The Moneychangers (28 page)

Margot made a calculation, then instructed the latest messenger, a gangling youth now waiting in the
car's front passenger seat, "Tell
Deacon not to call any more volunteers for the time being; it looks as if we've enough for the rest of today. Let some of those standing outside be relieved for a while, though not more than fifty at a time, and warn them to be back to collect their lunches. And about the lunches, caution everyone again there's to be no litter on Rosselli Plaza, and no food or drinks taken into the bank."

The talk of lunch reminded Margot of money which, earlier in the week, had been a problem.

On Monday, reports filtering in through Deacon Euphrates made it clear tha
t many of the willing volunteers
lacked a spare five dollars the minimum required
to open an account at FMA. The F
orum East Tenants Association had virtually no money. For a while it looked as if their scheme would founder.

Then Margot made a telephone call. It was to the union the American Federation of Clerks, Cashiers & Office Workers which now represented the airport janitors and cleaners whom she had aided a year ago.

Would the union help by lending money enough to provide a five-dollar stake for each volunteer who could not afford it? Union leaders summoned a hasty meeting. The union said yes.

On Tuesday, employees from union headquarters helped Deacon Euphrates and Seth Orinda distribute the cash. All concerned knew that part of it would never be repaid and some of the five-dollar floats would be spent by Tuesday night, their original purpose forgotten or ignored. But most of the money, they believed, wou
ld
be used as intended. Judging by this morning's showing, they were right.

It was the union which had offered to supply and pay for lunches. The offer was accepted. Margot suspected a self-interest angle somewhere on the union's part but c
onc
luded it would not affect the Forum East objective, so was none of her business.

She continued to instruct the latest messenger. "We must maintain a lineup until the bank closes at three o'clock."

It was possible, she thought, that the news media might do some closing time photography so a show of strength for the remainder of today was important.

Tomorrow's plans could be co-ordinated late tonight. Mostly, they would be a repetition of today's.

Fortunately the weather a spell of mildness with mainly clear skies was helping, and forecasts for the next few days seemed good.

"Keep on emphasizing," Margot told another messenger a half hour later, "that everyone must stay friendly, friendly, friendly. Even if the bank people get tough or impatient, the thing to do is smile back."

At 11:45 A.M. Seth reported personally to Margot. He was grinning broadly and held out an early edition of the c
ity's afternoon newspaper. "Wow!
" Margot spread the front page wide.

The activity at the bank commanded most of the available space. It was more, far more, attention than she had dared to hope for. The main headline read:

BIG BANK IMMOBILIZED

BY FORUM EAST
ERS

And below:

First
Mercantile
American In Trouble?

Many Come To "Help"
With Small Deposits Pictures and a two-column by-line story followed.

"Oh b
rother!" Maryot breathed. "How FMA will hate that!
" They did.

Shortly after midday a hastily called conference took place on the 36th floor of First Mercantile American Headquarters Tower in the presidential suite.

Jerome Patterton and Roscoe Heyward were there, grim faced. Alex Vandervoort joined them. He, too, was serious, though as discussion progressed Alex seemed less involved than the others, his expression mostly thoughtful, with once or twice a flicker of amusement. The fourth attendee was Tom Straughan, the bank's young and studious chief economist; the fifth, Dick French, vice-president of public relations.

French, burly and scowling, strode in chewing an unlightod cigar and carrying a bundle of afternoon newspapers which he slapped down one by one in front of the others.

Jerome Patterton, seated behind his desk, spread out paper. Whe
n he read the words, "First Mercantile
American I
n Trouble?" he spluttered,
'That's a filthy lie!
That paper should be sued."

'There's nothing to sue about," French said with his customary bluntness. "The newspaper hasn't stated it as face. It's put as a question and in any case is quoting someone else. And the original statement was not malicious." He stood with a take-it-or-leave-it attitude, hands behind his back, cigar projecting like an accusatory torpedo. Patterton flushed with anger.

"Of course it's malicious," Roscoe Heyward snapped. He had been standing, aloof, by a window and swung back toward the other four. 'The entire exercise is malicious. Any fool can see that."

French sighed. "All right, I'll spell it out. Whoever is behind this is good at law and public relations. The exercise, as you call it, is cleverly set up to be friendly and he
lpful to this bank. Okay, we kn
ow it's neither. But you'll
never prove that and I suggest we stop wasting time with talk about trying to."

He picked up one of the newspapers and spread the front page open. "One reason I earn my princely salary is because I'm an expert about news and media Right now my expertise tells me that this same story which is written and presented fairly, like it or not is spewing
out through every news wire service in the country and will
be used. Why? Because it's a David and Goliath piece which reeks of human interest."

Tom Straughan, seated b
eside Vandervoort, said quietl
y, "I can confirm part of that. It has been on the Dow Jones news service and right afterward our stock dropped one more point."

"Another thing,"
Dick French went on as though he
had not been interrupted, "we may as well brace ourselves now for the TV news tonight. There'll be plenty on local stations for sure, and my educated guess is we'll be on network, all thr
ee majors. Also, if any paper
can resist that 'bank in trouble' phrase I'll swallow my picture tube." Heyward asked coldly, "Have you finished?"

"Not quite. I'd just like to say that if
I'd blown this entire year's PR
budget on one thing, just one thing, to try to make this bank look bad, I couldn't have improved on the damage you guys have done unaided."

