Atlas_Shrugged|Section131

Atlas Shrugged, Part 1, Chapter 3, section 1:

• Plot summary

James Taggart, Orren Boyle, Paul Larkin, and Wesley Mouch meet to work out a deal by which they can stop Hank Rearden and the success of Rearden Metal. Boyle wants Taggart to get his friends in Washington to regulate the distribution of iron ore, depriving Rearden of the raw materials needed to market Rearden Metal. In exchange, Boyle agrees to get the National Alliance of Railroads to drive the Phoenix-Durango railroad out of Colorado. None of this is said openly or directly, of course. Taggart also learns from Boyle that Taggart Transcontinental's San Sebastian Line has been denuded of all but the barest equipment.

• Setting

The most expensive barroom in New York, on the 60th floor of a skyscraper, designed to look like a cellar.

• Characters

Bartender: First and only appearance.

James Taggart

Orren Boyle

Paul Larkin

Waiter: First and only appearance.

Wesley Mouch

• Pregnant Passages

"It all depends," James Taggart answered slowly, "on the people who make it possible...That's what has to be known - who makes it possible."