But Schwab did take into the conference with him,
in his own handwriting, six sheets of copper-plate figures, representing
to his mind the physical worth and the potential earning capacity
of every steel company he regarded as an essential star in the new
metal firmament.
"Four men pondered over these figures all night. The chief,
of course, was Morgan, steadfast in his belief in the Divine Right
of Money. With him was his aristocratic partner, Robert Bacon, a
scholar and a gentleman. The third was John W. Gates whom Morgan
scorned as a gambler and used as a tool. The fourth was Schwab,
who knew more about the processes of making and selling steel than
any whole group of men then living. Throughout that conference,
the Pittsburgher's figures were never questioned. If he said a company
was worth so much, then it was worth that much and no more. He was
insistent, too, upon including in the combination only those concerns
he nominated. He had conceived a corporation in which there would
be no duplication, not even to satisfy the greed of friends who
wanted to unload their companies upon the broad Morgan shoulders.
Thus he left out, by design, a number of the larger concerns upon
which the Walruses and Carpenters of Wall Street had cast hungry
eyes.
"When dawn came, Morgan rose and straightened his back. Only
one question remained.
"' Do you think you can persuade Andrew Carnegie to sell? '
he asked.
"' I can try, ' said Schwab.
"' If you can get him to sell, I will undertake the matter,
' said Morgan.
"So far so good. But would Carnegie sell? How much would he
demand? (Schwab thought about $320,000,000). What would he take
payment in? Common or preferred stocks? Bonds? Cash? Nobody could
raise a third of a billion dollars in cash.
"There was a golf game in January on the frost-cracking heath
of the St. Andrews links in Westchester, with Andrew bundled up
in sweaters against the cold, and Charlie talking volubly, as usual,
to keep his spirits up. But no word of business was mentioned until
the pair sat down in the cozy warmth of the Carnegie cottage hard
by. Then, with the same persuasiveness that had hypnotized eighty
millionaires at the University Club, Schwab poured out the glittering
promises of retirement in comfort, of untold millions to satisfy
the old man's social caprices. Carnegie capitulated, wrote a figure
on a slip of paper, handed it to Schwab and said, 'all right, that's
what we'll sell for.'
"The figure was approximately $400,000,000, and was reached
by taking the $320,000,000 mentioned by Schwab as a basic figure,
and adding to it $80,000,000 to represent the increased capital
value over the previous two years.
"Later, on the deck of a trans-Atlantic liner, the Scotsman
said ruefully to Morgan, 'I wish I had asked you for $100,000,000
more.'
"' If you had asked for it, you'd have gotten it, ' Morgan
told him cheerfully.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"There was an uproar, of course. A British correspondent cabled
that the foreign steel world was 'appalled' by the gigantic combination.
President Hadley, of Yale, declared that unless trusts were regulated
the country might expect 'an emperor in Washington within the next
twenty-five years. ' But that able stock manipulator, Keene, went
at his work of shoving the new stock at the public so vigorously
that all the excess water— estimated by some at nearly $600,000,000—
was absorbed in a twinkling. So Carnegie had his millions, and the
Morgan syndicate had $62,000,000 for all its 'trouble, ' and all
the 'boys, ' from Gates to Gary, had their millions.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"The thirty-eight-year-old Schwab had his reward. He was made
president of the new corporation and remained in control until 1930."
The dramatic story of "Big Business" which you have just
finished, was included in this book, because it is a perfect illustration
of the method by which DESIRE CAN BE TRANSMUTED INTO ITS PHYSICAL
EQUIVALENT!
I imagine some readers will question the statement that a mere,
intangible DESIRE can be converted into its physical equivalent.
Doubtless some will say, "You cannot convert NOTHING into SOMETHING!"
The answer is in the story of United States Steel.
That giant organization was created in the mind of one man. The
plan by which the organization was provided with the steel mills
that gave it financial stability was created in the mind of the
same man. His FAITH, his DESIRE, his IMAGINATION, his PERSISTENCE
were the real ingredients that went into United States Steel. The
steel mills and mechanical equipment acquired by the corporation,
AFTER IT HAD BEEN BROUGHT INTO LEGAL EXISTENCE, were incidental,
but careful analysis will disclose the fact that the appraised value
of the properties acquired by the corporation increased in value
by an estimated SIX HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS, by the mere transaction
which consolidated them under one management.
In other words, Charles M. Schwab's IDEA, plus the FAITH with which
he conveyed it to the minds of J. P. Morgan and the others, was
marketed for a profit of approximately $600,000,000. Not an insignificant
sum for a single IDEA!
What happened to some of the men who took their share of the millions
of dollars of profit made by this transaction, is a matter with
which we are not now concerned. The important feature of the astounding
achievement is that it serves as unquestionable evidence of the
soundness of the philosophy described in this book, because this
philosophy was the warp and the woof of the entire transaction.
Moreover, the practicability of the philosophy has been established
by the fact that the United States Steel Corporation prospered,
and became one of the richest and most powerful corporations in
America, employing thousands of people, developing new uses for
steel, and opening new markets; thus proving that the $600,000,000
in profit which the Schwab IDEA produced was earned.
RICHES begin in the form of THOUGHT!
The amount is limited only by the person in whose mind the THOUGHT
is put into motion. FAITH removes limitations! Remember this when
you are ready to bargain with Life for whatever it is that you ask
as your price for having passed this way.
Remember, also, that the man who created the United States Steel
Corporation was practically unknown at the time. He was merely Andrew
Carnegie's "Man Friday" until he gave birth to his famous
IDEA. After that he quickly rose to a position of power, fame, and
riches.
THERE ARE NO LIMITATIONS TO THE MIND EXCEPT THOSE WE ACKNOWLEDGE
BOTH POVERTY AND RICHES ARE THE OFFSPRING OF THOUGHT