AT KEMMS PARK.
Lord Kemms’ attention “having,” at length, “been called” (this was the
gist of a letter his Lordship wrote to the _Times_) to the fact of his
name appearing in the list of directors of the “Protector Bread and
Flour Company, Limited,” begged to state, not merely that he had given
no authority for such use of his name, but that, when applied to for
permission by the promoter, Mr. Peter Black, he had, in the most
unequivocal terms, refused to have anything whatever to do either with
the “Protector” or any other company. His Lordship added, that “having
failed to obtain a satisfactory explanation of the circumstances under
which his name was placed upon the Direction, either from the secretary
of the Company or Mr. Black, he trusted the Editor of the _Times_ would
insert his letter, and thus give him (Lord Kemms) an opportunity of
setting himself right with the general public.”
This letter was written after a somewhat stormy interview with Arthur
Dudley and Mr. Black, and despatched to the _Times’_ office hours before
Mr. Stewart’s arrival in town. When that gentleman, after touching _en
route_ at the offices in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, did reach Lord Kemms’
town house, he was informed his Lordship had left for Kemms Park by the
5.8 express.
On receiving this intelligence, Mr. Stewart and his nephew drove
straight to King’s Cross, where they caught the 7.15 to Palinsbridge,
from which place they proceeded in a fly, procured at the Plough Hotel,
to Kemms’ Park.
Arrived there, between ten and eleven o’clock at night, Mr. Stewart bade
the driver wait; and then, following the butler, who stared to see
visitors at such an hour, was ushered into the drawing-room, where were
seated Miss Augusta Baldwin, Lord Kemms, and Mr. Compton Raidsford.
“If I were inclined to quote Mr. Black,” remarked Mr. Stewart, after
exchanging greetings with his relations, “I should say, here we drop
upon the conspirators. Now, Frank, what is all this about you and our
Company? Nice dance you have led me over it! Why could you not have
stopped in town till you had seen some of us, as any other human being
would, I think, excepting yourself?”
“Mr. Raidsford had kindly promised to dine with me to-day.”
“Very good of Mr. Raidsford,” answered Mr. Stewart, with a look towards
that gentleman, which seemed to say “I know all about it;” “and I
suppose you and Mr. Raidsford have been settling our concerns for us
over your claret. We stand at opposite poles,” he added, addressing the
contractor; “there can be no doubt but that in some previous state of
existence you were bitten by a company, and have had a kind of
hydrophobic horror of Limited Liability ever since. Now, Frank, tell me
all your grievances; what is this about your good name being taken from
you?”
“It has been used without my authority,” answered his Lordship. “I told
Mr. Black distinctly I would have nothing to do with his venture, and
after that he coolly went and put my name on the Direction.”
“He quite understood, I think; that you had given your consent?”
“I beg your pardon: the last interview I ever had with Mr. Black, until
to-day, was at Berrie Down, and I then told him nothing should induce me
to lend my countenance to any undertaking of the kind.”
“It was a pity Mr. Black did not take you at your word, Frank,” said Mr.
Douglas Croft; “we could have done without you.”
“You will have to do without me now,” retorted Lord Kemms. “I have
written to the _Times_ to say that my name was used without my
authority.”
“You are confoundedly touchy about your name, if Miss Baldwin will
excuse my saying so,” observed Mr. Stewart; which remark Miss Baldwin
apparently took as a hint that the presence of ladies was undesired, for
she rose and left the room, stating, with a gracious smile to Mr.
Stewart, that she would not remain, and so prevent his saying whatever
he liked. “_I_ consider Frank has been very hasty,” she added, glancing
defiantly in the direction where Mr. Raidsford sat; “but I profess to
know nothing of business.”
“Then I wish, aunt, you would not interfere in mine,” answered Lord
Kemms; “and, as for my name,” he went on, addressing Mr. Stewart, “how
should you like yours to be put on any board of direction without your
authority?”
“I should not like it at all,” replied his visitor; “but still I should
not think it necessary to go perfectly insane on the subject, as you
appear to have done. Dudley tells me you stormed at Mr. Black to-day
like a woman; that you would not listen to a word of explanation; and
that you dashed out of the office without giving either of them an
opportunity of even attempting to arrange the matter with you.”
