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 Chapter

4 An introduction to molecular symmetry

TOPICS
& Symmetry operators and symmetry elements
& Point groups
& An introduction to character tables
& Infrared spectroscopy
& Chiral molecules

4.1 Introduction molecular orientation (Figure 4.1). This is not true if we

carry out the same rotational operations on BF2 H.
Within chemistry, symmetry is important both at a molecu- Group theory is the mathematical treatment of symmetry.
lar level and within crystalline systems, and an understand- In this chapter, we introduce the fundamental language of
ing of symmetry is essential in discussions of molecular group theory (symmetry operator, symmetry element, point
spectroscopy and calculations of molecular properties. A dis- group and character table). The chapter does not set out to
cussion of crystal symmetry is not appropriate in this book, give a comprehensive survey of molecular symmetry, but rather
and we introduce only molecular symmetry. For qualitative to introduce some common terminology and its meaning. We
purposes, it is sufficient to refer to the shape of a molecule include in this chapter an introduction to the vibrational spec-
using terms such as tetrahedral, octahedral or square planar. tra of simple inorganic molecules, for example, how to use this
However, the common use of these descriptors is not always technique to distinguish between possible structures for XY2 ,
precise, e.g. consider the structures of BF3 , 4.1, and BF2 H, XY3 and XY4 molecules. Complete normal coordinate analysis
4.2, both of which are planar. A molecule of BF3 is correctly of such species is beyond the remit of this book.
described as being trigonal planar, since its symmetry
properties are fully consistent with this description; all the
FBF bond angles are 1208 and the BF bond distances 4.2 Symmetry operations and symmetry
are all identical (131 pm). It is correct to say that the boron elements
centre in BF2 H, 4.2, is in a pseudo-trigonal planar environ-
ment but the molecular symmetry properties are not the In Figure 4.1, we applied 1208 rotations to BF3 and saw that
same as those of BF3 . The FBF bond angle in BF2 H is each rotation generated a representation of the molecule that
smaller than the two HBF angles, and the BH bond was indistinguishable from the first. Each rotation is an
is shorter (119 pm) than the BF bonds (131 pm). example of a symmetry operation.

A symmetry operation is an operation performed on an object

which leaves it in a configuration that is indistinguishable
from, and superimposable on, the original configuration.

The rotations described in Figure 4.1 are performed about

(4.1) (4.2)
an axis perpendicular to the plane of the paper and passing
The descriptor symmetrical implies that a species possesses through the boron atom; the axis is an example of a symme-
a number of indistinguishable configurations. When struc- try element.
ture 4.1 is rotated in the plane of the paper through 1208,
A symmetry operation is carried out with respect to points,
the resulting structure is indistinguishable from the first;
lines or planes, the latter being the symmetry elements.
another 1208 rotation results in a third indistinguishable
 Chapter 4 . Symmetry operations and symmetry elements 89

Fig. 4.1 Rotation of the trigonal planar BF3 molecule through 1208 generates a representation of the structure that is
indistinguishable from the first; one F atom is marked in red simply as a label. A second 1208 rotation gives another
indistinguishable structural representation.

Rotation about an n-fold axis of symmetry prime marks, e.g. C2 , C2 ’ and C2 ’’. We return to this in the
discussion of XeF4 (see Figure 4.4).
The symmetry operation of rotation about an n-fold axis
(the symmetry element) is denoted by the symbol Cn , in
3608 Self-study exercises
which the angle of rotation is ; n is an integer, e.g. 2, 3
n
1. Each of the following contains a 6-membered ring: benzene,
or 4. Applying this notation to the BF3 molecule in borazine (see Figure 13.21), pyridine and S6 (see Box 1.1).
Figure 4.1 gives a value of n ¼ 3 (equation 4.1), and therefore Explain why only benzene contains a 6-fold principal rotation
we say that the BF3 molecule contains a C3 rotation axis; in axis.
this case, the axis lies perpendicular to the plane containing
the molecule. 2. Among the following, why does only XeF4 contain a 4-fold
principal rotation axis: CF4 , SF4 , [BF4 ] and XeF4 ?
3608
Angle of rotation ¼ 1208 ¼ ð4:1Þ 3. Draw the structure of [XeF5 ] . On the diagram, mark the C5
n
axis. The molecule contains five C2 axes. Where are these
In addition, BF3 also contains three 2-fold (C2 ) rotation axes, axes? [Ans. for structure, see worked example 2.7]
each coincident with a BF bond as shown in Figure 4.2.
4. Look at the structure of B5 H9 in Figure 13.26a. Where is the
If a molecule possesses more than one type of n-axis, the
C4 axis in this molecule?
axis of highest value of n is called the principal axis; it is
the axis of highest molecular symmetry. For example, in
BF3 , the C3 axis is the principal axis.
In some molecules, rotation axes of lower orders than the
Reflection through a plane of symmetry
principal axis may be coincident with the principal axis. For
example, in square planar XeF4 , the principal axis is a C4 (mirror plane)
axis but this also coincides with a C2 axis (see Figure 4.4).
If reflection of all parts of a molecule through a plane
Where a molecule contains more than one type of Cn axis
produces an indistinguishable configuration, the plane is a
with the same value of n, they are distinguished by using
plane of symmetry; the symmetry operation is one of reflec-
tion and the symmetry element is the mirror plane (denoted
by ). For BF3 , the plane containing the molecular frame-
work (the brown plane shown in Figure 4.2) is a mirror
plane. In this case, the plane lies perpendicular to the vertical
principal axis and is denoted by the symbol h .
The framework of atoms in a linear, bent or planar
molecule can always be drawn in a plane, but this plane can
be labelled h only if the molecule possesses a Cn axis perpen-
dicular to the plane. If the plane contains the principal axis, it is
labelled v . Consider the H2 O molecule. This possesses a C2
axis (Figure 4.3) but it also contains two mirror planes, one
containing the H2 O framework, and one perpendicular to it.
Each plane contains the principal axis of rotation and so
may be denoted as v but in order to distinguish between
them, we use the notations v and v ’. The v label refers to
the plane that bisects the HOH bond angle and the v ’
label refers to the plane in which the molecule lies.
Fig. 4.2 The 3-fold (C3 ) and three 2-fold (C2 ) axes of A special type of  plane which contains the principal
symmetry possessed by the trigonal planar BF3 molecule. rotation axis, but which bisects the angle between two
90 Chapter 4 . An introduction to molecular symmetry

adjacent 2-fold axes, is labelled d . A square planar molecule

such as XeF4 provides an example. Figure 4.4a shows that
XeF4 contains a C4 axis (the principal axis) and perpen-
dicular to this is the h plane in which the molecule lies.
Coincident with the C4 axis is a C2 axis. Within the plane
of the molecule, there are two sets of C2 axes. One type
(the C2 ’ axis) coincides with F–Xe–F bonds, while the
second type (the C2 ’’ axis) bisects the F–Xe–F 908 angle
(Figure 4.4). We can now define two sets of mirror planes:
one type (v ) contains the principal axis and a C2 ’ axis
(Figure 4.4b), while the second type (d ) contains the
principal axis and a C2 ’’ axis (Figure 4.4c). Each d plane
bisects the angle between two C2 ’ axes.
In the notation for planes of symmetry, , the subscripts
h, v and d stand for horizontal, vertical and dihedral
Fig. 4.3 The H2 O molecule possesses one C2 axis and respectively.
two mirror planes. (a) The C2 axis and the plane of
symmetry that contains the H2 O molecule. (b) The C2 axis
and the plane of symmetry that is perpendicular to the plane
Self-study exercises
of the H2 O molecule. (c) Planes of symmetry in a molecule are
often shown together on one diagram; this representation for
1. N2 O4 is planar (Figure 15.15). Show that it possesses three
H2 O combines diagrams (a) and (b).
planes of symmetry.

Fig. 4.4 The square planar molecule XeF4 . (a) One C2 axis coincides with the principal (C4 ) axis; the molecule lies in a h
plane which contains two C2 ’ and two C2 ’’ axes. (b) Each of the two v planes contains the C4 axis and one C2 ’ axis.
(c) Each of the two d planes contains the C4 axis and one C2 ’’ axis.
 Chapter 4 . Symmetry operations and symmetry elements 91

2. B2 Br4 has the following staggered structure:

(4.7) (4.8)

Show that B2 Br4 has one less plane of symmetry than B2 F4 Self-study exercises
which is planar.
1. Draw the structures of each of the following species and
3. Ga2 H6 has the following structure in the gas phase: confirm that each possesses a centre of symmetry: CS2 ,
[PF6 ] , XeF4 , I2 , [ICl2 ] .
2. [PtCl4 ]2 has a centre of symmetry, but [CoCl4 ]2 does not.
One is square planar and the other is tetrahedral. Which is
which?
3. Why does CO2 possess an inversion centre, but NO2 does not?
4. CS2 and HCN are both linear. Explain why CS2 possesses a
centre of symmetry whereas HCN does not.

Show that it possesses three planes of symmetry.

4. Show that the planes of symmetry in benzene are one h , three
v and three d . Rotation about an axis, followed by
reflection through a plane perpendicular to
this axis
Reflection through a centre of symmetry If rotation through
3608
about an axis, followed by reflection
(inversion centre) n
through a plane perpendicular to that axis, yields an indistin-
If reflection of all parts of a molecule through the centre of the guishable configuration, the axis is an n-fold rotation–
molecule produces an indistinguishable configuration, the reflection axis, also called an n-fold improper rotation axis.
centre is a centre of symmetry, also called a centre of It is denoted by the symbol Sn . Tetrahedral species of the
inversion (see also Box 2.1); it is designated by the symbol i. type XY4 (all Y groups must be equivalent) possess three
Each of the molecules CO2 (4.3), trans-N2 F2 (see worked S4 axes, and the operation of one S4 rotation–reflection in
example 4.1), SF6 (4.4) and benzene (4.5) possesses a the CH4 molecule is illustrated in Figure 4.5.
centre of symmetry, but H2 S (4.6), cis-N2 F2 (4.7) and SiH4
(4.8) do not.
Self-study exercises

1. Explain why BF3 possesses an S3 axis, but NF3 does not.

2. C2 H6 in a staggered conformation possesses an S6 axis. Show
that this axis lies along the C–C bond.
3. Figure 4.5 shows one of the S4 axes in CH4 . On going from
CH4 to CH2 Cl2 , are the S4 axes retained?

