The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Machine, by Upton Sinclair This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: The Machine Author: Upton Sinclair Release Date: February 28, 2009 [EBook #3304] Last Updated: January 9, 2013 Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MACHINE *** Produced by Charles Franks, the Online Distributed Proofreading team, and David Widger THE MACHINE By Upton Sinclair Contents CHARACTERS THE MACHINE ACT I ACT II ACT III CHARACTERS (In order of appearance) JULIA PATTERSON: a magazine writer. JACK BULLEN: a parlor Socialist. LAURA HEGAN: Hegan's daughter. ALLAN MONTAGUE: a lawyer. JIM HEGAN: the traction king. ANNIE ROBERTS: a girl of the slums. ROBERT GRIMES: the boss. ANDREWS: Hegan's secretary. PARKER: a clerk. ACT I Julia Patterson's apartments in a model tenement on the lower East Side. ACT II Library at "The Towers," Hegan's country place on Long Island, two weeks later. ACT III Hegan's private office in Wall street, the next morning. THE MACHINE ACT I [JULIA PATTERSON'S apartments in a model tenement on the lower East Side. The scene shows the living-room, furnished very plainly, but in the newest taste; "arts and crafts" furniture, portraits of Morris and Ruskin on the walls; a centre table, a couple of easy- chairs, a divan and many book-shelves. The entrance from the outer hall is at centre; entrance to the other rooms right and left.] [At rise: JULIA has pushed back the lamp from the table and is having a light supper, with a cup of tea; and at the same time trying to read a magazine, which obstinately refuses to remain open at the right place. She is an attractive and intelligent woman of thirty. The doorbell rings.] JULIA. Ah, Jack! [Presses button, then goes to the door.] JACK. [Enters, having come upstairs at a run. He is a college graduate and volunteer revolutionist, one of the organizers of the "Society of the Friends of Russian Freedom"; handsome and ardent, eager in manner, and a great talker.] Hello, Julia. All alone? JULIA. Yes. I expected a friend, but she can't come until later. JACK. Just eating? JULIA. I've been on the go all day. Have something. JACK. No; I had dinner. [As she starts to clear things away.] Don't stop on my account. JULIA. I was just finishing up. [As he begins to help.] No; sit down. JACK. Nonsense. Let the men be of some use in the world. JULIA. What have you been up to to-day? JACK. We're organizing a demonstration for the Swedish strikers. JULIA. It's marvelous how those Swedes hold on, isn't it? JACK. The people are getting their eyes open. And when they're once open, they stay open. JULIA. Yes. Did you see my article? JACK. I should think I did! Julia, that was a dandy! JULIA. Do you think so? JACK. I do, indeed. You've made a hit. I heard a dozen people talking about it. JULIA. Indeed? JACK. You've come to be the champion female muck-raker of the country, I think. [JULIA laughs.] JACK. Why did you want to see me so specially tonight? JULIA. I've a friend I want you to meet. Somebody I'm engaged in educating. JACK. You seem to have chosen me for your favorite proselytizer. JULIA. You've seen things with your own eyes, Jack. JACK. Yes; I suppose so. JULIA. And you know how to tell about them. And you've such an engaging way about you...nobody could help but take to you. JACK. Cut out the taffy. Who's your friend? JULIA. Her name's Hegan. JACK. A woman? JULIA. A girl, yes. And she's coming right along, Jack. You must take a little trouble with her, for if we can only bring her through, she can do a lot for us. She's got no end of money. JACK. No relative of Jim Hegan, I hope? JULIA. She's his daughter. JACK. [With a bound.] What! JULIA. His only daughter. JACK. Good God, Julia! JULIA. What's the matter? JACK. You know I don't want to meet people like that. JULIA. Why not? JACK. I don't care to mix with them. I've nothing to say to them. JULIA. My dear Jack, the girl can't help her father. JACK. I know that, and I'm sorry for her. But, meantime, I've got my work to do... JULIA. You couldn't be doing any better work than this. If we can make a Socialist of Laura Hegan... JACK. Oh, stuff, Julia! I've given up chasing after will-o'-the-wisps like that. JULIA.—But think what she could do! JACK. Yes. I used to think what a whole lot of people could do. You might as well ask me to think what her father could do... if he only wanted to do it, instead of poisoning the life-blood of the city, and piling up his dirty millions. Go about this town and see the misery and horror... and think that it's Jim Hegan who sits at the top and reaps the profit of it all! It's Jim Hegan who is back of the organization... he's the real power behind Boss Grimes. It's he who puts up the money and makes possible this whole regime of vice and graft... JULIA. My dear boy, don't be silly. JACK. How do you mean? Isn't it true? JULIA. Of course it's true... but why declaim to me about it? You forget you are talking to the champion female muckraker of the country. JACK. Yes, that's right. But I don't want to meet these people socially. They mean well, a lot of them, I suppose; but they've been accustomed all their lives to being people of importance... to have everybody stand in awe of them, because of their stolen money, and all the wonderful things they might do with it if they only would. JULIA. My dear Jack, did you ever observe anything of the tuft-hunter in me? JACK. No, I don't know that I have. But it's never too late. JULIA. [Laughing.] Well, until you do, have a little faith in me! Meet Laura Hegan, and judge for yourself. JACK. [Grumbling.] All right, I'll meet her. But let me tell you, I don't propose to spare her feelings. She'll get things straight from me. JULIA. That's all right, my boy. Give her the class war and the Revolution with a capital R! Tell her you're the only original representative of the disinherited proletariat, and that some day, before long, you intend to plant the red flag over her daddy's palace. [Seriously.] Of course, what you'll actually do is meet her like a gentleman, and tell her of some of your adventures in Russia, and give her some idea of what's