had made much money and had come to attribute his success a little more to his abilities and a little less to circumstances than was the fact. ”

“ Under that modern system of organization which unites the laborers into one mass, striving to obtain the highest price for their services, and combines employers in another assembly seeking to obtain labor at the lowest price, our industrial partnerships would have been impossible. If close combinations resulting in certain antagonism, such as has prevailed in England for a generation, had existed here, then no links could have reached across from the chain of laborers on the one side to the chain of employers and capitalists on the other. ”

“ The story grows uglier as we proceed. Two powerful commercial combinations took charge of the policy of the woolen interests—the National Woolgrowers' Association and the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, which were soon in control of this immense industry. Woolen mills sprang up so fast that a report of the New York Chamber of Commerce pronounced their increase "scarcely credible." So great was the new market created by the Government demand, and so ruthless were the parasites in forcing up prices, that dividends on mill stock rose to 10, 15, 25, and even 40 per cent. ”

“ But he underrated Wellington’s generalship, nor could he foresee how the British generals, officers, and men of all ranks would fight that memorable day, when the eyes of all Europe were upon them, because upon the issue of that contest depended the fate of empires and kingdoms, as well as the future peace of the world. And knowing, as we all do, what glory the victory at Waterloo brought to our countrymen and our country, we must be generous enough to give the brave Prussians the full share due to them for their co-operation on that day. ”

“ In France it has been proposed by Alfassa that there shall be established a department of national economy, to bring about a closer coöperation than there has been in the past among private interests, and to centralize industry. Wehle thinks that in America, even before the war, industrial concentration was leading to political concentration and that the states were losing their relative political importance. The grappling of states individually with large industrial problems is now, he says, at an end. Dillon has expressed the view that England ought to adopt industrial compulsion. ”

“ They were close to the house, and he had referred to the mouldering shield over the doorway, and she was telling its story when she checked herself and stood still. Edgar Woolley had emerged, and was standing before them with a flush of triumph on his check. The tall gentleman could scarcely be in doubt who he was; nor could Woolley well take Pleasance's involuntary cry for a sign of gladness--though he strove to force the smile which was habitual to him. ”

“ The various peoples would hesitate to turn over their basic industries to a private corporation beyond the regulation either of competitors or of their own government.
But we are here concerned not with the end but with the direction of international capitalism, and this direction tends to be the same as that of national capitalism. Division of the field, interchange of stock, community of interest, co-operation and combination in one form or another are as much a temptation in the relation of firms separated by a frontier as between those within one customs union. Capital is fluid. ”

“ I thought you must have formed some political project, Mr. Wealdon has been with you so often; but you tell me nothing, Stanley.'
'Not, darling, till I know it myself. This plan, for instance, until you spoke this moment, was but a question, and one which I could not submit until I had seen Wealdon, and heard how matters stood, and what chances of success I should really have. So, darling, you have it all; and I am so glad you advise me to go on. It is five-and-thirty years since anyone connected with Brandon came forward. But it will cost a great deal of money, Dorkie.'
'Yes, I know. ”

“ Dissatisfied, men sought other channels for their savings, nor sought in vain. Joint Stock Companies arose on every side. Projects, good and bad, sprang up like mushrooms in a night. Old lodes and new harbors, old canals and new fisheries, were taken in hand, and for all these there seemed to be capital. Shares rose to a premium before the companies were floated, and soon the bounds of our shores were found to be too narrow for British enterprise. ”

“ The Whitley Plan seeks to unite the organizations of labor and capital by a bond of common interest in a common venture; it changes at a single stroke the attitude of these powerful aggregations of class interest from one of militancy to one of social service; it establishes a new relation in industry. ”

“ Trades-unionism, and all socialism, in so far as it trenches on the State, is a backward step in this American progress. They clasp rigid fetters on movements which were becoming more supple and elastic. All social organisms are finally parts of the State* that tangible divine power, the right arm of God in his relations with men. There can be no true functions of association which tend to embarrass the free development of the State—the association of associations. ”

