Atlas Shrugged

by Ayn Rand

  Dagny, that evening, was facing a meeting of the Taggart Board of Directors.

  They sat about a polished table in a stately Board room which was inadequately heated. The men who, through the decades of their careers, had relied for their security upon keeping their faces blank, their words inconclusive and their clothes impeccable, were thrown off-key by the sweaters stretched over their stomachs, by the mufflers wound about their necks, by the sound of coughing that cut through the discussion too frequently, like the rattle of a machine gun.

  She noted that Jim had lost the smoothness of his usual performance. He sat with his head drawn into his shoulders, and his eyes kept darting too rapidly from face to face.

  A man from Washington sat at the table among them. Nobody knew his exact job or title, but it was not necessary: they knew that he was the man from Washington. His name was Mr. Weatherby, he had graying temples, a long, narrow face and a mouth that looked as if he had to stretch his facial muscles in order to keep it closed; this gave a suggestion of primness to a face that displayed nothing else. The Directors did not know whether he was present as the guest, the adviser or the ruler of the Board; they preferred not to find out.

  "It seems to me," said the chairman, "that the top problem for us to consider is the fact that the track of our main line appears to be in a deplorable, not to say critical, condition--" He paused, then added cautiously, "--while the only good rail we own is that of the John Gait--I mean, the Rio Norte--Line."

  In the same cautious tone of waiting for someone else to pick up the intended purpose of his words, another man said, "If we consider our critical shortage of equipment, and if we consider that we are letting it wear out in the service of a branch line running at a loss--" He stopped and did not state what would occur if they considered it.

  "In my opinion," said a thin, pallid man with a neat mustache, "the Rio Norte Line seems to have become a financial burden which the company might not be able to carry--that is, not unless certain readjustments are made, which--" He did not finish, but glanced at Mr. Weatherby. Mr. Weatherby looked as if he had not noticed it.

  "Jim," said the chairman, "I think you might explain the picture to Mr. Weatherby."

  Taggart's voice still retained a practiced smoothness, but it was the smoothness of a piece of cloth stretched tight over a broken glass object, and the sharp edges showed through once in a while: "I think it is generally conceded that the main factor affecting every railroad in the country is the unusual rate of business failures. While we all realize, of course, that this is only temporary, still, for the moment, it has made the railroad situation approach a stage that may well be described as desperate. Specifically, the number of factories which have closed throughout the territory of the Taggart Transcontinental system is so large that it has wrecked our entire financial structure. Districts and divisions which had always brought us our steadiest revenues, are now showing an actual operating loss. A train schedule geared to a heavy volume of freight cannot be maintained for three shippers where there had once been seven. We cannot give them the same service--at least, not at ... our present rates." He glanced at Mr. Weatherby, but Mr. Weatherby did not seem to notice. "It seems to me," said Taggart, the sharp edges becoming sharper in his voice, "that the stand taken by our shippers is unfair. Most of them have been complaining about their competitors and have passed various local measures to eliminate competition in their particular fields. Now most of them are practically in sole possession of their markets, yet they refuse to realize that a railroad cannot give to one lone factory the freight rates which had been made possible by the production of a whole region. We are running our trains for them at a loss, yet they have taken a stand against any... raise in rates."

  "Against any raise?" said Mr. Weatherby mildly, with a good imitation of astonishment. "That is not the stand they have taken."

  "If certain rumors, which I refuse to credit, are true--" said the chairman, and stopped one syllable after the tone of panic had become obvious in his voice.

  "Jim," said Mr. Weatherby pleasantly, "I think it would be best if we just didn't mention the subject of raising the rates."

  "I wasn't suggesting an actual raise at this time," said Taggart hastily. "I merely referred to it to round out the picture."

  "But, Jim," said an old man with a quavering voice, "I thought that your innuence--I mean, your friendship--with Mr. Mouch would insure ..."

  He stopped, because the others were looking at him severely, in reproof for the breach of an unwritten law: one did not mention a failure of this kind, one did not discuss the mysterious ways of Jim's powerful friendships or why they had failed him.

  "Fact is," said Mr. Weatherby easily, "that Mr. Mouch sent me here to discuss the demand of the railway unions for a raise in wages and the demand of the shippers for a cut in rates."

  He said it in a tone of casual firmness; he knew that all these men had known it, that the demands had been discussed in the newspapers for months; he knew that the dread in these men's minds was not of the fact, but of his naming it--as if the fact had not existed, but his words held the power to make it exist; he knew that they had waited to see whether he would exercise that power; he was letting them know that he would.

  Their situation warranted an outcry of protest; there was none; nobody answered him. Then James Taggart said in that biting, nervous tone which is intended to convey anger, but merely confesses uncertainty, "I wouldn't exaggerate the importance of Buzzy Watts of the National Shippers Council. He's been making a lot of noise and giving a lot of expensive dinners in Washington, but I wouldn't advise taking it too seriously."

  "Oh, I don't know," said Mr. Weatherby.

  "Listen, Clem, I do know that Wesley refused to see him last week."