going on outside of her little Fifth avenue set. J ACK. Where did you run on to her? JULIA. I met her at the settlement. JACK. Good Lord! Jim Hegan's daughter! [Laughs.] They were toadying to her there, I'll wager. JULIA. Well, you know what settlement people are. She's been coming there for quite a while, and seems to be interested. She's given them quite a lot of money. JACK. No doubt. JULIA. I had a little talk with her one afternoon. She's a quiet, self-contained girl, but she gave me a peculiar impression. She seemed to be unhappy; there was a kind of troubled note in what she said. I had felt uncomfortable about meeting her... you can imagine, after my study of "Tammany and the Traction Trust." JACK. Did she mention that? JULIA. No, she never has. But I've several times had the feeling that she was trying to get up the courage to do it. I've thought, somehow, that she must be suffering about her father. JACK. My God! Wouldn't it be a joke if Nemesis were to get at Jim Hegan through his daughter? JULIA. Yes; wouldn't it! JACK. How do you suppose he takes her reform activities? JULIA. I don't know, but I fancy they must have had it out. She's not the sort of person to let herself be turned back when her mind's made up. JACK. A sort of chip of the old block. [After a pause.] If I'd known what was up, I wouldn't have suggested asking anybody else to come.. . JULIA. Oh, that's all right; it won't make any difference. JACK. This chap, Montague, that I 'phoned to you about... he's a sort of a convert of my own. JULIA. I see. We'll reciprocate. JACK. I think I've got Montague pretty well landed. You'll be interested in him... it's quite a story. It was last election day... [The bell rings.] JULIA. Ah, there's somebody. [She goes to the door; calls.] Is that you, Miss Hegan? LAURA. [Off.] Yes, it's I. JULIA. You found your way, did you? LAURA. Oh, no trouble at all. [Enters, a tall, stately girl, about twenty-three; simply but elegantly clad.] How do you do? JULIA. I am so glad to see you. Jack, this is Miss Hegan. Mr. Bullen. LAURA. How do you do, Mr. Bullen? JACK. I am very glad to meet you, Miss Hegan. JULIA. Let me take your things. LAURA. [Looking about.] Oh, what a cozy place! I think these model tenements are delightful. JULIA. They're indispensable to us agitators... an oasis in a desert. JACK. Built for the proletariat, and inhabited by cranks. LAURA. Is that the truth? JULIA. It's certainly the truth about this one. Below me are two painters and a settlement worker, and next door is a blind Anarchist and a Yiddish poet. LAURA. What's the reason for it? JULIA. [Going to room off left with LAURA's things.] The places are clean and cheap; and whenever the poor can't pay their rent, we take their homes. JACK. The elimination of the unfit. LAURA. It sounds like a tragic explanation; but I guess it's true. [Looking at Jack.] And so this is Mr. Bullen. For such a famous revolutionist, I expected to find some one more dangerous-looking. JULIA. [Returning.] Don't make up your mind too soon about Jack. He's liable to startle you. LAURA. I'm not easily startled any more. I'm getting quite used to meeting revolutionists. JACK. You don't call them revolutionists that you meet at the settlement, I hope? LAURA. No; but all sorts of people come there. JULIA. By the way, Jack 'phoned me this afternoon, and said he'd invited a friend here. I hope you don't mind. LAURA. Why, no; not at all. Is it one of your Russian friends? JACK. Oh, no; he's an American. His name is Montague. I was just starting to tell Julia about him when you came in. LAURA. Go ahead. JACK. It was quite an adventure. I don't know that I've ever had one that was more exciting. And I've had quite some, you know. LAURA. Yes; I've been told so. JACK. It was last election day, in a polling place on the Bowery. I was a watcher for the Socialists, and this Montague was one of the watchers for the reform crowd. The other one was drunk, and so he had the work all to himself. It was in the heart of Leary's district, and the crowd there was a tough one, I can tell you. It was a close election. LAURA. Yes; I know. JACK. There'd been all kinds of monkey-work going on, and the box was full of marked and defective ballots, and Montague set to work to make them throw them out. I didn't pay much attention at first. I was only there to see that our own ballots were counted; but pretty soon I began to take interest. He had every one in the place against him. There was a Tammany inspector of elections and four tally clerks... all in with Tammany, of course. There were three or four Tammany policemen, and, outside of the railing, the worst crowd of toughs that ever you laid eyes on. To make matters worse, there were several men inside who had no business to be there... one of them a Judge of the City Court, and another a State's attorney... and all of them storming at Montague. JULIA. What did he do? JACK. He just made them throw out the marked ballots. They were willing enough to put them to one side, but wanted to count them in on the tally sheets. And, of course, Montague knew perfectly well that if they ever counted them in they'd close up at the end, and that would be all there was to it. He had the law with him, of course. He's a lawyer himself, and he seemed to know it all by heart; and he'd quote it to them, paragraph by paragraph, and they'd look it up and find that he was right, and, of course, that only made them madder. The old Judge would start up in his seat. "Officer!" he'd shout (he was a red-faced, ignorant fellow... a typical barroom politician), "I demand that you put that man out of here." And the cop actually laid his hand on Montague's shoulder; if he'd ever been landed on the other side of that railing the crowd would have torn him to pieces. But the man stayed as cool as a cucumber. "Officer," he said, "you are aware that I am an election official, here under the protection of the law; and if you refuse me that protection you are liable to a sentence in State's prison." Then he'd quote another paragraph. JULIA. It's a wonder he ever held them. JACK. He did it; he made them throw out forty-seven