The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1857-09-12

70 III had more skill, andif we may 50
a-press Il more honesty in it, than any Of
tbs Great stock gamblers of this day. His
idea was to carry on the public improve
ments Of the country, sustain ctase credit
manage the revenue, and control the ex-
changes Of the country, BIO thspower OF Bank
Credit, and that power was SO great that It
almost justified his vast ambition. He and
the Bank we're at last ruined, by precisely
what we have now before us-speculation.
When the United States Bank OF pennsylvania
failed, it had ON hand twenty millions OF
State and Bank stock. Like other brokers
it was compelled to pledge them. But at
last came the sacrifice OF these stocks, and
the enormous discounts paid on them.
How failed Schuyler !? He began specula-
tion in stock. He was rich but the stocks
fell He bought more because they were
low. He pledged them for borrowed mon
ey; and at last issued forged certi6cates.-
lie committed a great crime and failed a
last. He was playing against the future ana
the future won--not only the game, but nas
life and. honor. The details OF the trust
Company failure, we do not know, nor are
thew important now. The company has fall-
ed. and it is quite certain not by any ordlna-
nv commercial business. +
: The facts in regard to the New York
Agency of the Trust Company, material to
the case, are these:, The Trust Company has
been the agent for many Western banks,
frequently for the State, and for numerous
merchants and individuals. 1t fotlowed from
this that it had the commend of large
amounts Of money there, that it was subject
to continual drafts, and was large dealer
in exchange. The most important and most
hazardous business of the Trust Company
was done in New York. Notwithstanding
this, that busines, so Tar rs the public know,
was entrusted solely to one man, and that
man by no means the most responsible and
best. informed in the Company. The office
Of the company was in Wall street, New
York, where its business was conducted on
the sams principles, and surrounded with
the same moral atmosphere which prevails
in that remarkable locality. We suppose 1t
is not really worse than othersimilar regions
but the mania for financial gambling prevails
there even among the best institutions. The
banks there often loan their spare means on
stock. The New York agency Of the Trust
Company did the same. 1t was an every
day business with the cashier there. lnitseH
this was not wrong. 1t is common mode
of business. But the hazard Of such loans
is always great. Take any. stock-New
York Central for example-worth ninety
cents, and loan at eighty. 1t is true that,
if everything goes right, and the officers are
all honest, and the comercial skies are bright,
this is safe enough. But in a day great
disaster happens to the New York Central,
a defalcation is discovered, the public con-
iidence Is impaired, and the stock will not
sell for more than fifty cents. 1t is plain
the lender cannot make himself whole. In
such case, the cashier Of some great COM
pany who was the lender, would probably
borrow himself on other stocks to replace
his locked up funds. And thus arises .
complication of difficulties, which will be
it fall. This was the case with the United
States Bank, and may be the case with the
Trust Company. The moral is u very plain
one. Its the point of one of Ksop's Fables:
CLOSE not the substance by grasping the
shadow .... .-..
The speculation in money centers in Wall
street, New York, and there may be seen a
Juror for speculation, mania for gamb-
ling, which can be seen nowhere else in the
United States. The street is filled at noon
Of day with thousands of people, running
here and there, from bank to bank, from
broker to broker.
The great merchants are there, paying at
the Custom House, or dealing at the banks.
These are the flower of the place. Most Of
them are intelligent, fair dealing, honorable
men who NEEDLE very little with the gamblers
about them. Then there are the great bank
ers, who also are respectable, men. Then
come the country bankers and borrowers,
and these may generally be placed on the
list of greenhorns, who. if not taken out,
will soon be taken in. Then come large
class of bill brokers, note shavers, the n.y.
enas and jackals ofmoney spectators. Then
come the great army OF stock gamblers, bulls
Is and bears, with their retainers. Over. all
these sits the Board Of Brokers, a sort of
Court Of Arbitration, to secure honorable
dealing among sharpers. Stock gambling
is carried on in this way; A sells u 1000
shares of n. Y. and Erie, deliverable IN 90
days, at 50. Now if at the end Of SO days
Erie stock is worth So, B has made five per
cent, and A pays him, not the stock, but
the difference, per cent. Ii Erie is then
worth, As A, the seller has made per cent,
and pays him that. Neither of these per-
ties take stock, or care anything about It,
They deal in difference. In one word, A
and B bet the difference, whatever it may be,
on the value of Erie stock, sixty days time.
1t varies in nothing from any other bet
We might illustrate financial gambling by
many other examples. But these are enough
to understand the principle. The country is
full of it, in one form or another. 10 the
Northwest we have seen thousands Of peo-
pie betting on the future value of land and
lots-paying 40 per cent. interest on money
to make the bet. The results we begin to
see. The papers of Minnesota, Missou-
ri, and Kansas, are crowded with adver-
tisements of land brokers, anxious to, sell
for their clients. Every farmer, merchant
and lawyer, every doctor and half the Jour
neymen, have bean dealing in land warrants.
And now, most of the lands are distributed
and their owners are looking round tosell.
In time, they will be needed, and else, but
the great body of land spectators must
wait for time.
The center Of all this mania for this specu-
lation and gambling is in the city of New
York, aud hence it is no way surprising that
the first shock of reaction begins there. We
apprehend no disasters from it to the Gen.
trail West. The storms which rage along
the Atlantic, or bursts beyond the MISSISSIPPI
pi, are little felt here; our golden harvests,
our rich mines, our intelligent men, eur
hardy laborers, are beyond the influence Of
the Stock Exchange, and without the at
mosphere Of wild Observation-Disclosures