governed by what is fair rather than what is merely legal. A
rule which we adopted and adhered to has given greater returns than
one would believe possible, namely: always give the other party the
benefit of the doubt. This, of course, does not apply to the
speculative class. An entirely different atmosphere pervades that
world. Men are only gamblers there. Stock gambling and honorable
business are incompatible. In recent years it must be admitted that
the old-fashioned "banker," like Junius S. Morgan of London, has
become rare.

Soon after being deposed as president of the Union Pacific, Mr.
Scott[31] resolved upon the construction of the Texas Pacific
Railway. He telegraphed me one day in New York to meet him at
Philadelphia without fail. I met him there with several other friends,
among them Mr. J.N. McCullough, vice-president of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company at Pittsburgh. A large loan for the Texas Pacific had
fallen due in London and its renewal was agreed to by Morgan & Co.,
provided I would join the other parties to the loan. I declined. I was
then asked whether I would bring them all to ruin by refusing to stand
by my friends. It was one of the most trying moments of my whole life.
Yet I was not tempted for a moment to entertain the idea of involving
myself. The question of what was my duty came first and prevented
that. All my capital was in manufacturing and every dollar of it was
required. I was the capitalist (then a modest one, indeed) of our
concern. All depended upon me. My brother with his wife and family,
Mr. Phipps and his family, Mr. Kloman and his family, all rose up
before me and claimed protection.

[Footnote 31: Colonel Thomas A. Scott left the Union Pacific in 1872.
The same year he became president of the Texas Pacific, and in 1874
president of the Pennsylvania.]

I told Mr. Scott that I had done my best to prevent him from beginning
to construct a great railway before he had secured the necessary
capital. I had insisted that thousands of miles of railway lines could
not be constructed by means of temporary loans. Besides, I had paid
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars cash for an interest in it,
which he told me upon my return from Europe he had reserved for me,
although I had never approved the scheme. But nothing in the world
would ever induce me to be guilty of endorsing the paper of that
construction company or of any other concern than our own firm.

I knew that it would be im