(4.3) (4.4)

Identity operator
All objects can be operated upon by the identity operator E.
This is the simplest operator (although it may not be easy to
appreciate why we identify such an operator!) and effectively
identifies the molecular configuration. The operator E leaves
(4.5) (4.6) the molecule unchanged.
92 Chapter 4 . An introduction to molecular symmetry

3608
Fig. 4.5 An improper rotation (or rotation–reflection), Sn , involves rotation about followed by reflection through a
n
plane that is perpendicular to the rotation axis. The diagram illustrates the operation about one of the S4 axes in CH4 ; three
S4 operations are possible for the CH4 molecule. [Exercise: where are the three rotation axes for the three S4 operations in CH4 ?]

Worked example 4.1 Symmetry properties of cis- and

trans-N2 F2

How do the rotation axes and planes of symmetry in cis- and

trans-N2 F2 differ?

First draw the structures of cis- and trans-N2 F2 ; both are 5. The consequence of the different types of C2 axes,
planar molecules. and the presence of the v plane in the cis-isomer, is
that the symmetry planes containing the cis- and
trans-N2 F2 molecular frameworks are labelled v ’ and
h respectively.

Self-study exercises
1. The identity operator E applies to each isomer. 1. How do the rotation axes and planes of symmetry in Z- and E-
2. Each isomer possesses a plane of symmetry which con- CFH¼CFH differ?
tains the molecular framework. However, their labels
2. How many planes of symmetry do (a) F2 C¼O, (b) ClFC¼O
differ (see point 5 below).
and (c) [HCO2 ] possess? [Ans. (a) 2; (b) 1; (c) 2]
3. The cis-isomer contains a C2 axis which lies in the plane
of the molecule, but the trans-isomer contains a C2 axis
which bisects the NN bond and is perpendicular to
the plane of the molecule.
Worked example 4.2 Symmetry elements in NH3

The symmetry elements for NH3 are E, C3 and 3v . (a) Draw
the structure of NH3 . (b) What is the meaning of the E opera-
tor? (c) Draw a diagram to show the symmetry elements.

(a) The molecule is trigonal pyramidal.

4. The cis- (but not the trans-) isomer contains a mirror

plane, v , lying perpendicular to the plane of the
molecule and bisecting the NN bond:
 Chapter 4 . Successive operations 93

(b) The E operator is the identity operator and it leaves the In addition, BCl3 contains a h plane and three C2 axes
molecule unchanged. (see Figure 4.2).
(c) The C3 axis passes through the N atom, perpendicular to
a plane containing the three H atoms. Each v plane
contains one NH bond and bisects the opposite
HNH bond angle.

Rotation through 1208 about the C3 axis, followed by reflec-

tion through the plane perpendicular to this axis (the h
plane), generates a molecular configuration indistinguishable
from the first – this is an improper rotation S3 .

Self-study exercises Conclusion

The symmetry elements that BCl3 and PCl3 have in common
1. What symmetry elements are lost in going from NH3 to are E, C3 and 3v .
NH2 Cl? [Ans. C3 ; two v ] The symmetry elements possessed by BCl3 but not by PCl3
2. Compare the symmetry elements possessed by NH3 , NH2 Cl, are h , 3C2 and S3 .
NHCl2 and NCl3 .
3. Draw a diagram to show the symmetry elements of NClF2 . Self-study exercises
[Ans. Show one v ; only other operator is E]
1. Show that BF3 and F2 C¼O have the following symmetry ele-
ments in common: E, two mirror planes, one C2 .

Worked example 4.3 Trigonal planar BCl3 versus 2. How do the symmetry elements of ClF3 and BF3 differ?
[Ans: BF3 , as for BCl3 above; ClF3 , E, v ’, v , C2 ]
trigonal pyramidal PCl3

What symmetry elements do BCl3 and PCl3 (a) have in

common and (b) not have in common?
PCl3 is trigonal pyramidal (use the VSEPR model) and so 4.3 Successive operations
possesses the same symmetry elements as NH3 in worked
example 4.2. These are E, C3 and 3v . As we have seen in Section 4.2, a particular symbol is used to
BCl3 is trigonal planar (use VSEPR) and possesses all the denote a specific symmetry element. To say that NH3
above symmetry elements: possesses a C3 axis tells us that we can rotate the molecule
through 1208 and end up with a molecular configuration
that is indistinguishable from the first. However, it takes
three such operations to give a configuration of the NH3
molecule that exactly coincides with the first. The three
separate 1208 rotations are identified by using the notation
in Figure 4.6. We cannot actually distinguish between the
three H atoms, but for clarity they are labelled H(1), H(2)
and H(3) in the figure. Since the third rotation, C33 , returns
the NH3 molecule to its initial configuration, we can write
equation 4.2, or, in general, equation 4.3.
C33 ¼ E ð4:2Þ
Cnn ¼E ð4:3Þ
94 Chapter 4 . An introduction to molecular symmetry

Fig. 4.6 Successive C3 rotations in NH3 are distinguished using the notation C3 , C32 and C33 . The effect of the last operation is the
same as that of the identity operator acting on NH3 in the initial configuration.

Similar statements can be written to show the combined elements of a particular point group. These are listed in
effects of successive operations. For example, in planar character tables (see Sections 4.5 and 5.4, and Appendix 3)
BCl3 , the S3 improper axis of rotation corresponds to rotation which are widely available.
about the C3 axis followed by reflection through the h plane. Table 4.1 summarizes the most important classes of point
This can be written in the form of equation 4.4. group and gives their characteristic types of symmetry
S 3 ¼ C3   h ð4:4Þ elements; E is, of course, common to every group. Some
particular features of significance are given below.

Self-study exercises C1 point group

1. [PtCl4 ]2 is square planar; to what rotational operation is C42
Molecules that appear to have no symmetry at all, e.g. 4.9,
equivalent?
must possess the symmetry element E and effectively possess
2. Draw a diagram to illustrate what the notation C 46 means with at least one C1 axis of rotation. They therefore belong to the
respect to rotational operations in benzene. C1 point group, although since C1 ¼ E, the rotational
symmetry operation is ignored when we list the symmetry
elements of this point group.

4.4 Point groups

The number and nature of the symmetry elements of a given
molecule are conveniently denoted by its point group, and
give rise to labels such as C2 , C3v , D3h , D2d , Td , Oh or Ih .
These point groups belong to the classes of C groups, D (4.9)
groups and special groups, the latter containing groups
that possess special symmetries, i.e. tetrahedral, octahedral
and icosahedral. C1v point group
To describe the symmetry of a molecule in terms of one
symmetry element (e.g. a rotation axis) provides information C1 signifies the presence of an 1-fold axis of rotation,
only about this property. Each of BF3 and NH3 possesses a i.e. that possessed by a linear molecule (Figure 4.7); for the
3-fold axis of symmetry, but their structures and overall molecular species to belong to the C1v point group, it
symmetries are different; BF3 is trigonal planar and NH3 is must also possess an infinite number of v planes but no h
trigonal pyramidal. On the other hand, if we describe the plane or inversion centre. These criteria are met by asymme-
symmetries of these molecules in terms of their respective trical diatomics such as HF, CO and [CN] (Figure 4.7a),
point groups (D3h and C3v ), we are providing information and linear polyatomics (throughout this book, polyatomic
about all their symmetry elements. is used to mean a species containing three or more atoms)
Before we look at some representative point groups, we that do not possess a centre of symmetry, e.g. OCS and
emphasize that it is not essential to memorize the symmetry HCN.
 Chapter 4 . Point groups 95

Table 4.1 Characteristic symmetry elements of some important classes of point groups. The characteristic symmetry elements of
the Td , Oh and Ih are omitted because the point groups are readily identified (see Figures 4.8 and 4.9). No distinction is made in
this table between v and d planes of symmetry. For complete lists of symmetry elements, character tables (Appendix 3) should be
consulted.

Point group Characteristic symmetry elements Comments

Cs E, one  plane
Ci E, inversion centre
Cn E, one (principal) n-fold axis
Cnv E, one (principal) n-fold axis, n v planes
Cnh E, one (principal) n-fold axis, one h plane, one The Sn axis necessarily follows from the Cn axis and h plane.
Sn -fold axis which is coincident with the Cn axis For n ¼ 2, 4 or 6, there is also an inversion centre.
Dnh E, one (principal) n-fold axis, n C2 axes, one h The Sn axis necessarily follows from the Cn axis and h plane.
plane, n v planes, one Sn -fold axis For n ¼ 2, 4 or 6, there is also an inversion centre.
Dnd E, one (principal) n-fold axis, n C2 axes, n v For n ¼ 3 or 5, there is also an inversion centre.
planes, one S2n -fold axis
Td Tetrahedral
Oh Octahedral
Ih Icosahedral

Fig. 4.7 Linear molecular species can be classified according to whether they possess a centre of symmetry (inversion centre) or
not. All linear species possess a C1 axis of rotation and an infinite number of v planes; in (a), two such planes are shown and
these planes are omitted from (b) for clarity. Diagram (a) shows an asymmetrical diatomic belonging to the point group C1v , and
(b) shows a symmetrical diatomic belonging to the point group D1h .

D1h point group [NH4 ]þ , P4 (Figure 4.9a) and B4 Cl4 (Figure 4.9b). Those
with octahedral symmetry include SF6 , [PF6 ] , W(CO)6
Symmetrical diatomics (e.g. H2 , [O2 ]2 ) and linear poly- (Figure 4.9c) and [Fe(CN)6 ]3 . There is no centre of sym-
atomics that contain a centre of symmetry (e.g. [N3 ] , metry in a tetrahedron but there is one in an octahedron,
CO2 , HCCH) possess a h plane in addition to a C1 axis and this distinction has consequences with regard to the
and an infinite number of v planes (Figure 4.7). These observed electronic spectra of tetrahedral and octahedral
species belong to the D1h point group. metal complexes (see Section 21.7). Members of the
icosahedral point group are uncommon, e.g. [B12 H12 ]2
(Figure 4.9d).
Td , Oh or Ih point groups
Molecular species that belong to the Td , Oh or Ih point Determining the point group of a molecule
groups (Figure 4.8) possess many symmetry elements, or molecular ion
although it is seldom necessary to identify them all before
the appropriate point group can be assigned. Species with The application of a systematic approach to the assignment
tetrahedral symmetry include SiF4 , [ClO4 ] , [CoCl4 ]2 , of a point group is essential, otherwise there is the risk that
96 Chapter 4 . An introduction to molecular symmetry

Section 4.8. Before assigning a point group to a molecule,

its structure must be determined by, for example, microwave
spectroscopy, or X-ray, electron or neutron diffraction
methods.