ballots... and thirty-eight of them were Tammany ballots, too. There was one time when I thought the gang was going to break loose, and I sneaked out and telephoned for help. Then I came back and spoke up for him. I wanted them to know there'd be one witness. You should have seen the grateful look that Montague gave me. LAURA. I can imagine it. JULIA. And how did it end? JACK. Why, you see, we kept them there till eleven o'clock at night, and by that time everybody knew that Tammany had won, and the ballots were not needed. So the old Judge patted us on the back and told us we were heroes, and invited us out to get drunk with him. Montague and I walked home together through the election din, and got acquainted. I don't know that I ever met a man I took to more quickly. LAURA. You are making a Socialist out of him, of course? JACK. Oh, he's coming on. But he is not the sort of man to take his ideas from any one else... he wants to see for himself. He hasn't been in New York long, you know... he comes from the South... from Mississippi. LAURA. [Startled.] From Mississippi! What's his first name? JACK. Allan. LAURA. [Betraying emotion.] Allan Montague! JACK. Do you know him? LAURA. Yes; I know him very well, indeed. Oh... I didn't... that is... I have not seen him for a long time. [Recovering her poise.] Is he surely coming? JACK. He generally keeps his engagements. JULIA. How did you come to know him? LAURA. He's Ollie Montague's brother. JACK. Who's Ollie Montague? LAURA. He's one of those pretty boys that everybody knows in society; he brought his brother up from the South to introduce him. He was in some business deal or other with my father. Then he seemed to drop out of everything, and nobody sees him any more. I don't know why. JACK. I think he was disgusted with his experiences. LAURA. Oh! JACK. [Realizing that he had said something awkward.] I think I was the first Socialist he'd ever met. He had just gotten to the stage of despair. He'd started out with a long program of reforms... and he was going to educate the people to them... one by one, until he'd made them all effective. I said to him: "By the time you've got the attention of the public on reform number thirty... what do you suppose the politicians will have been doing with reform number one?" JULIA. We all have to go through that stage. I can remember just as well... [A ring upon the bell.] Ah, there he is. JACK. [Rises and goes to the door.] But I think he's most through butting his head against the stone wall! [Calls.] Are you there, old man? MONTAGUE. [Off.] I'm here! JACK. How are you? MONTAGUE. Fine! JACK. Come right in. MONTAGUE. [Enters; a tall, handsome man of thirty; self-contained and slow of speech; the dark type of a Southerner.] I'm a trifle late. [Sees LAURA; starts.] Miss Hegan! You! [Recovers himself.] Why... an unexpected pleasure! LAURA. Unexpected on both sides, Mr. Montague. MONTAGUE. I'm delighted to meet you, really! [They shake hands.] JACK. Julia, my friend, Mr. Montague. Miss Patterson. MONTAGUE. I'm very glad to meet you, Miss Patterson. JULIA. We had no idea we were bringing old friends together. MONTAGUE. No; it was certainly a coincidence. LAURA. It's been... let me see... a year since we've met. MONTAGUE. It must be fully that. LAURA. Where do you keep yourself these days? MONTAGUE. Oh, I'm studying, in a quiet way. LAURA. And none of your old friends ever see you? MONTAGUE. I don't get about much. LAURA. [Earnestly.] And friendship means so little to you as that? MONTAGUE. I... it would be hard to explain. I have been busy with politics... [A pause of embarrassment.] JULIA. Mr. Bullen has just been telling us about your heroism. MONTAGUE. My heroism? Where? JULIA. At the polling place. MONTAGUE. Oh, that! It was nothing. LAURA. It seemed like a good deal to us. MONTAGUE. Make him tell you about some of his own adventures. JULIA. Would you ever think, to look at his innocent countenance, that he had helped to hold a building for six hours against Russian artillery? LAURA. Good heavens! Where was this? JULIA. During the St. Petersburg uprising. LAURA. And weren't you frightened to death? JACK. [Laughing.] No; we were too busy taking pot-shots at the Cossacks. It was like the hunting season in the Adirondacks. LAURA. And how did it turn out? JACK. Oh, they were too much for us in the end. I got away, across the ice of the Neva... I had the heel of one shoe shot off. And yet people tell us romance is dead! Anybody who is looking for romance, and knows what it is, can find all he wants in Russia. [Pause.] LAURA. [To MONTAGUE.] Have you seen my father lately? MONTAGUE. No; not for some time. LAURA. You may see him this evening. He promised to call for me. MONTAGUE. Indeed! JACK. Oh, by the way, Julia, I forgot! How's Annie? LAURA. Oh, yes; how is she? JULIA. She's doing well, I think. Better every day. LAURA. Is she still violent? JULIA. Not so much. I can always handle her now. LAURA. Is she in the next room? [Looking to the right.] JULIA. Yes. She's been asleep since afternoon. LAURA. And you still won't let me send her to a hospital? JULIA. Oh, no. Truly, it would kill the poor girl. LAURA. But you... with all your work, and your engagements? JULIA. She's very quiet. And the neighbors come in and help when I'm out. They all sympathize. LAURA. Talking about heroism... it seems to me that you are entitled to mention. JULIA. Why, nonsense!... the girl was simply thrown into my arms. LAURA. Most people would have managed to step out of the way, just the same. You've heard the story, have you, Mr. Montague? MONTAGUE. Bullen has told it to me. You haven't been able to get any justice? JACK. From the police? Hardly! But we're keeping at it, to make the story complete. I went to see Captain Quinn to-day. "What's this?" says he. "Annie Rogers again? Didn't your lady frien' get her pitcher in the papers over that case? An' what more does she want?" JULIA. I went this afternoon to see the Tammany leader of our district... MONTAGUE. Leary? JULIA. The same. I went straight into his saloon. "Lady," says he, "the goil's nutty! You got a bughouse patient on your bands! This here talk