THE FARMER'S WAR AGAINST MONOPOLIES. 135 



nately for them, it being summer, the receipts of the 

 road were very heavy at that time, and the stock had 

 suddenly come into great favor in the English market, 

 and was selling rapidly in London. A new feature 

 was now introduced into the road, and Peter B. 

 Sweeney and William M. Tweed were admitted to the 

 Board of Directors. Erie had formed an alliance with 

 Tammany. The infamous Ring of New York, then in 

 the height of its power, had bound itself to sustain the 

 road in any of its outrages. The annual election of the 

 Board of Directors was at hand, and the only fear felt 

 by Messrs. Fisk, Gould & Co. was, that their powerful 

 rival, Commodore Vanderbilt, who was supposed to 

 cherish still his designs upon the road, might obtain 

 possession of a sufficient amount of stock to give him 

 control of the election. In order to prevent this, the 

 trane^" books of the company were closed about thirty 

 days ahead of the usual time previous to an election. 

 The device was successful; the election passed off quietly, 

 with no opposition. Fisk and Gould succeeded in 

 reelecting themselves and their friends, and Tweed and 

 Sweeney were included in the board, and the alliance 

 with Tammany formed as above stated. 



The month of October, 1868, witnessed the formation 

 of this new combination. The same month witnessed 

 the beginning of one of their most determined efforts 

 to rob the community and enrich themselves. Their 

 plan was to take advantage of the stringency existing 

 in the money market, in consequence of the demand 

 for ready money from the rural districts for the purpose 

 of moving the year's harvest, and by suddenly throw- 

 ing a new issue of stock into Wall street, produce 

 such a depression in the stock of their road as would 



