The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-01-22
FINANCIAL AND COMMERc lAL.

.
The application now pending before Judge Cardozo for
an injunction against the directors Of the Chicago and
Rock Island Railroad reveals mastery modrs opnandi
for swindlng the stock market, which. whle II NAV be
commended to the admiration OF eli rising operators
may be snded With decided profit by the public itself
II seldom that the public Gets anything worth hay
ing ootGi Wall street tina, cannot afford 10 miss the
advantages Of this lesson We DO not assume ths. all
che allegations OF the complainant In this Rock Island
case are true al that We desire present the fact that
they are sworn TO- and whether correc. in every detail
or not descrbs facility for roguery in joint opera
lions which should put the community upon It's guard
Tho complainant In this case who in the
Rock Island Company sSsars tina. the present board Of
directors or majority Of the with view 10 the TRANSACT
ton complained Of appointed from among themselves au
executive committee, confederatng together and acting
As majority and appointed two OF their numoar as
subcommittee, welding all their powers that those two
thus empowered with absolute authority over
the operations of company having capital OF fftsen
millions dollars vito dividend paying road and two
millions Of surplus capital in bank Under this state OF
prosperity the stock OF the company whom these men,
az IS alleged, thus surreptitiousy placed
in charge stood at S9k In the street, with
an obvious tendency to the upper side Of par
This was rosy prospect for the s,ockhodns; but the
subcommittee conceived the brilliant notion of knock
ing the In the head and transferring per Of
the whole capital Of the company 10 their pockets
Stocks OF course like all other commodities, are gov.
erned by the laws Of demand and supply. With a
known quantity upon the market sound stock will be
comparatively steady; but increase suddenly and
aares and must necessarily 60 down Ia proportion to
She new quantity. Acting upon this principle. the sub
committee OF Rock Island. having heavily sold short.
created fifty per csnt OF stock and empsd It with.
out notice on the market The result that the
MT
coup, made TO fall to S9k In twenty
four hours. and the worthy sub. committee and their
cooperators are presumed 10 have made fortunes OF
course these fortunes were taken bodily out or the
pockets OF their and stockhoders but this
transaction which quite usual in Wall street. and be.
cause there thinks Of calling 1t robbery
swindins. or OF asking for law comprehendiDg 1t q
felony. The sub committee men in their defence say
that they issued this extra stock TO raise fund for
extension of the road but the complainant replies that
they had authority order such extension, and
moreover, If they had they did not it. In proof
OF this he shows that many months have elapsed since
they tapped the market, and that the four millions
for which the stock sold still lies idle In the
bank along with the two millions Of surplus which the
company had hand before Worse still, the whole Of
ths six nearly millions Of money is deposited
with bank whose whole capital Is but million Of
dollars but which has the special advantage however,
OF having the treasurer OF the Rock Island for its
president, and Of the patent sub. committee
director. The complainant, who represents q large
number OF the stockholders, very naturally surmses
that the subcommittse has good thing in this, and
that large portions Of those millions will be freely
loaned among confederate directors The complainant
therefore prays that board Of directors the Rock
Island Company be prohibited from using this fund
from extending the road until the stockholders
speak upon through the June election. This is the
a. Il appears before the II the statement
and conclusions OF the complainant be true 1t would
70 justify salient action from the law
than njunction aud who capture the fortunes
OF others by such unprinciped device should be
ragned before the in their true characters 1t Is
high time there should be q law TO comprehend swind
ling In stocks to DO equally criminal with cheating
cards any other form OF feonious false prelence
The gold market firm but rather quiet to-day and
ia extreme range from 1881 1917, with the
closing transactions prior TO the adjournment Of the
board st 139H, after which there advance to
1917 1884, but the latest quotation 1897 1894
Cash gold was In superabundant supply and loans
made rates varying from two to per cent
for carrying. The gross clearings amounted TO
$50 $4,000. the gold balances to 457 and the
currency balances 10 81 ga, 9yT.
Tho railway share market very strong until late
in the afternoon, when a break of about and half
but oil tho other stocks showed great rmness notwth-
standing and only small part OF the advance of the
morning lost while the tendency at the close
towards quick recovery. New York Central and
Michigan Southern were particularly firm and reacted
only about per from the highest point OF the day.
Government securities very firm all dag, not
wtnsandng that Indictment weather, by preventing
persons from attending TO outdoor business any
than could avoided checked the activity Of the Ia
yestment demand. The growing abundance and cheap
ness Of money facilitate speculative operations, and the
difficulty Of employing all the oanable funds Wall
street. five per cent is inducing the banks, trust
companies and other corporations to invest In govern
msnts which, under the circumstances naturally tend
upward the steadiness Of gold the advance
being at the time OF strength to the
ke for the gold bearing bonds At the close the follow
ing quotations were current-Regsiered 1881, ll05s
11oX; coupon 1851. 1lona 1loll; sos, registered
1852, 1907 106H; 52os, coupon, 1862, lloH llok
do, 1864, 1917 107k; do, 1865, 1854 l0sx; do,
1895, January and July 10s 1861; do, 1867, 1861
los%; 10-40's registered, 1921 lo3; l0-4o's, cou-
pom 1927 103 juno 1905 1861 lo6A July 1905,
lo6k 1854; May compounds, 1894, il7x . ll7S;
August DO, 1i6K 1l6s: September do. ll5s 1loss:
October do, 1854 ll6.
A the commencement Of business tho stock market
was firm and a. the early session OF tho open board
there active demand for Eric saes 500 sares
under which IL advanced TO 75K. New York Ceneal
also very strong and sold up to 1884. Al the rst
regular board the continued strong and active
with considerable excitement In the dealings Erie
New York Central the former advancing the second
call to 78 aud the latter 1917. Hudson River sold
l42 and Harlem ct 125. Pacific Nail and Atlantic
Mail heavy and the express shares steady bu mac
tive. Canton sold al IS, although II quoted at 10
last month bat there is little msrke, for Al any
~
has been "watered several hundred per cen, and II Is
selling Tor much more than IL Is worth at present.
New York Central closed az higher than NJ the same
pms yesterday, Erie IL, Hudson River 2, Reading y,
Michigan Central ~, Michigan Southern y. Illinois
Central ~, Cleveland and Toledo 4, Rock Island ~
Northwestern preferred y. Fort Wayne Il, Milwaukee
ana 81. Paul TX, do. preferred Y, Quicksilver y,
Western Union Telegraph y. Cleveland and Pt,sburg
was y lower, Pacific Mail ~, Atlantic Mail q Govern