about the white-slave traffic, ma'am... it's all the work o' these magazine muckrakers!" "Meaning myself, Mr. Leary?" said I, and he looked kind of puzzled. I don't think he knew who I was. MONTAGUE. All the work of the muckrakers! I see Boss Grimes is out to that effect also. JACK. And I see that half a dozen clergymen sat down to a public banquet with him the other day. That's what we've come to in New York! Bob Grimes, with his hands on every string of the whole infamous system... with his paws in every filthy graft-pot in the city! Bob Grimes, the type and symbol of it all! Every time I see a picture of that bulldog face, it seems to me as if I were confronting all the horrors that I've ever fought in my life! JULIA. It's curious to note how much less denunciation of Tammany one hears now than in the old days. MONTAGUE. Tammany's getting respectable. JACK. The big interests have found out how to use it. The traction gang, especially... [He stops abruptly; a tense pause.] LAURA. [Leaning toward him, with great earnestness.] Mr. Bullen, is that really true? JACK. That is true, Miss Hegan. LAURA. Mr. Bullen, you will understand what it means to me to hear that statement made. I hear it made continually, and I ask if it is true, and I am told that it is a slander. How am I to know? [A pause.] Would you be able to tell me that you know it of your own personal knowledge? JACK. [Weighing the words.] No; I could not say that. LAURA. Would you say that you could prove it to a jury? JACK. I would say, that if I had to prove it, I could get the evidence. LAURA. What would you say, Mr. Montague? MONTAGUE. I would rather not say, Miss Hegan. LAURA. Please! Please! I want you to answer me. MONTAGUE. [After a pause.] I would say that I shall be able to prove it very shortly. LAURA. How do you mean? MONTAGUE. I have been giving most of my time to a study of just that question, and I think that I shall have the evidence. LAURA. I see. [She sinks back, very white; a pause; the bell rings.] JULIA. Who can that be? JACK. [Springing up.] Let me answer it. [Presses button; then, to MONTAGUE.] I had no idea you were going in for that, old man. MONTAGUE. This is the first time I have ever mentioned it to any one. JULIA. [Rising, hoping to relieve an embarrassing situation.] I hope this isn't any more company. JACK. [To MONTAGUE, aside.] You must let me tell you a few things that I know. I've been running down a little story about Grimes and the traction crowd. MONTAGUE. Indeed! What is it? JACK. I can't tell it to you now... it would take too long. But, gee! If I can get the evidence, it'll make your hair stand on end! It has to do with the Grand Avenue Railroad suit. MONTAGUE. The one that's pending in the Court of Appeals? JACK. Yes. You see, Jim Hegan stands to lose a fortune by it, and I've reason to believe that there's some monkey-work being done with the Court. It happens that one of the judges has a nephew... a dissipated chap, who hates him. He's an old college friend of mine, and he's trying to get some evidence for me. MONTAGUE. Good Lord! JACK. And think, it concerns Jim Hegan personally. [A knock at the door.] JULIA. I'll go. [Opens the door.] HEGAN. [Without.] Good evening. Is Miss Hegan here? LAURA. [Standing up.] Father! JULIA. Won't you come in? HEGAN. Thank you. [Enters; a tall, powerfully built man, with a square jaw, wide, over-arching eyebrows, and keen eyes that peer at one; a prominent nose, the aspect of the predatory eagle; a man accustomed to let other people talk and to read their thoughts.] Why, Mr. Montague, you here? MONTAGUE. Mr. Hegan! Why, how do you do? LAURA. We stumbled on each other by chance. Father, this is Miss Patterson. HEGAN. I am very pleased to meet you, Miss Patterson. JULIA. How do you do, Mr. Hegan? [They shake hands.] LAURA. And Mr. Bullen. BULLEN. [Remaining where he is; stiffly.] Good evening, Mr. Hegan. HEGAN. Good evening, sir. [Turns to LAURA.] My dear, I finished up downtown sooner than I expected, and I have another conference at the house. I stopped off to see if you cared to come now, or if I should send back the car for you. LAURA. I think you'd best send it back. JULIA. Why, yes... she only just got here. HEGAN. Very well. JULIA. Won't you stop a minute? HEGAN. No. I really can't. Mr. Grimes is waiting for me downstairs. LAURA. [Involuntarily.] Mr. Grimes! HEGAN. Yes. LAURA. Robert Grimes? HEGAN. [Surprised.] Yes. Why? LAURA. Nothing; only we happened to be just talking about him. HEGAN. I see. JACK. [Aggressively.] We happen to have one of his victims in the next room. HEGAN. [Perplexed.] One of his victims? JULIA. [Protesting.] Jack! JACK. A daughter of the slums. One of the helpless girls who have to pay the tribute that he... [A piercing and terrifying scream is heard off right.] JULIA. Annie! [Runs off.] HEGAN. What's that? [The screams continue.] JULIA. [Off.] Help! Help! [Jack, who is nearest, leaps toward the door; but, before he can reach it, it is flung violently open.] ANNIE. [Enters, delirious, her bare arms and throat covered with bruises, her hair loose, and her aspect wild; an Irish peasant girl, aged twenty.] No! No! Let me go! [Rushes into the opposite corner, and cowers in terror.] JULIA. [Following her.] Annie! Annie! ANNIE. [Flings her off, and stretches out her arms.] What do you want with me? Help! Help! I won't do it! I won't stay! Let me alone! [Wild and frantic sobbing.] JULIA. Annie, dear! Annie! Look at me! Don't you know me? I'm Julia! Your own Julia! No one shall hurt you... no one! ANNIE. [Stares at her wildly.] He's after me still! He'll follow me here! He won't let me get away from him! Oh, save me! JULIA. [Embracing her.] Listen to me, dear. Don't think of things like that. You are in my home... nothing can hurt you. Don't let these evil dreams take hold of you. ANNIE. [Stares, as if coming out of a trance.] Why didn't you help me before? JULIA. Come, dear... come. ANNIE. It's too late... too late! Oh... I can't forget about it! JULIA. Yes, dear. I know... ANNIE. [Seeing the others.] Who?... JULIA. They are all friends; they will help you. Come, dear... lie down again. ANNIE. Oh, what shall