Please notice that railroad companies--not railroad men, railroad companies--own more than $20,000,000 of stock in express companies. The express companies are capitalized at only $48,000,000. Railroad companies therefore own almost half of the stock of the express companies. Railroad men like Mr. Gould, the Vanderbilts and Mr. Morgan also own stock in express companies. Railroad men presumably do not vote their private holdings of express stock in opposition to the manner in which they vote the express stock owned by the railways they control. But, even if railway men owned no express stock, the ownership by railways of a solid block of more than $20,000,000 of express stock would enable the railways to control the express companies. Mr. Morgan controls many corporations in which he holds only a minority interest. It is the way of big men to control more than they own. … Let us assume that you attach no significance to the ownership by the railways of almost half of the stock of the express companies. You don’t believe the railroads would take the trouble to get control of $3,500,000 more stock and thus control the companies. You want to be shown. All right. You don’t mind using your common sense? Good. Wouldn’t railroad companies be incorporated fools if they didn’t control the express companies? Couldn’t the railroad companies, if they cared to, control the express companies, even though the railroad companies owned not a share of stock in any of the express companies? What is an express company? An express company is a corporation that is engaged in transportation. Not a single express company owns a foot of railway track, a locomotive, a roundhouse or a water tank. Not a single express company employs an engineer, a fireman, a train dispatcher, or a section hand. Not a single express company could carry a bar of soap from New York to Albany without using all of the mentioned instruments of transportation, besides many others. In other words, an express company is an institution engaged in transportation without owning any of the means of transportation. It exists only by sufferance. So long as railroad companies are willing to haul the cars of an express company, the express company may do business--but no longer. An express company, if ill-treated, has no other place to go. It cannot hire a department store company to haul its cars, nor a dry-goods firm, nor a manufacturer of hats. An express company must go to railroads for its transportation facilities, accept the best terms it can get, or go out of business.