  "That's true. Wesley is a pretty busy man."

  "And I know that when Gene Lawson gave that big party ten days ago, practically everybody was there, but Buzzy Watts was not invited."

  "That's so," said Mr. Weatherby peaceably.

  "So I wouldn't bet on Mr. Buzzy Watts, Clem. And I wouldn't let it worry me."

  "Wesley's an impartial man," said Mr. Weatherby. "A man devoted to public duty. It's the interests of the country as a whole that he's got to consider above everything else." Taggart sat up; of all the danger signs he knew, this line of talk was the worst. "Nobody can deny it, Jim, that Wesley feels a high regard for you as an enlightened businessman, a valuable adviser and one of his closest personal friends." Taggart's eyes shot to him swiftly: this was still worse. "But nobody can say that Wesley would hesitate to sacrifice his personal feelings and friendships--where the welfare of the public is concerned."

  Taggart's face remained blank; his terror came from things never allowed to reach expression in words or in facial muscles. The terror was his struggle against an unadmitted thought: he himself had been "the public" for so long and in so many different issues, that he knew what it would mean if that magic title, that sacred title no one dared to oppose, were transferred, along with its "welfare," to the person of Buzzy Watts.

  But what he asked, and he asked it hastily, was, "You're not implying that I would place my personal interests above the public welfare, are you?"

  "No, of course not," said Mr. Weatherby, with a look that was almost a smile. "Certainly not. Not you, Jim. Your public-spirited attitude--and understanding--are too well known. That's why Wesley expects you to see every side of the picture."

  "Yes, of course," said Taggart, trapped.

  "Well, consider the unions' side of it. Maybe you can't afford to give them a raise, but how can they afford to exist when the cost of living has shot sky-high? They've got to eat, don't they? That comes first, railroad or no railroad." Mr. Weatherby's tone had a kind of placid righteousness, as if he were reciting a formula required to convey another meaning, clear to all of them; he was looking straight at Taggart, in special emphasis of the unstated. "There are almost a million members in the railway unions. With families, dependents an
d poor relatives--and who hasn't got poor relatives these days?--it amounts to about five million votes. Persons, I mean. Wesley has to bear that in mind. He has to think of their psychology. And then, consider the public. The rates you're charging were established at a time when everybody was making money. But the way things are now, the cost of transportation has become a burden nobody can afford. People are screaming about it all over the country." He looked straight at Taggart; he merely looked, but his glance had the quality of a wink. "There's an awful lot of them, Jim. They're not very happy at the moment about an awful lot of things. A government that would bring the railroad rates down would make a lot of folks grateful."

  The silence that answered him was like a hole so deep that no sound could be heard of the things crashing down to its bottom. Taggart knew, as they all knew, to what disinterested motive Mr. Mouch would always be ready to sacrifice his personal friendships.

  It was the silence and the fact that she did not want to say it, had come here resolved not to speak, but could not resist it, that made Dagny's voice sound so vibrantly harsh:

  "Got what you've been asking for, all these years, gentlemen?"

  The swiftness with which their eyes moved to her was an involuntary answer to an unexpected sound, but the swiftness with which they moved away--to look down at the table, at the walls, anywhere but at her--was the conscious answer to the meaning of the sounds.

  In the silence of the next moment, she felt their resentment like a starch thickening the air of the room, and she knew that it was not resentment against Mr. Weatherby, but against her. She could have borne it, if they had merely let her question go unanswered; but what made her feel a sickening tightness in her stomach, was their double fraud of pretending to ignore her and then answering in their own kind of manner.

  The chairman said, not looking at her, his voice pointedly noncommittal, yet vaguely purposeful at the same time, "It would have been all right, everything would have worked out fine, if it weren't for the wrong people in positions of power, such as Buzzy Watts and Chick Morrison."

  "Oh, I wouldn't worry about Chick Morrison," said the pallid man with the mustache. "He hasn't any top-level connections. Not really. It's Tinky Holloway that's poison."

  "I don't see the picture as hopeless," said a portly man who wore a green muffler. "Joe Dunphy and Bud Hazleton are very close to Wesley. If their influence prevails, we'll be all right. However, Kip Chalmers and Tinky Holloway are dangerous."

  "I can take care of Kip Chalmers," said Taggart.

  Mr. Weatherby was the only person in the room who did not mind looking at Dagny; but whenever his glance rested upon her, it registered nothing; she was the only person in the room whom he did .not see.

  "I am thinking," said Mr. Weatherby casually, looking at Taggart, "that you might do Wesley a favor."

  "Wesley knows that he can always count on me."

  "Well, my thought is that if you granted the unions' wage raises--we might drop the question of cutting the rates, for the time being."

  "I can't do that!" It was almost a cry. "The National Alliance of Railroads has taken a unanimous stand against the raises and has committed every member to refuse."

  "That's just what I mean," said Mr. Weatherby softly. "Wesley needs to drive a wedge into that Alliance stand. If a railroad like Taggart Transcontinental were to give in, the rest would be easy. You would help Wesley a great deal. He would appreciate it."

