was to prevent
any one from getting a peep at that chest save as one of
them and on their own terms. I refused to be bound by their
code. I told Mr. Rogers again and again that everything I
learned as the market manager of the Standard Oil interests
I felt free to use publicly at any time. Mr. Rogers again
and again assured me that this was fully understood.

THE REMEDY

"All through that time I had, deep down in my heart, the
plan which I am carrying out now. Each day brought me nearer
to the day when I would expose the whole system of fraud to
the public. Having that idea always present with me, I was
careful to avoid deals or partnerships which involved any
loss of independence to act when the day for action came. I
have been worth as much as $28,000,000, and I have lost as
much as $14,000,000. But never have I altered my purpose to
awaken the public to a realization of the great crimes
committed against them in the name of finance.

"If the people will stand by me, and I have always been open
and honest with them, America will witness a great
transformation. With an honest and courageous President in
the White House we shall see whether the 'System' will be
able to use the fiduciary institutions of the country for
piratical purposes. The fall in the price of Amalgamated and
other pool stocks is only a bubble on the surface. The final
revelation, and the final solution, are yet to come into
sight."

Just then the telephone bell rang and Mr. Lawson put the
receiver to his ear and laughed as he listened. "No," he
answered softly, through the instrument, "I am not locked up
with Mr. Rogers, but with a man who has more power."

Then he turned to me, rocking back strongly on his heels and
clasping his hands behind his square head.

"I meant that," he said; "there is more power in the pen of
one honest writer in the service of an honest, fearless
newspaper than in all the wealth and cunning of the
'System.'"

THE MUNROE & MUNROE EPISODE

There came a time in the first twelve months of my "Frenzied Finance"
crusade when people rather took the attitude that I was exaggerating
conditions and that neither Wall Street nor the "System" was so bad as I
had depicted them. About this time, following the so-called Lawson
panic, occurred the