Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1863-03-06
FRIDAY, MARCH q. 1903.


Tho unprincipled gamblers in gold are in
trouble. Their temple of iniquity seems TO
be tumbling down about their ears, threaten
ing to bury them in the ruins. 1t was high
time to disturb their rascally operations and
give them such call to order as could not be
resisted; and it is to he hoped that, hereafter,
their power TO do mIschefwill be permanently
restrained. 1t is well known that most of
those who have been engaged in this gam
bling traffic in gold are political copperheads,
who aim to destroy the national credit so as to
weaken the power ofthe government and ena-
Bile the rebels to win triumph. Nobody
that cares for the country will mourn to see
them plunged into bankruptcy and ruin.
! In New York, yesterday, the gold market
was in the greatest excitement and confu-
sion, and prices went down in the most start
ling manner. Report says the amount of the
sales was only $4,000. For long time the
amount of sales had averaged considerably
over a million day; but now the frightened
gamblers did not dare to continue their usual
large transactions. Only small amounts were
bought and sold, and the principal business
of the operators seems to have been to strive
desperately against their fate. Probably the
same struggle will be continued to-day.
This decline in the prices of gold will be
felt throughout the business of the country.
1t will bring down the premium on foreign
exchange. There has been no good reason
whatever for buying and selling gold at so and
10 per cent premium, nor even at 40 or 90
per cent 1t would be difficult to explain how
any legitimate business interest of the country
would cause it to be sold at even 20 per cent
premium; and the gamblers whose opera
tions had established such extravagBnt rates
of premium, are as much at war with the
wants of business men as with the national
treasury itself.
Some days must pass before the recent leg
islation of congress against gold gambling
will take effect. But that legislation has
least its shadow before" into the den Of the
gamblers and given them the terrible paray-
sis from which they are suffering. There can be
no doubt that this Legislation will be faithfully
and even sternly enforced 1t provides that
ing and be subjected to a a stamp duty of one
per cent. on the currency value of the amount
r of all ''time" contracts, and one quarter pei
cent on contracts for less time than three
days. The same duty is assessed on
all loans for speculation in coin. Nom
compliance makes the contract void,
and subjects those engaged in it to a
heavy penalty. 1t is also provided that loans
of currency on coin or bullion shall not ex-
coed the par value Of the gold or silver; and
this will be even more effective against the
ing to pay in money the difference between
par and heavy premium in gambling trans.
actions that amount TO a million or two day
Should the transactions in gold and silver
be as large hereafter as they have been for
some time past, the stamp duty in New York
alone would amount to $4,000 a day, and
perhaps much more, for there is at present no
means to ascertain the amount of sales and
loans not publicly recorded at the brokers'
board, and $4,000 day would be over g.
100000 year. We do not see how the law
can be evaded successfully. The villainous
business that has troubled the currency, and
given an unhealthy and unreasonable stimu-
lus to prices generally, must go down.
THE CATTLE BREEDERS ASSOCIATION met
at Hartford on Wednesday, and after an inter-