The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1875-08-12
WALL STREET wILEs.
SOME BAKE-FAoED swINDLEs.

THE PRINCIPAL DEALERS IN THESE PRIV
ILEGEs,
A correspondent of the Philadelphia
Times writes from New York;
"How to Speculate Without Riskw
'PU 80 "Calls," "Straddles," and "Double
Phi leges!" Such are the head lines in
whole columns of advertisements in our
city Journals. Now / want ito expose one of
the most barefaced swindles connected with
Wall street, and it will be no FAULT of the
Times if any of it's readers are cap
tured by the put and call" brokers
in Gotham. The newspapers have
generally let these gentry alone,
because their Advertising patronage has been
liberal. The press, in fact have been their
confederates, inasmuch as without the use
of their columns the disgrsceful business
must long ere this have come TO such a
disastrous end. But such publicity was
given last week to the damage the brokers
were doing to a worthy class as working
women, that to longer tolerate these gentry
in the faces of the whole community as
"bankers," would be to scquiesce in public
shame. What is "put?" For the benefit
of the uninitiated / will explain. 1t is
privilege to deliver ertain stock at given
future time at certain price, generally or
of the negotiation. For this privilege sums
are charged varying from 500 TO $500, &C.
cording to the time and nature OF the con-
tract. Now, this is a very tempting form of
gambling: say, for example, that Rock Island
is selling for los, and a person believing
it much too dear can buy the privilege for
go days of putting IL at 100-l00 shares OF
stock, representing in monev $40, 500-and
all this for 500 and the brokers commission.
IT, then, Mr.. Tracy, the president, dies, or
Mr.. Vanderbilt is thrown out of his wagon
In Harlem lane, or any other important
event happens, down goes the stock to 90 or
50. In that case the buyer of the "put"
takes in his stock at the lower figures, and
pockets the difference between that and the
higher price. All
THIS LOOKS VERY WELL
on paper, but there are several reasons why
the poor dupes are reminded of the thimble-
rig game Of snow you see it-now you
don'tl" In the first place the brokers are
nearly all of the confidence" class, and
generally buy and sell puts and calls on
straw men, whom they represent as reputs-
BILE, but who, upon decline or rise in the
market OF three per cent, would incODti-
nently fail; and, In that case, ell that Is left
Is a printed contract in which the owner Is
plainly written down an ass. In the next
place, a stsgDant and unfiuctuatiDg stock
two per cent. in month, is often
to be contented with, and in that event the
money is surely sunk. The dupe, however,
is induced to iGvest once more, on some
confidential "poiut" in regard to some stock
by which he can surely get his money back.
The "calr' Is exactly opposite to the "put."
The broker agrees to give the buyer the
privilege OF calling stock, say Pacific Mail,
at such figure, la 80 or so days. Pacific is
selling at 40, for example. a call will be
sold at 45 for 90 days for one per cent, or
with commissions Sl06 %. III the stock goes
to 30, and the odds are fifty to one it wont,
the purchaser of the call makes Ave hum
dred dollars, less his outlay, and double
commissions for buying and selling, in other
words, about 1915. II the stock v1brstes be-
tween forty and forty-one dollars per
share, or goes down., the poor moth
who has been fiuttering about the candle of
speculation for thirty or sixty days finds his
financial wings singed to the extent of his
investment in the call. All of the risks be-
sides are incurred as in the case of the put,
bad faith, straw men, etc., etc. Now for the
"straddle'' or "dOuble privilege 1t takes
small sized capitalist for these ventures. The
other inducements were for shop boys,
clerks and sewing women; these "straddles"
are tor pretty store keepers who have an
ambitious itching to become speculstors,
and to be known on Change. These strad.
dies cost from three to five hundred dollars,
according to the stock desired. They are
called "double privileges" because they en-
brace both put and call. Take again the
familiar instance of Pacific Mail. Ii is sell
ing at 40.
A STRADDLE
can be bought at the market price, say for
four per cent, or 800. This is for the priv
ilege Of putting it at 40, or for calling it at
the same price within 60 days. Now the
stock has to go to Sc on the down course be-
fore you can ever get your money back or
to "A on the upward tack, and then any
error in judgement in buying in your stock
at the decline, or selling it out at u Q adj
vance, is fatal to the speculation. Figures,
however, are parajed before the public in
the newspapers TO show how much Smith
and Jones made in one month by buy
ing privileges, and exceptional adj
vauces and declines are cited TO
make their arguments plausible
The principal dealers in these privileges
formerly were such capitalists as Russell
Sage, Daniel Drew, Stephen Alden, Dick
Schell and Jay Gould. Nearly all have
failed or gone out of che business, but Rus
sell Sage and the notorious Gould. la the
ptnic OF 10 Alden tailed, and Dick Schels
went back on all of his contracts. When
the latter was approached by a poor dune,
who asked him to redeem one of his New
York Central ''calls, +" Schell said: 81 have
no money; why even had to borrow my
WIG . cdrIidSo 70 Tfuo uOWu Wv III Suio noAh-
ingr Sublime audscity! His Indebted
ness for s., 500 was sold one month ago BY
the same poor victim for SOS.
Daniel Drew has retired from active
speculation, and il is rumored he is com.
paratively poor. Stephen Alden is bank
rupt, and none of the big fish swim, oScept
Sage aud Gould. The former, while presi-
dent of the Pacific Mail Steamship. Coon
pany, was censured by Rufus HATCH the
celebrated managing director, tor leaving
bis duties in the board to go outside TO sign
"puts and calls" Jay Could still sells his
privileges, but is considered TO be 10 the
wholesale business. Retail firms 20 TO his
house at the corner of Fifth avenue and
Forty-seventh street, in the morning and
bargain with him for privileges on one, two
or three thousand shares. He makes dis
count to these petty brokers, and they in
turn split up the puts aud calls into one
hundred share lots and