Worked example 4.4 Point group assignments: 1

Tetrahedron Octahedron Icosahedron
Fig. 4.8 The tetrahedron (Td symmetry), octahedron (Oh Determine the point group of trans-N2 F2 .
symmetry) and icosahedron (Ih symmetry) possess 4, 6 and
12 vertices respectively, and 4, 8 and 20 equilateral-triangular First draw the structure.
faces respectively.

Apply the strategy shown in Figure 4.10:

START
Is the molecule linear? No
Does trans-N2 F2 have Td ,
Oh or Ih symmetry? No
Is there a Cn axis? Yes; a C2 axis perpendicular
to the plane of the paper
and passing through the
midpoint of the NN bond
Are there two C2 axes
perpendicular to the
principal axis? No
Is there a h plane
(perpendicular to the
principal axis)? Yes
STOP
The point group is C2h .

Self-study exercises

1. Show that the point group of cis-N2 F2 is C2v .

2. Show that the point group of E-CHCl¼CHCl is C2h .
Fig. 4.9 The molecular structures of (a) P4 , (b) B4 Cl4
(the B atoms are shown in blue), (c) [W(CO)6 ] (the W
atom is shown in yellow and the C atoms in grey) and
(d) [B12 H12 ]2 (the B atoms are shown in blue).
Worked example 4.5 Point group assignments: 2

Determine the point group of PF5 .

First, draw the structure.

symmetry elements will be missed with the consequence that
an incorrect assignment is made. Figure 4.10 shows a
procedure that may be adopted; some of the less common
point groups (e.g. Sn , T, O) are omitted from the scheme.
Notice that it is not necessary to find all the symmetry
elements (e.g. improper axes) in order to determine the
point group. In the trigonal bipyramidal arrangement, the three equator-
We illustrate the application of Figure 4.10 with reference ial F atoms are equivalent, and the two axial F atoms are
to four worked examples, with an additional example in equivalent.
 Chapter 4 . Point groups 97

Fig. 4.10 Scheme for assigning point groups of molecules and molecular ions. Apart from the cases of n ¼ 1 or 1, n most
commonly has values of 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6.

Apply the strategy shown in Figure 4.10: Worked example 4.6 Point group assignments: 3
START
Is the molecule linear? No To what point group does POCl3 belong?
Does PF5 have Td , Oh or
Ih symmetry? No The structure of POCl3 is:
Is there a Cn axis? Yes; a C3 axis containing the
P and two axial F atoms
Are there three C2 axes
perpendicular to the Yes; each lies along an
principal axis? equatorial PF bond
Is there a h plane
(perpendicular to the Yes; it contains the P and
principal axis)? three equatorial F atoms.
STOP
The point group is D3h .

Self-study exercises

1. Show that BF3 belongs to the D3h point group.

2. Show that OF2 belongs to the C2v point group.
3. Show that BF2Br belongs to the C 2v point group.
98 Chapter 4 . An introduction to molecular symmetry

Apply the strategy shown in Figure 4.10: Follow the scheme in Figure 4.10:

START START
Is the molecule linear? No Is the molecule linear? No
Does POCl3 have Td , Oh or No (remember that Does S8 have Td , Oh or Ih
Ih symmetry? although this molecule is symmetry? No
loosely considered as Is there a Cn axis? Yes; a C4 axis running
being tetrahedral in through the centre of the
shape, it does not ring; perpendicular to the
possess tetrahedral plane of the paper in
symmetry) diagram (a)
Is there a Cn axis? Yes; a C3 axis Are there four C2 axes
running along the OP perpendicular to the principal Yes; these are most easily
bond axis? seen from diagram (c)
Are there three C2 axes Is there a h plane
perpendicular to the (perpendicular to the
principal axis? No principal axis)? No
Is there a h plane Are there n d planes Yes; these are most easily
(perpendicular to the (containing the principal seen from diagrams (a)
principal axis)? No axis)? and (c)
Are there n v planes Yes; each contains the
STOP
(containing the principal one Cl and the O and P
axis)? atoms The point group is D4d .
STOP
The point group is C3v .
Self-study exercises

1. Why does the S8 ring not contain a C 8 axis?

Self-study exercises
2. Copy diagram (a) above. Show on the figure where the C4 axis
1. Show that CHCl3 possesses C3v symmetry, but that CCl4 and the four C2 axes lie.
belongs to the Td point group. 3. S6 has the chair conformation shown in Box 1.1. Confirm that
þ this molecule contains a centre of inversion.
2. Assign point groups to (a) [NH4 ] and (b) NH3 .
[Ans. (a) Td ; (b) C3v ]

Earlier, we noted that it is not necessary to find all the sym-

metry elements of a molecule or ion to determine its point
group. However, if one needs to identify all the operations
Worked example 4.7 Point group assignments: 4 in a point group, the following check of the total number
can be carried out:†
Three projections of the cyclic structure of S8 are shown below; . assign 1 for C or S, 2 for D, 12 for T, 24 for O or 60 for I;
all SS bond distances are equivalent, as are all SSS bond . multiply by n for a numerical subscript;
angles. To what point group does S8 belong? . multiply by 2 for a letter subscript (s, v, d, h, i).
For example, the C3v point group has 1  3  2=6 opera-
tions, and D2d has 2  2  2=8 operations.

4.5 Character tables: an introduction

While Figure 4.10 provides a point group assignment using
certain diagnostic symmetry elements, it may be necessary
to establish whether any additional symmetry elements are
exhibited by a molecule in a given point group.

†
See O.J. Curnow (2007) Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 84, p. 1430.
 Chapter 4 . Character tables: an introduction 99

Table 4.2 The character table for the C2v point group. For The character table summarizes this information by stating
more character tables, see Appendix 3. ‘2C4 C2 ’, referring to C41 and C43 , and C42 ¼ C2 . The opera-
tion C44 is taken care of in the identity operator E. The two
C2v E C2 v ðxzÞ v ’ð yzÞ sets of C2 axes that we showed in Figure 4.4 and labelled
as C2 ’ and C2 ’’ are apparent in the character table, as are
A1 1 1 1 1 z x2 , y2 , z2 the h , two v and two d planes of symmetry. The symmetry
A2 1 1 1 1 Rz xy
B1 1 1 1 1 x; Ry xz operations that we did not show in Figure 4.4 but that are
B2 1 1 1 1 y, Rx yz included in the character table are the centre of symmetry,
i, (which is located on the Xe atom in XeF4 ), and the S4
axes. Each S4 operation can be represented as (C4  h Þ:
The left-hand column in a character table gives a list of
Each point group has an associated character table, and symmetry labels. These are used in conjunction with the
that for the C2v point group is shown in Table 4.2. The numbers, or characters, from the main part of the table to
point group is indicated at the top left-hand corner and the label the symmetry properties of, for example, molecular
symmetry elements possessed by a member of the point orbitals or modes of molecular vibrations. As we shall see
group are given across the top row of the character table. in Chapter 5, although the symmetry labels in the character
The H2 O molecule has C2v symmetry and when we looked tables are upper case (e.g. A1 , E, T2g ), the corresponding
at the symmetry elements of H2 O in Figure 4.3, we labelled symmetry labels for orbitals are lower case (e.g. a1 , e, t2g ).
the two perpendicular planes. In the character table, taking Symmetry labels give us information about degeneracies as
the z axis as coincident with the principal axis, the v and follows:
v ’ planes are defined as lying in the xz and yz planes, respec-
tively. Placing the molecular framework in a convenient . A and B (or a and b) indicate non-degenerate;
orientation with respect to a Cartesian set of axes has . E (or e) refers to doubly degenerate;
many advantages, one of which is that the atomic orbitals . T (or t) means triply degenerate.
on the central atom point in convenient directions. We In Chapter 5, we use character tables to label the symmetries
return to this in Chapter 5. of orbitals, and to understand what orbital symmetries are
Table 4.3 shows the character table for the C3v point allowed for a molecule possessing a particular symmetry.
group. The NH3 molecule possesses C3v symmetry, and Appendix 3 gives character tables for the most commonly
worked example 4.2 illustrated the principal axis of rotation encountered point groups, and each table has the same
and planes of symmetry in NH3 . In the character table, format as those in Tables 4.2 and 4.3.
the presence of three v planes in NH3 is represented
by the notation ‘3v ’ in the top line of the table. The notation
‘2C3 ’ summarizes the two operations C31 and C32 (Figure 4.6). 4.6 Why do we need to recognize
The operation C33 is equivalent to the identity operator, E,
symmetry elements?
and so is not specified again.
Figure 4.4 showed the proper axes of rotation and
So far in this chapter, we have described the possible sym-
planes of symmetry in the square planar molecule XeF4 .
metry elements that a molecule might possess and, on the
This has D4h symmetry. The D4h character table is given in
basis of these symmetry properties, we have illustrated how
Appendix 3, and the top row of the character table that
a molecular species can be assigned to a particular point
summarizes the symmetry operations for this point group
group. Now we address some of the reasons why the
is as follows:
recognition of symmetry elements in a molecule is important
to the inorganic chemist.
D4h E 2C4 C2 2C2 ’ 2C2 ’’ i 2S4 h 2v 2d Most of the applications of symmetry fall into one of the
following categories:
In Figure 4.4 we showed that a C2 axis is coincident with
. constructing molecular and hybrid orbitals (see Chapter 5);
the C4 axis in XeF4 . The C2 operation is equivalent to C42 .
. interpreting spectroscopic (e.g. vibrational and electronic)
properties;
. determining whether a molecular species is chiral.
Table 4.3 The character table for the C3v point group. For
more character tables, see Appendix 3. The next two sections deal briefly with the consequences of
symmetry on observed bands in infrared spectra and with
C3v E 2C3 3v the relationship between molecular symmetry and chirality.
In Chapter 21, we consider the electronic spectra of
A1 1 1 1 z x2 + y2 , z2
octahedral and tetrahedral d-block metal complexes and
A2 1 1 1 Rz
E 2 1 0 (x, y) (Rx , Ry ) (x2 – y2 , xy) (xz, yz) discuss the effects that molecular symmetry has on electronic
spectroscopic properties.
100 Chapter 4 . An introduction to molecular symmetry

