THE FARMER'S WAR AGAINST MONOPOLIES. 81 



single combination of capital representing the control 

 of at least 4500 miles of road and not less than 

 $250,000,000 of capital. 



" This, however, is but the result of a loose alliance 

 between men notorious for their feuds and their selfish- 

 ness ; the combination is temporary, depending perhaps 

 upon the continued life of one who lacks little of being 

 an octogenarian. The men who control it not infre- 

 quently evince talents of a very high order, and their 

 course is made continually interesting by episodes of 

 dramatic surprise. They lack, however, the greatest 

 and most indispensable element of permanent success, 

 some underlying, indissoluble bond of union. In this 

 respect they differ entirely from the great combination 

 which has gradually taken shape in the neighboring 

 State of Pennsylvania. What is commonly known as 

 the Pennsylvania Central Railroad Company is prob- 

 ably to-day the most powerful corporation in the world, 

 as, indeed, it owns and operates one of the oldest of 

 railroads. Its organization, as compared with that of 

 its great rival, the New York Central, bears the relation 

 of a republic to an empire. Csesarism is the principle 

 of the Yanderbilt group ; the corporation is the essence 

 of the Pennsylvania system. The marked degree in 

 which the character of the people have given an insen- 

 sible direction to the management of their corporations 

 in these two States is well deserving of notice. In 

 New York politics the individual leader has ever been 

 the centre ; in Pennsylvania, always the party. The 

 people of this last State are not marked by intelligence; 

 they are, in fact, dull, uninteresting, very slow and 

 very persevering. These are qualities, however, which 

 they hold in common with the ancient Romans, and 



6 



