erence. Certain of them went out of the room and after
awhile returned for a further conference. There were several such
confabulations and comings and goings, until finally, after a monotonous
delay, the bids were opened and the bonds awarded. Morgan, McCall, _et
al._, had secured the bulk of the issue at a price many points above
what any one had been led to believe the bonds would sell for, and many
points higher than the "System" and the Government had proclaimed to the
people they could possibly sell for, yet at a price which showed
millions of profit a few hours after the bids were opened. I do not
charge that the public's envelopes were opened and "peeked" into before
the "System's" bids were sealed. Such a charge is not necessary. It has
been made many times by the press. Mr. Eckels, to the minds of such of
us as could see through cracks in a floor wide enough to drive a
four-in-hand coach into without unhooking the leaders, had lived up to
his role as a financial phenomenon, and when some time afterward it was
bruited abroad that this able young man was to have the presidency of
the City Bank, or any other large bank belonging to the "System" that he
might select, there was no surprise, although much comment, in Wall
Street. Mr. Eckels finally accepted the presidency of the Commercial
Bank of Chicago, where he now is one of the important cogs in the
"System's" machine.

The case of James M. Beck has points of similarity. Mr. Beck, a young
Philadelphia lawyer, obtained a valuable knowledge of the secrets of the
Department of Justice in Washington as Assistant United States
Attorney-General, and in the prosecution of the Northern Securities suit
got an insight into the "System's" methods. It will be remembered that
at the trial of the suit he made a great appearance and became famous as
the young champion of the people who had succeeded in "busting" this
notorious trust. The victory was hardly announced before it became known
that the brilliant Assistant Attorney-General had renounced the cause of
the public and had been engaged at a large salary as chief counsel for
Henry H. Rogers, of Standard Oil.

Mr. Beck has proved a most available and flexible servant in the cause
of his master. He has done Mr. Rogers's bidding in a manner befitting
the best traditions of "Standard Oil." Almost his first work was the
trial of the famous Boston Gas suit, in which for weeks he "steered"
Henry H. Rogers while on the witness-