The Air Trust

The Air Trust, by George Allan
England

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Title: The Air Trust
Author: George Allan England
Release Date: July 5, 2004 [EBook #12826]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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TRUST ***

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[Illustration: "Visions!" She said softly, "Do you behold them too?"]

THE AIR TRUST

By George Allan England
Author of "Darkness and Dawn," "Beyond the Great Oblivion," "The
Afterglow," etc., etc.
Illustrations by John Sloan
1915

TO EUGENE V. DEBS
"Comrade 'Gene,"
Lover of All Mankind and Apostle of the World's Emancipation,
I dedicate THIS BOOK

FOREWORD
This book is the result of an attempt to carry the monopolistic principle
to its logical conclusion. For many years I have entertained the idea
that if a monopoly be right in oil, coal, beef, steel or what not, it would
also be right in larger ways involving, for example, the use of the ocean
and the air itself. I believe that, had capitalists been able to bring the
seas and the atmosphere under physical control, they would long ago
have monopolized them. Capitalism has not refrained from laying its
hand on these things through any sense of decency, but merely because
the task has hitherto proved impossible.
Granting, then, the premise that some process might be discovered
whereby the air-supply of the world could be controlled, the Air Trust
logically follows. I have endeavored to show how such a Trust would
inevitably lead to the utter enslavement of the human race, unless
overthrown by the only means then possible, i.e., violence. This book is
not a brief for "direct action." Doubtless the capitalist press (if it indeed
notice the work at all) will denounce it as a plea for "bomb-throwing"

and apply the epithet of "Anarchist" to me; but at this the judicious and
the intelligent will only smile; and as for our friends the enemy, we
esteem their opinion at its precise real value, zero.
Given the conditions supposed in this book, I repeat--a complete
monopoly of the air, with an absolute suppression of all political
rights--no other outcomes are possible than slavery or violent, physical
revolution. As I have made Gabriel Armstrong say: "The masters
would have it so. Academic discussion becomes absurd, in the face of
plutocratic savagery. And in a case of self-defense, no measures are
unjustifiable."
I believe in political action. I hope for a peaceful and bloodless
revolution. But if that be impossible, then by all means let us have
revolution in its other sense. And with the hope that this book may
perhaps revive some fainting spirit or renew the vision of emancipation
in some soul where it has dimmed, I give "The Air Trust" to the
workers of America and of the world.
GEORGE ALLAN ENGLAND.
Boston, Mass., November 1, 1915.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. THE BIRTH OF AN IDEA II. THE PARTNERS III. THE BAITING
OF HERZOG IV. AN INTERLOPER V. IN THE LABORATORY VI.
OXYGEN, KING OF INTOXICATORS VII. A FREAK OF FATE
VIII. ONE UNBIDDEN, SHARES GREAT SECRETS IX.
DISCHARGED X. A GLIMPSE OF THE PARASITES XI. THE END
OF TWO GAMES XII. ON THE GREAT HIGHWAY XIII.
CATASTROPHE XIV. THE RESCUE XV. AN HOUR AND A
PARTING XVI. TIGER WALDRON "COMES BACK" XVII.
THOUGHTS XVIII. FLINT AND WALDRON PLAN XIX.
CATHERINE'S DEFIANCE XX. THE BILLIONAIRE'S PLOT XXI.
GABRIEL, GOOD SAMARITAN XXII. THE TRAP IS SPRUNG

XXIII. THE BEAST GLOATS XXIV. CATHERINE'S SUPREME
DECISION XXV. THROUGH STEEL BARS XXVI. "GUILTY"
XXVII. BACK IN THE SUNLIGHT XXVIII. IN THE REFUGE
XXIX. "APRÈS NOUS LE DÉLUGE!" XXX. TRAPPED! XXXI.
ESCAPE! XXXII. OMINOUS DEVELOPMENTS XXXIII. "NOW
COMES THE HOUR SUPREME" XXXIV. THE ATTACK XXXV.
TERROR AND RETREAT XXXVI. THE STORMING OF THE
WORKS XXXVII. DEATH IN THE PIT OF STEEL XXXVIII.
VISIONS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
"VISIONS!" SHE SAID SOFTLY, "DO YOU BEHOLD THEM
TOO?"
"CAN'T BE DONE, EH?" SAID FLINT
HE GATHERED HER UP AS THOUGH SHE HAD BEEN A CHILD
AIMING AT THE BASE OF THE SKULL SHE STRUCK
THE SPY'S BODY BURST INTO A SHEAF OF FIRE
HIS FINGERS LOST THEIR HOLD--HE DROPPED LIKE A
PLUMMET

THE AIR TRUST
CHAPTER I.
THE BIRTH OF AN IDEA.
Sunk far back in the huge leather cushions of his morris chair, old Isaac
Flint was thinking, thinking hard. Between narrowed lids, his hard,
gray eyes were blinking at the morning sunlight that poured into his

private office, high up