“I must say I see nothing wrong with that,” said Stane, staring at Johnson, who in turn stared back at him.
“In short,” said Johnson, turning to Cowperwood, “once we perform our part, you bind yourself to reconstruct and equip in the most modern fashion both of the old lines and such new ones as you can secure, and to mortgage the entire property in such a way as to guarantee the interest on all of the present shares of the District and the Metropolitan, also on whatsoever amount of the 10 per cent of the shares of these new companies or subsidiaries we may elect to subscribe for at eighty.”
“Such is my intention,” said Cowperwood.
Once more Johnson and Stane stared at each other.
“Well,” said Stane, finally, “subject to such difficulties as we are certain to encounter, I pledge myself to perform my part of the undertaking as quickly as possible, and to the best of my ability.”
“And I,” said Johnson, “shall be glad to work in entire harmony with Lord Stane, and to do whatever is necessary to bring this to a successful conclusion.”
“Well, gentlemen,” said Cowperwood, rising, “I am not only pleased but honored by this understanding, and to show you the soundness of my intentions, I propose—if both of you are agreeable to the idea, of course—to ask Mr. Johnson to act as my legal advisor, and have him prepare all papers concluding this general agreement between us.
And when the time comes, he added, smiling at them, “I would be delighted to have you both serve as directors.”
“As to that, time and circumstances will have to decide,” said Stane. “It should be helpful, certainly.”
“It will be my pleasure to serve both of you to the very best of my ability,” added Johnson.
All three were not a little conscious of the grandiose note that had slipped into these mutual felicitations, but it was quickly eased by Stane’s proffer of a parting glass of old cognac—a case of which, without any previous mention, he had sent to Cowperwood’s rooms at the Cecil.
Chapter 51
One of the painful phases of Cowperwood’s further negotiations at this time was the need he faced, or thought he did, of employing Englishmen rather than Americans as his assistants in all departments of his work.
De Sota Sippens was the first victim, and he was almost brokenhearted, for he had come to like London. Joined with his ever-successful Chief, as he argued, he expected to shine here.
More than that, he was eager to sharpen his wits and energies against those of these assured and almost condescending Englishmen, who, he was perfectly satisfied, knew nothing about the business of traction.
However, to soften the blow as much as possible, Cowperwood placed him in charge of his Chicago financial affairs.
One of Cowperwood’s methods of raising capital was the use of the holding company, an underlying organization which would bring in sufficient money to buy the companies which he wished to control and at the same time furnish him with the necessary shares for that control.
In this instance, his Railway Equipment & Construction Company was formed, with dummy directors and chairmen, and in which all who joined him were eventually to possess founder’s shares.
Johnson acted as solicitor and counsel at a salary of ?3,000 a year.
And thereafter, in a private agreement drawn by him—but most carefully gone over by Cowperwood’s attorneys—and signed by Johnson, Stane, and Cowperwood, it was stipulated that from then on their various shares in both the District and the Metropolitan, either then and there owned or subsequently to be acquired, were to be voted as one in any official vote that looked to the reorganization and sale of the District and the Metropolitan to the new company later to be organized.
And in this new company they were to receive three shares of its issue for each one of their old shares.
And now, for Johnson, there was the really great task of running about in quest of blocks of scattered shares of both the District and the Metropolitan, which shares, up to ?500,000 he had orders from Cowperwood to buy, but under various names.
Also to work up, among the old directors, knowledge of as well as enthusiasm for Cowperwood and his proposed plans.
As for Stane, he was to buy as many more shares of these old companies as he could obtain, with a view to voting with Cowperwood in his new undertaking, and he, too, where possible, was to bring his personal influence to bear on all such as he knew.
As a result of these activities, a veritable landslide of investors descended upon Cowperwood.
And many American as well as English financiers, realizing the importance of the properties which he was gathering in, now also attempted to get franchises for themselves, which franchises by that time were most difficult to obtain.
One of those who became interested was no less a person than Stanford Drake, also an American financier, who made applications to Parliament for franchises for lines which, if built, would have paralleled the Cowperwood lines for a very considerable distance, and thus, practically split the income for these territories.
This disturbed Cowperwood not a little, for it had to be stopped without arousing English opposition to both men, since the English were opposed to American entrance into this field, whether it be the entrance of Mr. Drake or Mr. Cowperwood.
In consequence, the usual legal battles on the part of each ensued.
For each pointed out the assumed defects of the other and each minimized the import of what his rival was trying to do.
For his part, Cowperwood pointed out that the Drake line as planned would run, in part, through fairly good residence sections, but it would also be compelled to run through open fields for a distance of ten miles before it would reach paying territory.
He also pointed out that the Drake line was to be a single-track line, one track in a tunnel, while his system would be double-track throughout.
At the same time, the Drake interests proceeded to counter with the claim that Cowperwood’s roads were under the Thames embankment, while their roads were under the Strand and other business streets; that Mr. Cowperwood’s roads were away from trade, and theirs would take people to trade.
However, Cowperwood added that parallel lines were mutually destructive, did not pay, for he knew if the Drake crowd succeeded in getting franchises for their system, no matter how it was developed, his own line would be affected to a considerable extent.
This, of course, he did not admit at the time; instead, he announced that he could not understand why the House of Drake would indulge in any such venture.
And to make matters as smooth as possible, he said he believed that Mr. Drake’s London branch, rather than Mr. Drake himself, was responsible for the error.
He went on to say further that Mr. Drake was a great man, and he believed eventually, when the matter was made clear to him, he would not put any money into it.
Yet in spite of all these sweet words, Mr. Drake’s lawyers, going before Parliament, introduced a bill seeking a franchise, and Mr. Cowperwood’s lawyers introduced a rival bill for the lines he wanted to build.
The result was that Parliament put both bills off until the following November and did not favor either one, which delay was a kind of victory for Cowperwood, he being so much further ahead in the development of his over-all scheme.
In fact, he was heard to say that he did not enjoy going into any project unless there was some opposition, and, as everything was fair in love and war, he was prepared to oppose the Drake interests to the last ditch.
But the interest of Stanford Drake was aroused to the necessity for a real battle with Cowperwood.
Having vast funds at his disposal, he made Cowperwood an offer of $5,000,000 for the privilege of sharing the Piccadilly Circus Station, which belonged to Cowperwood and which would obviously be needed by Drake in his system.
At the same time he also offered Cowperwood $2,500,000 if he would call off his army of lawyers who were then and there preparing to fight Drake’s application to Parliament for permission to build his proposed road.
Of course, the offers were refused by Cowperwood.
At the same time there was the London United Company which was planning to build a road from Hyde Park Corner to Shepherd’s Bush, the preliminary negotiations for which they had worked out.
They went to Drake and offered to unite their line with his, and asked for a franchise from the city.
They also asked Drake to operate the line as a whole if and when completed.
Drake refused.
Then they asked to be permitted to operate their section.
Again Drake refused.