Page:The Wizard of Wall Street and his Wealth.djvu/175

 money to help the Baltimore and Ohio railroad out of the difficulties into which it had fallen.

Repeated efforts were made by the stockholders of the American Union to secure the interference of the attorney-generals of various states, but the consolidation stood. In May, 1882, the Western Union secured control of all the European cables, and no little comment was aroused soon thereafter when it was charged that Mr. Gould was making an effort to secure control of the New York Associated Press, or, at least, of the news which it sent out. He was reputed to control at that time three of the seven newspapers constituting the corporation, and something of a sensation was caused by the charge. The Western Union's control of the cables became so absolute that the Mackay-Bennett cables were laid and gave a competing service to Europe, which was afterward largely extended to other parts of the world.

In probably no other country of the world would one man be permitted to control its telegraph system. But Gould became the absolute dictator of the Western Union and successfully overcame every competitor that arose. His record in Western Union, like that in his other properties, is that of a tremendous increase of securities. Like the wicked milkman, Gould always skimmed off the cream and poured water into all his properties. The comic papers delighted to picture him with a watering-pot in his hand.

The mainspring of the Western Union is mo