Page:The Wizard of Wall Street and his Wealth.djvu/310

 its outstanding liabilities with the government. Huntington was here with Gould. Money was plentiful as water. As one man who got some of it said, 'All that was necessary to do was to stretch your hand and take it.' Gould, flushed by success with his own creatures, fancied he could buy a majority. In fact, he thought he could buy the entire Congress if he desired. He went into a prominent senator's room on Fourteenth street whom he knew slightly. He told him he wanted to talk to him about the pending bill. 'Mr. Gould,' the senator replied, 'if you want to see me about public affairs, you will have to call on me at the senate.'

"'But I don't want to go to the senate. I won't go there. I want your assistance and I desire to make it worth your while to assist me.'

"'Mr. Gould,' said the senator, rising and pointing to the door, 'oblige me by leaving my rooms.'

"Gould, dumbfounded, went. But he was more successful elsewhere. He needed forty votes. I saw a list on the day the debate was to end. It contained the names of forty-three senators who were to vote for the bill. I called old Thurman out. I told him he was beaten. He asked why. 'Because,' I said, 'Gould and Huntington have forty-three votes.' He said it was impossible and I told him of the list I had seen. He wanted the list. I doubted my ability to get it. 'You must get it,' he said. I was a correspondent, and after a while secured the list and copied it for my paper. Then I showed it to