Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie
one morning and opened negotiations. I left with him a copy of the
prospectus, and upon calling next day was delighted to find that Mr.
Morgan viewed the matter favorably. I sold him part of the bonds with
the option to take the remainder; but when his lawyers were called in
for advice a score of changes were required in the wording of the
bonds. Mr. Morgan said to me that as I was going to Scotland I had
better go now; I could write the parties in St. Louis and ascertain
whether they would agree to the changes proposed. It would be time
enough, he said, to close the matter upon my return three weeks hence.
But I had no idea of allowing the fish to play so long, and informed
him that I would have a telegram in the morning agreeing to all the
changes. The Atlantic cable had been open for some time, but it is
doubtful if it had yet carried so long a private cable as I sent that
day. It was an easy matter to number the lines of the bond and then
going carefully over them to state what changes, omissions, or
additions were required in each line. I showed Mr. Morgan the message
before sending it and he said:
"Well, young man, if you succeed in that you deserve a red mark."
When I entered the office next morning, I found on the desk that had
been appropriated to my use in Mr. Morgan's private office the colored
envelope which contained the answer. There it was: "Board meeting last
night; changes all approved." "Now, Mr. Morgan," I said, "we can
proceed, assuming that the bond is as your lawyers desire." The papers
were soon closed.
While I was in the office Mr. Sampson, the financial editor of "The
Times," came in. I had an interview with him, well knowing that a few
words from him would go far in lifting the price of the bonds on the
Exchange. American securities had recently been fiercely attacked,
owing to the proceedings of Fisk and Gould in connection with the Erie
Railway Company, and their control of the judges in New York, who
seemed to do their bidding. I knew this would be handed out as an
objection, and therefore I met it at once. I called Mr. Sampson's
attention to the fact that the charter of the St. Louis Bridge Company
was from the National Government. In case of necessity appeal lay
directly to the Supreme Court of the United States, a body vying with
their own high tribunals. He said he would be delighted to give
prominence to this commendable feature. I described the bridge as a
toll-gate on the continental highway and this appeared to please him.
It was all plain and easy sailing, and when he left the office, Mr.
Morgan clapped me on the shoulder and said:
"Thank you, young man; you have raised the price of those bonds five
per cent this morning."
"All right, Mr. Morgan," I replied; "now show me how I can raise them
five per cent more for you."
The issue was a great success, and the money for the St. Louis Bridge
was obtained. I had a considerable margin of profit upon the
negotiation. This was my first financial negotiation with the bankers
of Europe. Mr. Pullman told me a few days later that Mr. Morgan at a
dinner party had told the telegraphic incident and predicted, "That
young man will be heard from."
After closing with Mr. Morgan, I visited my native town, Dunfermline,
and at that time made the town a gift of public baths. It is notable
largely because it was the first considerable gift I had ever made.
Long before that I had, at my Uncle Lauder's suggestion, sent a
subscription to the fund for the Wallace Monument on Stirling Heights
overlooking Bannockburn. It was not much, but I was then in the
telegraph office and it was considerable out of a revenue of thirty
dollars per month with family expenses staring us in the face. Mother
did not grudge it; on the contrary, she was a very proud woman that
her son's name was seen on the list of contributors, and her son felt
he was really beginning to be something of a man. Years afterward my
mother and I visited Stirling, and there unveiled, in the Wallace
Tower, a bust of Sir Walter Scott, which she had presented to the
monument committee. We had then made great progress, at least
financially, since the early subscription. But distribution had not
yet begun.[30] So far with me it had been the age of accumulation.
[Footnote 30: The ambitions of Mr. Carnegie at this time (1868) are
set forth in the following memorandum made by him. It has only
recently come to light:
_St. Nicholas Hotel, New York, December, 1868_
Thirty-three and an income of $50,000 per annum! By this time two
years I can so arrange all my business as to secure at least $50,000
per annum. Beyond this never earn--make no effort to increase fortune,
but spend the surplus each year for benevolent purposes. Cast aside
business forever, except for others.
Settle in Oxford and get a thorough education, making the acquaintance
of literary men--this will take three years' active work--pay especial
attention to speaking in public. Settle then in London and purchase a
controlling interest in some newspaper or live review and give the
general management of it attention, taking a part in public matters,
especially those connected with education and improvement of the
poorer classes.
Man must have an idol--the amassing of wealth is one of the worst
species of idolatry--no idol more debasing than the worship of money.
Whatever I engage in I must push inordinately; therefore should I be
careful to choose that life which will be the most elevating in its
character. To continue much longer overwhelmed by business cares and
with most of my thoughts wholly upon the way to make more money in the
shortest time, must degrade me beyond hope of permanent recovery. I
will resign business at thirty-five, but during the ensuing two years
I wish to spend the afternoons in receiving instruction and in reading
systematically.]
While visiting the Continent of Europe in 1867 and deeply interested
in what I saw, it must not be thought that my mind was not upon
affairs at home. Frequent letters kept me advised of business matters.
The question of railway communication with the Pacific had been
brought to the front by the Civil War, and Congress had passed an act
to encourage the construction of a line. The first sod had just been
cut at Omaha and it was intended that the line should ultimately be
pushed through to San Francisco. One day while in Rome it struck me
that this might be done much sooner than was then anticipated. The
nation, having made up its mind that its territory must be bound
together, might be trusted to see that no time was lost in
accomplishing it. I wrote my friend Mr. Scott, suggesting that we
should obtain the contract to place sleeping-cars upon the great
California line. His reply contained these words:
"Well, young man, you do take time by the forelock."
Nevertheless, upon my return to America. I pursued the idea. The
sleeping-car business, in which I was interested, had gone on
increasing so rapidly that it was impossible to obtain cars enough to
supply the demand. This very fact led to the forming of the present
Pullman Company. The Central Transportation Company was simply unable
to cover the territory with sufficient rapidity, and Mr. Pullman
beginning at the greatest of all railway centers in the
world--Chicago--soon rivaled the parent concern. He had also seen that
the Pacific Railroad would be the great sleeping-car line of the
world, and I found him working for what I had started after. He was,
indeed, a lion in the path. Again, one may learn, from an incident
which I had from Mr. Pullman himself, by what trifles important
matters are sometimes determined.
The president of the Union Pacific Railway was passing through
Chicago. Mr. Pullman called upon him and was shown into his room.
Lying upon the table was a telegram addressed to Mr. Scott, saying,
"Your proposition for sleeping-cars is accepted." Mr. Pullman read
this involuntarily and before he had time to refrain. He could not
help seeing it where it lay. When President Durrant entered the room
he explained this to him and said:
"I trust you will not decide this matter until I have made a
proposition to you."
Mr. Durrant promised to wait. A meeting of the board of directors of
the Union Pacific Company was held soon after this in New York. Mr.
Pullman and myself were in attendance, both striving to obtain the
prize which neither he nor I undervalued. One evening we began to
mount the broad staircase in the St. Nicholas Hotel at the same time.
We had met before, but were not well acquainted. I said, however, as
we walked up the stairs:
"Good-evening, Mr. Pullman! Here we are together, and are we not
making a nice couple of fools of ourselves?" He was not disposed to
admit anything and said:
"What do you mean?"
I explained the situation to him. We were destroying by our rival
propositions the very advantages we desired to obtain.
"Well," he said, "what do you propose to do about it?"
"Unite," I said. "Make a joint proposition to the Union Pacific, your
party and mine, and organize a company."
"What would you call it?" he asked.
"The Pullman Palace Car Company," I replied.
This suited him exactly; and it suited me equally well.
"Come into my room and talk it over," said the great sleeping-car man.
I did so, and the result was that we obtained the contract jointly.
Our company was subsequently merged in the general Pullman Company and
we took stock in that company for our Pacific interests. Until
compelled to sell my shares during the subsequent financial panic of
1873 to protect our iron and steel interests, I was, I believe, the
largest shareholder in the Pullman Company.
This man Pullman and his career are so thoroughly American that a few
words about him will not be out of place. Mr. Pullman was at first a
working carpenter, but when Chicago had to be elevated he took a
contract on his own account to move or elevate houses for a
stipulated sum. Of course he was successful, and from this small
beginning he became one of the principal and best-known contractors in
that line. If a great hotel was to be raised ten feet without
disturbing its hundreds of guests or interfering in any way with its
business, Mr. Pullman was the man. He was one of those rare characters
who can see the drift of things, and was always to be found, so to
speak, swimming in the main current where movement was the fastest. He
soon saw, as I did, that the sleeping-car was a positive necessity
upon the American continent. He began to construct a few cars at
Chicago and to obtain contracts upon the lines centering there.
The Eastern concern was in no condition to cope with that of an
extraordinary man like Mr. Pullman. I soon recognized this, and
although the original patents were with the Eastern company and Mr.
Woodruff himself, the original patentee, was a large shareholder, and
although we might have obtained damages for infringement of patent
after some years of litigation, yet the time lost before this could be
done would have been sufficient to make Pullman's the great company of
the country. I therefore earnestly advocated that we should unite with
Mr. Pullman, as I had united with him before in the Union Pacific
contract. As the personal relations between Mr. Pullman and some
members of the Eastern company were unsatisfactory, it was deemed best
that I should undertake the negotiations, being upon friendly footing
with both parties. We soon agreed that the Pullman Company should
absorb our company, the Central Transportation Company, and by this
means Mr. Pullman, instead of being confined to the West, obtained
control of the rights on the great Pennsylvania trunk line to the