He decided to base himself in the London office, out of direct sight, telling his young men to write reports weekly and to expect him to visit Liverpool 'often and at his own convenience'. There would be much to do on the export side which he must start to build to his Indian owners' orders.
Henry Star was in a quandary, not for the first time in his erratic existence.
He had achieved election, properly bought and all promises paid, to the Louisiana House of Representatives as a thoroughly middle of the road Democratic-Republican and spoke occasionally in defence of the business community and very strongly in support of a 'proper organisation of society' in the Southern States, all as was expected of a man in his position. He had taken care to offend no significant interest and was within reason certain that he had given none the cause to shoot him, but he was still suffering harassment.
The problem that had arisen was a direct result of some sort of movement amongst the womenfolk - who had no business to know or do anything in the political world, as all sensible people agreed.
In recent years there had been a growth of a ridiculously misnamed 'Temperance Movement', much supported in the many churches of the South. Henry, who had had an amount of education, several times pointed out that to be 'temperate' was to act in moderation but that the Temperance Movement sought to absolutely forbid alcohol, a most intemperate act; he made little impression on the minds of his contemporaries in New Orleans, few of them being more than speciously literate and none caring about the finer points of the language.
Somehow it had become known that Henry owned a very large share in a distillery, a Northern distillery moreover.
He had on one occasion been denounced from a pulpit as a 'Whore of the Demon Rum'; this was offensive inasmuch as his partner produced only gin and a very fine whiskey, but he had sense enough not to make public protest on these grounds. He had hired a private investigator to examine the amusements and entertainments of the reverend gentleman who had so thunderously spoken out and had organised a raid by the authorities upon the male brothel that he frequented; the subsequent trial, reported obliquely in the press, had created a very fine scandal and had caused other divines to choose not to name Henry as anything other than a benefactor of the people. Even so, he still had a problem and was being talked against in the drawing-rooms; it caused him to take ship to New York and to confer with the judge.
"Easily solved, my boy!"
Judge Chard was in expansive mood, pleased with his son-in-law and happy to have a grandson and a daughter who had come through the experience well. He had worried that his Grace might have difficulties child-bearing - larger ladies often did, he believed - but she wrote him that she was in the best of health and very happy, supported by her loving husband.
"You must sell out of the distillery, Mr Star." He raised a hand against Henry's instinctive protest, smiled triumphantly. "I do believe that a newly formed enterprise, called, I don't know - let us say 'Northern Distillers' - will be prepared to buy you out, in exchange for, let us say, ninety parts of the shares in the firm, to be held anonymously as bearer bonds. The remaining ten parts to be held by me, and specified as yours in a codicil to my Will, because it would not be legally acceptable for all of the shares to be held by a single person in the first instance - there might be questions of taxation. The bonds themselves can be held in a strongbox at the bank - safer there than in our houses."
"And I may return to New Orleans, announcing that I have sold out of the business and that my hands are white as snow. I have seen the error of my ways, sisters! Hallelujah!"
They had a drink to celebrate.
"I have been approached, Mr Star, by a New York shipbuilder who suggests to me that we might consider purchasing our steam engines from his firm - American and closer to home. Our reliance on supplies from across the Atlantic makes us vulnerable to winter storms, for example, as well as giving the English an undesirable commercial hold upon us. It would be patriotic to place our business in American hands."
"Northern hands, Judge. Was there to be another upset between the Free and Slave States then we could find ourselves unable to buy from New York and with no alternative supplier, having broken our English contracts. We must ask ourselves, Judge, who we are more likely to have a falling-out with - do we ever expect war with England again?"
"Surely, Mr Star, you do not suggest that war between North and South is possible?"
"Highly unlikely, Judge, but popular pressures might lead to difficulties in doing business for months at a time when arguments in Congress were especially bitter. Better far to keep our contacts with England, sir."
The judge was not wholly convinced - he was sure that everything, every problem, could be solved by discussion between men of goodwill. At worst, matters could be brought to court and resolved there - the Law could always provide an answer.
Henry pointed out that the Law was made by politicians, and that they were commonly motivated by desires to achieve unjust ends.
"That is why we have judges, my boy - to control the excesses of the political world."
Henry was not in New York to argue with his patron, chose to agree that he was very probably correct, although he was himself the most political of appointments.
"The navy, Judge, seems to have very few ships, insufficient to meet the needs for protection of our merchantmen. The Spanish have no compunction about stopping and searching our ships on the high seas - they are as great a menace as the English were a decade ago."
"Quite impossible, Mr Star - the money is not there, and nor is the political willingness. I fear that the United States will not be building a large fleet in this decade."
"Then, Judge, it may be necessary for the State to take some action - a coastal patrol of our own, for example?"
"Unlawful, Mr Star!"
The state could not police its own shores and the Federal government would not - it seemed to Henry that this was a source of friction, one of many.
"Would it be lawful to launch a few small vessels to act as Coast Guards, their functions being to assist distressed mariners and needing to be lightly armed in order to offer protection against the few remaining pirates?"