  "But, good God, Clem!--I'd be open to court action for it, by the Alliance rules!"

  Mr. Weatherby smiled. "What court? Let Wesley take care of that."

  "But listen, Clem, you know--you know just as well as I do--that we can't afford it!"

  Mr. Weatherby shrugged. "That's a problem for you to work out."

  "How, for Christ's sake?"

  "I don't know. That's your job, not ours. You wouldn't want the government to start telling you how to run your railroad, would you?"

  "No, of course not! But--"

  "Our job is only to see that the people get fair wages and decent transportation. It's up to you to deliver. But, of course, if you say that you can't do the job, why then--"

  "I haven't said it!" Taggart cried hastily. "I haven't said it at all!"

  "Good," said Mr. Weatherby pleasantly. "We know that you have the ability to find some way to do it."

  He was looking at Taggart; Taggart was looking at Dagny.

  "Well, it was just a thought," said Mr. Weatherby, leaning back in his chair in a manner of modest withdrawal. "Just a thought for you to mull over. I'm only a guest here. I don't want to interfere. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the situation of the... branch lines, I believe?"

  "Yes," said the chairman and sighed. "Yes. Now if anyone has a constructive suggestion to offer--He waited; no one answered. "I believe the picture is clear to all of us.". He waited. "It seems to be established that we cannot continue to afford the operation of some of our branch lines ... the Rio Norte Line in particular ... and, therefore, some form of action seems to be indicated....".

  "I think," said the pallid man with the mustache, his voice unexpectedly confident, "that we should now hear from Miss Taggart." He leaned forward with a look of hopeful craftiness. As Dagny did not answer, but merely turned to him, he asked, "What do you have to say, Miss Taggart?"

  "Nothing."

  "I beg your pardon?"

  "All I had to say was contained in the report which Jim has read to you." She spoke quietly, her voice clear and flat.

  "But you did not make any recommendations."

  "I have none to make."

  "But, after all, as our Operating Vice-President, you have a vital interest in the policies of this railroad."

  "I have no authority over the policies of this railroad."

  "Oh, but we are anxious to consider your opinion."

  "I have no opinions."

  "Miss Taggart," he said, in the smoothly formal tone of an order, "you cannot fail to realize that our branch lines are running at a disastrous deficit--and that we expect you to make them pay."

  "How?"

  "I don't know. That is your job, not ours."

  "I have stated in my report the reasons why that is now impossible. If there are facts which I have overlooked, please name them."

  "Oh, I wouldn't know. We expect you to find some way to make it possible. Our job is only to see that the stockholders get a fair profit. It's up to you to deliver. You wouldn't want us to think that you're unable to do the job and--"

  "I am unable to do it."

  The man opened his mouth, but found nothing else to say; he looked at her in bewilderment, wondering why the formula had failed.

  "Miss Taggart," asked the man with the green muffler, "did you imply in your report that the situation of the Rio Norte Line was critical?"

  "I stated that it was hopeless."

  "Then what action do you propose?"

  "I propose nothing."

  "Aren't you evading a responsibility?"

  "What is it that you think you're doing?" She spoke evenly, addressing them all. "Are you counting on my not saying that the responsibility is yours, that it was your goddamn policies that brought us where we are? Well, I'm saying it."

  "Miss Taggart, Miss Taggart," said the chairman in a tone of pleading reproach, "there shouldn't be any hard feelings among us. Does it matter now who was to blame? We don't want to quarrel over past mistakes. We must all pull together as a team to carry our railroad through this desperate emergency."

  A gray-haired man of patrician bearing, who had remained silent throughout the session, with a look of the quietly bitter knowledge that the entire performance was futile, glanced at Dagny in a way which would have been sympathy had he still felt a remnant of hope. He said, raising his voice just enough to betray a note of controlled indignation, "Mr. Chairman, if it is practical solutions that we are considering, I should like to suggest that we discuss the limitation placed upon the length and speed of our trains
. Of any single practice, that is the most disastrous one. Its repeal would not solve all of our problems, but it would be an enormous relief. With the desperate shortage of motive power and the appalling shortage of fuel, it is criminal insanity to send an engine out on the road with sixty cars when it could pull a hundred and to take four days on a run which could be made in three. I suggest that we compute the number of shippers we have ruined and the districts we have destroyed through the failures, shortages and delays of transportation, and then we--"

  "Don't think of it," Mr. Weatherby cut in snappily. "Don't try dreaming about any repeals. We wouldn't consider it. We wouldn't even consider listening to any talk on the subject."

  "Mr. Chairman," the gray-haired man asked quietly, "shall I continue?"

  The chairman spread out his hands, with a smooth smile, indicating helplessness. "It would be impractical," he answered.

  "I think we'd better confine the discussion to the status of the Rio Norte Line," snapped James Taggart.

  There was a long silence.

  The man with the green muffler turned to Dagny. "Miss Taggart," he asked sadly and cautiously, "would you say that if--this is just a hypothetical question--if the equipment now in use on the Rio Norte Line were made available, it would fill the needs of our transcontinental main-line traffic?"