“ Woolley rejoined with acidity, "I should like to know whether you propose to keep that fellow in your house as a companion for your daughter?"
"The tall gentleman?"
"Precisely."
"He is gone!" was the unexpected answer. "He is gone already. If you doubt me, my dear fellow," the doctor added hastily, "ask the servants--ask Daniel."
"Gone, is he?" Woolley said gloomily, considering the statement.
"Yes, he quite saw the propriety of it," the doctor continued. "He gave me no trouble." ”

“ Every one seemed to know every one else, and each new comer was hailed by his first name or otherwise familiarly greeted. I felt that a stranger was at a great disadvantage in trying to conduct a factory in such an inbred community. Not one of all those men knew me or nodded to me. Yet I judged from the glances directed my way and the whispers that many at least knew who I was. Knowlton had told me that the new owners of the factory had been the subject of many rumours. It was believed we were a blind for one of the large corporations about to begin operations in Deep Harbor on a vast scale. ”

“ The direct competition between great industrial nations for the products and profits of the backward countries would suffice to create an international antagonism even if no other economic forces contributed to this result. Closely though not obviously bound to this struggle for colonies, however, is an equally intense struggle among the industrial nations to force their way economically into each other's home territory. Germany, it is alleged, forces her way industrially into France, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium and Holland. ”

“ The movement in favourable circumstances is likely to accelerate, either by the mutual economic interpenetration of nations, as when the French build factories in Germany or the Germans in France, or by the amalgamation of the capitals of two countries and their use in joint enterprises. The formation of large international syndicates for the exploitation of backward countries, whatever its other consequences, tends towards the creation of a community of interest. ”

“ Now, a general seeks for an aide who can work twenty-three hours out of twenty-four, and possessed of all the knowledge that the Staff College can bestow. It is pleasant to note that many clever aspirants can be found, and that is the reason for the success of our arms to-day. If Wellington had had men of this type, he, like Hannibal and Napoleon, might also have conquered the Alps. But Wellington had to deal with aides who were simply British gentlemen with a passion for fox-hunting and a primitive thirst for blood. ”

“ All were well educated intellectuals from the middle class. But the revolution itself, once it starts, comes from below, from the mass of people pushed beyond tolerance.”
It came to Lawrence Woolford that his superior had achieved to his prominent office not through any fluke. He knew what he was talking about.
The Boss wound it up. “If there was such an organization as this Movement, then this department would know about it. You don't keep a revolutionary movement secret. It doesn't make sense to even try. Even if it is forced underground, it makes as much noise as it can.” ”

“ The woollen industry, like cotton, pleads to be allowed to retain its high protection because it is still unshackled by combination. That is partially but not entirely true. As a matter of fact, there does exist a strong combination in this industry—the American Woollen Company, which has earned the popular title of “woollen trust” largely because of its trust-like methods. The woollen trust is far from being a monopoly, though it is certainly a good nucleus for one. It already controls about one-third of our domestic production of woollens and worsteds for men’s wear. ”

“ A French manufacturer of formic acid is crushed outright by a sudden price reduction; a Swiss or Italian manufacturer is ruined by being spied upon by his own employés in the pay of a German competitor. But the main objection to the German competition seems to be its formidableness. Germany exports not only wares but men, and in all the neighbouring countries are to be found German chemists, engineers, business men and clerks. It is claimed that these pioneers hold together, advance together, maintain the cult of Deutschtum in an alien country, and act as agents for the home industry. ”

“ Suppose that he goes out among the men and says to them, what Baldwin would have said: "Certainly, men, you must organize. I mean to treat you fairly, but I do not want you to be dependent on my favor; I insist that you shall have the power to stand for your own rights. And I want all the men in this shop to join this union. No man will curry favor with me by staying out of it. I am going to be friends with the union, and I expect the union to be my friend. This is not my business, not your business, it is our business. ”

“ Points of leakage are so inscrutable, and so hard to detect, that the less that is written the better is it for the projected enterprise. And Wellington was the most reticent of men—even going to the length of hiding from his own responsible subordinates intentions that they much desired to learn, and of giving orders that seemed eccentric while the secret reason for them was kept concealed. ”