“Because Black had the audacity to tell me I did give him permission,
and adhered to the statement. He first insinuated I was trying to back
out of the affair, and then wished to know if some pecuniary compromise
could not be effected. The insolent vagabond coolly told me, ‘that was
always the way with gentlemen,—that a merchant’s word was as good as his
bond, but that, unless you had everything with a swell (the expression
he used) in black and white, there was no dependence to be placed upon
how matters might turn out.’”
“Very foolish of Black to make such a speech,” Mr. Stewart commented.
“You must have put up his temper by some means, Frank.”
“I made him confess he was a liar,” said Lord Kemms.
“My dear fellow, how very vehement you are!” expostulated his kinsman;
“you could not express your meaning more strongly if you were a
costermonger!”
“I do not see why I should not employ the only word which thoroughly
expresses my meaning, even though it be used by a costermonger also. Mr.
Black stated that I allowed my name to be put on the Direction. I asked
him when? He declared at the time we were staying at Berrie Down. I
reminded him, that the last occasion on which we met in Hertfordshire
was one day I called at the Hollow, when I told him, in Mr. Dudley’s
presence, I would have nothing to do with the Company. Then he said, he
had made a mistake—it was when he saw me at my house in London. I told
him he had never seen me at my house in London—that, at the time he
inquired there for me, I was in Paris. Then he declared it must have
been at Palinsbridge station; at any rate, he knew I had promised to let
him have my name, and that it was too absurd for me, after having seen
myself advertised for twelve months, to try to repudiate connection with
the ‘Protector’ now.”
“And he was quite right there,” observed Mr. Stewart.
“I regret to differ from you,” here put in Mr. Raidsford; “but I cannot
agree with that opinion.”
Mr. Stewart looked over at the speaker with an expression which seemed
to say, that it was a matter of supreme indifference to him whether Mr.
Raidsford agreed or not, but still he condescended to explain that “Lord
Kemms had suffered judgment to go by default.”
“Mr. Black’s very remark!” said Lord Kemms. “He drew his shoulders up to
his ears, and stuffed his hands under the waistband of his trousers——”
“Really, Frank, you are needlessly descriptive,” expostulated Mr.
Stewart.
“And said,” proceeded Lord Kemms, unheeding the interruption, “you know,
my Lord, it is of no sort of manner of use your kicking up an infernal
row about the matter now. You have suffered judgment to go by default;
and whether you intended your name to be on our board or not, cannot
make any difference at this time of day; so you had better let us come
to some arrangement. Speaking on behalf of the other directors, I am
certain the Company will do what it can to meet your views.”
“Could a man have spoken any fairer than that?” inquired Mr. Stewart.
“Fairer! I never heard anything so perfectly cool and impertinent in my
life!” exclaimed Lord Kemms. “First, to use my name, and then dare to
say, ‘I need not try to set myself right with the public!’”
“What do you suppose the public cares about the affair?” asked Mr.
Croft. “To whom, do you imagine, it signifies in the least whether your
name is on the Direction or not?”
“It signifies to me,” replied his Lordship.
“Why?” demanded Mr. Stewart.
“Because I do not choose to be mixed up with speculations of the kind;
because I refused to be associated with your Company; because I won’t be
overreached in this way; because other names may have been used in the
same manner, and it is time promoters were taught such liberties cannot
be taken with impunity.”
“Our Company is a good one—paying very good dividends, and you have
risked no money in it,” suggested Mr. Croft.
“Your Company may be a good one, or it may not,” replied Lord Kemms;
“but, good or bad, I won’t be mixed up with it. I will have nothing to
do with adventures or speculations of any kind.”
“It is a pity you were not always so particular concerning the things
you connected yourself with, Frank,” remarked his cousin.
