ng
the Conkling investigation, is likewise a matter of evidence.
Sharp's victory had the great result of bringing together the three
forces--Ryan, Whitney, and the Philadelphians--who had hitherto combated
one another as rivals; that is, it caused the organization of the famous
Whitney-Ryan-Widener-Elkins syndicate. If these men had inspired all
those attacks on Sharp, their maneuver proved successful; for when the
investigation had attained its climax and public indignation against
Sharp had reached its most furious stage, that venerable corruptionist,
worn down by ill health, and almost crazed by the popular outcry, sold
his Broadway railroad to Peter A. B. Widener, William L. Elkins,
and William H. Kemble. Thomas F. Ryan became secretary of the new
corporation, and William C. Whitney an active participant in its
affairs.

This Broadway franchise formed the vertebral column of the New
York transit system; with it as a basis, the operators formed the
Metropolitan Street Railway Company in 1893, commonly known as the
"Metropolitan." They organized also the Metropolitan Traction Company,
an organization which enjoys an historic position as the first "holding
company" ever created in this country. Its peculiar attribute was that
it did not construct and operate street railways itself, but merely
owned other corporations that did so. Its only assets, that is, were
paper securities representing the ownership and control of other
companies. This "holding company," which has since become almost a
standardized form of corporation control in this country, was the
invention of Mr. Francis Lynde Stetson, one of America's greatest
corporation lawyers. "Mr. Stetson," Ryan is said to have remarked, "do
you know what you did when you drew up the papers of the Metropolitan
Traction Company? You made us a great big tin box."

The plan which Whitney and his associates now followed was to obtain
control, in various ways, of all the surface railways in New York and
place them under the leadership of the Metropolitan. Through their
political influences they obtained franchises of priceless value,
organized subsidiary street railway companies, and exchanged the stock
of these subsidiary companies for that of the Metropolitan. A few
illustrations will show the character of these transactions. They thus
acquired, practically as a free gift, a franchise to build a cable
railroad on Lexington Avenue. At an extremely liberal estimate, this
li