Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1873-10-09
The Black Friday of 1863.
from the New York World.

The Black Friday of 1869.
From the New York World
While the other great commercial
crises which at different epochs have
held the credit of the country in the bal
ance have been brought about more by
the laundering of fnanciers than
through the systematic efforts ON the
part of any one man to effect such re-
suits, Black Friday was solely and en-
tirely the work of clique, of which Jay
Gould was the head. During the crash
of failures on that dismal day the cry
was rot that "some one had blum
dered," but that great crime was be-
ing committed. The history of this
crime is the history of Black Friday,
which was massacre in the midst of a
financial peace. In August, 1869, there
was from $50, 000,0 900 to $500, 900, 900
of floating gold, and gold was weak at
131. There was $50, 600, 900 in the Sub
Treasury, but somebody promised that
the Government would not sell. The
clique, therefore, could buy gold with
out fear. In the middle of September
it bought SO, 600, 900 at 1881 @134 in one
batch. On the morning of Wednesday,
the 22d, it held several millions more
than there was in the city of New York
outside the Sub-Treasury, and yet the
price had been forced no higher than
al. The clique settled its plans on
Thursday evening. 1t had loaned gold
in immense sums at 1873. The plan at
first was to call in all this, lock it up,
and force the bears to settle by buying
in under the rule. The Tenth National
Bank was to have been used to shift the
immense sums, but the appearance of
the bank examiners unsettled this plan,
and the programme was to put gold up
swiftly and brighten the bears into d.
rect settlements. As it was, the officials
of the bank agreed to certify to an I'M
limited extent night and day. On
Thursday it did certify checks amount
ing to SO, 100000 and on Friday, spite
of the presence of the examiners, S14,-
600, 900 more. All this time an army of
brokers in the pay of the clique, and
under the leadership of one Albert
Speyers, was buying up all the gold
that was offered, and endeavoring to
bring it up to 100. Their efforts were
more than successful. Gold reached
160, and for an instant touched 165.
This was the harvest time for the clique,
and while some of his agents were thus
keepingup the price by bawling bids for
millions at 160, Gould was unloading
through a dozen different brokers at
lar lower figures, but yet at an immense
profit to himself. He had, however,
pushed the price too far, and when the
news came that Secretary Boutwell,
would sell "a, 900, 900 of gold the price
fell even more suddenly than it had
risen, and general ruin and utter con-
fusion fell upon Wall street, to certain
extent even involving those who had
been chiefly instrumental in producing
it. Down, down went the falsely boil
stored price. The day was the blacklist
that ever set on Wall street. Men
knew not where they stood. The con-
fusion and madness was so great that It
was supposed that all the clique had
gone down. OF the times that followed
it is impossible to give an idea. There
was a run on the Tenth National Bank
the next day, and million was drawn
out. The Gold Clearing House kept
81, 100000 inextricably locked up.
The S50O,OOO,O0O of clearings deman-
ded in one day of the bank dis
closed its incapacity. Gould had not
yet done his work. When it was pub
licly known that only the account of his
firm was needed to finish the clearances
for Black Friday, and when upon that
account fortunes were pending, hourly
Gould telegraphed from his barracks at
the Grand Opera House, where he was
guarded from the mob by police, not to
send it down. The bank went into the
hands of a receiver. Then came crash.
Four firms were declared suspended.
Then a rumor came that Lockwood &
Co., Vanderbilt's brokers, had gone I'M
der-the strongest house on the street.
They had been carrying Pscific Mail,
Lake Shore, Chicago and Northwestern,
on which the loss was millions, with
money at 800 to 1000 per cent. year.
The firm went down. But Vanderbilt
poured in millions and sent up Lake
Shore, Northwest, and Central, held
them, and saved himself. On Saturday,
Oct. 1, Gould began his clearances-
not till then. The delay of the clique
in settling is accountable, with the cum
brous machinery of the Gold Exchange
and bank, for the terrible wear and tear
of the week that followed the fatal
Friday.
nroof Dussiou Ed;for