Southern Argus. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1834-1842, 1842-01-18
STOCK AND STOCK GAMBLIN G.

i the STOCK IN chaDge Win view 10 Inc |
emoval of the enormous evils which |
through pervision of its machinery. are
Inflicted or public and private interests
Experience has abunJapily shown that
Law can do nothing toward their correc
ion, but Public Opinion may; and. in the
nope tha; it may be brought TO bear eff.
csntIy on the acton of the Board, we now
approach the subject.
Public Stocks exist, and will exisr; per
sons holding them will occasionally wish
to sell, with view of other investments or
uses; while others will buy from time TO
time. either for personal investment, or as
guardians of minors, trustees OF Insfltu
tons, directors of savings banks, &c. &c.
The process of transfer, of buying IN and
selling out, is constantly going on,and The
interests of all but those who take adyan.
tage of others necessities are prompted by
the existence of an Exchange Board,
where any Stock may a; any time be pur-
chased or sold al the current rates. But
for some such organization, Stocks worth
par might to-day be bought at l05 and
sold al 95--in other words, the difference
to the community between the buying and
selling rates would be far gre er than now
the facilities Of investment and sale greatly
diminished,and the ordinary value oil Stocks
much less than under a good system of
Stock Exchange.
But the undeniabe advantages result
ing from the legitimate operations of the
Stock Exchange are fully EeutralIzed al
present by the fagran; abuse of them to
purposes of baneful speculaii u and gam.
bling, through the medium of sales 'on
time If a member of The Beard purchase
New York State Stocks, for instance, for
cash, he makes legitimate bargain, pos
sbly for himself, but more probably for
some one else who has employed him as
his agent in making the investment. TIE
interest of all parties concerned in the
transaction is either favorable to stability
quiet and good faith, or, at any rate, not
adverse to them. But he who bargains to
deliver one thousand shares of New York
or other Stock thirty, sixty, or ninety DAYS
ahead, has in fact made bet against the
integrity, soIvency and prosperity of the
country; public calamity is his good for.
tune; and he has placed himself under the
strongest temptations 10 act the part of al
anarchist or incendiary. If any State can
be brought to dishonor her faith; if the
fieud, Repud alton, can be coaxed TO rear
any where his horrid head; if general dis.
trust, embarrassment and bankruptcy can
be produced, and public swindling come
TO be looked on with complacency as q
proper OF necessary recourse, his chance
of profit from the depression of the Stock
in other words, of winning his bets
rendered certainty. If by these means
livestock on which he has bet is depressed
5per cent, by the time he has agreed to de
liver, he wins $4,000; if ten per cent
$40, 0O0-at a cost TO the community O
possibly not more than 100000, but 90
improbably half a million.
We have here briefly described a pro
cess which is constantly going on
| Three or four hundred men, betting agains
the integrity and solvency of the States
have made perhaps ten or twenty thou
sand dollars each the past year, at an ex
pense TO the community Of at least On
Hundred Millions. They make the pub
lie calam ties on which they fatten. Sup
pose State Stock is to day worth par,the
stand ready to sell any quantity of it ]
9S, delivered sixty Gays hence-in othel
words, they are ready to BET that it wi
depreciate two per cent. in sixty days.
Where there are foxes, geese are seldor
wanting; and enough stand ready TO TAX
their bets. Now the game is opened-ir
object TO knock down that Stock or Stock
f generally; for any one affects all more q
less. The very fact that sale, thong
on time, has been made at % depres e
the cnrrent value. ANY rumor, exh:b
or actual occurrence tending to show til;
the State is not perfectly solvent is wort
: IT'S weight IN gold TO the seller on time
tie can well afford to pay 500 for
strong Money Article in the right qua,
ter, proving that the State against who's
integrity he has bet is not able to paw o
# able, not willing. On the strength {
ibis nc dashes into the market and sell
five hundred shares very probably to
l confederate) al 81; five hundred to-mol
a row at 90: and FIVE hundred next day :
r 95--all on time, mind you; he has neye
: owned share from the first. Or perhar
: ne will buy few shares and sell them ns
; tentatiously al decline. By this tin
the sensitive public takes the alarm; n
Stock as daily running dovn. Holder
throw their Stock into the market to o,
!, rid Oft before it falls to the ground: ever
sale Increases the alarm, and crowds mo,
e Stock upon the Boa,d. until the alarm b,
t comes panic, and the retreat a rout.
which one tumbles headlong over ano,h,
IN dire confusion. The sixty DAYS e.
pire; the Stock has been run down 10 q
3 the author of the mischief pockets SIS. OC
!, difference on his first dash, and perha,
|. as much more on the incidenta,s. witho
: having owned or touched a share of I,
Il Stock, and is now ready TO common,
r. again by selling on time at 81, and so o
The evil effects is moi confined
i Stocks; il extends into every departme
) OF business. bighting and depressing.
: b. has loan of $4,000, secured by
: hypothecation OF Stock at 95. He Is SO,
I informed that his security has. b come j
e sufiiclent-he must add to it $4,000
d $4,000, and at length he is told that 1
Stock depreciates so fat that the lend
cannot rely on il at all. In the midst
gene al perplexlty and embarrassment,
> must raise heavy additional sum: if
e fails, certainly. perhans NJ .nv 49,