New-York tribune., 1870-12-19
FISK'S NEWSPAPER.
HOW INDEPENDENT JOURNALS ARE MAN
IPULATED.
frrrlLcT yRon A yoRrHoonSs voLoshI
HOW III WAS DONE--How MUCHf

On Oct. I, 1869, on the schedule Of editorials oil
The Sun for the following day, made out by the
editor-in-chief Charles A. Dana, there was marked
for insertion an article entitled "Welchers In
Wall-stn It was to appear simultaneously with
the Great Gold Conspiracy article. After the
schedule was made out, Mr.. Ford c. Barksdale,
Sun reporter. went to Mr.. Fisk with proof of the
"Welchers in Wall-st.," and negotiated for Its
suppression.
This Barksdale was at that time reporter OF The
Sun, and had been assigned the duty Of ascertanng
everything connected with the gold conspiracy. de
visited Fisk and Gould very often, and his reports
were always more than favorable to the cause OF
those gentlemen. Within few days Mr. Barksdale
was on the most intimate terms with Fisk and
Gould, and II was on this account that he was
selected to negotiate with them for the suppression
of the aforesaid "Welchers" article. lie states that
As did negotiate for ib suppression, and the facts, as
stated below fully bear out the ruthfulness of his
assertion. Barksdale was furthermore tso he says)
instructed by Fisk to 90 back to The Sun office and sec
that tho Welches article ras suppressed, and he did so
He remained in The Sun office all night long, and it
was fortunate circumstance; for, as the sequel
shows had it been otherwise the "Welchers' article
would certainly have appeared in the entire edition
of Tho Sun Of Oct. Q, 1869. The following was the
article above referred 10:
"wRLcHERs IN wALIsr.
aOn the turf In England, men who accept the money
they win and then meany refuse to the bets which
they lose are called 'wechers and custom sanctions
their punishment by any personal violence short OF
actual murder Our Wast stock and gold gamblers are
probably humane and civilized to hfct this treat
nent on those among their number who act In similarly
dishonorable manner.
"James Fisk, IT,, and Jay Gould have demonstrated
,Nnrat In Wal1- Qra
they can 20 below the rest Hghwaymen are said TO
act honorably among Themselves: gamblers pay those
who win Of them in preference to paying their trades
men, II they have to choose between the twoj and Wall
ct brokers' however unscrupulous they are In making
bargains habtually stand to them when made FISK
and Gould, however, leave their accompnces In the
lurch, refuse to pay their losses after pocketng their
winnings and repudiate their gambling debts with sub
lime indifference to the consequences II seems that
Mr. Fisk directed certain brokers to buy gold for his
account at high price, and refuses to accept and
pay for their purchased He gives his excuse In re-
gard to Of them. speyers, that when he gave him
orders to buy at leo he supposed he would not get
100000 but instead Of that he got tOooOoo This is
about the lames excuse an unsuccessful gambler could
possibly make.
"As TO the firm of Smith. Martin Co., of which Jay
Could though silent partner, the animatng spirit
they have failed TO take and pay for about 100000 OF
gold which they bought Friday Last at prices ranging
at from $50 to leo Were they to fulfill this contract
they would lose at present prices, from 100000 to
100000 To avoid this dsagreeable result, they have
resorted to the familiar legal device Of procuring unc
TONS and while they have got everybody tied up from
proceeding against them, they are forcing settlements
by which they TO avoid all. or nearly all, their
threatened losses They well Mr. Fisk thus stand
in the dsgraceful position of taking the money Of those
who owe them. while endeavoring to escape paying
what they owe in turn"
AIL's WELL THAT ENDS WELL
At o'clock in the morning the managing editor
of The Sum- with Ford G.. Barksdale and the other
attaches of the office, having completed their task,
left the editorial room and proceeded as was GUS
tomary with them, to the eating saloon in the base
ment of The Sun building. During their meal the
rafting of the presses in the adjoining informed
the early morning banqueters that 1heSun was begin
ming to duse its light among its hundred thousand
worshipers. Barksdale and the managing editor hur
riedly disposed Of their luncheon, and leaving the
assistant editor behind to settle the reckoning,
hastened to the publication Office and asked the
night clerk for copies of The Sum- Their request
complied with. Barksdale clutched the paper con-
vulsively and with trembling hands Immediately
turned to the editorial or inside page of the paper
The first article to meet his eye was "Welchers in
Wall-street.D
choked for utterance, "how is thisp
"Whatp replied the managing editor, peeping
over Barksdale's shoulders
"Why, here is the article on Welchers in Wall-st!
What will Fisk and those people say' Well the
game is up now" said Barksdale.
The managing editor was, il anything, more
chagrined than Barksdale at seeing the appearance
of the article After damning the assistant editor
who had permitted the editorial In question to go in
the paper, the managing editor issued peremptOry
orders forthwith to stop the presses and close the
Doors and not allow another single copy of the
edition to leave the Office under any circumstances.
The messenger who carried this order to the fore
man of the press-rOom also instructed to ascer
tain how many copies had already been sold.
The reply was about 10000.
well, 10000 amt many" said the managing
editor consolngly. AT any rate they won't circu-
late much in the city, and probably Fisk won't it
at ALL"
He then rushed up TO the composng-roo and
was greatly relieved 10 find all the stereotypers
hand.
"Now, boys, how long will it take You to stereo-
type fresh edition p asked the managing editor.
About an hour" responded one Of the men.
"AIl right let's to work. That stupid block
head the night editor has put in editorial he
particularly instructed TO keep out, and have
stopped the edition from being issued"
1t was a fortunate circumstance that the stere-
otypers had not gone home, and still more fortu-
nate circumstance that the managing editor had
been ali experienced and practical printer before he
had reached his present lucrative position. The
managing editor, having thrown off his coat and
tucked up his shirt sleeves, without delay proceeded
TO overhaul the galleys Of the matter already In
type and awaiting publication. Within very short
time the "Welchers in Wall-st-"-an article SO
obnoxious to Fisk and those people was taken
from the FORM and the following. Of Whioh there w0e
number Of similar import araidng publication. subsi-