The Judge, an appointee who had come to the bench late in life after a commercial career, did not know, but pledged himself to discover from one of the many constitutional lawyers to be found hanging around the courts.
"Damned nuisance they are too, my boy, forever pleading and demanding judgements and then appealing when they've got them!"
He returned to the question later in the week.
"Coast Guards, Mr Star! Permissible whilst they act to protect seafaring men going about their lawful occasions and with liberty to act against smugglers of goods declared contraband by the state. Pirates are, of course, hostis humani generis, or so I believe the term to be - enemies of the human race, that is. As such any man has the right - nay, the duty - to kill any he comes across and to put to summary execution all he may capture. Any ship may be armed for its protection against such wolves of the sea."
Once on the high seas, and out of the sight of lawyers or federal officials, then the Coast Guards would be at liberty to decide exactly how to protect local shipping, and who from.
Henry took the proposition to the Governor of Louisiana, Thomas Bolling Robertson, a man of limited intelligence, less integrity and no sobriety at all, but one who knew what was due to wealthy representatives who had contributed to his campaign fund.
"Why, Mr Star, do we wish to protect our merchants against the Spanish?"
"Partly out of general principle, sir - the Spanish should learn that they must respect our flag. Primarily, though, it is because the Spanish will not permit our merchants free trade with their colonies, and there is a profit to be made in certain items which is very tempting. There are times when, for example, there is a shortage of bond-servants due to new lands being brought into sugar or cotton and it would be very convenient to purchase Africans from Cuba; ve
ry often there is a surplus of goods in New Orleans which the Spanish settlers would be happy to buy."
"Could it lead to war?"
"Very easily, sir, and then the Federal government would be forced to its proper duty of protecting its citizens."
Even to this Governor, the proposal smelt; he said that he would consider it, taking advice on the issue.
Henry left the presence resigned to the failure of his idea - which was a pity as he could have acted as agent with the manufacturers of cannon to arm the new vessels. It would only have been a few thousands but one should never let an opportunity pass, after all.
Home to the estate and its great house, high upon its bluff and catching the fresh airs from the river and looking far out across the valley and the fields behind. The view was circumscribed by an even higher and heavily wooded hillside to the direct south, but that offered protection from storms and high winds, so was another advantage in fact.
Henry was rather proud of the imagination he had displayed in locating his family seat. Walking some two hundred feet upwards along the winding path leading from their own landing stage was a nuisance, but not too much to bear for the advantages of the site.
The warehouse was complete, he noted, and the sheds for gins and the baler, all as he had ordered; his overseer was obviously active and efficient, which was only right - he was paid to do a thorough job. He was alert as well, was waiting to greet the master at the landing stage - a good sign that he was on top of the work.
"Mr Maskelyne, how do you do, sir?"
"Well indeed, thank you, Mr Star! I do declare that no man could be other than at his very top on so fine a plantation, sir!"
A pity the man was a crawler, but one could not have everything.
"How is the plantation faring, sir?"
"Much improved, Mr Star. One thousand acres, sir, or close to, will harvest this season, to produce perhaps two hundred thousand pounds weight of cotton, some four hundred bales, sir. Following your orders, sir, nearly as much land again is in use for corn and yams and beans and green leaf crops, and I have had sties built for hogs. There are a dozen milk cows, sir, and a dairy building - the house will have its butter and cream, sir, and milk for the children! I do not consider the pasture we have sufficient for our own beef, sir."
"That is your decision, Mr Maskelyne, left to you as the man with local knowledge - I am no farmer, as you are aware. Are the quarters constructed?"
"All complete, sir. Timber cabins, the planking long-sawed from the lumber of our own lands - green, admittedly, but will last five years or so and can then be patched with the timber we have seasoning now. Self-reliance is to be our watchword, sir!"
"What of stock?"
"A dozen of mules, sir - young and strong. They will work the baler and draw the wagon, but I shall not put them to ploughing. We have four plough teams, sir, and they can be used around the plantation at other times, especially for the lumbering. Twelve of cows and a bull of our own, for lack of any other in easy reach. Hogs to be bought in later this year, sir, after we have harvested yams and corn sufficient for their needs, as an additional food for them. Africans, sir, we need more of - we have only some eighty young males and the same of females; a number of their get, too young to work yet, and three who are of such an age as to be worked only lightly. There are eight of house-servants, sir, and I believe madam to be seeking one or two with skills - sempstress and a healer, I understand."
Henry shook his head - the cost of bond-servants was rising every year, particularly of useful hands, ploughmen, blacksmiths and such; he could expect to pay the better part of three hundred dollars for a strong male. Picking the cotton was best done by the cheaper females - they were more dextrous, their lighter fingers less likely to damage the bolls as they stripped the fibre; properly treated a cotton plant could last several years, making a great saving in ploughing and planting costs.
"I shall attempt to purchase more for our needs, Mr Maskelyne. For the meanwhile, you must feed our current stock well and be very sparing of the whip - we cannot afford to be wasteful."
