Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1857-09-12
Mtstellaneous.
the Cincinnati aasctte.
From the Cincinnati Gazette.
FINANCIAL GAMHLING-THE sPECULA-
TORS IN MONEY.

The cause, and the only cause of all great fnau
cial disasters is precisely the same, however
various the form, in which the disaster appears.
The failure of the United States Bank. the frauds
of Schuyler, the failure Of private banks in ls5l
and the failure of the Ohio Life x Trust Company
all have precisely the same origin. In one cH''
the final result may BIZ Il high crime, in ~alother
q breach Of trust, and in another n common com
mercial failure. But the reason of the thing Is
the same, and in order that the evil may be
avoided, and safety scared, it should be better
known and better stated before yodnS commercial
men than it is.
This principle, or cause Of evil, can hardly be
defined but it may be exempliied in such u way
as to DO easily understood. Men, like Franklin,o or
Girard, or any PLAIN, sober men, call 1t speculation
But this is not all. All commercial ventures, how
ever we'll founded in reason and ~iniOrmntion, are
more or less speculations. All the great ner
chants have been spectators in one sense. They
have made large ventures, on a calculation oil re-
suits. IL this be done, with sufficient capital ana
prudent measures, it is no more than what IS nee
essarv to ultimate commercial success. But
financial speculations are of another character
They are not based on an actual and inevitable
demand for flour and coffee. But are la9ed upon
The idea that certain stocks will rise that certain
great advantages can be carried On by crealt; OF
that heavy interest can be obtained (such ns woulG
nstonish Shylock) by purchasing stocks and secu
rites. We should define it as ptedging present
moneg and credit against the chance Of future riSe,
In another form it is doing precisely what the
rambler does. when he sets down to the table and
pledges q sum against the chance that he may win
the game, A purchase Of stocks on time IL always
q bet. 1t cannot be anything else. So also is a
loan on stocks, for the value of stocks depend
upon a breath of public opinion. q
Mr.. Biddle, of the United States Bank, was a
splendid example of financial gambling. lie had
more skill, and it we may express it, more honesty
in ii, than any OF the great stock gamblers OF tins
day. His idea was to carry en- the public improve
inents of tbs country, sustain State credit manage
the revenue, and control the exchanges of the
country, by the power of BaHk Cycd0. and that
mower was so great that il almost justified his vast
ambition. lie and the Bank were at last ruined
by precisely what we have before us-srecula'
ton. When the United States Bank OF Pennsy!-
yania failed. il had on hand near twenty millions
of State and Bank stocks. Like ether brokers, 1t
was compelled to pledge them but at last came
the sacrifice of these stocks, and the enormous dis
counts paid on them. How failed Schuyler? lie
began Specializing in stocks. lie was rich, but
the stocks fell. He bought more because they
were low. lie pledged them for borrowed money
and at last issued forged certificates. lie com
mitted a great crime and failed at last. lie was
PLAYING against the future and the future won
not only the game, but his life and honor. The
details Of the Trust Company failure, we do not
know, nor are they important now. The Company
has failed, and, ii is quite certain, not by any or
binary commercial business. The facts in regard
to the New York Agency of the Trust Company,
material to the case, are these: The Trust Com
pany has been the agent for many Western banks,
frequently for the State. and for numerous mer-
chants and individuals. 1t followed from thus that
it had the command Of large amounts of money
there, that it was subject to continual drafts, and
was a large dealer in exchange. The most iiapoT-
tant and hazardous business of the Trust Company
was done in New York. Notwithstanding this.
that business so far as the public know, was en-
trusted solely to one man, and that man by NJ
means the most responsible and best-lniormed IT
the Company. The office of the Company was IL
Wall street, New York, where its business wa
conducted ON the same principles and surrounded
with the same moral atmosphere which prevails II
that remarkable locality. We suppose it is no
really worse than other similar regions, but the
mania for financial gambling prevails there ever
among the best institutions. The Banks there
often loan their spare means on stocks. The New
York agency of the Trust Company did the same
1t was an every day business with the cashic
there. In itself this was not wrong. It a com
mon mode of business. But the hazard OF sucf
loans is always great. Take any stock-NeV
York Central for example-worth ninety cent
and loan at eighty. 1t is true that. if eyerythin
goes right, and tie officers are all honest, aud til
commercial skies arc bright, this is safe enough
But in a day a great disaster happens to the Ne'
York Central, d defaicatiun is discovered, the pui
lie confidence is impaired, and the stocks will ne
sell for more than fifty cents. 1t Is plain tn
lender cannot make himself whole. In such
case, the cashier Of some great company who wa
the lender. would probably borrow himself -
other stocks to replace his locked up funds. An
thus arises a com plication OF difficulties VINE
will be harmless if the market rises; but, ruinou
if it falls, This was the case with the Unite
States Bank, and may be the case with the Tru'
Company. The moral is a very plain one. 1t
the point of one of HIsop's Fables: Lose NJ
the substance by g~rasping at the shadow"
The speculation IN money centers III Wall Stree
New York, and there may DO seen Il Juror OF spe,
rlation a mania for pomblIuu which can he see
no where else III the United States. The street
filed at noon of day with thousands OF peop
running here aud there, from Bank to Bank, iroi
Broker to Broker.
The great merchants are there. paying attt
Custom House, or dealing in the Banks. The:
are the flower of the place, Most OF them al
intelligent, fair dealing, honorable men, who me
die very little with the gamblers about thenl.-
Then there are the great bankers, who also al
respectable men. Then come the country ban
ers and borrowers, and these may generally
placed On the list of green-horns; who, II n
taken out will soon be taken in. Then come
large class Of Bill Brokers', Note Shavevs, Il
1Iyenas and the Jackalls of money Speculation
Then comes the great army OF Stock Gambler
Bulls and Bears, vith their retainers. Over
there sits the Board Of Brokers. n sort Of Court
Arbitration, to secure honorable dealing amor
Sharpers. Stock gambling is carried on in ii
way: A sells B 1000 shares of N. Y. and En-
deliverable in 60 days, at so. Now, if at the Ell
of sixty days, Erie stock Is worth %. Is has ma
five per cent, and A pays him mol the stock, b
the difference, 5 per cent. If Erie is then wor
As, A, the seller, has made Eve. per cent, and
pays him that. Neither of these parties tai
stock, or care anything about il. They deal on
in differences. In one word, n and u bet the d
ference. whatever it may be, on the value of Eli
stock, sixty days time. 1t varies in nothing fro
any other betting; we might illustrate fnanci
gambling by many other examples. But these a
enough to understand the principle. The count
is full Of il, in one form or another. In the Mort
west we have seen thousands of people betting
the future value Of lands and lots-pay 40 ?
cent, interest on money to make The bet. The
suits we begin to sec. The papers of Iowa, NJ
nesota, Missouri, and Kansas. are crowded W
advertisements of land brokers, anxious to sell
their clients. Every farmer, merchant,and lawy'
every doctor and.half the journeymen, have be
dealing in land warrants. And now, most OF
lands are distributed, and their owners are looki
round to cell. In time, they will be needed, a
rise, but the great body of land SPECTATORS mi