, 1870-12-18
K--GuLDEnN.
-~--~ = sPIRAVY.- 1-..--,-


1
sesueo Of depEeeiAting currency, and ia Tocl
tess waste or money Aod credit ty ths govern
Mehf, cfealed speculative m2ni2 suea A. Ii
ohlttd btAtes~ with al ia sxpeIiepoe in til
Ietpeea, had uevor before known Not onlyi /
Moad street, the centre Of Now York speenla
noh, n1t fst and vide throughout tho EoRh
IN States: almost every man who Ind mono
Il III tmFloyel ps,t OF his capital in tho puI
chske OF stocks or Of gold, Of copper, d
Petroleum, or Ut domestic produce, in Ii
hope OF rise in prices or staked money O
'he expectation of = fall To uso lhn il
8on Of the street, every iAtmer IN
every ehopkeeper in tho country seemo
to te engaged in "esrryirg" som
favo1ito heenl1ty ton msrSia.r Whc
ever could oblain Eve pounds sent II to
b1okar with otders to bug ESQ Hozth OF stocks
or whatever amount the broker would cpu
sent 10 purchase L the stock rose, I'll,
tgetslatoI prcspartd; II it fell Until tue 6
maEoed > new deposit, or eold tho stock /,
project Limsoli. By mesna of this simpI
and tm1o1h machinery, which d1ttm in a,
esseutlh respect from the processes Ut rou
Lutte or iou9e-etrpoit, the whole nation fun,
itself i1to the Stock Exchange, until the ' out
the roBul.r b1uke1s Of Broad street repre-
aented nothing 1ess than tie entire popn1a
taon Of The American Aepub1lo- Every opt
9peculAsed, and for ufno every one epecu
lstkd successfully.
Tho inasiss.lo reaction beganl when tht
the war, stopped liz iasues and ceased boz,
rowing. Tie graerbsck currenry had for q
moment tutk to ra]ue Of only ST cepts to
the dollar. 1t Ia oven asserted that on the
Eorst day Of al, the 1ltal July. 1854, one sale
OF 92o, Coo IN gold was actually made at $40,
1hieh u equisalent to shout % centa on tl,s
dollar. At this potnt, however, tho dAprocia-
ton stopped, and the paper which had como
| 60 near falling into entire discScdit. steadily
10se IN value: frxt to SO cents, then to GO, "a
q, AID within the present 5eae to more than
W centa. 80 Eoon as the industrious part OF
tAo Public ftlt the curb OF thia return 10 cold
values, the whole fabric Of fictitious wealth
| began to melt away under their eyes.
! Thus it nAs Lot long betoro tbs ao.caIled
. outsidexe, the men who apeculnted on their
own account, and could not at In agreement
of conbiIasiouy began TO nuf1ef. One by one,
Of the larger oparatoss; sheir last margins
Weft4cco srmod, sud they dropped down to tho
solid teyel Of slow, productive industry, Some
lost cvtIysblDR; many lost still more than
they had, and there ale few families OF orii-
Eazy counelion and standing In tla United
States which cannot tell, it they choose, s7ne
dark etory OF 1eptezxlc1ntnt, or breach Of
TLo had courage aud : senso Of 1ono1, found
hfe too leay{ for them; othera nent mad.
But the grcater part Iurned in silence 10 their
regular pusnnite, and accepted their 10 sea -
they. could. Aarnost every vich American
could produce from como pigeon-hole bun
de ot worthless securities, and could show
check-books representing tho culy remaining
trace Of margin after margin consumed IN
vain attempts to satisfy tho ins3date broker,
4 Je&r or two Of incosz1ut fossba swcpt the
weaker gamblers from The street.
But even tboee who continued to speculate
found 1t necessary to change their mode OF
opelatlone. Chance no longer ruled over the
Stock E1allarge aud tue gold market. The fate
OF battle. the capture OF = c,ty, OF ths.mur-
der of I President, had hitherto been the in
fluenoes which bro ke through The plans Of the
strongest combinations md put ali specu-
la;ors, Whetter great or small, on fairly even
ground; but as the period Of sudden and nn-
controflAtle disturbing e1ements passed awAy.
the market foil moro and morn completely
into the handa of cltques which found point
Of adhesion in some great IuaEs Of inoorpo-
r1tea capital. Th1oe distinct railways, viii,
al their enormous resources. becama the
properly Of Cornelius Vanderbilt, who. Gy
means OF their credit and capital, again and
again swept millions OF dolls1n into hts pocket,
by process culiouE]y similar to gambling
with ioaded dice, But vAnderblt was ons uf
the npost respectable Of these great operators.
Tho Etio Railway Kzs controlled by Daniel
Drew, who used the moan tAc:ica OF COM
mon swindler, too timid to riak his
person. Vanderbilt acted in. tho. inter-
eats OF bis eorporattcn; Drew CHEATED
equally his corporation and Tho public De-
tToen these Two men and the Immense ineor.
porated poHor tlsev sFayed, smaller operators,
one after another, were crushed to pieces,
until The survivors learned to seek shelter
within sotne clique uufficis zt1y strong to az ,r
to consume itself. and the largest comhina-
tion Of capital Was destined to swallow eyosy
weaker combination which yeptured to show
itself in the market.
