"I notice that when Pennington bought out the
Henderson interests and reorganized that property, he incorporated
the Laguna Grande Lumber Company under the laws of the State of New
Jersey, home of the trusts. There must be some advantage connected
with such a course."
"Have it your own way, boy. What's good enough for the Colonel is
good enough for us. Now, then, you are going to incorporate a company
to build a road twelve miles long--and a private road, at that. That
would be a fatal step. Pennington would know somebody was going to
build a logging-road, and regardless of who the builders were, he
would have to fight them in self-protection. How are you going to
cover your trail, my son?"
Bryce pondered. "I will, to begin, have a dummy board of directors.
Also, my road cannot be private; it must be a common carrier, and
that's where the shoe pinches. Common carriers are subject to the
rules and regulations of the Railroad Commission."
"They are wise and just rules," commented the old man, "expensive to
obey at times, but quite necessary. We can obey and still be happy.
Objection overruled."
"Well, then, since we must be a common carrier, we might as well
carry our deception still further and incorporate for the purpose of
building a road from Sequoia to Grant's Pass, Oregon, there to
connect with the Southern Pacific.
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