New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-06-25
coNFJDFNCE IN WALL STREET.


Wall street never takes lessons from expert
ence. so we cannot hope that the recent
failure will be blessed to the sanctifcatiOn OF
the Stock Exchange or the Gold Room; but 10
outsiders bitten with the desire to operate
among the bulls and bears it may perhaps
convey salutary warning. The two persons
who made such disastrous speculation, ana
came so near bringing on a general crisis in the
gold market, were men whose past fortunes
ought to have taught caution at once to them
selves and to the public. The principal was
young man who has spent two or three
wears in commendable effort to retrieve
the disgrace which had fallen upon him
through previous reckless speculation; the
broker was one who had already failed two or
three times. Surely if it is possible to do
safe business in Wall street. such business
ought to have been done by Edward ketchum
and James Boyd. They had both suffered
severely by their former mistakes; they were
both men whose very names ought to nave
warned the street to beware, i'll spite OF the
confidence which may properly have been felt
in their personal integrity and fairness. Yet
they had no difficulty in transacting an enor-
nous business upon purely fictitious basis, and
gambling to an unlimited extent with gold
which never was and never could be III their
possession.
The vicious character of Wall street operations
has not received more signal illustration
since Mr.. Fisk's celebrated Black Friday. Mr..
BOYD. whose principal claim to notice seems to
he the frequency of his mislortunes, has no
difficulty in making any contract he chooses
Ill, Of hmm aI1sn
of gold; and Mr.. Ketchum, who stands be-
hind him, finds it easy to speculate not only
without substantial capital but even without
keeping up the customary margin. Nhen we
call this one of the most extraordinary confidence
opcrations on record we do not use the word
confidence in the criminal police sense, but
TO express a blind and absolute reliance on the
part of the street, and trust III luck on Jhe
part of the two unfortunate operators, such as
in genuine commercial operations are entirely
without precedent. The transactions OF Messrs'
BOYD and Kctchum were worse than gambling
in one respect, for the gambler at least puts
up his stake and stops playing when his money
is all gone; but these spectators IN gold keep
recklessly on after their margin is exhausted,
and make contracts which they know they can
not fulfill unless matters happen to take just
the turn they desire. In other words, they
throw the dice with firm purpose of collecting
all they win but with the knowledge that they
cannot pay what they lose.
This we know is perfectly legitimate ac-
cording TO the Wall-street code, and we are far
from charging the sufferers by the present
catastrophe with dishonesty because they have
done what others about them are doing every
day. The viciousness of the system, how
ever. needs no demonstration, and IF the street
cares about preserving any remnant of COM
mercial character il must reform it without
delay. II would be comparatively easy to
afix stigma to transactions of this wild
kind which, if it did not prevent them alto
gcther would at any rate render them very
rare