240 A SAGA OF THE SEAS 
service, and he appealed for support. His own remuneration 
was to come in the enhanced value of the stock he had taken 
over—a perfectly honest and straightforward reward. As 
president of the company, he forwent a salary and disdained 
byplays of stock-juggling. As events afterwards proved, his 
attitude was too naive and sincere. Predatory financial ope- 
rators are inclined to take advantage of incorruptible pro- 
moters, whose moves are easy to anticipate because they fight 
fairly. 
One of the most difficult obstacles in the early stages of the 
company’s development was the opposition of property- 
owners to the construction of an elevated railway in the 
street just outside their upstairs windows. This opposition is 
easy to understand. The noise, the smoke, the jar, and the 
deprivation of light and privacy were serious reasons for pro- 
test. Most residents and owners of real estate along the route 
naturally objected to such an unpleasant demonstration of 
the machine age a few feet from their property. 
The property-owners used every legal means at their dis- 
posal to prevent the company’s use of the streets. ‘They pre- 
sented a strong and reasonable argument. Field recognized 
their position, but pleaded for the public’s right to rapid and 
efficient transit and the needs of the rapidly-growing city. A 
system of elevated railways, he declared, was exactly what the 
haphazard settlements on the island should possess to bind 
them together into a great and prosperous metropolis. The 
issue was threshed out in the courts. ‘The elevated company 
won an important victory, and a significant precedent was 
established for the common good as opposed to private rights. 
As events afterward proved, the building of the elevated sys- 
tem brought a real-estate boom in which many property- 
owners made a fortune. 
During a year and a half of intensive effort, much progress 
was made. In the autumn of 1878, Field was able to report 
to the directors of the company as follows: “It is not eighteen 
