Whether working at a gain or at a loss, Mr.
Brassey was ever resolute to execute his engagements to the letter,
and he declined to make demands for extra compensation when his
contracts proved unprofitable, though it was customary with him to
make good the losses of his sub-contractors. He amassed a colossal
fortune, not through excessive gains, but by a small profit--"as
nearly as possible three per cent."--which accrued to him from all his
enterprises taken as a whole, and the accumulations consequent on an
inexpensive mode of life.
The railways constructed by Mr. Brassey, generally in partnership
with some other contractor, between the years 1834 and 1870, comprised
between six and seven thousand miles in all parts of the globe,
including Australia and in almost every civilized country except
Russia and the United States. "There were periods in his career during
which he and his partners were giving employment to 80,000 persons,
upon works requiring L 17,000,000 of capital for their completion."
Yet a large part of his time and of the time of his agents was
spent in the investigation of schemes which he either decided not to
undertake or for which he tendered unsuccessfully. It was necessary at
times to transport materials, a large staff of employes and an army
of laborers from one country to another. In some cases works were
prosecuted in regions occupied or threatened by hostile armies, in
others under all the embarrassments and gloom of a great financial
revulsion.
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