I do? [Is led off, sobbing.] JULIA. It will be all right, dear. [Exit; a pause.] HEGAN. What does this mean? JACK. [Promptly and ruthlessly.] It means that you have been seeing the white-slave traffic in action. HEGAN. I don't understand. JACK. [Quietly, but with suppressed passion.] Tens of thousands of girl slaves are needed for the markets of our great cities... for the lumber camps of the North, the mining camps of the West, the ditches of Panama. And every four or five years the supply must be renewed, and so the business of gathering these girl-slaves from our slums is one of the great industries of the city. This girl, Annie Rogers, a decent girl from the North of Ireland, was lured into a dance hall and drugged, and then taken to a brothel and locked in a third-story room. They took her clothing away from her, but she broke down her door at night and fled to the street in her wrapper and flung herself into Miss Patterson's arms. Two men were pursuing her... they tried to carry her off. Miss Patterson called a policeman... but he said the girl was insane. Only by making a disturbance and drawing a crowd was my friend able to save her. And now, we have been the rounds... from the sergeant at the station, and the police captain, to the Chief of Police and the Mayor himself; we have been to the Tammany leader of the district... the real boss of the neighborhood... and there is no justice to be had anywhere for Annie Rogers! HEGAN. Impossible! JACK. You have my word for it, sir. And the reason for it is that this hideous traffic is one of the main cogs in our political machine. The pimps and the panders, the cadets and maquereaux... they vote the ticket of the organization; they contribute to the campaign funds; they serve as colonizers and repeaters at the polls. The tribute that they pay amounts to millions; and it is shared from the lowest to the highest in the organization... from the ward man on the street and the police captain, up to the inner circle of the chiefs of Tammany Hall... yes, even to your friend, Mr. Robert Grimes, himself! A thousand times, sir, has the truth about this monstrous infamy been put before the people of your city; and that they have not long ago risen in their wrath and driven its agents from their midst is due to but one single fact... that this infamous organization of crime and graft is backed at each election time by the millions of the great public service corporations. It is they... MONTAGUE. [Interfering.] Bullen! JACK. Let me go on! It is they, sir, who finance the thugs and repeaters who desecrate our polls. It is they who suborn our press and blind the eyes of our people. It is they who are responsible for this traffic in the flesh of our women. It is they who have to answer for the tottering reason of that poor peasant girl in the next room! LAURA. [Has been listening to this speech, white with horror; as the indictment proceeds, she covers her face with her hands; at this point she breaks into uncontrollable weeping.] Oh! I can't stand it! HEGAN. [Springing to her side.] My dear! LAURA. [Clasping him.] Father! Father! HEGAN. My child! I have begged you not to come to these places! Why should you see such things? LAURA. [Wildly.] Why should I not see them, so long as they exist? HEGAN. [Angrily.] I won't have it. This is the end of it! I mean what I say! Come home with me!... Come home at once! LAURA. With Grimes? I won't meet that man! HEGAN. Very well, then. You need not meet him. I'll call a cab, and take you myself. Where are your things? LAURA. [Looking to the left.] In that room. HEGAN. Come, then. [Takes her off.] JACK. [Turns to MONTAGUE, and to JULIA, who appears in doorway at right.] We gave it to them straight that time, all right! [CURTAIN] ACT II Library of "The Towers," HEGAN's Long Island country place. A spacious room, furnished luxuriously, but with good taste. A large table, with lamp and books in the centre, and easy-chairs beside it. Up stage are French windows leading to a veranda, with drive below; a writing desk between the windows. Entrance right and left. A telephone stand left, and a clock on wall right. [At rise: ANDREWS, standing by the table, opening some letters.] LAURA. [Enters from veranda.] Good afternoon, Mr. Andrews. ANDREWS. Good afternoon, Miss Hegan. LAURA. Has father come yet? ANDREWS. No; he said he'd he back about five. LAURA. Is he surely coming? ANDREWS. Oh, yes. He has an important engagement here. LAURA. He's working very hard these days. ANDREWS. He has a good deal on his mind just now. LAURA. It's this Grand Avenue Railroad business. ANDREWS. Yes. If it should go against him, it would confuse his plans very much. LAURA. Is the matter never going to be decided? ANDREWS. We're expecting the decision any day now. That's why he's so much concerned. He has to hold the market, you see... LAURA. The decision's liable to affect the market? ANDREWS. Oh, yes... very much, indeed. LAURA. I see. And then... 'Phone rings. ANDREWS. Excuse me. Hello! Yes, this is Mr. Hegan's place. Mr. Montague? Why, yes; I believe he's to be here this afternoon. Yes.. . wait a moment... [To LAURA.] It's some one asking for Mr. Montague. LAURA. Who is it? ANDREWS. Hello! Who is this, please? [TO LAURA.] It's Mr. Bullen. LAURA. Mr. Bullen? I'll speak to him. [Takes 'phone.] Hello, Mr. Bullen! This is Miss Hegan. I'm glad to hear from you. How are you? Why, yes, Mr. Montague is coming out... I expect him here any time. He was to take the three-five... just a moment. [Looks at clock.] If the train's on time, he's due here now. We sent to meet him. Call up again in about five minutes. Oh, you have to see him? As soon as that? Nothing wrong, I hope. Well, he couldn't get back to the city until after six. Oh, then you're right near us. Why don't you come over?... That's the quickest way. No; take the trolley and come right across. I'll be delighted to see you. What's that? Why, Mr. Bullen! How perfectly preposterous! My father doesn't blame you for what happened. Don't think of it. Come right along. I'll take it ill of you if you don't... truly I will. Yes; please do. You'll just have time to get the next