Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1875-06-05

pens, paper and ink to operators, making
two hundred francs a day by both
trades.
Men gained money by hiring out their
backs as writing desks, bending over
while operators wrote out their contracts
and calculations. One little hunchback
made q hundred and ffty thousand
francs by thus serving as pupitre am
bulant (strolling desk), and broad
shouldered soldier gained money enough
in the same way to buy his discharge
and retire to the country upon pretty
farm. The general trade of the city
was stimulated to such degree that for
a while the novel spectacle was presented
of a community almost every member of
which was prosperous beyond his hopes;
for even in the Rue Quincampoix itself,
although some men gained more money
than others, no one appeared to lose
anything. And all this seemed the work
of one man, the great, the incompatible
"Jean Lass" as he was then called in
Paris. 1t was a social distinction to be
able to say: CT have seen him ~ His
carriage could with difficulty force its
way through the rapturous, admiring
crowd. Princes and mobiles thronged
his antechamber, duchess publicly
kissed his hand, and the regent made
him controller general of the finances.
This madness lasted eight months.
No one needs to be told what followed
it-how q chill first came over the fever
ish street, vague apprehension, not
confessed, but inspiring a certain wish
to "realize." The tendency to realize
was adroitly checked by Law, aided by
operators who desired to unload;" but
the unloading, once suspected, convert
ed the realizing tendency into q wild,
ungovernable rush, which speedily
brought ruin to thousands and long pros
tration upon France. John Law, who
in December, 1719, was the idol of
Paris, ready to perish of his celebrity,
escaped with difficulty from the kingdom
in December, 1920, hated, despised, i'm
poverished, to resume his career as
elegant gambler in the drawing-rooms of
Germany and Italy.
AS the "system collapsed in France,
it acquired vogue in England, where,
also, it originated in the desire to get rid
of the public debt by brilliant financein.
stead of the homely and troublesome
method of paying it, In London, be-
sides the original South Sea Company
which began the frenzy, there were
started in the course of o few months
about two hundred ioint-stock schemes,
many of which, as given in Anderson's s
"History of Commerce." are of almost
incredible absurdity. The sum called
for by these projects was three hundred
millions of pounds sterling, which was
more than the value of all the land in
Great Britain. Shares in Sir Richard
Steele's "tish pool for bringing fresh fish
to London " brought one hundred and
sixty pounds share Men paid sew
enty pounds each for permits" which
gave them merely the privilege of sub
scribing to a sail-cloth manufacturing
company not yet formed. There was,
indeed, a great trade in "permits" !" to
subscribe to companies only planned.
Here are few of the schemes: For rails
ing hemp in Pennsylvania; " Puckle's
machine gun;" settling the Bahamas
"wrecks to be fished for on the Irish
COAST" horse and cattle insurance; "in
, surance and improvement of children's
{ fortunes" insurance of losses by ser
wants." insurance against theft ant
, robbery" insuring remittances; "tc
= make salt water fresh;" importing wal
, nut trees from Virginia; improving the
breed of horses; purchasing forfeited es
tates; making oil from sunfowers; plant
ing mulberry trees and raising silk
worms; extracting silver from lead
. making quicksilver malleable; capturing
pirates; " for importing number O
large jackasses from Spain in order t,
, propagate larger kind of mules;" trad
ing in human hair; i" for fatting O
hogs;" "for the encouragement of tn
Industrious" perpetual motion; making
. pasteboard; furnishing funerals.
There was even company forme,
> and shares sold for carrying out al
undertaking which shall in due tim
be revealed" The word "puts," nov
so familiar in Wall street, appears il
= these transactions of 1720. "Puts an,
= refusals " were sold in vast amounts
! The prices paid for shares during th
:. half year of this mania were as remark
6 able as the schemes themselves. Sout]
Il sea shares of hundred pounds pa
i, value reached thousand pounds.
:. was poor share that did not sell fc
, five times its original price. AS i
;, France, SO in England, the long heads
= like Sir Robert Walpole and Alexande
. Pope, began to think of realizing
! when they had gained thousand pc
!, cent. or so upon their ventures; and, j
!, few days, realizing, in it's turn, becam
= mania; and all those paper fortune
;, shrank and crumbled into Rothingnes