Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-05-25
THE FRENCH CREDIT MoBI-lER COMPANY.

The annual general meeting OF oe Credit Nobiier
Company of France, his f-;ea;ly tken place at Paris
under the Presidency Ct Dir. Isaac Pereirp, when IN.
nnnu.l r-pnr, oi tho admini.;ranr of The Society
Vas resi and adopted. The mcst amarknble fea;ur.
of il il, the determination 10 distribute. no dirI9snd f0y
he pa.' y.ar. This ia n great iailin, Of. when it i. re
,nemnrrrd that in 1855 q dividend # forty per cent.
wsa declared out OF the years cleal profits, and that
in 1856 a dividend Of twenty-five pc cent. wss paid,
for the slnallness Of which ths Adminit rstors thought
il necessary TO apologize 10 the shareholders, and
TO comfort them with the hope that the nnxt
..,,'s J;,idonI would uunpe,sAI- Tor their dis
appointment. Instead Of this, I turns out that the
"next years dividend" is nal. There can b- no more
convincing proof Of the loss b. the Company of the
credit which constitutes the graf basis of thsIr ope-
rations. During the years 1915, when the specula
ton mania was at lis height isn the people implI.
city believed that they had 0nf to place their money
in thu hsnds of PereiIes, FOULS, Thurneys-ns, and
Hotl;ngusrs, to become the recipients of immense
profts-the 'current accounts Of the Credit Mobi
iier we're close on $50, 900, OOU fancs, while the last
statement of the Company's Affairs chow that the
amount Of these accounts ha dwindled down TO the
comparatively insignifcan sun Of 6S,5OOO 600 francs,
thus proving satisfactorily that the people have b..
yum to doubt the security o the Compsny, and its
power to fulfil it's PROMISES md TO see that the prin.
ciples of its operation are MT in accordance with
those of economy and sound Esiness.
We have always opposed intitutions like the Paris
Credit Mobilier, because We btieve that they are un-
sound and immoral, and sure, Ooner or later, 10 lead
to dire and widespread ruin, 'k1 any other species
of gambling. We cannot see how they differ from
any other stock gambler e1cet in the magnitude Of
their coups. The specuIstor for the rise" may be
very successful for Il length o time, and make bril-
liant profits; but it il impossible that he can always
do go. His ~"fsncies" must ATONE time reach a cul.
minating point, and become I've prey ofthe Operator
for the tall" Indeed, the individual speculation has the
advantage over a Society like be Credit Mobilisr. He
can put his hands in his POCKETS and look on if he
thinks action dangerous; wtFreas the French stock
gambling association must use he funds at lis dispO.
sal, and whenever the upward tendency' ceasas. and
"the fall" sets in, must sufs' losses in proportion to
the magnitude of its operations. In our opinion, the
Credit Mobilier Company is luis as unsound in pr.n.
ciple az the South Sea scheme, Jaws speculation. or
the traffic in Harlem tulip roots. The promoters and
originaters Of these last mentiond swindllng projects
paid large dividends, and promied that "neTt years
dividend" should bs immense, and the hundreds OF
thousands who believed them we're utterly ruined
We do not see how the stockholders Of the Credit
Mobilier can avoid a similar fate 1t may be, 1--WE hope
that il is the case that many othose VINO embarked
their fortunes in the companyhave aeen the fallacy
of the system, the groundlessnss OF their ex2ecfa
tions, and withdrawn their fuds. Those who still
believe, will surely begin to dubt, when they read
the last statement of the Corpany's affairs, which
sho~s that its total liabilities mount to lal ,6l5.S03
francs or $685. 23 l60, and that to assets to meet these
liabilities are composed Of theshares and bonds OF
every imaginable enterprise (nstly unfni-hed,) from
u runway III nurrlh W OIL UNIV S'hphuJ "a '<"'
don. or a Gas Company in Madd. the value OF which
must be subject altogether to tn ups and downs Of the
Stock Exchange, and whose quted value in the Com.
pany's statement is known TO % vastly in excess Of
the sum which the shares void realize in the open
market. If there should be a disturbance in France,
or q war in Europe, or should've "period OF general
depression" continue, what will become Of the
II 1858 francs of shares SI,63,59l franco OF bonds,
and 1884 ,459 francs of "sd'ancss on shares" which
now constitute almost thssols security held by the
Credit Mobilier Company topay those to whom they
owe al ,6l5 800 francs.
1t is evident that the affair Of the Company are in
an exceedingly critical condition, notwithstanding the
pompous assurance OF the Administrators. They cay
that the General Society o. Credi; Mobilier has made
its action felt, marked its Tace, traced lite path, and
indicated its aim," and thiS we do not believe that
any body will deny. We fer that the faction" will
excite far from agreeable felings; that The ''place'
will be marked only to be apided, rs shoals are mark
ed on charts; and that the path" il has traced will
be known and avoided a, 10 "road TO ruin" We
pity those who may be clshed in the fall; but We
cannot deplore the result, if it tends to guard the
financial quiet OF tha world gainst the disturbing, in
huence, of similar speculative enterprises.-lN. y.
Jour. of Com.