had six months in which to do it, and on account of that panic coming on before I could get the money, there was nothing in the world for me to do except to put the Reading in the hands of the receivers to save its securities.”[251] The statements concerning the lack of capital were a true explanation though not an excuse. Money had been tied up in unsalable coal, acquired not only by the leases of the Lehigh and Central, but also by purchases from independent operators[252] and by production during the current year;[253] while whatever spare funds the Reading had been able to provide had been put into New England securities at high prices to carry out the road’s ambitious plans. In the mean time the large purchases on margin made a fall in the price of Reading securities of especial moment; and, as Mr. McLeod explained, it proved impossible to liquidate the floating debt. The failure of 1893, then, was caused less by a continued inability to meet fixed charges than by an undue expansion of operations such as has ruined many a solvent firm. Reading’s venture in the coal fields had not proved a success, but the loss had not been sufficient to ruin it within a year; its New England extensions had not brought all the results desired, but they had not had a fair trial; the true cause for the failure was the attempt to accomplish by means of stock speculation and temporary loans at high rates more than the road could do out of its legitimate resources, with the intent on the one hand to raise the price of coal and on the other to secure fresh markets for the sale thereof. After the failure the first impulse of the bondholders was to denounce Mr. McLeod. A meeting of European creditors in London chose a committee to represent them and solicited McLeod’s removal from the receivership on the “serious ground” that the administration of their property should not any longer be jeopardized by remaining under the control of an official who had already brought it into its existing difficulties. A New York general mortgage bondholders’ committee decided to act in a similar direction, and Mr. Drexel represented to the president that he should resign for the sake of the future of the company.[254] Mr. McLeod unwillingly gave way. For successor the board of managers chose Mr. Joseph S. Harris, a man of long experience in railroad affairs. Mr. Harris had been for many years connected with the Lehigh Valley system, and was the same man who, it will be remembered, had evaluated the Reading coal properties in 1880. Following his election as president he was appointed receiver in the place of Mr. McLeod.