trolley. Get off at the Merrick road, and I'll see there's an auto there to meet you. Very well. Good-bye. [TO ANDREWS.] Mr. Andrews, will you see there's a car sent down to the trolley to meet Mr. Bullen? ANDREWS. All right. [Exit.] LAURA. [Stands by table, in deep thought, takes a note from table and studies it; shakes her head.] He didn't want to come. He doesn't want to talk to me. But he must! Ah, there he is. [Sound of a motor heard. She waits, then goes to the window.] Ah, Mr. Montague! MONTAGUE. [Enters centre.] Good afternoon, Miss Hegan. LAURA. You managed to catch the train, I see. MONTAGUE. Yes. I just did. LAURA. It is so good of you to come. MONTAGUE. Not at all. I am glad to be here. LAURA. I just had a telephone call from Mr. Bullen. MONTAGUE. [Starting.] From Bullen? LAURA. Yes. He said he had to see you about something. MONTAGUE. [Eagerly.] Where was he? LAURA. He was at his brother's place. I told him to come here. MONTAGUE. Oh! Is he coming? LAURA. Yes; he'll be here soon. MONTAGUE. Thank you very much. LAURA. He said it was something quite urgent. MONTAGUE. Yes. He has some important papers for me. LAURA. I see he made a speech last night that stirred up the press. MONTAGUE. [Smiling.] Yes. LAURA. He is surely a tireless fighter. MONTAGUE. It's such men as Bullen who keep the world moving. LAURA. And do you agree with him, Mr. Montague? MONTAGUE. In what way? LAURA. That the end of it all is to be a revolution. MONTAGUE. I don't know, Miss Hegan. I find I am moving that way. I used to think we could control capital. Now I am beginning to suspect that it is in the nature of capital to have its way, and that if the people wish to rule they must own the capital. LAURA. [After a pause.] Mr. Montague, I had to ask you to come out and see me, because I'd promised my father I would not go into the city again for a while. I've not been altogether well since that evening at Julia's. MONTAGUE. I am sorry to hear that, Miss Hegan. LAURA. It's nothing, but it worries my father, you know. [pause.] I thought we should be alone this afternoon, but I find that my father is coming and... and Mr. Baker is coming also. So I mayn't have time to say all I wished to say to you. But I must thank you for coming. MONTAGUE. I was very glad to come, Miss Hegan. LAURA. I can appreciate your embarrassment at being asked to... MONTAGUE. No! LAURA. We must deal frankly with each other. I know that you did not want to come. I know that you have tried to put an end to our friendship. MONTAGUE. [Hesitates.] Miss Hegan, let me explain my position. LAURA. I think I understand it already. You have found evil conditions which you wish to oppose, and you were afraid that our friendship might stand in the way. MONTAGUE. [In a low voice.] Miss Hegan, I came to New York an entire stranger two years ago, and my brother introduced me to his rich friends. By one of them I was asked to take charge of a law case. It was a case of very great importance, which served to give me an opening into the inner life of the city. I discovered that, in their blind struggle for power, our great capitalists had lost all sense of the difference between honesty and crime. I found that trust funds were being abused... that courts and legislatures were being corrupted... the very financial stability of the country was being wrecked. The thing shocked me to the bottom of my soul, and I set to work to give the public some light on the situation. Then, what happened, Miss Hegan? My newly made rich friends cut me a deal; they began to circulate vile slanders about me... they insulted me openly, on more than one occasion. So, don't you see? LAURA. Yes. I see. But could you not have trusted a friendship such as ours? MONTAGUE. I did not dare. LAURA. You saw that you had to fight my father, and you thought that I would blindly take his side. MONTAGUE. [Hesitating.] I... I couldn't suppose... LAURA. Listen. You have told me your situation; now imagine mine. Imagine a girl brought up in luxury, with a father whom she loves very dearly, and who loves her more than any one else in the world. Everything is done to make her happy... to keep her contented and peaceful. But as she grows up, she reads and listens... and, little by little, it dawns upon her that her father is one of the leaders in this terrible struggle that you have spoken of. She hears about wrongdoing; she is told that her father's enemies have slandered him. At first, perhaps, she believes that. But time goes on... she sees suffering and oppression... she begins to realize a little of cause and effect. She wants to help, she wants to do right, but there is no way for her to know. She goes to one person after another, and no one will deal frankly with her. No one will tell her the truth... absolutely no one! [Leaning forward with intensity.] No one! No one! MONTAGUE. I see. LAURA. So it was with you... and with our friendship. I knew that you had broken it off for such reasons. I knew that there was nothing personal... it was nothing that I had done... MONTAGUE. No! Surely not! LAURA. [Gazes about nervously.] And then the other night... you told me you were investigating the traction companies of New York.. . their connection with politics, and so on. Ever since then I have felt that you were the one person I must talk with. Don't you see? MONTAGUE. Yes; I see. LAURA. I have sought for some one who will tell me the truth. Will you? MONTAGUE. [In a low voice.] You must realize what you are asking of me, Miss Hegan. LAURA. I have not brought you here without realizing that. You must help me! MONTAGUE. Very well. I will do what I can. LAURA. [Leaning forward.] I wish to know about my father. I wish to know to what extent he is involved in these evils that you speak of. MONTAGUE. Your father is in the game, and he has played it the way the game is played. LAURA. Has he been better than the others, or worse? MONTAGUE. About the same, Miss Hegan. LAURA. He has been more successful than they. MONTAGUE. He has been very successful. LAURA. You were concerned in some important deal with my father, were you not? MONTAGUE. I was. LAURA. Then you withdrew. Was