The Great War Syndicate | Page 4

take immediate
control of the war, there would be time to put the army and navy,
especially the latter, in better condition to carry on the contest in case
of the failure of the Syndicate. Organization and construction might
still go on, and, should it be necessary, the army and navy could step
into the contest fresh and well prepared.
All branches of the Government united in accepting the offer of the
Syndicate. The contract was signed, and the world waited to see what
would happen next.

The influence which for years had been exerted by the interests
controlled by the men composing the Syndicate, had its effect in
producing a popular confidence in the power of the members of the
Syndicate to conduct a war as successfully as they had conducted other
gigantic enterprises. Therefore, although predictions of disaster came
from many quarters, the American public appeared willing to wait with
but moderate impatience for the result of this novel undertaking.
The Government now proceeded to mass troops at important points on
the northern frontier; forts were supplied with men and armaments, all
coast defences were put in the best possible condition, the navy was
stationed at important ports, and work at the ship- yards went on. But
without reference to all this, the work of the Syndicate immediately
began.
This body of men were of various politics and of various pursuits in life.
But politics were no more regarded in the work they had undertaken
than they would have been in the purchase of land or of railroad iron.
No manifestoes of motives and intentions were issued to the public.
The Syndicate simply went to work. There could be no doubt that early
success would be a direct profit to it, but there could also be no doubt
that its success would be a vast benefit and profit, not only to the
business enterprises in which these men were severally engaged, but to
the business of the whole country. To save the United States from a
dragging war, and to save themselves from the effects of it, were the
prompting motives for the formation of the Syndicate.
Without hesitation, the Syndicate determined that the war in which it
was about to engage should be one of defence by means of offence.
Such a war must necessarily be quick and effective; and with all the
force of their fortunes, their minds, and their bodies, its members went
to work to wage this war quickly and effectively.
All known inventions and improvements in the art of war had been
thoroughly considered by the Syndicate, and by the eminent specialists
whom it had enlisted in its service. Certain recently perfected engines
of war, novel in nature, were the exclusive property of the Syndicate. It
was known, or surmised, in certain quarters that the Syndicate had

secured possession of important warlike inventions; but what they were
and how they acted was a secret carefully guarded and protected.
The first step of the Syndicate was to purchase from the United States
Government ten war-vessels. These were of medium size and in good
condition, but they were of an old-fashioned type, and it had not been
considered expedient to put them in commission. This action caused
surprise and disappointment in many quarters. It had been supposed
that the Syndicate, through its agents scattered all over the world,
would immediately acquire, by purchase or lease, a fleet of fine
ironclads culled from various maritime powers. But the Syndicate
having no intention of involving, or attempting to involve, other
countries in this quarrel, paid no attention to public opinion, and went
to work in its own way.
Its vessels, eight of which were on the Atlantic coast and two on the
Pacific, were rapidly prepared for the peculiar service in which they
were to be engaged. The resources of the Syndicate were great, and in a
very short time several of their vessels, already heavily plated with
steel, were furnished with an additional outside armour, formed of
strips of elastic steel, each reaching from the gunwales nearly to the
surface of the water. These strips, about a foot wide, and placed an inch
or two apart, were each backed by several powerful air-buffers, so that
a ball striking one or more of them would be deprived of much of its
momentum. The experiments upon the steel spring and buffers adopted
by the Syndicate showed that the force of the heaviest cannonading was
almost deadened by the powerful elasticity of this armour.
The armament of each vessel consisted of but one gun, of large calibre,
placed on the forward deck, and protected by a bomb-proof covering.
Each vessel was manned by a captain and crew from the merchant
service, from whom no warlike duties were expected. The fighting
operations