Dick French had a personal theory. It was that a good public relations man should go to work each day prepared to put his job on the line. If knowledge and experience required him to tell his superiors unpleasant facts they would prefer not to hear, and to be brutally frank while doing so, so be it
. The frankness was part of PR
too a ploy to gain attention. To do less, or to court favor through silence or pussyfooting, would be to fail in his responsibilities.

Some days required more bluntness than usual. This was one.

Scowling, Roscoe
Heyward asked, "Do we know yet w
ho the organizers are?" "Not sp
ecifically," French said. "I spok
e with Nolan
who says he's working on that. Not that it makes much difference."

"And if you're interested in the latest from the downtown branch," Tom Straughan contributed, "I went in through the tunnel just before coming here. The place is still packed with demonstrators. Almost no one can get in to do regular banking business."

"They're not demonstrators," Dick Prench corrected him. "Let's get that clear, too, while we're about it. There's not a placard or a slogan among the lot, except maybe 'Act of Hope.' They're customers, and that's our problem."

"All right," Jerome Patterton said, "since you know so much about it, what do you suggest?"

The PR
vice-president shrugged. "You guys pu
lled the rug from under Forum E
ast. You're the ones who could put it back." Roscoe Heyward's features tightened. Patterton turned to Vandervoort. "Alex?"

"You know my feelings," Alex said; it was the first time he had spoken. "I was against the cut in funds to begin with. I still am."

Heyward said sarcastically, "Then you're probably delighted about what's going on. And I suppose you'd give in gladly to those louts and their intimidation."

"No, I'm not in the least delighted." Alex's eyes Sashed angrily. "What I am is embarrassed and offended to see the bank in the position it's been placed. I believe what's happening could have been foreseen that is, some response, some opposition. What matters most at the moment, though, is to set the situation right."

Heyward sneered, "So you would give in to intimidation. Just as I said."

"Giving in or not giving in is immaterial," Alex answered coldly. "The real question is: Were we right or wrong in cutting off funds from Forum East? If we were wrong, we should have second thoughts, along with courage to admit our error."

Jerome Patterton observed, "Second thoughts or not, if we back down now we'll all look pretty foolish"

"Jerome," Alex said, "in the first place, I don't believe so. In the second, does it matter?"

Dick F
rench interposed, "The financial end of this is none of my business. I know that. But I'll tell you one thing: If we decided now to change bank policy about Forum East, we'd look good, not bad."

Roscoe Heyward said acidly to Alex, "If courage is a factor here, I'd say that you are devoid of any. What you're doing is refusing to stand up to a mob."

Alex shook his head impatiently. "Stop sounding like a
s
mall-town sheriff, Roscoe. Sometimes, unwillingness to change a wrong decision is plain pigheadedness, nothing more. Besides, those people at the downtown branch are not a mob. Every report we've had has made that dear."

Heyward said suspiciously, "You seem to have a special affinity for them. Do you know something the rest of us don't?" "No."

"Just the same, Alex," Jerome Patterton ruminated, "I don't like the idea of meekly giving in."

Tom Straughan had been following both argument". Now he said, "I was opposed to cutting off Forum East funds, as everybody knows. But I don't like being pushed around by outsiders either."

Alex sighed. "If you all feel like that, we'd better accept that the downtown branch won't be much use to us for a while."

"That rabble can't possibly keep up what they're doing," Heyward declared. "I predict that if we maintain our stand, refusing to be bluffed or stampeded, the entire exercise win fizzle out tomorrow."

"And I," Alec said, "predict it will continue through next week." In the end, both predic
tions proved
erroneous.

In the absence of any softening of attitude by the bank, inundation of the downtown branch by Forum East
supporters continued through all
of Thursday and Friday, until the close of business late Friday afternoon. The big branch w
as almost helpless. And
, as Dick
French predicted, nationwide attention was focused on its plight.

Much of the attention was humorous. However, investors were less amused, and on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday,
First Mercantile American Bank
shares closed a further two and a half points lower.

Meanwhile, Margot Bracken, Seth Orinda, Deacon Euphrates, and others went on planning and recruiting. On Monday morning the bank capitulated.

At a hastily called press conference at 10 A.M., Dick French announced that full Forum East financing would be restored at once. On behalf of the bank, French expressed the good-natured hop
e that the many from Forum East
and their friends, who had opened accounts at FMA over the past several days, would remain bank customers.

Behind the capitulation were several cogent reasons. One was: Prior to the downtown branch opening on Monday morning, the lineup outside the bank and on Rosselli Plaza was even larger than on previous days, so it became plain that the preceding week's performance would be repeated.

More disconcerting, a second long lineup appeared at another FMA branch bank, this in suburban Indian Hill. The development was not wholly unexpected. Extension of the Forum East activity to additional First Mercantile American branches had been forecast in Sunday's newspapers. When the line at Indian Hill began to form, an alarmed branch manager telephoned FMA Headquarters, asking for help. But it was a final factor which clinched the outcome.

Over the weekend, the union which had loaned money to the Forum East Tenants committee and provided free lunches for those in line the American Federation of Clerks, Cashiers & Office Workers publicly announced its involvement. They pledged additional support. A union spokesman castigated FMA as a "selfish and gargantuan profit machine, geared to further enrich the wealthy at the expense of the have-nots." A campaign to unionize the bank's employees, he added, would soon begin.