“Let by-gones be by-gones, Douglas,” interposed Mr. Stewart, hastily;
“because a man sees the folly of his ways now, there is no justice in
twitting him with having been less far-sighted formerly. No doubt, Frank
is right as to the general principle; but this is rather a special case,
with some peculiarities about it, which he will, doubtless, take into
consideration. In the first place,” he added, addressing Lord Kemms, “we
will admit there has been some misunderstanding on the subject——”
“No,” was the reply, “I will admit nothing of the kind. Black understood
me perfectly——”
“Well, granting that he did understand you, what particular harm has his
use of your name done? It is associated not with obscure Cockneys or
swindlers, but with decently-respectable, solvent men, like Douglas and
myself, for example. Of course, we know, we are not lords; but still, we
have a fancy we are honest, and possess some money. Our venture is
turning out very well. No doubt the proper number of shares has been
allotted to you. You take no responsibility—you run no risk; by making a
fuss over the affair, you will do yourself no good, and may do us
considerable harm. You will take time to think over the matter, and you
will, when you have cooled down a little, decide to make no public
scandal concerning the affair.”
“I have already written to the _Times_,” answered his Lordship.
“But not posted the letter, I hope. Bring it here, Frank, and we will
smoke a calumet of peace over its ashes.”
“Impossible! I sent it to the _Times’_ office before I left London.”
“If we had known that, we might have saved ourselves this agreeable
journey,” said Mr. Croft; while Mr. Stewart observed:
“Well, Frank, all I can say is, I am very sorry; for now we shall have
to fight you as best we can. Once in the _Times_, it is war to the
death, you know.”
“It was not I who sought the war,” answered Lord Kemms.
“After waiting nearly twelve months, you might surely have waited
another day.”
“It was only yesterday I knew anything about the matter. I happened to
be over at the Hollow with my aunt, and on the drawing-room table I saw
one of the ‘Protector’ prospectuses. Glancing at it, I knew for the
first time the use Black had made of my name.”
“It is singular your friend, Mr. Raidsford, did not communicate the fact
to you before,” observed Mr. Stewart, with a slight sneer.
“There has been a coolness between me and Lord Kemms for some time
past,” interposed Mr. Raidsford, “originating in this very affair. Lord
Kemms assured me he would have nothing to do with your Company; and
when, after that assurance, I saw his name amongst the directors, I
confess I felt both surprised and nettled.”
“And pray, sir, if the question be not indiscreet, what interest was it
of yours whether Lord Kemms became a director of our Company or not?”
“It was no personal interest of mine,” answered the contractor; “but
believing, as I do, such companies to be the curse of commerce—the very
death of legitimate trade—when I am asked for my poor opinion, I do not
hesitate about expressing it.”
“You consider capital, then, which employs labour, which builds bridges,
constructs railways, digs canals, sends out vessels, the death of
legitimate trade?” inquired Mr. Stewart.
“Capital, no,” was the reply; “companies, yes—at least, limited
liability companies.”
“And yet the idea of the man who brought in, and the majority which
passed, the Limited Liability Act, was, that, so far from killing trade,
it would foster and encourage commerce.”
“So we may conclude, or else it would never have become law,” was the
reply.
“Trade has always been crippled for want of capital,” remarked Mr.
Croft.
“And trade always will be,” answered Mr. Raidsford; “it is in the nature
of trade to find whatever capital it may have insufficient. In precise
proportion to the extent of his business are a man’s outstanding debts;
consequently, the larger his business is, the greater are the number of
his debtors. His capital, in fact, goes into his books; and instead of
so much in the bank, he has so many hundreds of people owing him money.”
“The idea of limited liability was to enable a man to put a certain sum
of money into a business, and have no further responsibility,” said Mr.
Stewart.
“Any man could have compassed the same object by _lending_ money into a
business,” replied Mr. Raidsford; “since the usury laws were repealed,
he might have taken what percentage he pleased, and run no more risk
than he does under the Limited Liability Act; but the real mischief of
the present system, to my mind, is, not that large capitalists are
thereby enabled to advance money to small working men, but that the
large capitalists are thereby enabled to combine together, and crush the
small working men. Precisely as you are doing at present: you are
ruining hundreds of respectable tradesmen, and when your crash comes, as
come it will, those men will not be benefited thereby; they have lost
their capital, small or great, as the case may be, and must content
themselves with situations for the remainder of their lives.”
“You are extremely kind to prophesy such a pleasant future for the
Protector,” said Mr. Croft.
