by way of contrast,
present another picture, which will help toward an appreciation of how
the votaries of the "System" respond to generosity and chivalrous
self-abnegation. Before Leonard Lewisohn died he organized a tremendous
deal in coffee, and Rogers, Rockefeller, and all the other "Standard
Oil" men were in. A fund of $5,000,000 was subscribed, to which all
contributed in due proportion, and an immense amount of coffee was
bought against a prospective scarcity. The condition Mr. Lewisohn
anticipated did not immediately develop, and instead of rising, coffee
dropped down and down until the $5,000,000 and more were all used up.
Another man would have called on his associates for additional margin,
or, at least, closed up the deal. Not so Leonard Lewisohn. Though some
of the other members of the combination were many times richer than he,
he shouldered the burden alone, saying: "It's my scheme, and I'll carry
it if it breaks me, or until my judgment is proven sound." Still coffee
declined until he had sunk $12,000,000, but never a whimper and not a
word of complaint to his partners. Things were near the worst when he
died, but he had instructed his heirs not to wind the deal up until
every cent of his associates' liability was wiped out.

There came a time not long ago when Leonard Lewisohn's foresight was
vindicated, and an advance in the price of the commodity relieved the
"Standard Oil" coterie of their responsibility. The sons of the old man
then desired to dispose of the great holdings of coffee, and so close
the deal and secure the locked-up millions for the estate. They went to
the various members of the syndicate and asked them to sign a release
simply agreeing to relieve the estate of liability for presumptive
profits growing out of further advances in coffee after they had sold
out. It was a very ordinary legal precaution, and no great favor to the
Lewisohns under the circumstances. The members of the syndicate signed
the release in due course, until the document finally came to Henry H.
Rogers, and this is the contrasting picture:

"Coffee is going up, I think," said the "Standard Oil" magnate, "and now
that the Lewisohns have extricated themselves from a bad hole, they may
as well carry the stuff until I get some profit out of it. Neither Mr.
Rockefeller nor I will sign that document."

CHAPTER XX

THE CHRISTENING OF AMALGAMATED

My readers may recall the wave of indignation which swept over