This "holding company," which has since become almost a standardized form of corporation control in this country, was the invention of Mr.Francis Lynde Stetson, one of America's greatest corporation lawyers.

"Mr.Stetson," Ryan is said to have remarked, "do you know what you did when you drew up the papers of the Metropolitan Traction Company?
You made us a great big tin box." The plan which Whitney and his associates now followed was to obtain control, in various ways, of all the surface railways in New York and place them under the leadership of the Metropolitan.

Through their political influences they obtained franchises of priceless value, organized subsidiary street railway companies, and exchanged the stock of these subsidiary companies for that of the Metropolitan.

A few illustrations will show the character of these transactions.

They thus acquired, practically as a free gift, a franchise to build a cable railroad on Lexington Avenue.