Theoutcomeofthismanagementofindustrialaffairsthroughpecuniarytransactions，therefore，hasbeentodissociatetheinterestsofthosemenwhoexercisethediscretionfromtheinterestsofthecommunity。Thisistrueinapeculiardegreeandincreasinglysincethefullerdevelopmentofthemachineindustryhasbroughtaboutacloseknitandwide-reachingarticulationofindustrialprocesses，andhasatthesametimegivenrisetoaclassofpecuniaryexpertswhosebusinessisthestrategicmanagementoftheinterstitialrelationsofthesystem。Broadly，thisclassofbusinessmen，insofarastheyhavenoulteriorstrategicendstoserve，haveaninterestinmakingthedisturbancesofthesystemlargeandfrequent，sinceitisintheconjuncturesofchangethattheirgainemerges。Qualificationsofthispropositionmaybeneeded，anditwillbenecessarytoreturntothispointpresently。
Itis，asabusinessproposition，amatterofindifferencetothemanoflargeaffairswhetherthedisturbanceswhichhistransactionssetupintheindustrialsystemhelporhinderthesystematlarge，exceptinsofarashehasulteriorstrategicendstoserve。Butmostofthemoderncaptainsofindustryhavesuchulteriorends，andofthegreateronesamongthemthisispeculiarlytrue。Indeed，itisthisworkoffar-reachingbusinessstrategythatgivesthemfulltitletothedesignation，“CaptainsofIndustry。“Thislargebusinessstrategyisthemostadmirabletraitofthegreatbusinessmenwhowithforceandinsightswingthefortunesofcivilizedmankind。Andduequalificationisaccordinglytobeenteredinthebroadstatementmadeabove。Thecaptain’sstrategyiscommonlydirectedtogainingcontrolofsomelargeportionoftheindustrialsystem。Whensuchcontrolhasbeenachieved，itmaybetohisinteresttomakeandmaintainbusinessconditionswhichshallfacilitatethesmoothandefficientworkingofwhathascomeunderhiscontrol，incasehecontinuestoholdalargeinterestinitasaninvestor；for，otherthingsequal，thegainsfromwhathascomeunderhishandspermanentlyinthewayofindustrialplantaregreaterthehigherandmoreuninterrupteditsindustrialefficiency。
Anappreciableportionofthelargertransactionsinrailwayand“industrial“properties，e。g。，arecarriedoutwithaviewtothepermanentownershipofthepropertiesbythebusinessmenintowhosehandstheypass。Butalsoinalargeproportionofthesetransactionsthebusinessmen’sendeavorsaredirectedtoatemporarycontrolofthepropertiesinordertocloseoutatanadvanceortogainsomeindirectadvantage；thatistosay，thetransactionshaveastrategicpurpose。Thebusinessmanaimstogaincontrolofagivenblockofindustrialequipment-as，e。g。，givenrailwaylinesorironmillsthatarestrategicallyimportant-asabasisforfurthertransactionsoutofwhichgainisexpected。Insuchacasehiseffortsaredirected，nottomaintainingthepermanentefficiencyoftheindustrialequipment，buttoinfluencingthetoneofthemarketforthetimebeing，theapprehensionsofotherlargeoperators，orthetransientfaithofinvestors。8*Hisinterestintheparticularblockofindustrialequipmentis，then，altogethertransient，andwhileitlastsitisofafactitiouscharacter。
Theexigenciesofthisbusinessofinterstitialdisturbancedecidethatinthecommonrunofcasestheproximateaimofthebusinessmanistoupsetorblocktheindustrialprocessatsomeoneormorepoints。Hisstrategyiscommonlydirectedagainstotherbusinessinterestsandhisendsarecommonlyaccomplishedbythehelpofsomeformofpecuniarycoercion。Thisisnotuniformlytrue，butitseemstobetrueinappreciablymorethanhalfofthetransactionsinquestion。Ingeneral，transactionswhichaimtobringacoalitionofindustrialplantsorprocessesunderthecontrolofagivenbusinessmanaredirectedtomakingitdifficultfortheplantsorprocessesinquestiontobecarriedoninseveraltybytheirpreviousownersormanagers。9*
Itiscommonlyastrugglebetweenrivalbusinessmen，andmoreoftenthannottheoutcomeofthestruggledependsonwhichsidecaninflictorendurethegreaterpecuniarydamage。Andpecuniarydamageinsuchacasenotuncommonlyinvolvesasetbacktotheindustrialplantsconcernedandaderangement，moreorlessextensive，oftheindustrialsystematlarge。
Theworkofthegreatermodernbusinessmen，insofarastheyhavetodowiththeorderingoftheschemeofindustriallife，isofthisstrategiccharacter。Thedispositionswhichtheymakearebusinesstransactions，“deals，“astheyarecalledinthebusinessjargonborrowedfromgamingslang。Thesedonotalwaysinvolvecoercionoftheopposinginterests；itisnotalwaysnecessaryto“putamaninahole“beforeheiswillingto“comeinon“a“deal。“Itmayoftenbethattheseveralpartieswhosebusinessintereststouchoneanotherwilleachseehisinterestinreachinganamicableandspeedyarrangement；buttheintervalthatelapsesbetweenthetimewhenagiven“deal“isseentobeadvantageoustooneofthepartiesconcernedandthetimewhenthetermsarefinallyarrangediscommonlyoccupiedwithbusinessmanoeuvresonbothorallsides，intendedto“bringtheotherstoterms。“Insoplayingforpositionandendeavoringtosecurethelargestadvantagepossible，themanagerofsuchacampaignofreorganizationnotinfrequentlyaimsto“freezeout“
arivalortoputarival’sindustrialenterpriseundersuspicionofinsolvencyand“unsoundmethods，“atthesametimethathe“putsupabluff“andmanageshisownconcernwithaviewtoatransienteffectontheopinionsofthebusinesscommunity。Wheretheseendeavorsoccur，directedtoatransientderangementofarival’sbusinessortoatransient，perhapsspecious，exhibitionofindustrialcapacityandearningpoweronthepartofone’sownconcern，theyarecommonlydetrimentaltotheindustrialsystematlarge；theyacttemporarilytolowertheaggregateserviceabilityofthecomprehensiveindustrialprocesswithinwhichtheireffectsrun，andtomakethelivelihoodandthepeaceofmindofthoseinvolvedintheseindustriesmoreprecariousthantheywouldbeintheabsenceofsuchdisturbances。Ifoneistobelieveanyappreciableproportionofwhatpassescurrentasinformationonthishead，inprintandbywordofmouth，businessmenwhoseworkisnotsimplyroutineconstantlygivesomeattentiontomanoeuvringofthiskindandtothediscoveryofnewopportunitiesforputtingtheircompetitorsatadisadvantage。
Thisseemstoapplyinapeculiardegree，ifnotchiefly，tothoseclassesofbusinessmenwhoseoperationshavetodowithrailwaysandtheclassofsecuritiescalled“industrials。“Takingtheindustrialprocessasawhole，itissafetosaythatatnotimeisitfreefromderangementsofthischaracterinanyofthemainbranchesofmodernindustry。Thischronicstateofperturbationisincidenttothemanagementofindustrybybusinessmethodsandisunavoidableunderexistingconditions。Sosoonasthemachineindustryhaddevelopedtolargeproportions，itbecameunavoidable，inthenatureofthecase，thatthebusinessmeninwhosehandsliestheconductofaffairsshouldplayatcross-purposesandendeavortoderangeindustry。Butchronicperturbationissomuchamatterofcourseandprevailswithsorareinterruptions，that，beingthenormalstateofaffairs，itdoesnotattractparticularnotice。
Incurrentdiscussionofbusiness，indeedeversincetherelationofbusinessmentotheindustrialsystemhasseriouslyengagedtheattentionofeconomists，thepointtowhichattentionhaschieflybeendirectedisthebusinessman’sworkasanorganizerofcomprehensiveindustrialprocesses。Duringthelaterdecadesofthenineteenthcentury，particularly，hasmuchinterestcentred，astherehasbeenmuchprovocationforitsdoing，ontheformationoflargeindustrialconsolidations；andtheevidentgoodeffectsofthisworkinthewayofheightenedserviceabilityandeconomiesofproductionarepointedtoasthechiefandcharacteristicendofthisworkofreorganization。Soobviousarethesegoodresultsandsowellandwidelyhasthematterbeenexpounded，theoretically，thatitisnotonlypermissible，butitisapointofconscience，toshortenthistalebypassingoverthesegoodeffectsasamatterofcommonnotoriety。Butthereareotherfeaturesofthecase，lessobtrusiveandlessattractivetothetheoreticians，whichneedmoredetailedattentionthantheyhavecommonlyreceived。