that because there was something wrong in it? MONTAGUE. It was, Miss Hegan. LAURA. There were corrupt things done? MONTAGUE. There were many kinds of corrupt things done. LAURA. And was my father responsible for them? MONTAGUE. Yes. LAURA. Directly? MONTAGUE. Yes; directly. LAURA. Then my father is a bad man? MONTAGUE. [After a pause.] Your father finds himself in the midst of an evil system. He is the victim of conditions which he did not create. LAURA. Ah, now you are trying to spare me! MONTAGUE. No. I should say that to any one. I am at war with the system... not with individuals. It is the old story of hating the sin and loving the sinner. Your father's rivals are just as reckless as he take Murdock, for instance, the man who is behind this Grand Avenue Railroad matter. It is hard for a woman to understand that situation. LAURA. I can understand some things very clearly. I go down into the slums and I see all that welter of misery. I see the forces of evil that exist there, defiant and hateful... the saloons and the gambling-houses, and that ghastly white-slave traffic, of which Annie Rogers is the victim. And there is the political organization, taking its toll from all these, and using it to keep itself in power. And there is Boss Grimes, who is at the head of all... and he is one of my father's intimate associates. I ask about it, and I am told that it is a matter of "business." But why should my father do business with a man whose chief source of income is vice? MONTAGUE. That is not quite the case, Miss Hegan. LAURA. Doesn't the vice tribute go to him? MONTAGUE. Part of it does, I have no doubt. But it would be a very small part of his income. LAURA. What then? MONTAGUE. The vice graft serves for the police and the district leaders and the little men; what really pays nowadays is what has come to be called "honest graft." LAURA. What is that? MONTAGUE. The business deals that are trade with the public service corporations. LAURA. Ah! That is what I wish to know about! MONTAGUE. For instance, I am running a street railway... LAURA. [Quickly.] My father is running them all! MONTAGUE. Very well. Your father is in alliance with the organization; he is given franchises and public privileges for practically nothing; and in return he gives the contracts for constructing the subways and street-car lines to companies organized by the politicians. These companies are simply paper companies... they farm out the contracts to the real builders, skimming off a profit of twenty or thirty per cent. One of these companies received contracts last year to the value of thirty million dollars. LAURA. And so that is how Grimes gets his money? MONTAGUE. Grimes' brother is the president of the company I have reference to. LAURA. I see; it is a regular system. MONTAGUE. It is a business, and there is no way to punish it... it does not violate any law... LAURA. And yet it is quite as bad! MONTAGUE. It is far worse, because of its vast scope. It carries every form of corruption in its train. It means the prostitution of our whole system of government... the subsidizing of our newspapers, and of the great political parties. It means that judges are chosen who will decide in favor of the corporations; that legislators are nominated who will protect them against attack. It means everywhere the enthronement of ignorance and incompetence, of injustice and fraud. LAURA. And in the end the public pays for it? MONTAGUE. In the end the public pays for everything. The stolen franchises are unloaded on the market for ten times what they cost, and the people pay their nickels for a wretched, broken-down service. They pay for it in the form of rent and taxes for a dishonest administration. Every struggling unfortunate in the city pays for it, when he comes into contact with the system... when he seeks for help, or even for justice. It was that side of it that shocked me most of all... I being a lawyer, you see. The corrupting of our courts... LAURA. The judges are bought, Mr. Montague? MONTAGUE. The judges are selected, Miss Hegan. LAURA. Selected! I see. MONTAGUE. And that system prevails from the Supreme Court of the State down to the petty Police Magistrates, before whom the poor come to plead. LAURA. And that is why the white-slave traffic goes unpunished! MONTAGUE. That is why. LAURA. And why no one would move a hand for Annie Rogers! MONTAGUE. That is why. LAURA. And my father is responsible for it! MONTAGUE. [Gravely.] Yes; I think he is, Miss Hegan. A PAUSE. LAURA. Have you seen Julia Patterson lately? MONTAGUE. I saw her last night. LAURA. And how is Annie? MONTAGUE. She... [Hesitates.] She is dead. LAURA. [Starting.] Oh! MONTAGUE. She died the night before last. LAURA. [Stares at him, then gives a wild start, and cries] She... she... MONTAGUE. She killed herself. LAURA. Oh! MONTAGUE. She cut her throat. LAURA. [Hides her face and sinks against the table, shuddering and overcome.] Oh, the poor girl! The poor, poor girl! [Suddenly she springs up.] Can't you see? Can't you see? It is things like that that are driving me to distraction! MONTAGUE. [Starting toward her.] Miss Hegan... LAURA. [Covering her face again.] Oh! oh! It is horrible! I can't stand it! I... [Sound of motor heard; they listen.] LAURA. That is my father's car... Mr. Montague, will you excuse me? I must have a talk with my father... MONTAGUE. Certainly. Let me go away... LAURA. No; please wait. Just take a little stroll. I... MONTAGUE. Certainly, I understand. [Exit right.] LAURA. [Seeks to compose herself; then goes to window.] Father! HEGAN. [Off.] Yes, dear. LAURA. Come here. HEGAN. [Enters.] What is it? LAURA. Father, I have just had dreadful news.. HEGAN. What? LAURA. Annie Rogers... that poor girl, you know... HEGAN. Yes. LAURA. She has killed herself. HEGAN. No! LAURA. She cut her own throat. HEGAN. Oh, my dear! [Starts toward her.] I am so sorry... LAURA. [Quickly.] No, father! Listen! You must talk to me... you must talk to me this time! HEGAN. My child... LAURA. You cannot put me off. You cannot, I tell you! HEGAN. Laura, dear, you are upset... LAURA. No! That is not so! I have perfect control of myself. There