4.7 Vibrational spectroscopy How many vibrational modes are there for a
given molecular species?
Infrared (IR) and Raman (see Box 4.1) spectroscopies
are branches of vibrational spectroscopy and the former Vibrational spectroscopy is concerned with the observation
technique is much the more widely available of the two in of the degrees of vibrational freedom, the number of which
student teaching laboratories. The discussion that follows can be determined as follows. The motion of a molecule
is necessarily selective and is pitched at a relatively simplistic containing n atoms can conveniently be described in terms
level. We derive the number of vibrational modes for some of the three Cartesian axes; the molecule has 3n degrees of
simple molecules, and determine whether these modes are freedom which together describe the translational, vibrational
infrared (IR) and/or Raman active (i.e. whether absorptions and rotational motions of the molecule.
corresponding to the vibrational modes are observed in the The translational motion of a molecule (i.e. movement
IR and/or Raman spectra). We also relate the vibrational through space) can be described in terms of three degrees
modes of a molecule to its symmetry by using the character of freedom relating to the three Cartesian axes. If there are
table of the relevant point group. However, a rigorous 3n degrees of freedom in total and three degrees of freedom
group theory approach to the normal modes of vibration for translational motion, it follows that there must be
of a molecule is beyond the scope of this book. The reading (3n  3) degrees of freedom for rotational and vibrational
list at the end of the chapter gives sources of more detailed motion. For a non-linear molecule there are three degrees
discussions. of rotational freedom, but for a linear molecule, there are

E X P E R I M E N TA L T E C H N I Q U E S

Box 4.1 Raman spectroscopy

Chandrasekhara V. Raman was awarded the 1930 Nobel

Prize in Physics ‘for his work on the scattering of light and
for the discovery of the effect named after him’. When radia-
tion (usually from a laser) of a particular frequency,  0, falls
on a vibrating molecule, most of the radiation is scattered
without a change in frequency. This is called Rayleigh scat-
tering. A small amount of the scattered radiation has fre-
quencies of 0  , where  is the fundamental frequency of
a vibrating mode of the molecule. This is Raman scattering.
For recording the Raman spectra of inorganic compounds,
the radiation source is usually a visible noble gas laser
(e.g. a red krypton laser, l=647 nm). One of the advantages
of Raman spectroscopy is that it extends to lower wave-
numbers than routine laboratory IR spectroscopy, thereby
permitting the observation of, for example, metal–ligand
vibrational modes. A disadvantage of the Raman effect is Part of the apparatus at the Combustion Research Facility, Liver-
its insensitivity since only a tiny percentage of the scattered more, USA, in which Raman spectroscopy is used to measure ambi-
radiation undergoes Raman scattering. One way of over- ent flame pressure.
coming this is to use a Fourier transform (FT) technique. US Department of Energy/Science Photo Library
A second way, suitable only for coloured compounds, is to
use resonance Raman spectroscopy. This technique relies on
using laser excitation wavelengths that coincide with wave- earliest pieces of evidence for the dimeric nature of the
lengths of absorptions in the electronic spectrum of a com- ‘mercury(I) ion’.
pound. This leads to resonance enhancement and an
increase in the intensities of lines in the Raman spectrum.
Further reading
Resonance Raman spectroscopy is now used extensively
for the investigation of coloured d-block metal complexes K. Nakamoto (1997) Infrared and Raman Spectra of Inorganic
and for probing the active metal sites in metalloproteins. and Coordination Compounds, 5th edn, Wiley, New York.
An early success of Raman spectroscopy was in 1934 J.A. McCleverty and T.J. Meyer, eds (2004) Comprehensive
when Woodward reported the spectrum of mercury(I) Coordination Chemistry II, Elsevier, Oxford – Volume 2
nitrate. After the assignment of lines to the [NO3]– ion, a contains three articles covering Raman, FT-Raman and
line at 169 cm–1 remained which he assigned to the stretching resonance Raman spectroscopies including applications
mode of the Hg–Hg bond in [Hg2]2+. This was one of the in bioinorganic chemistry.
 Chapter 4 . Vibrational spectroscopy 101

Fig. 4.11 The vibrational modes of CO2 (D1h ); in each mode of vibration, the carbon atom remains stationary. Vibrations (a)
and (b) are stretching modes. Bending mode (c) occurs in the plane of the paper, while bend (d) occurs in a plane perpendicular
to that of the paper; the þ signs designate motion towards the reader. The two bending modes require the same amount of energy
and are therefore degenerate.

only two degrees of rotational freedom. Having taken absorption bands in the IR spectrum. This is because the
account of translational and rotational motion, the number following selection rule must be obeyed: for a vibrational
of degrees of vibrational freedom can be determined (equa- mode to be IR active, it must give rise to a change in the mole-
tions 4.5 and 4.6).† cular dipole moment (see Section 2.6).
Number of degrees of vibrational freedom for a
For a mode of vibration to be infrared (IR) active, it must
non-linear molecule ¼ 3n  6 ð4:5Þ give rise to a change in the molecular electric dipole moment.
Number of degrees of vibrational freedom for a
linear molecule ¼ 3n  5 ð4:6Þ A different selection rule applies to Raman spectroscopy.
For a vibrational mode to be Raman active, the polarizability
For example, from equation 4.6, the linear CO2 molecule of the molecule must change during the vibration. Polarizabil-
has four normal modes of vibration and these are shown in ity is the ease with which the electron cloud associated with
Figure 4.11. Two of the modes are degenerate; i.e. they pos- the molecule is distorted.
sess the same energy and could be represented in a single dia-
gram with the understanding that one vibration occurs in the For a mode of vibration to be Raman active, it must give rise
plane of the paper and another, identical in energy, takes to a change in the polarizability of the molecule.
place in a plane perpendicular to the first.
In addition to these two selection rules, molecules with a
centre of symmetry (e.g. linear CO2, and octahedral SF6)
Self-study exercises are subject to the rule of mutual exclusion.
1. Using the VSEPR model to help you, draw the structures of
CF4 , XeF4 and SF4 . Assign a point group to each molecule. For centrosymmetric molecules, the rule of mutual exclusion
Show that the number of degrees of vibrational freedom is states that vibrations that are IR active are Raman inactive,
independent of the molecular symmetry. [Ans. Td ; D4h ; C2v ] and vice versa.

2. Why do CO2 and SO2 have a different number of degrees of

Application of this rule means that the presence of a centre of
vibrational freedom?
symmetry in a molecule is readily determined by comparing
3. How many degrees of vibrational freedom do each of the its IR and Raman spectra. Although Raman spectroscopy is
following possess: SiCl4 , BrF3 , POCl3 ? [Ans. 9; 6; 9 ] now a routine technique, it is IR spectroscopy that remains
the more accessible of the two for everyday compound char-
acterization. Hence, we restrict most of the following discus-
sion to IR spectroscopic absorptions. Furthermore, we are
Selection rules for an infrared or Raman concerned only with fundamental absorptions, these being
active mode of vibration the dominant features of IR spectra.

One of the important consequences of precisely denoting The transition from the vibrational ground state to the first
molecular symmetry is seen in infrared and Raman spectro- excited state is the fundamental transition.
scopy. For example, an IR spectrum records the frequency of
a molecular vibration, i.e. bond stretching and molecular
deformation (e.g. bending) modes. However, not all modes Linear (D1h or C1v ) and bent (C2v ) triatomic
of vibration of a particular molecule give rise to observable molecules
We can readily illustrate the effect of molecular symmetry
†
For further detail, see: P. Atkins and J. de Paula (2006) Atkins’ Physical on molecular dipole moments, and thus on infrared active
Chemistry, 8th edn, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 460. modes of vibration, by considering the linear molecule
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when the wild and reckless youth of the steel age was past and Wall
Street found it out,—then all these dynamic, self-paramount men
began to get rich. And as you may suppose, they no more knew how
to stop getting rich than they knew how to stop anything else. Of
that in its right place.
 XXXV