Thus, between tho iaevit&ble edect OF cur
rency which steadtl. sl,rapk the apparent
ess a n' IL tSs sosk Ana afRe sReaedse
and healthier state Of socissy began
unfortunate pullic. which had been
robbed with anch cynical Indifference
by Drew and Vanderbilt, fsol any since1e re-
gfet when they Haw these two cormorants
1867, Mr.. Vanderbilt undertook to GAIN
possession OF the Eric Road, IS he hsd
already obtained posaes.ion Of the Nsw
York Central, the second uuuk line between
New York and The Vest, Mr. Vanderbilt
ia supposed TO Own property 10 the value OF
come C11, COO 900, al Of wlleh may be m1de
bought tho greatsr part Of the Erie atock;
Drew cold him all lie wanted, and then issued
as much more % Was required In order to
defeat Tande.bilt's purpose. After yio-
LINT struggle, which overthrow all tho euar-
sntsee Of sociRl order, Dreg &riumphed,
acd 3ir. Vanderbilt abandoned tbs oon.est.
Tho Eric corporation paid him large sum to
reimburto his alleged loseee. At tha game
time il Was 4Grced tAAt Mr.. Dra~'s accouuts
ehould 10 pa>aed, and be obtained release
in fnll and retired from the direction. Aud
the EIie Road, almost exhausted BY such sys-
tematic pluntcticg, WAS left in tho undis-
tntbed, 4 not Poacem,, control Of Mr.. Jay
began in tho month Of July, 1868.
~. Jay Gould WAS pastnsr in th, Arm Of
Smith, Gould i Martin, brokers, In Wall street,
He lad been before now engaged in railway
enterprises, and his operations had not BEEN
q nature liely TO encourage public conf.
dence In his ideas Of d3uciary relations. He
was broker, and broker ia almost br
1ature gambler, perhaps the very last pro-
fes1ion suitable for I railway manager. In
character be was strongly marked by his dta-
position for silent intrigue. He preferred, a.
rule, to operate On his own account, With
Gut admitting other psrsons into his conf;
ceEce, aud he seemed never to b sxtistied
except when deceiving every enc rs to his in
tentona. There was = rcmtniscsnce OF tie
eplder In his nature. lie spun huge webs In
corners and in tho dark, which were seldom
stIcag enough to reB1st se1ioue strain 1t tho
critical moment His disposition to this SUBJ
tlsty and elaboration Of intrigue wks isrecis-
he hAd not conception Of \ moral
principle. In speaking OF this claaa
of men. it must be fair!; assumed I; the out
set that Ney do not and caunoi uu55arstaua
how there can be 3 distinction bet tEeon right
and w1oug in mAttoss Of speculation, 80 long
AS tho daily settlements a10 punctaAiiy elect
, cd. In this respect Mr. Gould wAs probably
4 u hnnHst u t1A ~ hi. fo11owa
ins 10 tho mo1a1 standard Of thu street; but
without entstiug npon technical 4aestions OF
roHuers, il is enough to gay that ha was m
uncammenly fno aud antcsupulous in:rieaeT.
tkllt in ii: tho processes i. t;ss-a.''ne.
and indifferent to tho praise or censure Of
eocicty.
James Ksk, Ir., was stil1 nore original in
md had the in.tincse Of fourteen, Hc cans
originally frou1 Vermont. probably ths .nost
respectable and correct State IN lie Union.
and his fatlss had been \ pedlar who sold
Eooda from town to town in his native valley
u tho Connecticut The son followed his
fathers calling with boldne.a and snccess.
u drove his huge wagon, made respleulsat
horses, through the towns Of Vermont and
Weatafn Massachusetts,, and when his father
remooEtrated In alarm at his reckless manage
ment, the young man, with bis usual brayldo.
took his father into his service 1t dxed
talary, with the warning that he wsa not 10
Put on airs on the strength OF his new dignity.
largo Boston firm, which had supplied hSs
FOODS on credit, attracted By his energy. took
him into the house the war broke out his
Influence drew the firm into some bold 4pe3u-
lataons which vera successful In few yoars
be retired with some 10000, which be snbse-
qucntly lost. He formed connection with
DAniel Drew, In New York, AID : new sign.
ominous Of future trouble, Was rztsed in W.ll
street, bearing the namcs Of Fisk L Deldva,
hrokeIt.
Personally, Mr.. Fitl Has co1rsc, po;sy. boast
ful, ignoranti the type Of : 5onng butcher in
AuTea1anca and mind. Nothing could ba unrs
striking than the contrast between blu aud hia
future aesceiate, Gould. One WAS emall md
slight in t,ereon DIRK esllnr rct{rent .r.3