Атлант расправил плечи

           Hecouldnothelpit,hesaid,ifthetonnageintendedforTaggartTranscontinentalhadbeenturnedover,ontheeveofitsscheduleddelivery,totheBureauofGlobalReliefforshipmenttothePeople’sStateofEngland;itwasanemergency,thepeopleofEnglandwerestarving,withalloftheirStatefactoriesclosingdown—andMissTaggartwasbeingunreasonable,sinceitwasonlyamatterofoneday’sdelay.

           Itwasonlyoneday’sdelay.Itcausedathreedays’delayintherunofFreightTrainNumber386,boundfromCaliforniatoNewYorkwithfifty-ninecarloadsoflettuceandoranges.FreightTrainNumber386waitedonsidings,atcoalingstations,forthefuelthathadnotarrived.WhenthetrainreachedNewYork,thelettuceandorangeshadtobedumpedintotheEastRiver:theyhadwaitedtheirturntoolonginthefreighthousesofCalifornia,withthetrainschedulescutandtheenginesforbidden,bydirective,topullatrainofmorethansixtycars.

           NobodybuttheirfriendsandtradeassociatesnoticedthatthreeorangegrowersinCaliforniawentoutofbusiness,aswellastwolettucefarmersinImperialValley;nobodynoticedtheclosingofacommissionhouseinNewYork,ofaplumbingcompanytowhichthecommissionhouseowedmoney,ofalead-pipewholesalerwhohadsuppliedtheplumbingcompany.Whenpeoplewerestarving,saidthenewspapers,onedidnothavetofeelconcernoverthefailuresofbusinessenterpriseswhichwereonlyprivateventuresforprivateprofit.