Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 February 1915 — HOW MOYNIHAN TAMED THE TRUST [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOW MOYNIHAN TAMED THE TRUST

Story of San Francisco Boilermaker and the Hardware Combine. WOULD NOT ACCEPT REBATE Clerk’s Error, However, Gave the Enemy Into the Old Irishman’s Hands, and He BpeedllyExacted* Terms.

By RICHARD BPILLANE.

(Copyright. McClure Newspaper Syndicate.) Mr. Moynihan hag one tooth, a bald head and a temper. 'The tooth was in the upper gum directly in the center and made quite a show when Mr. Meyirihan engaged in conversation. The baldness of his head was expansive. There was only a Cringe of hair about his ears and the back of his neck and this fringe was stained and dyed by the ’grime of the shop. His temper was unimpaired. It had developed with his years. He was a boilermaker. It was his proud boast that be had started in business in 1859. His shop was in Beale street, San Francisco. He made good boilers, as is testified to by the fact that a fair share of the steamers that plowed the Pacific were equipped with Moynihan’s boilers. So long as you didn’t cross the old man he was delightful to deal with. He had a rich store of Irish wit and could tell a story as well as any man. When he was angered, however, he was primitive. Old as he was, he wasn’t averse to a fist fight. Age had not

withered his muscles. He was rich, proud and an earnest, hard-working citizen. A score of times propositions were made to him to combine his plant with that of others. Invariably he would answer: “I started here in '59. I made boilers before you were born, or anyhow before you were anything but a wee bit of a- gossoon. I’ve run my shop without your help or anybody else’s help. I’ll run it myself until I die; so that’s all there is about it” If the caller tried to argue with him the old man would arise In his wrath and say "Get out of my place,” and if the visitor wasn’t spry the old m«m would "push him into the, street Some of the smaller boiler works combined, but it didn’t affect Moynihan. His reputation was so well established and hir patrons were so well satisfied that he went along year by year making plenty of boilers, making a fair bit of money and perfectly contented. •He* Scorned Rebate Offer. But combination was in the air. If it didn’t succeed well in thp boiler -line, it did in the supply houses. Mr. Moynihan bought his sheet metal, his rivets, his hammers, his sledges, his fives and all hisother shop necessities where he pleased. He would patronize one establishment until something occurred to irritate him and then he would transfer his trade to another. All the supply men knew his peculiarities and did their best to keep in his good graces. His plant was so big that his account was well worth having. One day a suave, diplomatic gentleman connected with one of the largest hardware concerns called to see Mr. Moynihan and prevailed upon him to go to luncheon with him. "When the old man was In a mellow mood the bos* » manner as possible, explaln-ft# tJ Ffiy ha wanted to talk with Mr. Moynihan. There was a great waste In the supply business, he pM There was a duplication of clerks, oi salesmen, of stock, etc. Rent was a big item. It was an economic necessity that this waste should be dome away with. It would wipe out senseless competition. It -would tend to -lessen the cost of the auderiai.. a move was-ea foot to eon-

soltdate some of the supply houses. The men behind this consolidation wanted their customers to benefit through the economies introduced. They wanted Mr. Moynihan to share. If Mr. Moynihan would agree to bay his supplies from the combination he would find it greatly to his advantage. The combination would sell to the general trade at a certain figure, but to men like Mr. Moynihan, whose accounts were large, and whose trade was well worth having, a concession would be made. This concession would not be made at the time of purchase of goods, but a check representing a certain percentage of his purchases would be sent to him at the end of each month, or at the end of each quarter. ‘ls it a ray-bate that you mean?" inquired Timothy J. Moynihan. "Well," said the other gentleman, smilingly, "you might call it a rebate.” ‘Tve been in business since 1859;” said Mr. Moynihan, “and I've never <had a ray-bate and I don’t want one. Til buy where I please and when I please. I don't know whether your scheme is honest or crooked, but you have brought me here on false pret tinses, and ■ I’m sorry that I’ve had meat and drink with you. Waiter!” he roared, and when a waiter came he demanded to know what the bill was for what he had had. When told the amount, he paid it, gave a generous tip to the waiter and stamped out of the room. Effects of the Combine. Quick to anger and quick to forget, Mr. Moynihan didn't think much of the affair of the dining room. He noticed, however, that a very decided change was coming over the hardware trade. Small establishments closed, men with whom he had done business for many years sold out and took positions as managers or salesmen in bigger concerns. Slowly but surely nearly all the hardware supply business of San Francisco came under one head. Coincident with this change