N o two were more the darlings of the steel age than John and
Thane. They were for it and of it, lover and husband to it,
remarkably possessing between them the qualities it demanded of
men. No part of its mystery was unknown to them. They became
miners and smelters of ore, bringers of coal, burners of coke,
drawers of wire, rollers of rails, in a very large way. Their wealth in
property increased alarmingly. One thing begat another so fast and
new opportunities so unexpectedly appeared that their resources
were chronically stretched to the utmost and they were continually
in need of more capital. John was always buying something they
couldn’t pay for,—an ore mountain perhaps, a ship to transport the
ore down the Great Lakes, a steel plant somebody had blunderingly
steered on the rocks. He was like a man on a tight rope juggling
more glass balls than he can hold all at once. He has to keep them
going in the air. He cannot stop. John never thought of stopping. It
wasn’t that he wished to be rich; it wasn’t that he had a passion for
power; he craved excitement. And there was plenty of it.
The steel industry had frightful growing pains for which there was no
diagnosis. The trouble was it grew by violent starts and then had fits
of coma. The profits were so great when there was any profit at all
that the steel maker would pawn his hope of the everlasting to build
more mills; and perhaps before they were finished the profit had
vanished and his despair was as wild as his ecstasy. The time to buy
steel plants was when the sky was visible at Pittsburgh; the time to
sell them was when the smoke was so dense that the sun at midday
resembled a pickled beet. But at one time no one had the money to
buy anything with and at the other time nobody would sell.
These were conditions perfectly suited to the exercise of John’s
reckless speculative genius. In the sloughs of despond he bought
more property, as he had bought the Agnes plant, with his notes of
hand and promises to pay. He seemed never so serene as when
treading the edge of a financial precipice in a high wind with a
swaying load on his back. People watched him with awe. He would
do it once too often, they said, as each time he got back to safe
ground again. Certainly he was a dangerous man to walk with. In an
industry controlled by fatalists he was unique for daring. Yet back of
his apparent passion for the gambling chance were saving qualities.
He had keen, brooding vision and rare business sagacity. When he
told a committee of United States Senators that with a tariff
protection of six-tenths of a cent a pound he would make this
country independent of the European steel wire makers (this was at
the beginning),—when he said that nobody took him seriously.
However, they gave him what he wanted. The price of wire was then
twelve cents a pound and this country was importing from Europe
three-quarters of all it used. A few years later the tables were
turned. This country was making more than half the steel wire used
in the whole world, selling it heavily even in England, and the price
was two cents a pound. So with all things of steel. So with steel
rails. When the American steel industry got started at last foreign
steel rails were being imported for American railways at $125 a ton.
Ultimately American steel rails sold for $18 a ton in this country, in
Europe, in Asia and Africa. The United States then had become an
exporting nation selling the products of its skill to the four ends of
the earth.
Business is warfare in time of peace. Hence its lure for combative
men. Its goal is conquest. Let alone it would perhaps wreck itself or
enslave the world. No matter. When it is ruthless, knowing no law
but its own necessity, then it is magnificent.
Attila, king of the Huns, vowing no grass to grow where his horse
had trod the enemy’s soil, is magnificent. We can see him in that
light now that he is far away in history and not pursuing us.
Business as it was in the last quarter of the nineteenth century also
is far away. Nothing like it can ever happen again. It was utterly
lawless, free in its own elemental might, lustful and glamorous. The
barbaric invasion that overturned Roman civilization was more
obvious as a spectacle but no more extraordinary, no more
unexpected, and perhaps as it shall turn out, no more significant,
than America’s economic invasion of the world in the steel age. One
stupendous sequel already present is the economic, financial and
political supremacy of the isolated American people in the affairs of
this earth. What will come of that nobody knows.
The Breakspeares conceived it, imagined it, planned it; the Thanes
tooled it. There was of course labor. But labor no more invents the
tools that are the means to economic conquest than soldiers invent
the weapons of war, and has generally less understanding of ends
than soldiers have of the strategy.
The men controlling the steel industry came to be grouped in three
main divisions. There was the original Pittsburgh group, under the
leadership of a round head named Carmichael; it had founded itself
in iron and then gone into steel. It was steady and powerful and had
gained some influential support in Wall Street. There was the
western group, always falling down and getting up again, very
unstable, yet dangerous as competitors.
And thirdly was the Breakspeare group, extremely unpredictable,
whose interests lay in every direction.
John naturally attracted men who loved risk and lived easily with
danger. Slaymaker learned the attitude, not thoroughly, but
sufficiently, and walked doggedly along. His goal was wealth for its
own sake. Although John’s high adventures often threatened to
involve all of them in colossal bankruptcy, yet this never quite
happened, and each time it didn’t happen Slaymaker took a part of
his profit and hid it away, never to be risked again. Jubal Awns, the
lawyer, became superstitious about John and followed him blindly.
Besides these two, who had been in from the start, there were three
others who would be called general partners. They not only were
very large stockholders and directors in John’s companies; they
joined their capital with his in new undertakings. One was Isaac
Pick, a wordless man who conversed in gestures and disbelieved
everything including the fact of his own existence. He had made a
fortune in scrap iron and was brought into the group by Slaymaker
at a time when new capital was urgently needed. Another was Col.
Wingreene, an exceedingly profane man, one of the railroad officials
whom John had induced to take original stock in the American Steel
Company when it began to make rails. Wingreene had bought out
the other railroad people and now devoted himself entirely to the
steel business. A third was Justinian Creed, a Cleveland banker, very
obese, who believed in the better way and twice a year was in a
grovelling panic about his sins, never thinking, however, to divest
himself of the fruits thereof. Thane was a partner, too, only his work
was in other material. There were many others loosely affiliated, but
these five,—Slaymaker, Awns, Pick, Wingreene and Creed,—were
John’s own, whom he led, and who came to be known generically as
the Breakspeare Crowd.
When the game was hot they worked at high pressure, wholly
sustained one would have thought by strong waters; when it was
won they let down with a bang. They were men of strong habits,
strong wills, strong feelings and strong humor. One of their odd
passions was for getting one another’s goat. In their practical jokes
they were serious, grim and imaginative, with an amazing power of
deception. Never was a time when some absurd hoax was not
brewing; and if one knew of nothing in pickle for another he began
to be uneasy about himself. His defence was to prepare something
of his own against the field. They were always on guard and
regarded one another askance, with a kind of owlish suspicion. One
would have thought, seeing them together, that they were too
distrustful of themselves to look away or turn to spit. So they were.
But this was personal, part of a game, and had nothing to do with
business really.
Their code of conduct was intricate. If the word passed they could
trust one another implicitly. Yet they avoided the word so far as
possible, preferring in all normal circumstances unlimited freedom of
personal action, each fellow for himself. In an emergency they came
close together, stood back to back, and presented a solid ring to the
world. In all situations John led them. Often he moved them against
their judgment. Sometimes he was wrong. Generally he was right.
When they acted severally against his judgment, on their own, they
were always wrong. His character was perhaps no stronger than
theirs; his judgment intrinsically was no better. But he had above all
of them a faculty of intuition, and he could change his mind. Creed
used to say: “John, he looks where he isn’t going and goes where he
isn’t looking. His eyes are crossed inside.”
He said it cynically, and it was distorted by John’s enemies, who took
it to mean that he could not be trusted by his own crowd. That was
not so. He never broke the code. Creed, as it turned out, was the
only man who needed watching within the rules.
Fortuity was the stuff they worked in; hazard was what they played
with. They were always betting. No game of chance or skill but they
had to add stakes to make it interesting. As they grew richer and
more easily bored it was increasingly difficult to find a pastime in
which the stakes were high enough. John turned the leisure of their
minds to horse racing. They would appear in a body on the race
track and scare the bookmakers with the size of their wagers. John
was their oracle. They never believed him; they only followed him.
When he had involved them in enormous loss they were obliged to
go on; there was no other hope of getting out but by his star of luck.
And it was by no means infallible. Once at Saratoga they had a
frightful week. Twice they had telegraphed home for money. Their
losses had gone into six figures. Slaymaker met Awns, Wingreene,
Pick and Creed on the hotel veranda after breakfast. He was
exceedingly sore.
“As long as I live and have my senses I’ll never bet on another horse
John picks,” he said. “He dreams these things. He never had a real
tip in his life.”
They were all of one mind. They were through. Just then John’s
voice reached them from the doorway, saying: “We’ll get it all back
today.”
They groaned and turned their backs.
“No, now listen?” he said. “You always get cold feet at the wrong
time. This is our chance. It’s air tight. It’s so secret I can’t even tell
you what horse it is. Give me your money and I’ll bet it with mine.”
He sat down and went on with it until Slaymaker said: “I’m an
imbecile. If anybody knew what an imbecile I am there would be a
run on my bank. This is positively the last time.”
They all gave him their money. It was the third race. No more could
he tell them. The horses went to the post and still they did not know
which one carried their money.
“It’s on,” said John. “It’s down all right. Don’t worry about that.”
“Lord, no,” said Slaymaker. “That’s not what we are worried about.”
John watched the horses. The others watched him.
A horse named Leadbeater took the lead at the start, held all the
way and won by four lengths. John fell back with a blank expression.
“That the horse?” asked Slaymaker.
“Yes,” said John. “That’s it.”
“Then what’s the matter?”
“I didn’t bet on it,” said John.
“You didn’t—what!”
“That was the horse,” John explained. “Only after we came out here
I got what I thought was a better tip and bet all the money on....
Now, wait!”
They would not wait. They rose with one impulse and left him alone
in Saratoga. That night on the train they began to get telegrams
from him. Would they authorize him to lay five thousand apiece for
them on a horse that was bound to win the next day at odds of 100
to 1? They tore up the telegrams. More kept coming, overtaking
them en route all that night and until noon the next day. They would
not even reply. But that horse did win and John by himself broke half
the bookmakers at Saratoga.
It was the end of their racing sport for that season. The crowd was
too disgusted to touch it again and John did not care for it alone.
Slaymaker said it was forever; so did all the rest. Yet the next
season they did it all over again.
 XXXVI

