profit beyond legitimate return upon investment and fair compensation for services rendered, it will be guilty of a gross betrayal of trust.  When it issues securities in excess of the requirements of its business and manipulates them for its own profit; when it makes use of its power, its funds, or its credit in enterprises which are not for the equal benefit of all who have contributed to its capital or in the interest of the public, which gives it its power; when it employs its profits so as to affect the market value of securities and then speculates in these for its own advantage,—­then it will be flagrantly abusing a power which has been given to it in trust, and its unique position in the business world will be destroyed.”

There was another long silence, which this time was not broken until the Senator was quite ready to speak.  When the moment came the question was asked abruptly: 

“How much can you consistently tell me of any of the corporation’s transactions?  I know of them, of course, by hearsay, but I should be glad to receive more intimate information.”

“Nothing, without assurances of your serious interest, provided I can demonstrate to your satisfaction the strength of the facts I have mentioned; everything when you care to give me these assurances.”

The Senator winced.  He had expected to meet a man with whose type he was perfectly familiar, to explain to him that the private affairs of the Hon. James Kenmore, business or otherwise, were always kept entirely distinct from his political life, and to dismiss him with merely the courtesy demanded by the unusually strong letters which had introduced him.  But Robert Gorham did not belong to the expected type.  There were no earmarks of the promoter about him, in spite of the fact that the enterprise of which he stood as the head and front was in reality the most gigantic piece of promotion engineering the world had seen.  On the contrary, Gorham was the refined man of affairs, confident in himself and in the certainty of his strength.  And as for dismissal, the Senator realized that his caller had already made himself the dominant power.

“You wish me to subscribe for stock in this corporation to the extent of a hundred thousand dollars?”

“I am empowered by our directors to offer you the opportunity to subscribe for that amount.”

The Senator passed over the obvious correction.

“Why am I selected by your directors rather than others of my colleagues whose names I do not observe upon that list?”

“Because we consider your position in the United States Senate to be one of increasing importance, and of value to the Companies,” Gorham answered, frankly.

“Why has the specific amount of my desired subscription been so carefully stipulated?”

“Because your investment in the Consolidated Companies must be heavy enough in its relation to your personal fortune to make the success of the corporation a matter of real concern to you.”