prices of material advanced. He had to pay more for his steel, for his rivets. for his tubes, |pr his hammers, his sledges, everything that he bought He let out a roar of protest every time prices -were advanced, but it was of no use. He tried to get supplies from the tew small concerns that still continued in the business, but their figures were as high as those of the biggest establishments, if not higher. What can’t be cured must be endured, so Mr. Moynihan reluctantly gave his orders to the big house. To meet the advance in prices of material he raised his price on boilers Some -of his patrons protested. He told them material had gone up and he wouldn’t make any more out of the job at the higher price than he did at the lower. A few went to rival boiler makers and, much to Mr. Moynlhan’s surprise, didn't return to him. That year Moynlhan’s business dropped off and his profit for the twelve months was very small. The next year it dropped off more and instead of a profit he had a deficit. Customer after customer left him.. The old man tried not to show his chagrin, but he took the decline of his business very much to heart. "I guess I'm getting pretty old,” he would say to his cronies. “I guess I’m too old to do business. -I can make as good boilers as ever were made, but I can’t make them as cheap as Doyle or Kennedy or a lot of the other fellows. They under-bid me' every time. If it wasn't for me pride I’d retire. I've beep in business since ’59” —and then he would go on with his long story of what he had done in the days when California was young. A few old friends stuck to him and gave their orders to him regardless of the fact that he charged more than dny of his rivals. He wouldn’t reduce his force, but many a day he sat in his office and moped. He was a “hasbeen.” He realized it. Got After the "Robbers.” One morning there camp to him in the mafi a large envelope that eontained a letter and a check. When the old man read the letter and looked at the check, he let out a roar that brought in some of the workmen from the shop. ~ . „ "The robbers, the bloody robbers!”

he howled. "Give me me hat, give fce me coat!” And within half a minute he was racing madly through the streets with the letter and the Check, in his hand. He went to the office of James Gs, McGuire, one of the most prominent lawyers of California. Mr. McGuire had been the Democratic nominee for governor. Old man Moynihan threw the envelope, letter and check on Mr. McGuire’s desk. “I want you to bust the trust,” he said. “Send the robbers to Jail. Put every last one of them behind the bars. There’s your evidence. It came to me In the mail. The devils put themselves in me hands.” Mr. McGuire calmed the excited man and then read the letter and examined the check. He knew Moynihan’s story. He smiled as he read the letter and he smiled as he looked at the check. \ ‘1 guess It’s the mistake of some clerk, Tim,” he said. “Ton certainly have the evidence.” “I have Now go right to work and bust the trust,” said Mr. Moynihan. , “I’ve suffered enough from the crimes. of these spalpeens. Now I want my revenge. They’d have ruined me if I hadn’t a bit of money laid by.” Mr. McGuire explained to the old Irishman Jhis idea of how the letter, and the check happened to come to him. “I suppose they have a new bookkeeper,” he said. “I suppose in making up his quarterly statement he included your account among those to whom rebates should be given. He supposed you were in the combination, so he had a check for the rebate made out in your favor. There will be the devil to pay in that office when they learn of this mistake.” “It’s right you are, Mr. McGuire,” said Moynihan. “Now I want you to go ahead and bust the trust.” McGuire’s Wise Advice. “Not so fast,” said Mr. McGuire. ‘lt would take years And cost you every dollar you’ve got. It's a matter for the federal authorities. The case would be fought out in court after court up to the Supreme court of the United States and wouldn’t be settled finally probably until long after you are dead. You leave the matter wholly to me and I’ll make these rascals quake, I’ll make them wish they'd never formed the combination and never had anything to do with T. J. Moynihan. You go ahead and bid on all the contracts you wish. Base your estimates just the same as if you were getting a rebate. Buy all your supplies from the combination.”

Timothy J. Moynihan did as he was told. He got more business the next month than he had in the previous year. His competitors had ceased to consider him as a factor. Not only that, but various men who had given orders to Moynihan were surprised to get letters from him notifying them that owing to a development, which he would explain to them later, he was able to make a reduction in the price of work he had done for them and that he was forwarding his check to cover the amount they were entitled to. Mr. Moynihan meanwhile turned over to Mr. McGuire a detailed statement of everything he had purchased from the combination from the day it was formed. Mr. McGuire had several conferences with the head of the combination. The hardware man was aghast when Mr. McGuire said it was his purpose to compel the combination to bring all its books into court. ‘1 don’t care what system of bookkeeping you have employed,” said Mr. McGuire, “either your books or the records of the banks will disclose everything I require. We’ve got you under the civil statutes and we've got you under the Sherman act. You’ll be a mighty lucky lot of men if you escape the penitentiary. You’ve got a pretty tough citizen to deal with in Timothy J. Moynihan. Nothing would please him better than to see you in stripes. He gladly would spend every dollar he possesses to have full revenge on you and all those connected with yon.” The combination employed half a dozen lawyers, high-priced lawyers, the sort of lawyers that do more work out of court than in court They gave all their attention to that case for weeks. They consulted with Mr. McGuire and they blarneyed* and they pleaded with Mr. Moynihan. The one •thing that influenced Mr. Moynihan was the picture of the disgrace and the suffering that would be visited upon the innocent wives and children of the men connected with the combination. At last he agreed to compromise. The combination paid back to him every dollar that would have been due to him in rebate had he been a party to the agreement proposed some years before. He Insisted on getting Interest in full on each and every item of this rebate It amounted to about twenty-eight thousand dollars. He got an agreement, too, in writing that from that time forward his purchases would be at the lowest rate the concern gave to its patrons. In other words. Instead of a rebate, he would get the real rate He insisted, too, that the combination furnish to him at the beginning of each week a schedule of its prices on all classes of material. And last, but not least, he compelled the combination to pay Mr. McGuire’s bill, and it was a good fat one, for he find it himself. When he took the check to Mr. McGuire and handed it to that gentleman he said: "We’ve done good work, sir; we’ve done good work. If wedidn*t bust the trust, sir, be gob, we tamed It" And he smiled so expansively that he showed every portion of his ona tOOth. -

“I'm Sorry That I’ve Had Meat and Drink With You.”