is no use crying... the girl is dead. That can't be helped. But I mean to understand about it. I mean to know who is responsible for her death. HEGAN. My dear, these evils are hard to know of... LAURA. That house to which that girl was taken... there is a law against such places, is there not? HEGAN. Yes, my dear. LAURA. And why is not the law enforced? HEGAN. It has not been found possible to enforce such laws. LAURA. But why not? HEGAN. Why, my dear, this evil... LAURA. These people pay money to the police, do they not? HEGAN. Why, yes; I imagine... LAURA. Don't tell me what you imagine... tell me what you know! They pay money to the police, don't they? HEGAN. Yes. LAURA. Then why should the police not be punished? Do those who control the police get some of the money? HEGAN. Some of them, my dear. LAURA. That is, the leaders of Tammany. HEGAN. Possibly... yes. LAURA. And Mr. Grimes... he gets some of it? HEGAN. Why, my dear... LAURA. Tell me! HEGAN. But really, Laura, I never asked him what he gets. LAURA. [With intensity.] Father, you must understand me! I will not be trifled with... I am in desperate earnest! I am determined to get to the bottom of this thing! I am no longer a child, and you must not try to deceive me! Mr. Grimes must get some of that money! HEGAN. I think it possible, my dear. LAURA. And do you get any? HEGAN. Good God, Laura! LAURA. Then what is the nature of your relationship with Grimes? HEGAN. Really, my child, this is not fair of you. I have business connections which you cannot possibly understand... LAURA. I can understand everything that you are willing for me to understand! I want to know why you must have business connections with a man like Boss Grimes. HEGAN. My dear, I think you might take your father's word in such a case. It has nothing to do with vice, I can assure you. Grimes is a business ally of mine. He is a rich man, a great power in New York... LAURA. Do you help to keep him a power in New York? HEGAN. Why, I don't know... LAURA. Do you contribute to his campaign funds? HEGAN. Why, Laura! I am a Democrat. Surely I have a right to support my party! LAURA. [Quickly.] Have you ever contributed to the Republican campaign funds? HEGAN. [Disconcerted; laughs.] Why... really... LAURA. Please answer me. HEGAN. I am a Gold Democrat, my dear. LAURA. I see. [She Pauses.] You put Mr. Grimes in the way of making a great deal of money, do you not? HEGAN. I do that. LAURA. He is interested in companies that you give contracts to? HEGAN. Really! You seem to be informed about my affairs! LAURA. I have taken some trouble to inform myself. Father, don't you realize what it means to corrupt the government of the city in this way? HEGAN. Corrupt the government, my dear? LAURA. Does not Grimes have the nominating of judges and legislators? HEGAN. Why, yes... in a way... LAURA. And does he not consult with you? HEGAN. Why, my dear... LAURA. Please tell me. HEGAN. [Realizing that he cannot make any more admissions.] No, my dear. LAURA. Never? HEGAN. Absolutely never. LAURA. He has never made any attempt to influence the courts in your favor? HEGAN. Never. LAURA. Not in any way, father? HEGAN. Not in any way. LAURA. Nor in favor of your companies? HEGAN. No, my dear. LAURA. You mean, you can give me your word of honor that that is the truth? HEGAN. I can, my dear. LAURA. And that none of your lawyers do it? Do you mean that the courts escape your influence... HEGAN. [Laughing disconcertedly.] Really, my dear, this is as bad as a Government investigation! I shall have to take refuge in a lapse of memory. LAURA. [Intensely.] Father! Is it nothing to you that I have the blood of that poor girl on my conscience? HEGAN. My child! LAURA. Yes; just that! She was caught in the grip of this ruthless system; it held her fast and crushed her life out. And we maintain this system! I profit by it... all this luxury and power that I enjoy comes from it directly! Can't you see what I mean? HEGAN. I see, my dear, that you are frightfully overwrought, and that you are making yourself ill. Can't you imagine what it means to me to have you acting in this way? Here I am at one of the gravest crises of my life; I am working day and night, under frightful strain... I have hardly slept six hours in the past three days. And here, when I get a chance for a moment's rest, you come and put me through such an ordeal! You never think of that! LAURA. It's just what I do think of! Why must you torture yourself so? Why... HEGAN. My dear, I, too, am in the grip of the system you speak of. LAURA. But why? Why stay in it? Haven't we money enough yet? HEGAN. I have duties by which I am bound... interests that I must protect. How can I... [A knock.] Come in! ANDREWS. [Enters.] Here are the papers, Mr. Hegan. They must be signed now if they're to catch this mail. HEGAN. All right. [Sits at desk up stage and writes.] LAURA. [Stands by table, staring before her; picks up book carelessly from table.] "Ivanhoe"... [Fingers it idly and a slip of paper falls to floor. She picks it up, glances at it, then starts.] Oh!.. . [Reads.] "Memo to G., two hundred thousand on Court deal. GRIMES." Two hundred thousand on Court deal! [Glances back at her father; then replaces slip and lays book on table.] Father, have you read "Ivanhoe"? HEGAN. [Without looking up.] I'm reading it now. Why? Do you want it? LAURA. No; I just happened to notice it here. HEGAN. [Looks up sharply, watches her, then finishes writing.] There! [Rises; the sound of a motor heard.] What's that? ANDREWS. [Near window.] It's Mr. Grimes. LAURA. [Starting.] Grimes! HEGAN. [TO ANDREWS.] Bring him in. [ANDREWS exit.] LAURA. Father! Why do you bring that man here? HEGAN. I'll not do it again, dear. I didn't realize. He happened to be in the neighborhood... LAURA. I won't meet him! HEGAN. [Putting his arm about her.] Very well, dear; come away. Try to stop worrying yourself now, for the love of me... [Leads her off left.] ANDREWS. [At window.] This way, Mr. Grimes. [GRIMES enters; a powerfully built, broad-shouldered man of about fifty, with a massive jaw, covered with a scrubby beard; the face of a bulldog; a grim, maste...