The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-09-04


The stock market, which some people re-
gard as only gambling place, is, in fact,
one of the most valuable indicators of the
condition of the country and of the real
value of securities. The men who buy
and sell stocks, bonds and other public Sc
curities daily are shrewd, watchful, well-in-
formed; they study the actual condition of
railroads; States, cities and other public
debtors and seek to know constantly what is
the real value of security. If the crops are
good they foresee that railroads will do a
good business, and they will pay higher
prices for the bonds or stocks of such
railroads as they believe TO be well
railroad has been exceptionally well
managed they are more eager to possess
its evidences of debit if they can discover
that railroad or other public corporation is
badly managed they hasten to sell out, and
thus, the demand lessening, the security
goes down in the market. Thus Wall street
and its Stock Exchange become ready indi-
Gators of the real value of hundreds of securi-
ties involving thousands of millions of dol
lars. At the Stock Exchange all these values
are brought to their ultimate test, and the
actual purchase and sale are the warranty.
This is the theory of the Stock Exchange,
and this abhndantly justifies its exist
shrewd but honest men are continu-
ally buying and selling stocks and
bonds all over the country for it is fact
sometimes overlooked that great part of the
business done at the New York Stock Ex-
change is done by brokers on account of cor
respondents scattered all over the land
bankers, merchants, capitalists of different
kinds, many of whom make a special study
of particular enterprise, and buy or sell
this security as in their judgment it becomes
more or less valuable. So far all
is natural and useful to the public
But suppose now that some INSCRIPTIONS
Spectator enters the arena, bent on
increasing his own fortune at all hazards.
He turns Wall street into mere
gambling place. Real values are of no i'm
portance to him. To work ont his schemes
he seeks to bring confusion on the market
Under his manipulations the stock register
to great extent ceases to indicate actual
values it no longer tells the truth for it is
to his interest to raise or to depress securi-
ties by secret manipulations for his own pur-
poses Such man presently hangs like a
black pail over the stock market. No care
full investigation, no precise knowledge, no
accuracy of general survey suffices to enable
the Legitimate operator to buy or sell in
safety, because natural laws are violated or
defied by the man who temporarily controls
the market, and whose object is to make
prices subordinate to his will.
This, if we may believe the general voice
of Wall street, is the present condition of
things there. Brokers complain that their
country correspondents and their customers
in the other large cities decline to send them
orders. These people are right. They are
not gamblers, and they refuse to take the
risks against Mr.. Gould. Natural laws they
understand, but they know that the market
just now is not controlled by natural laws,
but in violation of them. SO they stand
from under, and thus it comes about that
Wall street is duller to-day than it was
during the panic of 1873 For our part. we
advise prudent people who have money in
their pockets to keep out of Wall street just
now. They have no business there. But
the advice is hardly needed-they are keep
ing out.