“Where there are many masters, there are bad servants,” was the reply;
“at least, such is my opinion. My notion is, indeed, that in a company
there is no master at all; there is no one person whose business and
interest it is to see that things are properly and economically
conducted.”
“We have our manager,” suggested Mr. Stewart.
“You have an admirably efficient manager at your works now, I do not
doubt,” said Mr. Raidsford.
“What do you mean by that remark?” asked Mr. Stewart.
“Simply, that I should not give Mr. Crossenham sixpence a week for
managing any concern of mine; but, without question, he is perfectly
competent to fill the position he occupies with you.”
“Once again, Mr. Raidsford, I must ask you to explain your meaning?”
“Then, Mr. Stewart, you certainly will ask in vain,” was the reply.
“When, eight months since, we met in Moorgate Street, you did me the
honour of asking my opinion about this Company,—and I gave you that
opinion to the best of my ability,—what was your course of action? You
certainly got rid of Bayley Crossenham, but you put in his shoes a man
utterly incompetent to manage even his own business, how much less
yours; a man, who, though perfectly honest himself, could never detect
dishonesty in others. I asked you then, if Lord Kemms’ name had been
really added to the Direction by his authority? and it is now evident
you took no steps to ascertain the truth of the matter. I counselled you
to be exceedingly wary in dealing with Mr. Black, and yet Mr. Black is
now virtually master of the ‘Protector,’ as he is of every other company
with which he is connected.”
“He is not master of the ‘Protector,’” answered Mr. Stewart.
“He must be master of its funds, or he never could have such an amount
of money to spend, as is the case at present,” was the reply.
“He is no such thing,” repeated Mr. Stewart.
“I am happy to hear it, for the sake of the shareholders,” answered Mr.
Raidsford, coolly; “and that brings me to another phase of limited
liability, viz., that this boasted union of capitalists, of which we
hear so much, is, in many cases, neither more nor less than the
accumulation of five and ten pounds scraped from the savings of the
lower middle class; the money of people who, deluded by specious
advertisements and good names, send up their post-office orders and
receive their shares, and lose their cash, and thereby afford a living
to a class of men who otherwise would be exercising their talents in
some very different mode indeed from that of ‘promoting’ public
companies.”
“What a pity you do not go into Parliament, and favour the nation with
an exposition of your views!” said Mr. Stewart.
“I should not be the first man to advance them,” was the reply. “In both
Houses somewhat similar opinions have been expressed before now; of
course, my views may be wrong——”
“You do not mean, Mr. Raidsford, that you have ever contemplated such a
possibility?” interrupted Mr. Stewart.
“Yes, I have,” was the reply; “contemplated, much more closely, the pros
and cons of limited liability, than you have the Protector’s chances of
ultimate success. The system is rotten, Mr. Stewart, and you and such
men as you, who derive profit from these ventures without incurring one
halfpenny of risk, ought to be the first to confess that it is so.”
“I have two thousand shares in the Protector Bread Company on my own
risk, at all events,” said Mr. Stewart.
“I am delighted to hear it, in one way,” answered Mr. Raidsford;
“delighted, because it proves you to be a thoroughly honest man; but
sorry, because if anything do go wrong with the Company, your loss will
be considerable.”
“But I am determined nothing shall go wrong with the Company.”
“In that case, doubtless you devote a considerable amount of attention
to the mills!”
“Mr. Raidsford, have you any specific charge to make against our
manager?”
“If I had,” was the reply, “I should go before the board and prefer it.
I make no charge, but I recommend caution. I was right about Lord Kemms,
you perceive.”
“We do not admit that,” broke in Douglas Croft; “we are his opponents
now, and must fight the matter out with him.”
“Or, rather, Mr. Black must,” added Mr. Stewart. “He got us into this
scrape, and he must get us out of it; so, remember, Frank, you are in
for a paper war with one of the shrewdest men I know; you and Mr.
Raidsford will have to muster your forces so as to come out of the
struggle with _éclat_. I am sorry it has so happened, I must confess;
sorry that Lord Kemms has been—I am obliged to use a harsh word, Mr.
