As usual, Shakespeare had
placed his talismanic touch upon the thought and framed the sentence--
"So distribution should undo excess,
And each man have enough."
At this juncture--that is March, 1901--Mr. Schwab told me Mr. Morgan
had said to him he should really like to know if I wished to retire
from business; if so he thought he could arrange it. He also said he
had consulted our partners and that they were disposed to sell, being
attracted by the terms Mr. Morgan had offered. I told Mr. Schwab that
if my partners were desirous to sell I would concur, and we finally
sold.
[Illustration: CHARLES M. SCHWAB]
There had been so much deception by speculators buying old iron and
steel mills and foisting them upon innocent purchasers at inflated
values--hundred-dollar shares in some cases selling for a trifle--that
I declined to take anything for the common stock. Had I done so, it
would have given me just about one hundred millions more of five per
cent bonds, which Mr. Morgan said afterwards I could have obtained.
Such was the prosperity and such the money value of our steel
business. Events proved I should have been quite justified in asking
the additional sum named, for the common stock has paid five per cent
continuously since.[45] But I had enough, as has been proved, to keep
me busier than ever before, trying to distribute it.
Pages:
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341