The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-11-22

first 20 his financial Htanulhg ~ " w "a. ~,
war; and again, to the amount m OF money IN n"uo Sy
himself and his partnee out Of the people ~ neSo
Mating the government lOane, Among the ongh,chy
osbapkere In New York It was customary to speak Of
Cooke az having been obscure western Oanker ana
even as a bank clerk up TO the breaking ont OF the
Rebellion, when, through favortsm he was made the
financial agent Of the government, and thus became
The truth is that before the war Jay Cooke had
been at the head Of of the leading banking
houses in the country had already acquired the ex-
perience Of quarter Of a century as banker and
general fnancier, and had also accumulated hand
some lortuGe of his own. He had neither lived nor
transacted business in Shndusky since he left II as
boy to 60 to Philadelphia; and in 1s60 before 6-20s
were dreamed of he was acknowledged to be
of the most prominent and successful bankers in the
country. He had not cOntented himself with
knowledge Of the treHdmill routine Of dscounting
notes and shaving uncrrent money but had carefully
studied and thoroughly mastered the science of finance
IN It's beat and hroadest signihcatiOn. He had made
himself acquainted with the financial systems of other
lands searching in all for their elements Of strength
or weakness. Being thorough enthusiast in his
vocation, he had made il the study of life, and that
too under the most favorable circumstances. He
learned his lesson in the school Of experience and
entered upon his business life in leading banking
house at the very time when the financial crash Of
1887 broke upon the country.
and first led him to look below the surface and study
the first principles of commerce, trade and finance.
Following up his course of study for quarter of a
century, the opening Of the war found him. as have
said at the head Of ofhe largest banking houses
in America, and possessed of what in other times,
would have been deemed an ample fortune SO much
for the financial antecedents of Jay Cooke.
The prevalent impression regarding the source OF
Mr.. Cookies present wealth and the amount realized
from negotiating the government loans, is even more
erroneous In the first place, the Treasury depart
mCnt did not avail itself of Cookies assistance until
it had utterly failed itself to dispose OF the govern
mont bonds fast enough to meet the increasing oe-
thing to the people, and they held aoof from in
resting their hard-earned money in them until tney
understood their character more fully and until they
convinced that by lending money to the govern
ment they doing good thing for themselves ana
the country; in word, until the loan was thoroughly
At a time when all other expedients had failed, and
the government knew not which way to turn ior
funds, Jay Cooke undertook the task OF p0puarlzns
and negotiating the loan then authorized. Being
leading banker in the country, with extensive Dusl-
ness connections in America and Europe, possessing
the confidence of prominent men, ana, ABOVE al,
bringing to bear upon the subject an enthusiastic
faith in the patriotism and pride OF the people, he
seemed to the department to bes Ian eligible man for
the work. and IcOntract was made with him accord
ingy. In all foreign lands government loans are in
yariably negotiated through private bankers, and
these banks are paid from two and half to five per
cent commission on their sales, besides being qua
rantied from loss. Our government offered Cooke
fve-eighths of per cent. the amount Of his
sales, he to assume all risks and pay all COSTS This
far less than what 1t had already cost the govern
ment to sell bonds ITSELF and only about One-eighth
part of what English, French and German bankers re-
Ceiye for the same service unaccompaned by risks
Cooke, however, accepted the OFFER and entered
with fire and energy upon his hercuean undertaking.
The marvellous success which crowned his laoors is
Of itself feature in the four years struggle. Out OF
his fye-elghths OF one per cent commission, Cooke
paid One-fOurh of per cent to the banks Of the
country subagents FOR their services in dissemnat
ing the loan delivering the bonds and transmitting
the proceeds. Out of his remaining three-eighhs he
paid small army Of travelling agents clerks and Sc
cretaries and bills for the most extensive kind of ad-
vertisng. Indeed, Cookies great and singular sue
cess in negotiating nearly fifteen hundred millions of
United States bonds, was due in great measure TO
his unparalleled OF printers ink. His appeals to
the people throughout the columns of every news
paper in the land told rresistibly in the end.
am informed that at one time. when the first loan
started the house of Jay Cooke d Co. was out of
pocket the of half million dollars for ad
vertsng and other expenses connected with the loan
while nothing could be shown for the outlay; and if
the bonds had then failed to sell, as they had when
offered by the government, this amount would have
been dead loss to Cooke, as he could have had no
legal claim for reimbursement on the Treasury. Had
he depended wholly mainly on his government
commission for the realization Of fortune the con-
cusion is, he might have been disappointed;
The large amount of money made by Jay COOKE
and his firm within the past few years has been
chiefly derived from the enormous business whlch mas
poured in upon them in consequence OF their presIe
as public bankers. In this way he has been vastly
benefited by his connection with the government
Oan but it is the legitimate fruit OF his eNertOn ana
faithfulness and costs the people nothing From MS
government commissions he gained comparatively
lttle but from his government connection ne mas Sc
cured what General Grant and others have obtained,
reputation and this brings him IN financial gam,
it brings the military heroes promotion ana polt-
However if with all his financial skin he did not
exhibit spirit of beneyolence and unsefshness, it
would be difficult for him to escape the reproach OF
being simply grasping and ayaricous; but, according
to some, Jay Cooke gives away IN unostentatlous
charity half his entire income. Being an active and
earnest member OF the Episcopal Church. much OF his
beneyolence takes religious channel. He has do
mated $4,000 to Kenyon College, at Gambler, Ohio,
and helped to endoW several educational institutions
in Pennsylvania. He has built neat chapel, at his
own expense, for the residents of Put-n-Bay Island,
near Sandusky, and has erected several country
cnurches in the vicinity of his home on Chelten Hills
Philadelphia. In this town he is very popular.
lie puts airs dresses plainly s inclined to be
joyal in his manner, and never once forgets the
place the people that knew him before he dreamed
OF being millionaire.