Thecircumstanceswhichconditiontheworkofconsolidationinindustryandwhichdecidewhetheragivenmoveinthedirectionofacloserandwiderorganizationofindustrialprocesseswillbepracticableandwillresultineconomiesofproduction，——thesecircumstancesareofamechanicalnature。
Theyarefactsofthecomprehensivemachineprocess。Theconditionsfavorabletoindustrialconsolidationonthesegroundsarenotcreatedbythebusinessmen。Theyaremattersof“thestateofindustrialarts，“andaretheoutcomeoftheworkofthosemenwhoareengagedintheindustrialemploymentsratherthanofthosewhoareoccupiedwithbusinessaffairs。Theinventors，engineers，experts，orwhatevernamebeappliedtothecomprehensiveclassthatdoestheintellectualworkinvolvedinthemodernmachineindustry，mustpreparethewayforthemanofpecuniaryaffairsbymakingpossibleandpittinginevidencetheeconomiesandotheradvantagesthatwillfollowfromaprospectiveconsolidation。
Butitisnotenoughthatthebusinessmanshouldseeachancetoeffecteconomiesofproductionandtoheightentheefficiencyof。industrybyanewcombination。Conditionsfavorabletoconsolidationonthesegroundsmustbevisibletohimbeforehecanmakethedecisivebusinessarrangements；buttheseconditions，takenbythemselves，donotmovehim。Themotivesofthebusinessmanarepecuniarymotives，inducementsinthewayofpecuniarygaintohimortothebusinessenterprisewithwhichheisidentified。Theendofhisendeavorsis，notsimplytoeffectanindustriallyadvantageousconsolidation，buttoeffectitundersuchcircumstancesofownershipaswillgivehimcontroloflargebusinessforcesorbringhimthelargestpossiblegain。Theulteriorendsoughtisanincreaseofownership，notindustrialserviceability。Hisaimistocontriveaconsolidationinwhichhewillbeatanadvantage，andtoeffectitonthetermsmostfavorabletohisowninterest。
Butitisnotcommonlyevidentattheoutsetwhatarethemostfavorabletermsthathecangetinhisdealingswithotherbusinessmenwhoseinterestsaretouchedbytheproposedconsolidation，orwhoareambitioustoeffectsomesimilarconsolidationofthesameorofcompetingindustrialelementsfortheirownprofit。Itrarelyhappensthattheinterestsofthebusinessmenwhomtheprospectiveconsolidationtouchesallconvergetoacoalitiononthesamebasisandunderthesamemanagement。Theconsequenceisnegotiationanddelay。Itcommonlyalsohappensthatsomeofthebusinessmenaffectedseetheiradvantageinstavingoffthecoalitionuntilatimemorepropitioustotheirowninterest，oruntilthosewhohavetheworkofconsolidationinhandcanbebroughttocompoundwiththemforthewithdrawalofwhateverobstructiontheyareabletooffer。10*Suchacoalitioninvolvesalossofindependentstanding，orevenalossofoccupation，tomanyofthebusinessmeninterestedinthedeal。Ifaprospectiveindustrialconsolidationisofsuchscopeastorequiretheconcurrenceorconsentofmanybusinessinterests，amongwhichnooneisverydecidedlypreponderantinpecuniarystrengthorinstrategicposition，alongtimewillbeconsumedinthenegotiationsandstrategynecessarytodefinethetermsonwhichtheseveralbusinessinterestswillconsenttocomeinandthedegreeofsolidarityandcentralcontroltowhichtheywillsubmit。
Itisnotorious，beyondtheneedofspecificcitation，thatthegreatbusinesscoalitionsandindustrialcombinationswhichhavecharacterizedthesituationofthelastfewyearshavecommonlybeentheoutcomeofalong-drawnstruggle，inwhichtheindustrialends，ascontrastedwithbusinessends，havenotbeenseriouslyconsidered，andinwhichgreatshrewdnessandtenacityhavecommonlybeenshowninthestavingoffofasettlementforyearsinthehopeofmoreadvantageousterms。Thelikeistrueasregardsfurthercoalitions，furtherconsolidationsofindustrialprocesseswhichhavenotbeeneffectcd，butwhichareknowntobefeasibleanddesirablesofarasregardsthemechanicalcircumstancesofthecase。Thedifficultiesinthewayaredifficultiesofownership，ofbusinessinterest，notofmechanicalfeasibility。