Civilization is a list of cities. Cities are the huge central dynamos of
all being. The power of a man can be measured to-day by the mile, the
number of miles between him and the city; that is, between him and what
the city stands for--the centre of mass.

The crowd principle is the first principle of production. The producer
who can get the most men together and the most dollars together controls
the market; and when he once controls the market, instead of merely
getting the most men and the most dollars, he can get all the men and
all the dollars. Hence the corporation in production.

The crowd principle is the first principle of distribution. The man who
can get the most men to buy a particular thing from him can buy the most
of it, and therefore buy it the cheapest, and therefore get more men to
buy from him; and having bought this particular thing cheaper than all
men could buy it, it is only a step to selling it to all men; and then,
having all the men on one thing and all the dollars on one thing, he is
able to buy other things for nothing, for everybody, and sell them for a
little more than nothing to everybody. Hence the department store--the
syndicate of department stores--the crowd principle in commerce.

The value of a piece of land is the number of footsteps passing by it in
twenty-four hours. The value of a railroad is the number of people near
it who cannot keep still. If there are a great many of these people, the
railroad runs its trains for them. If there are only a few, though they
be heroes and prophets, Dantes, Savonarolas, and George Washingtons,
trains shall not be run for them. The railroad is the characteristic
property and symbol of property in this modern age, and the entire value
of a railroad depends upon its getting control of a crowd--either a
crowd that wants to be where some other crowd is, or a crowd that wants