The Cable by Marion Ames Taggart

There was a matter of state and interstate, if not of national / importance afoot, a lively correspondence in its regard flying between / the Lucas and Henderson offices in Chicago, Washington and Beaconhite. / A franchise was in question which must pass, not only the legislatures / of three states, but at last be established or annulled by the passage / of a Congressional Act which would react upon the state legislatures' / decisions on the franchise, making it effective or practically without / value. Energetic and clever lobbying to insure this franchise was / vehemently carrying on in the capitals of the three states concerned, / and at Washington as well. Millions were at stake upon the issue; / immense sums being spent for the passage of the bill; greater sums / waiting those lucky stockholders who should profit by the enterprise / when it was in working order, notably those who "got in on the ground / floor," who took up as much of the stock as was put out on the market / for sale, at a price beyond which shares would rapidly soar once / the inevitably profitable scheme was proved successful. There would / not be much, or comparatively little of the stock offered upon the / market; the corporation behind the enterprise was made up of solid / men who could afford to wait for their future big percentage, secure / to them if the thing went through. They did not purpose to let the / general public share the chippings from the shell of their golden / egg, except in numbers enough to forestall enmity to it on the ground / of its being a private profit, maintained through public tolerance, / via the Congress and legislatures.

Correspondence in regard to this / important matter passed in great bulk through Cicely's hands; she was / interested in it to the highest point. The newspapers were full of / allusions to the franchise, opposing it, supporting it, according to / their bias for or against the political party favoring the measure. It / amazed inexperienced Cis to find that this was the basis of newspaper / influence, never the abstract benefit or harm to the public at large, / which seemed to her mind the only ground upon which to favor or oppose / the franchise.