A ll the men who got rich with John Breakspeare developed

strange pathologies from nervous shock and strain. Their eyes
became opaque and had that uncanny trick of suddenly and without
movement changing their focus while they looked at you, as if
something were transacting on the far-away horizon of their
thoughts and you for that instant were transparent. They had their
luck by the tail and could not let go. They could count their gains;
they could not seize them. John was always getting them in; he
never got them out. Their wealth was in property to which enormous
additions had continuously to be made by an uncontrollable law of
growth. Thus the richer they grew the greater correspondingly their
liabilities were and there seemed no way either to quit or get out. If
you had all the wealth in the world you could not sell it. There would
be no one to buy it. In principle that was their problem. If they could
sell out they would be millionaires. But where was there anybody
with money enough to buy them out? It would take twenty-five
millions or more. Once they had begun to look at this dilemma they
could not let it alone; it filled them with anxiety. They began to
worry John about it. He had got them in. Couldn’t he find a way to
get them out?
“All right,” he said. “I’ll show you a way out.”
“How?”
“We’re like a railroad,” he said. “No railroad is privately owned any
more. It’s too big. It represents too much capital. Only the public is
rich enough to own a railroad. It takes thousands of investors
putting their money together to build a railroad. Then somebody
works it for them and pays them dividends on their shares. We can
do that,—put our shares on the New York Stock Exchange and sell
out to the public.”
So he led them to Wall Street. The motive was theirs; the plan was
his.
The American Steel Company was reorganized. Its capitalization was
increased to take in properties hitherto jointly owned among them
and for other purposes. They agreed to sell no shares except
through John in order that all should fare alike. It was a verbal
agreement. All of their private agreements were verbal and never so
far had one been broken.
Enter John Breakspeare upon the Wall Street scene with something
to sell.
The shares of the American Steel Company were duly listed on the
New York Stock Exchange,—that is, they were added to the list of
securities permitted to be dealt in there and allotted sign and booth
in the great investment bazar.
People stared and passed by. It was a strange sign not only because
it was new but for the reason also that the public knew only mining
and railroad shares. The day of industrial company shares had not
come. John was a pioneer in that line. He was a vendor unused to
the ways of this fair with merchandise nobody had ever seen before.
He was not disappointed. He knew, if anybody did, that goods must
be brought to the buyer’s attention. Nothing will sell itself, least of all
seven per cent. shares for which there is instinctively neither hunger
nor thirst. He knew also in principle how this kind of impalpable
merchandise should be displayed. It has no appeal to any of the
natural senses. Therefore it must be made to appeal to all of them
at once, symbolically. How?
First to be engaged is the sense of sight. The shares move. They go
up. People ask: “What is that?” They move again. People ask: “Why
is that?” They continue to move, going up, then down a little, then
suddenly up a great deal, and people say: “Here before our eyes is
something doing,—a chance to make some money.” And when once
they begin to say that all their senses and appetites are touched
with expectation, for money, however derived, is in itself palpable. It
is the symbol of all things whatever.
For the art of making shares go up and down in a manner to excite
first attention, then curiosity and then an impulse to act for gain,
there is a long, inartistic word. The word is manipulation. The stock
market manipulator is an illusionist. Perched high upon some eerie
crag of the Wall Street canyon, producing enchantment at a
distance, he is himself invisible save to the initiate, and even they do
not know what he intends or why, because what he seems to be
doing is never at all what he is really doing. If it were, the lesser
fauna—the wolves, the jackals, the foxes, apes and crows,—would
anticipate his ends and take the quarry out of his hands. He makes
shares rise when he is selling them and fall when he is buying them.
He can take an unnoticed, unwanted thing like American Steel and
cause it to become an object of extravagant speculative interest, so
that tens of thousands hang over the tape and wait for the next
quotation, betting whether it shall be up or down. Moreover, he is a
ventriloquist. When he has made certain shares very active by the
apparently simple though extremely intricate expedient of buying
and selling them furiously through different brokers, no two of whom
know they have the same principal,—when he has done this and
people begin to ask the question, then answers suitable to his
purpose are in everyone’s ears, saturate the atmosphere, and
although he, the manipulator, is the source of them that fact is as
little known as the fact that he was himself the solitary source of all
the buying and selling that started the excitement. Not only is the
public deceived; the fauna, too, will often be caught. All is flesh that
rises to his lure. His work is sometimes legitimate, as when he
creates a public demand for shares the proceeds of which go to
build a railroad or some other great economic work so vast that the
capital could not have been obtained in any other way; it is
sometimes predatory, sometimes wanton.
At this time the pendragon of manipulators was one Sabath,—James
Sabath,—feared by the wicked and righteous both. He was not a
member of the Stock Exchange for he did not wish to be bound by
the rules. There was no name on his door nor was his name in any
directory or book of celebrities. Yet it was constantly on the lips of all
men concerned in gains and losses from speculation. One might
have asked in every bank in Wall Street who and where this Sabath
was and one’s inquiry would have been received with utter
blankness. Yet there would have been hardly a banker in Wall Street,
certainly no very important one, who had not had transactions with
him of an extremely intimate and delicate nature. Such is the way of
men in the money canyon.
For example, there was Bullguard. He was the great private banker
of his time,—a kind of Cæsar’s wife to the institution of American
finance. His authority was absolute, his power was feudal and
tyrannical. For him to have been seen in the society of Sabath would
have been scandalous. Nobody would have known what to make of
it. Yet in the pursuit of his ends he often engaged Sabath to do
things he could not risk doing for himself. That again is the way of
men in the little autonomous state which is Wall Street.
John sought an audience with Sabath. After long delay and much
unnecessary mystery he was received in that strange man’s lair.
Besides himself there was nothing in it except a ticker, some chairs
and a worn Turkey carpet. The room was without windows,
therefore lighted artificially in daytime. Twice during the interview he
rang a bell and each time a boy appeared with one glass of whiskey
in his hand. Sabath drank it at a gulp, with no here’s how or by your
leave. He sat in an arm chair and combed his beard upward from its
roots with his fingers, or for change twisted it with the other hand.
His head was continually moving; sometimes he threw it far back to
start his fingers through his beard; no matter what he did with his
head his eyes all the time were perfectly still and held John in a
blue, vise-like gaze. He looked at people in a way to make them feel
full of holes. His head was very large; his body was neat and small;
his voice was sarcastic, thin and shrill.
John explained his errand. He wished Sabath to take hold of
American Steel shares and create some public interest in them.
Sabath said nothing, but continued to look at him. John went into
details, telling about the company, what it owned and what it
earned. Still Sabath continued to gaze at him in silence. John told
him at length how the shares had been pooled in his hands by his
associates, none to be sold except through him. And Sabath said
nothing.
“Does it interest you at all?” John asked at last.
“Come back tomorrow,” said Sabath. He made a gesture toward the
door without looking at it. As John went he sat still, but for his head,
which turned slowly in a reptilian manner.
To John’s surprise Sabath was vocal the next day and asked many
questions in a high, twanging voice. Some of his questions were
oblique and some apparently quite irrelevant. Suddenly he said:
“And so you know that God-fearing Creed, do you? You must know
him very well. How much of this precious stock has Mr. Creed got?”
John told him. Sabath tweaked his beard, saying: “Who would
imagine I’d ever be found in the same alley with a he-cat like Creed.”
“What’s the matter with him?” asked John.
“I say nothing against him,” Sabath answered. “I only say I’d hate to
go into a room with him alone.”
There was a third interview, then a fourth and a fifth. Terms were
stated. It seemed to be all ready for the signatures and as there
weren’t going to be any signatures John couldn’t understand why
Sabath kept postponing the final word. Then one day out of a
painted sky he said: “We seem unable to make a trade, Mr.
Breakspeare. I cannot allow myself to waste any more of your
valuable time. I’m not interested.”
John was amazed.
“However,” he said, “I suppose I can trust you to keep to yourself
the information you have obtained in the course of these
interviews?”
“That’s what we live on down here,—trust,” said Sabath. “We
couldn’t do business without it.”
With that he turned his back and stood looking at the ticker. John,
thus rudely dismissed, was at the door with his hand on the knob
when Sabath spoke again, without turning around, without moving
his head, as if he were thinking out loud.
“What did you ever do to Mr. Bullguard?”
“I don’t know him,” said John. “Why?”
“He knows you,” said Sabath, still reading the tape. “He says you are
a gambler. Is that true?”
“I don’t know what he means,” said John. “It would be absurd to talk
about it. I have some business to transact in Wall Street. How does
that concern him?”
Sabath now turned and walked with him to the door. His manner
was both ingratiating and menacing; his voice was ironic, and yet
there was a suspicion of friendliness in his words. “Because if you
are,” he continued, as if John had not spoken, “I would urge you to
keep all that talent for the steel business. I understand the steel
business needs it. We don’t like gambling in Wall Street. You are a
young man. I have wasted your time. Now I offer you my advice.
Don’t try anything in Wall Street. Gamblers don’t go far down here.
We eat them. Mr. Bullguard would swallow you up at one bite.” He
made an exaggerated bow. “Let me know if there’s anything I can
do for you before you go back to Pittsburgh.”
“Thanks,” said John. “When I want to be amused I’ll look you up.
Tell Mr. Bullguard I’ve been eaten up so often that I like it.
Sometimes I fairly hunger for it. Why did you change your mind?”
“How could I have changed my mind?” Sabath injuredly asked. “How
can you say that? It had never been made up.”
“Why did you change your mind?” John insisted.
“You would be betrayed,” said Sabath. “I should be betrayed, too, of
course; but I’m used to it and you’re not. The only man you don’t
suspect is always the one who betrays you.”
“Did Mr. Bullguard call you off?” John asked.
“You might never get used to it,” Sabath continued, vaguely, ignoring
the question. “You wouldn’t know what to do. I’ve been betrayed so
much that I know it before it happens. And I know what to do. You
never get through a deal like this without being betrayed.”
He turned sadly and walked back to the ticker. The interview was
closed.
John reacted to this experience with thoughtful curiosity. He was
baffled and chagrined and at the same time deeply interested, for he
perceived that here was a province of the dynamic mind in which
subtlety was carried to its ultimate point. After long reflection he was
still of the opinion that underlying Sabath’s diabolism lay a vein of
well meaning; also of the opinion still that the puissant Bullguard
had interfered. But why? What could his motive be? This was
presently to be discovered. John explored the matter adroitly and
learned that Bullguard was about to do for the Carmichael crowd
what John lone-handed had attempted to do for his crowd,—that is
to say, capitalize the steel business and introduce it to the public.
Naturally Bullguard desired the field to himself and took a high-
handed way against the interloper.
Nevertheless, John resolved to go on. He would be his own
manipulator. Why not? The stock market was nobody’s private
preserve. He had as much right there as Bullguard or Sabath.
Besides, where was the risk? He controlled all the shares of the
American Steel Company.
So he engaged a broker, who engaged other brokers, and buying
and selling orders, both issuing from John, began to be executed in
American Steel. For a while he was delighted. It was so easy to
make the shares active, to make them go up and down, to create
the illusion of excited bargaining, that he began to wonder why
anyone should pay manipulators large fees to do this simple trick. He
wondered, too, what Sabath was thinking of his performance. He
could almost feel Sabath watching him. He imagined him at the
ticker, tweaking his beard, sneering at the amateur quotations that
were appearing on the tape for American Steel.
They were beautiful quotations, rising from 80 to 85, then to 90,
then to 95 and at length to 100; they were also very costly
quotations. Commissions to brokers who executed his orders began
to run into large figures and there were no offsetting returns. That is
to say, real buyers were not in the least intrigued. After several
weeks John himself was the only buyer and the only seller. He
discussed it with his broker who thought what he needed was
publicity. He ought to get American Steel written about in the
newspapers.
Financial writers to the number of twenty were invited to meet the
president of the American Steel Company. Six came. John received
them in his broker’s private office and spoke eloquently and
earnestly of the company, its merits, earnings and all that. They
stared at him incredulously, then began to look very bored and went
away. The American Steel was not written about except in one
newspaper, which told of the solicited interview in a way to make it
ludicrous.
Now a most improbable thing happened. John’s broker reported that
someone was selling American Steel shares.
Selling them? Who could be selling them? Nobody had any to sell.
Nevertheless, it was true. Well, next best to selling the shares to the
public, which he hadn’t succeeded in doing, was to buy them from
speculators who would sell them without owning them, for in that
case when the sellers were called upon to deliver what they never
had then they couldn’t and John would be in a position to squeeze
them. He would have them in a corner. So he gave orders to buy all
the American Steel anyone offered to sell. The selling steadily
increased. How strange that professional Stock Exchange gamblers,
the canniest men in the world, would sell themselves into a corner in
that silly manner! Yet what else could it be? Still sure the sellers
were selling what they couldn’t deliver John continued to buy until
very large sums began to be involved.
One afternoon his broker informed him that the selling had been
traced to Sabath. This John had already suspected. He was now in
deep water and wired for his crowd,—Slaymaker, Awns, Wingreene,
Pick and Creed. Having laid the cards before them he proposed that
they should unite their resources and bring off a corner in American
Steel. Clearly they had Sabath cornered. They had only to let him go
on selling until he was tired; then they could make him settle on
their own terms.
Creed declined. This was John’s party, he said. They had authorized
him to sell their shares. Instead he had got himself involved in a
contest with the most powerful speculator in Wall Street and now
expected them to stand under. They would be fools to get into that
kind of game. He flatly wouldn’t do it.
The others wavered. They hated to leave John in the lurch; they
were afraid to stand by. Creed withdrew and vanished.
While the other four were hesitating a sudden panic shook the stock
market. American Steel shares fell from 103 to 25 in ten minutes,
plunging headlong through John’s buying orders. And while this was
taking place his broker came to him in a state of gibbering
excitement.
“I thought you said nobody had any American Steel to sell?”
“Nobody has,” said John.
“Then we’re all crazy,” said the broker. “More than a million dollars’
worth of the stuff has just been delivered to us. We’ve got to pay for
it at once.”
“Let’s look at it,” said John. “I want to see it.”
He saw it. The shares that had been delivered to him were Creed’s.
John paid for them, though it almost broke his back. He used his
own money until he had no more and borrowed the rest from
Slaymaker and Pick on his notes. The fiasco was complete. American
Steel was indignantly stricken from the Stock Exchange list because
it had been manipulated in so outrageous a manner and the
newspapers wrote about it most scornfully.
It was all over and John and his crowd, now always excepting Creed,
were at dinner in the Holland House, when a reporter from The Sun
appeared at their table unannounced and asked: “Mr. Breakspeare,
how do you feel?”
John went on eating as he replied: “I feel like a dog that’s been
kicked so much he goes sideways. I’ve got every pain there is but
one. That’s belly ache.”
This was printed the next morning on the front page of The Sun,
and Wall Street forgot itself long enough to say: “Not a bad sport,
anyhow.”
“Now I suppose we’ll go back and attend to the steel business,” said
Slaymaker.
“In a day or two,” John answered. “There’s something I want to do
here yet.”
He wanted to find out how it happened. And he did. Bullguard,
knowing Creed, had tempted him to part with his shares at a very
nice price. These shares Bullguard turned over to Sabath with the
understanding that they should be used to club John’s market to
death. John had no hostile feeling for Sabath. For Creed he felt only
contempt. But with Bullguard he opened a score.
His state was not one of anger. He had only himself to blame. “I
don’t so much mind getting plucked,” he said, “but I look so like
Hell.”
He simply couldn’t leave until he had turned the laugh. This he did in
the way as follows: One morning at eleven o’clock a small funeral
cortege, instead of stopping at Trinity Church as funerals should in
that part of the city, turned down Wall Street and stopped at the
door of Bullguard & Company. Six men drew from the hearse a
silver-mounted mahogany coffin smothered in roses, carried it into
the great banking house, put it down on the floor, went immediately
out and drove away. It was so swiftly yet quietly done and it was so
altogether incredible that the door attendant knew not what to do or
think. His wits were paralyzed and while he stared with his mouth
open the pall-bearers disappeared. So did the hearse and carriages.
A great crowd instantly gathered. The nearest policeman was called.
As no one could say how the coffin got there or what was in it he
refused either to move it or to let it be moved until the coroner
should come to open it. He was a new policeman and could not be
awed. He knew his duty and no manner of entreaty availed. For an
hour it lay there on the floor. Police reserves were summoned to
keep a way for traffic through the gaping throng. Somewhere inside
the banking house, out of sight, was Bullguard, surrounded by his
partners, apoplectic and purple with a sense of unanswerable
outrage. The coroner was accompanied by a group of reporters.
When the coffin was opened, there upon the white satin pillow lay a
rump of a pig, rampant, tail uppermost; and in the curl of the tail
was twisted and tied like a ribbon the few feet of ticker tape on
which the last quotations for American Steel were printed. It was a
freak story and the newspapers made much of it. Wall Street rocked
with glee. John went back to Pittsburgh with a smile in his midriff,
leaving the wreck of a fortune behind him.
 XXXVII