Raidsford—so ill-advised. With the best intentions, I feel confident,
you have counselled him to hurry into print (a course always to be
avoided, if possible), but still, you have led him wrong. Had you left
the matter in my hands, Frank,” he added, “I should myself have stated
publicly that there had been some misunderstanding, and so withdrawn
your name, without any fuss or anger. As it is—why it is—and there is no
use in further discussion. We must now do the best we can for
ourselves,” and Mr. Stewart rose to depart.
“You are not thinking of going to-night?” exclaimed Lord Kemms, in
astonishment; “because we differ in opinion, we are not, I trust, to
swear eternal enmity.”
“Not with my good-will,” replied Mr. Stewart; “but because we have
differed in opinion, I must get back to town by the first train
to-morrow morning. Had your letter to the _Times_ not been despatched I
would gladly have remained here, instead of returning to Palinsbridge
to-night; but needs must, you know; and you, Frank, are our driver.”
“I am sorry for it, extremely sorry!” exclaimed Lord Kemms.
“Sorry for having appealed to the god of English breakfast-tables?”
asked Mr. Stewart. “Come, I am glad to see some signs of repentance
about you.”
“I did not mean that; I am not sorry for having written and despatched
my letter, I only regret that there should be any necessity for you to
drive back to Palinsbridge to-night. But, at least, you will have
something to eat before you start?”
“It appears to me we ought not to break bread under your roof,” said his
cousin; “but, considering we have had nothing since we left Hastings,
ten hours since, except a glass of sherry and seltzer water at
Palinsbridge, I think it would be carrying animosity farther than human
nature could endure, to refuse your obliging though tardy offer.”
“For my part, I shall be very glad to accept it,” declared Mr. Stewart;
“worry always gives me an appetite; and I should not care to be
dependent on the good offices of mine landlord at the Plough, for
supper. His seltzer water was as hot as though drawn from one of the
Geyser springs. And will you let some of your people tell the fellow,
who brought us over, to give that poor devil of a horse of his a feed?
Nice creature it is; trots about three miles an hour!”
“Will you allow my man to drive you back, Mr. Stewart?” said the
contractor. “I shall be very happy if you will make use of my carriage.”
“Thank you, no,” was the reply; “the fly must return, and so Douglas and
I may as well go in it. We are not exactly like man and wife, apt to
quarrel by the way. If he were my better half, I would accept your offer
at once; as it is, we will return as we came—much obliged,
nevertheless.”
Then Mr. Raidsford thought he must return home.
“Good-night,” said Mr. Stewart; “though your views differ from mine, I
do not say but there is much truth in them. That is the worst of our
imperfect state of existence, there is truth in everything.”
“Even in a promoter,” suggested Douglas Croft; and then the three shook
hands with Mr. Raidsford, who drove back to Moorlands thinking to
himself—
“These great people are very curious individuals. If three men in my own
rank of life had come together under such circumstances, there would
have been hard words used, and a quarrel to a certainty. Is it that they
are not in earnest, or is it civilization? One hears a great deal about
civilization; is this one of its fruits?” and thus pondering, Mr.
Raidsford returned home to the wife of his bosom, who, back from
Hastings, was conducting her household on principles which seemed to the
servants the reverse either of Christian or civilized.
Perhaps this fact made the amicable warfare at Kemms Park seem all the
more astonishing to the contractor, who had many things still to learn,
though he was so clever about business and business matters.
“If that be the way gentlemen quarrel,” he thought, “I cannot wonder at
their looking down on us; I wonder now what they are thinking about me?”
Had a little bird of the air carried what the trio were saying about him
to Mr. Raidsford, he need not have covered his face and shut his eyes.
“Spite of his crotchets I really like Raidsford,” remarked Mr. Croft.
“What do you suppose he meant, uncle, when he spoke about the Company
failing?”
“He meant,” answered Mr. Stewart, “what I have often suspected
myself,—that Black is too great a rogue to be honest, even if honesty be
to his interest. Raidsford is a well-intentioned fellow, but he has not
much information outside his business. Still, his ideas are worth
consideration, and I shall consider them, and look up Mr. Crossenham,”
added Mr. Stewart in a lower tone, as he went downstairs to the
dining-room, where a substantial supper was already spread.