Down in the hold, where the cargo of this schooner was carried, otherwise known as the main salon, the cargo of this schooner was cloistered combing carefully copious quantities of papers, the cargo, of course, being the lawyers, their secretaries, assistants and clerks. The papers included every scrap of knowledge available to such a team as they, which was considerable. One thing to say in the defense of the government clerk is that, in the interest or preserving his job, he collects such a mountain of information that mere mortals lack the ability to sort through it or arrange it in any meaningful way. However, when the trawl is hauled by the man or woman with infinite job security to match his infinite patience, whose pay comes not from the value he generates, but rather from the benefit he provides to his political masters, which pay being shouldered by witless and often careless taxpayers, indeed, which pay produces an army of like-minded men and women, to whom the task of sorting all this information is nearly a pleasure, providing a sense of accomplishment, of a job well done, of doing something meaningful as they help to corral yet another oppressor of the little man, when the trawl is hauled by such a small army, even such as was possessed by our man the prosecutor, such a trawl will find any offense no matter how little, and, far more importantly, will find a pattern of offenses.
In our lives, all of us have often acted selfishly or obdurately, behaved in a manner not befitting a giant of industry. Most of us never become giants of industry, so most of us can continue to gain pleasure in our petty lives, sarcastically stating things that would end the career of the average politician, and doing so with the pleasant impunity of those that simply do not matter. However, should we present ourselves for high political position, or try to attain great success in business, or, even, win the lottery, all this information instantly becomes public, because it makes the rest of us able to sleep, knowing that, while others may have achieved success, they are just as venal and petty as the rest of us. A true pure character, rational and forceful in his application of ethics, presents a conundrum that leads many to dislike such on the grounds that he must be phony.
In the salon, they squinted. Hours of scrutiny in the dim mood lighting common to overly dark wooded rooms such as this salon had donated to everyone a pain of prodigal proportions in their heads, as if their spirit was trying to escape their skulls. Long had they subjugated themselves to this sort of necessity, however, and, lubricated with small amounts of alcohol and large amounts of caffeine, they pressed on, reading press release after press release, hundreds of police reports on people who might be our industrialist, but turned out to be not. Nor were there any scandalous pieces in the cheap rags. Even the Enquirer enquired not about our man the industrialist.
Some papers there were that discussed his odd lifestyle, but leavened were they with begrudging admiration for his singular pursuit of his own way, for had not Frank Sinatra himself, the chairman of the board, sang with fierce pride of having done it his way? In the end, it is that the countrymen appreciate the man who blazes his own trail, and the sympathy developed for such a person, oft dubbed maverick, often covers a myriad of sin, such that the man may survive the intended assassination.
Papers there were that discussed his business practices, often pointing out that some of his transactions put paid to organizations that had lasted for a hundred years, but ended always that he had seen to it that every one of their employees received aid and compensation such that they endured no hardship.
Papers littered the floor describing how he had achieved the ouster of this or that of his rivals' production, leading to reduced income on their part, but, inevitably did he hire more, often hiring from his very competitors. Also, in no case could it be demonstrated that the sudden disappearance of goods from his rivals from retail centers was a result of anything but the simple preference of consumers for the things he made, aided by the larger margins his things fetched, thus demonstrating his things so superior that people would happily pay a double premium to gain them.
Nay, there was nothing so far in all the papers that would provide any sort of public outrage at the very name of our industrialist. Never for him the peccadilloes of the upper class, so did he adore his wife. Never for him the wild children so often the bane of the successful, since the man who is forceful and takes risks but gets them right often begets the child that is forceful and takes risks but gets them wrong. Often, though, the public can be gulled into believing it is bad parenting or unhappy childhood that leads to such misbehaving, that it is a cry for help from a poor, beleaguered child who just wants to be truly loved. No, our industrialist's daughter was of singular character, studious and astute, whose behavior at school, at home, and amongst her peers was nothing short of saintly.
His things were in an immaculate state of repair. Never had he any pattern of neglect leading to death or dismemberment, never had he had a person in his employ who, once injured, suffered even so much as hardship for the rest of his life. Never had any of his business, once having made an error leading to damage, failed to make it right, well above the requirement of law or public opinion. Such was his dedication to humanity that he himself would investigate any allegation of impropriety, and the only common screeds against him said that he was too ready to agree that his companies had caused damage, such that often he was hounded by gold-diggers and layabouts that would see him pay them for mere allegations, but such were often met with offers of employment, in some cases accepting and going on to become productive members of society. The rest were either relentlessly exposed or paid, as our industrialist felt that it was necessary that the public felt he was fair.
After these classes of disaster, few possibilities remained. The public fails to get particularly excited about traffic tickets, not that there were any, and is not interested in anything of that sort. It is barely interested in tax evasion, as evading taxes is kind of a fond dream of most of the public anyway.
No, after the first fourteen hours or so of work, as the small army was beginning to straggle off to bed (being noted by our prosecutor as to which were weakest and thus working long past the point of effectiveness) it became more and more apparent that the only avenue of destruction that would effect ruin against our industrialist was the one already embarked on, that of proving him a ruinous monopolist. The prosecutor noted that there still remained his lap dog and several of the more ambitious clerks with him, although they seemed to largely be useless at this late an hour, and he retired, signalling that they, too, may retire.
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