Part 7 (1/2)
”I don't mind,” he said, returning the pipe to its case. And when the Havanas were well alight, and the talk had circled down upon the political situation in the State, he was able to bear his part with a fair exterior, giving Ormsby an impressionistic outline of the late campaign and the conditions that had made the sweeping triumph of the People's Party possible.
”We have been coming to it steadily through the last administration, and a part of the preceding one,” he explained. ”Last year the drought cut the cereals in half, and the country was too new to stand it without borrowing. There was little local capital, and the eastern article was hungry, taking all the interest the law allows, and as much more as it could get. This year the crop broke all records for abundance, but the price is down and the railroads, trying to recoup for two bad years, have stiffened the freight rates. The net result is our political overturn.”
”Then the railroads and the corporations are not primarily to blame?” said Ormsby.
”Oh, no. Corporations here, as elsewhere, are looking out for the present dollar, but if the country were generally prosperous, the people would pay the tax carelessly, as they do in the older sections. With us it has been a sort of Donnybrook Fair: the agricultural voter has s.h.i.+llalahed the head he could reach most easily.”
The New Yorker nodded. His millions were solidly placed, and he took no more than a sportsman's interest in the fluctuations of the stock market.
”Of course, there have been all sorts of rumors East: 'bull' prophecies that the triumph of the new party means an era of unexampled prosperity for the State--and by consequence for western stocks; 'bear' growlings that things are sure to go to the bow-wows under the Bucks regime. What do you think of it?”
Kent blew a series of smoke rings and watched them rise to become a part of the stratified tobacco cloud overhead before replying.
”I may as well confess that I am not entirely an unprejudiced observer,”
he admitted. ”For one thing, I am in the legal department of one of the best-hated of the railroads; and for another, Governor Bucks, Meigs, the attorney-general, and Hendricks, the new secretary of State, are men whom I know as, it is safe to say, the general public doesn't know them. If I could be sure that these three men are going to be able to control their own party majority in the a.s.sembly, I should take the first train East and make my fortune selling tips in Wall Street.”
”You put it graphically. Then the Bucks idea is likely to prove a disturbing element on 'Change?”
”It is; always providing it can dominate its own majority. But this is by no means certain. The political earthquake is essentially a popular protest against hard conditions brought about, as the voters seem to believe, by the oppressions of the alien corporations and extortionate railroad rates. Yet there are plenty of steady-going, conservative men in the movement; men who have no present idea of revolutionizing things.
Marston, the lieutenant-governor, is one of that kind. It all depends on whether these men will allow themselves to be whipped into line by the leaders, who, as I am very well convinced, are a set of conscienceless demagogues, fighting solely for their own hand.”
Ormsby nodded again.
”You are likely to have good hunting this winter, Mr. Kent. It hasn't begun yet, I take it?”
”Oh, no; the a.s.sembly does not convene for a fortnight, and n.o.body short of an inspired prophet can foretell what legislation will be sprung. But one thing is safe to count on: the leaders are out for spoils. They mean to rob somebody, and, if my guess is worth anything, they are sharp enough to try first to get their schemes legalized by having enabling laws pa.s.sed by the a.s.sembly.”
”Um,” said the eastern man. Then he took the measure of his companion in a shrewd overlook. ”You are the man on the ground, Mr. Kent, and I'll ask a straightforward question. If you had a friend owning stock in one of the involved railways, what would you advise?”
Kent smiled.
”We needn't make it a hypothetical case. If I had the right to advise Mrs.
Brentwood and her daughters, I should counsel them to sit tight in the boat for the present.”
”Would you? But Western Pacific has gone off several points already.”
”I know it has; and unfortunately, Mrs. Brentwood bought in at the top of the market. That is why I counsel delay. If she sells now, she is sure to lose. If she holds on, there is an even chance for a spasmodic upward reaction before worse things happen.”
”Perhaps: you know more about the probabilities than I pretend to. But on the other hand, she may lose more if she holds on.”
Kent bit deep into his cigar.
”We must see to it that she doesn't lose, Mr. Ormsby.”
The club-man laughed broadly.
”Isn't that a good bit like saying that the shallop must see to it that the wind doesn't blow too hard for it?”