ng the countries with commerce that the
old war chiefs used to conquer with arms; building up, constructing,
amassing, concentrating in trust and combine all the scattered
abilities of men, who would be powerless individually; and we use our
tools, that parcel of beauties out there, same as the old war chiefs
used their blackguard mercenaries! It's cheaper for us to buy 'em than
be bossed by 'em, a darn sight cheaper, Brydges; for us to swing 'em
into a bunch and control 'em than be blackmailed by 'em, Brydges! If
every penny grafter didn't hold up the corporation, every damned little
squirt of a county supervisor and road contractor and town councilman,
if they didn't hold the corporation up for blackmail way the highwaymen
of old used to hold up the lone traveller, if they didn't hold us up
for blackmail, Brydges, it wouldn't be necessary for us to man that
gang across the way on voting day!

"Freedom, pah!" The Senator had stopped swirling the stub pencil. He
reached forward to a jar of roses on his desk. "Equality? Pah! Dream
of fools, Brydges! Doesn't exist! Never did exist! Never can exist!
Know how we develop Silver King Corn that gives ninety bushels to the
acre instead of old thirty bushel yield?"

Bat had sat down, still sleepily watchful through the tortoise-shell
eyes, but a bit wilted in the heat. Some of the men swinging corduroy
and blue jean legs from the station platform evidently perpetrated a
pleasantry; for there was a loud guffaw, and a shower of tobacco wads
into the middle of the road.

"Know how we get high grade corn, high grade rose like this American
Beauty: in fact, high grade anything? Well, I'll tell you. It's the
same process that brings out high grade men. You go into a field of
corn. You pick out best specimens. You keep that for seed, special
care, special fine ground, special careful cultivation. You let the
others go, feed 'em to the hogs, understand, Bat? It's the same with
the roses, and the same with men; and now where's your fine theory of
all men equal?"

As Bat did not care to remind the Senator that his own career from the
ghetto up contradicted all this fine philosophy, he left the question
unanswered.

Moyese pushed the glasses up on his nose and returned to the map.

"How many homesteaders did you succeed in nabbing out of that last
train-load?"

"About a hundred, Senator! I've got the list of 'em here . . . haven't
counted, but think it will tall