Читаем A Dangerous Fortune (1994) полностью

Hugh took the manuscript and began to read. It was a description of conditions at a nitrate mine owned by the Mirandas. Because the trade was financed by Pilasters Bank, Tonio held the bank responsible for the ill-treatment of the miners. At first Hugh was unmoved: long hours, poor wages and child labor were features of mines all over the world. But as he read on he saw this was worse. At the Miranda mines, the overseers were armed with whips and guns, and they used them freely to enforce discipline. Laborers--including women and children--were flogged for being too slow, and if they tried to leave before they had worked out their contracts they could be shot. Tonio had eyewitness accounts of such "executions."

Hugh was horrified. "But this is murder!" he said.

"Exactly."

"Doesn't your president know about it?"

"He knows. But the Mirandas are his favorites now."

"And your own family ..."

"Once upon a time we could have put a stop to it. Now it takes all our effort to retain control of our own province."

Hugh was mortified to think his own family and their bank were financing such a brutal industry, but for a moment he tried to put aside his feelings and think coolly about consequences. The article Tonio had written was just the kind of material The Times liked to publish. There would be speeches in Parliament and letters in the weekly journals. The social conscience of businessmen, many of whom were Methodists, would make them hesitate before getting involved with Pilasters. It would all be extremely bad for the bank.

Do I care? thought Hugh. The bank had treated him badly and he was about to leave it. But despite that, he could not ignore this problem. He was still an employee, he would draw his salary at the end of the month, and he owed Pilasters his loyalty at least until then. He had to do something.

What did Tonio want? The fact that he was showing Hugh the article before publishing it suggested that he wanted to make a deal. "What's your objective?" Hugh asked him. "Do you want us to stop financing the nitrate trade?"

Tonio shook his head. "If Pilasters pulled out, someone else would take over--another bank with a thicker hide. No, we must be more subtle."

"You've got something specific in mind."

"The Mirandas are planning a railway."

"Ah, yes. The Santamaria railroad."

"That railway will make Papa Miranda the wealthiest and most powerful man in the country, excepting only the president. And Papa Miranda is a brute. I want the railway stopped."