J ohn’s Wall Street disaster was personal. He assumed all liabilities.

Therefore it did not involve his partners, save that he owed
Slaymaker and Pick nearly half a million dollars on his notes. Nor did
it touch Thane and Agnes. He took good care of that.
On the day of his return to Pittsburgh he had dinner with them.
They had moved again, to a house of their own, one they had built
on an unspoiled eminence among some fine old trees. They
exhibited it with the pride of children. It was large and expensively
made, with an unpretentious air, and one of its features, saved until
the last, was an apartment for John. They hardly expected him to
adopt it. However, it should be his always, just like that, whenever it
might please him to come, and it had pleased them to do it.
The evening meal was no longer supper. It was dinner. Thane at last
was comfortable in the society of servants, even in the brooding,
anonymous presence of a butler.
Agnes now was in full bloom. Life had touched her in its richest
mood. There were moments in which her aura seemed luminous,
like a halo; or was that a trick of John’s imagination? He had not
seen her for above a year. She was more at ease with him than she
had ever been, spontaneous, friendly, quite unreserved, and by the
same sign infinitely further away. There was no misunderstanding
her way with Thane nor Thane’s with her. They had achieved the
consonance of two principles. They were the two aspects of one
thing, separate and inseparable, like right and left, like diameter and
circumference. What one thought the other said; what one said the
other thought. They conversed without words.
Agnes pressed John with questions about the Wall Street episode.
They had read a good deal about it in the newspapers. His narrative
left much to be vaguely imagined.
“But you yourself—how did you come out?” she asked. “Nobody else
appears to have got hurt. What happened to you?” For on that point
he had been evasive.
“I did get rubbed a bit,” he said. “Don’t worry about it. I’m all right.”
She looked at him thoughtfully.
“Tell him what we’ve been doing,” she said, turning to Thane.
“Remember,” said Thane, “you said once we’d see ore go in at the
top of a blast furnace and come out rails at the other end of the mill
without stopping?”
“Yes,” said John, sitting up.
“That gave me an idea,” Thane continued. “We’ve done it. It’s
experimental yet but we can do it. Take the steel ingots straight out
of the soaking pit and put them through the rolls with no reheating.”
“Does anybody know it?” John asked.
“Just ourselves,” said Thane.
Agnes took it up there, described the process in detail, and told how
Thane had evolved it through endless nights of trial and failure. John
was amazed at the extent and accuracy of her knowledge. Thane
anticipated his question.
“She knows,” he said. “She could run a mill.”
It was literally true. John was thrilled to hear how at night, in cap
and overalls, she had been going with Thane to the mill to watch his
experiments. Not only did she learn to understand them; she could
discuss them technically, and make helpful suggestions. She had
taken up the study of metallurgy in a serious way. She spent her
days digesting scientific papers in English, French and German and
was continually bringing new knowledge to Thane’s attention. Later
to her immense delight she saw phases of this knowledge translate
itself through Thane’s hands into practice at the mill.
“It’s in the blood,” said John, bound with admiration.
It was a cherishable evening. After dinner they sat on the veranda.
Below them was a bottomless sea of velvety blackness, with no
horizon, no feeling of solid beneath it, sprinkled at random with
lights and intermittently torn by flashes from blast furnaces and
converters many miles away.
“It’s like looking at the sky upside down,” said Agnes.
They could feel what was taking place off there in the lamp-black
darkness. Men were tormenting the elements, parting iron from his
natural affinities, giving him in new marriage without love or
consent, audaciously creating what God had forgotten—steel! steel!
steel! There in that smutted deep were tools walking about like
fabled monsters, obedient and docile, handling flaming ingots of
metal with the ponderous ease and precision of elephants moving
logs. There amid clangor and confusion shrieking little bipeds were
raising gigantic ominous shapes from shapelessness. There an epic
was forming.
These three sitting on the veranda were definitely related to all of
this. It had never ceased to thrill them. Much of it they had imagined
before it was there. Some of those Leviathan tools were Thane’s
own. He was thinking of them, not boastfully, yet with a swelling
sense of having created them. They were his ectoplasm, his arms
and legs and sinews externalized in other forms. Seldom did he
review his work, being normally too much absorbed in the difficulty
at hand. Now, as he gave way to it, a tingle of satisfaction stole
through his blood. It made him wish to touch Agnes. His hand
reached for hers and it was near. She seemed to know what he was
thinking.
John was thinking of the steel age, of what it yet required, of its still
unimagined possibilities. Every railroad then existing would have to
be rebuilt with heavier rails and bridges. Cars would come to be
made of steel. Street railways were a new thing: they would take
immense quantities of steel.
They had been silent for a long time.
“That’s the Agnes plant ... way over there ... that blue flame. There!”
said Thane.
“I had made it out,” said John.
“What did you call it?” Agnes asked.
Sheepishly they told her that from the beginning, for luck, they had
called it the Agnes plant.
“How nice!” she said.
From that their conversation became more personal, even
reminiscent. They found they could speak naturally of incidents
always until then taboo. They talked of Enoch, of their arrival and
beginning in Pittsburgh, of the mill at Damascus which was doing
well, and of each other, how they had changed and what it was like
to be all grown up.
When Agnes rose to leave she shook hands with John, saying:
“Alexander will give you the key. We don’t press you. But it’s there
for you whenever you have the impulse to come. Day or night. Any
time. And even if you never come it will please us to keep it always
ready for you.”
With that she was gone, so suddenly that John had been unable to
get any words together. He had not even said good-night.
“That place we’ve fixed for you means something,” said Thane,
lunging out of a silence. “I can’t find any way to say it. We know
how it was when you brought us to Pittsburgh and how there wasn’t
any job for us until you bought the little nail mill. We know all about
it. It’s lucky for all of us,—lucky for Agnes and me, I mean,—I didn’t
know enough to see it then. There ain’t no way to say how we feel
about it. You can just understand that’s what this key means.”
John took it, turned it over in his hand, then put it in his pocket and
said nothing.
“The reason Agnes was asking you so close how you came out in
Wall Street,” Thane added, “was we thought you might-a got
skinned. We’ve got a lot of money. We think it’s a lot. And we want
you to know—”
“Don’t!” said John. “That’s enough. Now stop it. Stop it, I tell you.”
“A-l-l right, a-l-l right,” said Thane. “I’m through. I ain’t a going on,
am I? I’ve got it all said.”
“I’m going,” said John. “Walk down to the gate.”
At the gate they shook hands and lingered.
“You’ve got it all wrong,” said John. “There’s nothing you two—what
I mean—”
“I know, I know,” said Thane.
“You don’t know anything,” said John. “Let me say something. I owe
you a damn sight more than you owe me. I couldn’t have done
anything without you. You’re the axle tree. I’m only the wheel. This
one new wrinkle, if it proves out, is worth millions.”
“Well, don’t lose that key,” said Thane.
They shook hands again and pushed each other roughly away.
 XXXVIII

