cial was still
confronted with the same dilemma: he must either secure more business
than he was entitled to or he--and his company--must starve. And the
agreements made by General Managers bound no better than those which
Passenger Agents or Traffic Managers had made before. Then it was that
the Gentlemen stepped in.

The Gentlemen, it should be explained, were the Presidents and Chairmen
of the Boards of the respective companies. They, it was hoped, would be
able to reach an agreement which, if once their names were signed to it,
would hold. The meeting, as has been said, was held at Mr. Pierpont
Morgan's house[358:1] and an agreement was in fact arrived at and
signed, as has been said, in duplicate. It is lamentable to have to
record that that agreement--except in so far as it set a precedent for
other meetings of the same gentlemen, which in turn led to others out of
which finally grew large movements in the direction of joint ownerships
and consolidations of interests which have helped materially to make the
conditions more tolerable--except for that, the Gentlemen's Agreement
did no more good, and it lasted not appreciably longer, than any of the
others which had been made by mere officials.

Englishmen will all agree that it is unthinkable that the Chairmen of
the great British railway companies could meet and give their words _as
gentlemen_ that each of their companies would observe certain rules in
the conduct of its business and that a few weeks thereafter it should
become evident that no single company was keeping the word so pledged.
But it would be just as absurd to question the personal integrity or
sense of honour of such men as Mr. Marvin Hughitt, Mr. E. W. Winter, Mr.
W. H. Truesdale, and the others, as it would be to question that of the
most upright man in England. The fact is that the conditions are almost
unthinkable to Englishmen. No company, in becoming party to the
agreement, had surrendered its right to retaliate when another violated
the provisions. The actual conduct of the business of the companies--the
quoting of the rates to secure the traffic--was in the hands of a host
of subordinate officials, and when a rate is cut it is not cut openly,
but in secret and by circuitous devices. It was, on subsequent
investigation, always impossible to tell where the demoralisation had
begun, amid the cloud of charges, counter-charges, and denials. There
was not one of the subordinate officials but decla