An income of about twenty thousand dollars from the cotton - it sounded good, should be the basis of a comfortable existence - but Henry did not trust agricultural prices, they fluctuated far too much. He must continue to make money elsewhere, in shipbuilding, in distilling... what other sources were there? He must be secure in his fortune, and that meant increasing his wealth every year - only the rich man was safe in this world!
He put a smile on his face as he entered his house and greeted wife and son with every appearance of affection.
"The boy thrives, my dear - I am so glad we were able to get away from the town before he was born. I fear you must be bored, however, born and bred to the metropolis as you were."
Grace denied the charge vehemently - to her own, admitted, surprise, she had loved the plantation existence from her very first day.
"To see the sun rise and set over our own acres, Henry, is an unending delight to me. Each night I can sit back on our great verandah and think on the day's labours - light though they are - and know that I have added a little of elegance and utility both to our creation - if that be not an impious term to use!"
"I should purchase a pair of gardeners, I think - so that your labours may become more quickly fruitful. As well, my dear, I do not like to think of you forced to dig your own flower beds - not at all the thing, I believe! I would like to plant trees as well, both ornamental and fruiting for our benefit."
They spent a few minutes surveying the grasses in front of the house, mentally converting them into elegant shrubbery and orchard lands, before turning indoors.
"Your parents are both well, my dear, and I believe I may have persuaded them to pay us a visit later in the year - your esteemed father as well, this time!"
He took his son, Lucius, in his arms after kissing his wife - he had to play the part of the good father and husband, was becoming inured to the role.
"Will my father be able to stay long away from his duties in New York?"
"I believe he may be about to step down from his judicial functions, my dear, the demands upon his time becoming excessive. I think he may take a more active political role in the city and state, possibly becoming an aide to the Governor - a place to which he is very well suited, I am sure."
"Was he to retire wholly, then he might wish to spend more time here, Henry."
An appalling prospect - the unbroken company of the Judge might become very tedious, and he would be inconveniently close to New Orleans and could easily come to hear of Sophie and her little apartment which he so frequently shared.
"He would be welcome, of course; there is room and to spare in the house for both of your parents, to settle permanently if they so wished."
"No... I would ask, if I might make so bold, that you did not extend that particular invitation, my love! My father tends to be perhaps of, shall we say, a managing disposition - I rather fear that my own house might rapidly become his was he to live here for the rest of his days. A welcome guest, most certainly, Henry, but no more."
"I bow to your wisdom, ma'am - and would say that I wholly concur! Your father is welcome, as I have said, but his absence would sometimes be appreciated!"
They smiled at each other, domestic bliss secured.
Book Eight: A Poor Man
at the Gate Series
Chapter Three
“Ain't got no money. Warn't none on payday acos 'e drunk it afore 'e got 'ome. All I got was this."
The woman indicated the blue and yellow bruising across her face.
She wore a thin, torn, cotton dress, the rips sewn up as neatly as she could. Three children at her side had at least one woollen garment each, threadbare hand-me-downs and cast-offs from charity, but they were warmer than she was. All four were thin, underfed for years; the children's noses ran, their eyes were dull, the usual signs of malnutrition.
They stood at Luke Star's door, hopelessly pleading. It w
as raining, cold and bitter, their bare feet pinched and shrivelled on the cobblestones.
The Reverend had nothing for them, had barely enough food in his house to keep himself for the week. He had exhausted his annual stipend over the winter - he spent none of that on himself as he had his allowance from the family to meet his own needs - and most of his own funds had disappeared a few weeks before when one of the smaller mills had burnt down, putting eighty men out of work and into destitution, almost all of them members of his chapel.
"I am sorry, I have nothing left. You must come with me to the Workhouse."
"They won't 'ave us, Reverend, acos of I got a place to live, and a man - even if 'e's drunk and ain't got a job no more and 'e'll get us put out on the street when 'e ain't got no rent on Saturday."
"They will take you. I can do that for you, at least."
Luke walked them slowly through the back streets, avoiding the respectable areas of town where the constables and shop guards would see them and drive them away with their pick-axe handles if they strayed near the store fronts. The destitute were not wanted on the shopping streets - they were dirty and ragged and often begged - they could offend real people, those with money in their wallets and purses.
As they went he wondered yet again just what good he was doing.
'Another family broken up. The woman will keep the smallest at her side - she cannot be three years of age. The two older girls will be put in the female children's dormitory, to see their mother once a week, perhaps, though in the same building; they will be sent out in service at the age of ten, and may well be in a house of ill-fame within the week.'
Servant girls might be sent to any town within fifty miles where there was an apparently respectable lady seeking a maid. It was impossible to verify the bona fides of the would-be employer; many were legitimate, some were not. There were no funds available to protect the girls - they were simply put onto the carrier's wagon with a scrap of paper bearing the address of their destination and food for the day in their hands, the door firmly closed behind them.
The Wages Of Virtue (A Poor Man at the Gate Series, Book 8) Page 6