T he steel industry was a giant without lineage, parentage or

category. Nobody knew how big it should be nor could tell by
looking at it what stage it was in. Not until afterward. It was
measurable only by contrast with itself. It was supposed to be
already grown up when John brought the American Steel Company
back from Wall Street. But it was still in the gristle. Bone and sinew
had yet to be acquired.
“What, my God! if we had sold out then,” Slaymaker would say again
and again, with the aghast and devout air of a man whose faith in
the deity dates from some miraculous escape. “We should probably
never have got in again,” he would add.
If they had got out then they would have been able to count their
wealth in millions. But they had to go on. And when at last they did
get out in the golden harvest time years later they counted it in
scores and hundreds of millions.
Thane’s new method, which proved itself in practice, gave the
American Steel Company a whip hand in steel rails. It could make
them at a lower cost than anyone else in the world, owing to the
saving in fuel. Nobody ever knew what that cost was. No matter at
what price the Carmichael people sold rails John could sell them a
little lower if he needed the business, and he became for that reason
a burning thorn in the flesh of Bullguard, who had capitalized the
Carmichael properties and brought the shares out in Wall Street.
They had a wretched career. Everyone who touched them lost
money. This was not only because of the American Steel Company’s
competition; the steel industry as a whole was running wild. There
was no controlling it. For a year or two the demand for steel would
exceed the utmost supply at prices which made a steel mill more
profitable than a gold pocket. Then new mills would appear
everywhere at once and presently, although there never could be
enough steel really, the bowl would slop over from sheer
awkwardness.
There were still the three great groups,—the Western group, the
Carmichael group and John’s—all growing very fast. Minor groups
were continually springing up at precisely the wrong time. They
generally smashed up or had to be bought out by the others to save
themselves from ruinous competition. The steel age cared nothing
about profits. All it wanted was steel—more and more and more.
Next was the phase of specialization. One mill made rails exclusively,
another merchant steel, another structural shapes for bridges and
skyscrapers, another sheet steel, another steel pipe, and so on. That
only intensified the competition.
Then trusts began to be formed, precisely as John had formed the
nail trust years before, and for the same purpose, which was to
regulate the output and keep prices at a profitable level. Somebody
would go around and get options on nearly all the mills of this kind,
of that kind and then get bankers to make them into a trust with
shares to be listed on the Stock Exchange and sold to the public. So
there came to be a steel pipe trust, a sheet steel trust, a bridge and
structural steel trust, a tin plate trust, a trust for everything; and
matters became a great deal worse because some of the biggest
mills, such as John’s, were never in a trust and if the pipe trust or
the structural steel trust got prices too high the independent mills
would begin to make pipe or structural steel. Besides, each trust was
a law unto itself and the steel industry was still anarchic.
Now finance began to be worried. The shares of these trusts having
been floated in Wall Street and the public at last having begun to
buy them, an outbreak of disastrous competition among the trusts,
or between the trusts and the independents, or an overrunning of
the steel spool, caused a panic on the Stock Exchange. Enormous
sums of capital had become involved. Every such panic caused a
general commotion, like a small earthquake. Something would have
to be done to stabilize the steel industry. That was the word;
everybody began to say, Stabilize it! Gradually there crystallized the
thought of a great trust of trusts to embrace everything. Not
otherwise could the steel industry be stabilized. Any such colossal
scheme as that would have to consider first of all the three dominant
groups. But when overtures were made to John directly or through
his partners, he repulsed them. To Wall Street’s emissaries he would
say flatly, “No.” To his partners he would say, “Not yet.”
His word was final. Having retrieved his fortune in the first year after
his inglorious shipwreck, by the most daring and brilliant selling
campaign the steel industry had ever seen,—a campaign that put
American rails over European rails in all the markets of the world,—
his authority not only was restored: it was increased. Then, having
paid off his notes with Slaymaker and Pick, he had got possession of
Creed’s shares. That made his interest in the American Steel
Company greater than that of any three others. There was still the
North American Manufacturing Company, in which he was the largest
stockholder; it controlled the manufacture of steel wire and nails,
and had never ceased to pay dividends.
He enforced one policy of business. That was to make steel
continuously under all conditions and never to close a plant except
for repairs. Back of him was Thane steadily reducing the costs of
manufacture. Sometimes they sold steel at a loss. In the long run,
however, this policy paid so handsomely that they were presently
able to find in their own profits the capital they needed for
expansion. On an ever-increasing scale they devoted profits to the
construction and purchase of new properties,—more mines, more
ships, more mills. When his partners complained, saying it was time
to take something out instead of putting all their gains back again,
John offered to buy them out.
So he grew wise and tyrannical and a little grey at the temples. His
voice became husky. He lived hard, worked hard, walked steadily on
the edge of the precipice, with nothing he cared for in view. On his
watch chain he carried the key to Thane’s house. Twice he got as far
as the gate and turned back.
 XXXIX

W hen the steel age walked across the ocean from Europe a
dilemma was created. The will and mentality were here; the
labor was there. Until then labor in American mills had been made
up of British, Irish, Welsh, Germans, Swedes and, choicest of all,
Buckwheats, meaning young American brawn released from the
farm by the advent of man-saving agricultural implements. The steel
age widened the gap between brain and muscle. It required a higher
kind of imagination at the top and a lower grade of labor below.
There was no such labor here,—at least, nowhere near enough.
Hence an inpouring of Hungarians, Slavs, Polacks and other inferior
European types,—hairy, brutish, with slanting foreheads.
Nobody thought of the consequences. Nobody thought at all. The
labor was needed. That was enough. There was no effort to
Americanize or assimilate it. There wasn’t time. It had to be fed raw
to the howling new genie. It lived wretchedly in sore clusters from
which Americans averted their eyes. Where it came from life was
wretched, even worse, perhaps; but here were contrasts, no
gendarmes, freedom of discontent, and a new weapon, which was
the strike. These men, bred with sullen anger in their blood,
melancholy and neglected in a strange land, having no bond with
the light, were easily moved to unite against the work bosses who
symbolized tyranny anew. Their impulse to violence was built upon
by labor leaders and the steel industry became a battle ground.
Strikes were frequent, bloody and futile, save for their educational
value, which was hard to see then and is not at all clear yet.
This was all in the way of business,—big business. We imported
labor and exported steel. We flung Slavs into our racial melting pot
and sold rails and bridges in Hungary. One can easily imagine an
invisible force to have been at work, a blind force, perhaps. The
centers of power were shifted in the world. Greatness was achieved.
The rest is hidden.
One advantage the Breakspeare mills had was almost complete
immunity from labor troubles. In every reign of terror destruction
passed them by. For this there was Thane to thank. He handled all
labor problems. In disputes between the workers and the steel
companies the question of wages was seldom the basic matter, even
when it seemed to be. The trouble was much more subtle, or more
simple, as you happen to see it, turning upon the ways and hungers
of humanity. Thane knew men, he knew what drudgery costs the
soul and how little it takes beyond what is due to overcome its
bitterness. He knew, besides, how and in what proportions to mix
different kinds of men so that the characteristics of one kind would
neutralize those of another kind by a sort of chemistry.
Seven miles down the river from the Agnes plant had been built a
magnificent new plate mill, called the Wyoming Steel Works. It had
every element of success save one. The manager had no way with
labor. He was continually engaged in desperate struggles with the
Amalgamated Unions and the plant for that reason had involved its
New York owners in heavy loss. These troubles, becoming chronic,
culminated in a strike that spread sympathetically over the whole
eastern steel industry. At the Agnes plant the men went out for the
first time. They had no quarrel of their own. That was made very
clear. But they felt obliged, as all other union workers did, to take up
the quarrel of the men at the Wyoming Works and settle it for good;
they would if necessary tie up every steel plant in the country in
order to bring pressure to bear upon their arch enemy, the Wyoming
manager, to whose destruction they had made a vow.
Not only did the strikers seize the Wyoming Works, as was the first
step in hostilities; they took possession of the town that had grown
up around the plant and organized themselves on a military basis.
An Advisory Committee of workers declared martial law, mounted a
siren on the town hall to give signals by a secret code, put sentinels
around the works, around the town, up and down the river front,
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