st
admirers and supporters, and the president of the Consolidated Companies
in turn relied fully upon him. For several weeks Kenmore's
correspondence had suggested certain unrest in the Senate concerning
trusts and consolidations, so when Gorham received from him an urgent
summons to come to Washington at once, it left no room for doubt as to
the necessity which prompted its sending, and obliged him for the
present to abandon his idea of rest.

Gorham found Kenmore awaiting him in his office, and the Senator, with
characteristic directness, came to the point at once.

"Some one is starting up another scare on monopolies and combinations,
and is making the Consolidated Companies the target. Do you know
anything about it?"

"Does it come from New York State?" Gorham asked.

"Yes; the junior senator is at the head of it."

"He is a Tammany man."

"Yes."

"Brady made him, and now he is collecting his fee. The Consolidated
Companies hit Brady hard in the Manhattan Traction deal, you remember.
How much headway has it gained?"

"Enough to be dangerous; that's why I wrote as I did."

"It can't be dangerous while we have the people so strongly with us, but
it might become troublesome. Whom do you want me to see?"

"The President. I have made an appointment with him half an hour from
now. The Senator from New York has touched him a bit by demanding why he
is haling the other great corporations into court, and leaving the
Consolidated Companies to grow larger and stronger without opposition."

"Have you discussed the matter with the President?"

"No; I thought it best to let you present it as a whole. Come--we shall
find him ready for us."

The President received his callers in his office. He was a great
President, and as such realized, as some of his predecessors had not,
that the country of which he was the chief executive was constantly
outgrowing the legislation which had been wise at the time of its
enactment. He realized that as expansion comes conditions change, and
these changed conditions necessitate the exercise of a far-seeing and a
far-reaching judgment in administering the law in its spirit rather than
always in its letter; but the experience he had gained in the White
House had taught him the difficulties which beset his path in living up
to his convictions. Gorham had been frequently called to his councils
for advice upon various subjects, and the President was familiar with
the Consolidated Compani