th knew that he was not working for the good of that commonwealth, but for the good of his bank account. Vanderbilt, like many other industrial statesmen of his time, bought out the competition. If he believed that a rail line was taking away business from his, he would buy the rail yard. When Cornelius Vanderbilt died, he passed on his business to his son, William H. Vanderbilt, who proved to be just as much of a "robber baron." Railroad tycoons such as Vanderbilt became "industrial monarchs," as Thomas Bailey put it. William Vanderbilt, when asked if he ran his railroads for the benefit of the public, in an interview by the Chicago Daily News (Document A), stated "The public be damned!"
             Vanderbilt's methods were not unlike the ones used by Jay Gould. Thomas Bailey called Gould the prince of "robber barons." Gould's technique was to buy abandoned railroads for a very low price, make some slight cosmetic changes, and sell them at an extremely high price. He would trick the buyer into thinking that the railroad was in great condition. Another railroad schem
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