It was left to Mr. Belmont to make the final analysis,
and avert the failure which impended. There was no time for indecision
or delay. Whatever was to be done must be done immediately. The
necessary capital must be procured, the required security must be
given, and an organization for building and operating the road must be
anticipated. Mr. Belmont looking through and beyond the intricacies of
the Rapid Transit Act, and the complications of the contract, saw that
he who undertook to surmount the difficulties presented by the
attitude of the surety companies must solve the whole problem. It was
not the ordinary question of financing a railroad contract. He saw
that the responsibility for the entire rapid transit undertaking must
be centered, and that a compact and effective organization must be
planned which could deal with every phase of the situation.
Mr. Belmont without delay took the matter up directly with the Board
of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners, and presented a plan for the
incorporation of a company to procure the security required for the
performance of the contract, to furnish the capital necessary to carry
on the work, and to assume supervision over the whole undertaking.
Application was to be made to the Supreme Court to modify the
requirements with respect to the sureties by striking out a provision
requiring the justification of the sureties in double the amount of
liabilities assumed by each and reducing the minimum amount permitted
to be taken by each surety from $500,000 to $250,000.
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