validity of Sharp's franchise appears upon the record, and that
Ryan was actively promoting the Conkling investigation, is
likewise a matter of evidence. Sharp's victory had the great
result of bringing together the three forces--Ryan, Whitney, and
the Philadelphians--who had hitherto combated one another as
rivals; that is, it caused the organization of the famous
Whitney-Ryan-Widener-Elkins syndicate. If these men had inspired
all those attacks on Sharp, their maneuver proved successful; for
when the investigation had attained its climax and public
indignation against Sharp had reached its most furious stage,
that venerable corruptionist, worn down by ill health, and almost
crazed by the popular outcry, sold his Broadway railroad to Peter
A. B. Widener, William L. Elkins, and William H. Kemble. Thomas
F. Ryan became secretary of the new corporation, and William C.
Whitney an active participant in its affairs.

This Broadway franchise formed the vertebral column of the New
York transit system; with it as a basis, the operators formed the
Metropolitan Street Railway Company in 1893, commonly known as
the "Metropolitan." They organized also the Metropolitan Traction
Company, an organization which enjoys an historic position as the
first "holding company" ever created in this country. Its
peculiar attribute was that it did not construct and operate
street railways itself, but merely owned other corporations that
did so. Its only assets, that is, were paper securities
representing the ownership and control of other companies. 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