Project Gutenberg 2002-07-01 Public domain in the USA. 119 Sinclair, Upton 1878 1968 Fitch, Clarke Garrison, Frederick Sinclair, Upton Beall The Machine Produced by Charles Franks, the Online Distributed Proofreading team, and David Widger "The Machine" by Upton Sinclair is a dramatic play written in the early 20th century. The narrative unfolds around the corrupt intermingling of business, politics, and socio-economic struggles in early 20th-century America, focusing on characters involved in the traction industry and their moral dilemmas. Central to this exploration are Julia Patterson, a magazine writer and social reformer, and Laura Hegan, the daughter of a powerful traction king, who grapples with her family's wealth and the resulting societal implications. The opening of the play introduces us to Julia Patterson's modest apartment, where she engages in conversation with Jack Bullen, a socialist activist. They discuss class struggles and the plight of the working class, setting the stage for a deeper exploration of corruption and social injustice. Laura Hegan arrives, and through dialogue, we learn about her charitable inclinations despite her father's dubious dealings in the traction business. Tension arises as Laura's awareness of her father's involvement in corrupt practices grows, particularly related to the impending decision of the Court of Appeals on a significant railroad case. This initial portion establishes a dramatic framework of impending conflict as characters navigate their moral beliefs against the backdrop of a corrupt political machine. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 87.3 (6th grade). Easy to read. en American drama -- 20th century New York (N.Y.) -- Drama Socialists -- Drama Political corruption -- Drama Tammany Hall -- Drama PS Text Category: Plays/Films/Dramas Category: American Literature 147788 2025-08-02T07:10:35.227780 text/html 143616 2013-01-21T15:05:48 text/html 109581 2025-08-02T07:10:40.230743 application/epub+zip 109987 2025-08-02T07:10:37.038752 application/epub+zip 109987 2025-08-02T07:10:35.924761 application/epub+zip 204800 2025-08-02T07:10:42.410740 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 194663 2025-08-02T07:10:39.527736 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 166385 2022-09-02T09:23:30.845885 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 116516 2025-08-02T07:10:34.717794 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 116373 2010-09-05T08:25:56 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 19442 2025-08-02T07:10:42.563710 application/rdf+xml 10756 2025-08-02T07:10:36.424753 image/jpeg 2882 2025-08-02T07:10:36.174748 image/jpeg 44774 2013-01-21T15:06:46 application/octet-stream application/zip 42299 2010-09-05T08:29:06 application/octet-stream application/zip 107356 2025-08-02T07:10:35.241763 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia