The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-09-17
RALSTON.
Reviesc of the Career of the Dead Bank Presi
Jobp paul in the New York Tribune.

ava E~~-~~~~
and power. The climb was hard one
and had its different stages and hating
places by no single bound was the
height reached. Different indeed the
fall.
William G. Ralston was the most
restless and ambitious man l ever
knew and among restless and ambitious
men INV lot has principally fallen. AS
already limited, his beginning was an
obscure one. The precise details of MS
early life I do not remember, and will
not endeavor to repeat, though 1 have
had them from his own lips. But unless
much mistake, the banks of the Mis-
sissippi river were the only banks with
which he had to do prior to emigrating
to California in the early gold days, and
with these he had to do in the capacity
of mate-some say deck hand only-of
stern-wheel steamboat. To the COM
parative Iowness of this starting point,
may we not attribute that aspiring am
bition which led to fall? For you may
have noticed that men born to a middle
station in life plod always in it content
eddy, while those born in the lower
levels are scarce ever satisfied till they
have climbed to the top of the social
shaft. 1t does not exactly follow that
those who start on the top round of the
ladder are uneasy till they have climbed
to the bottom, but is very frequently
the case. In this matter society is lac
the ocean, that which breaks loose from
the bottom struggles up, and good ships
which are launched and expected to
swim on the surface go down if acct
dent knocks hole in them. Little by
little, Mr.. Ralsten got on. But the more
he got on the longer were his strides.
Most men set for themselves a p Jint in
life at which to rest when reached-at
least they say they will rest at it; he
never did. The only point where he
proposed to stop was when he had got
ten so far as he could go, and this pro-
gramme carried with it very few imita.
tions as you can well imagine. Nothing
short of all could satisfy the man. AS
in business, so with pleasure. For
pleasure in itself he did not really
care-indeed, I much DOUBT if he knew
what it was. Lavish surroundings con-
tribated little to his happiness, but he
maintained the establishment of a
prince. How it was afterward, when
railroads came to be built, I do not
know, but in..the day of my knowledge
he was whirled to his country seat by
relays of horses at the close of each
days business, with all the speed and
more of style than any two railroads
could furnish. For horses, as horses,
he cared very little, and about horses,
as horses, he knew less but his stables
were full of the most famous of goers.
For wine, he had no inordinate fond
ness, think, but down in his cellars
you found brands which are commonly
suppose to be reserved for the tables
of royalty alone. His hospitality"
WAS marvellous but do not know that
any one can say he was hospitable. Go
to him with a letter of introduction-or
without one, if you happened to be an
eminent editor, prize fighter, lawyer,
thologian, horse thief, or a member of
any of the learned professionalism he
insisted upon you making his house
your home while you stayed, furnish
ing you with horses, steamboats,, palace
cars, or anything else to go with when
you went. Invited down to his country
seat, you were at liberty to remain as
long as you pleased, and perhaps you
would not see your host more than once
during your visit. The whole rancho
and all it contained were at your dis
posal, however, and if man could not
enjoy himself with such freedom of
range IS this, the fault surely, could be
but his own.
You have heard of the bank of Cali
fornia, of which William @. Ralston was
president at the time of his death, per
haps. Do you know what it was? No !?
Well, the bank of California was Will
liam @. Ralston. At the time of it's or
ganization he was cashier only, it is
true. but if you suppose that the presi-
dent of a bank is anything less or IS
meant to be anything more than re-
spectacle fgure-head, you know less
about banks in general, and New York
banks in particular, than one would
suppose possible in this age Of general
enlightenment. As cashier, William G.
Ralston ran the bank. As president,
he ran the bank. The bank he always
was, md when the bank no longer was
he died-by suicide, some say-natur-
ally enough, say I. Here you have the
whole history of the bank in a nutshell.
The bank of California was restless
and ambitious in direct response to the
characteristics of its founder. The two
pulses beat together. AS 4 synonym for
strength, its name on the Pacific coast
long ranked next to that of the bank o
England. As power, the bank of Eng
land was but country schoolmaster in
comparison with this most despotic Ca
iph-locally considered, I mean. The
bank of California either controlled, or
meant ultimately to gain the control, of
everything on the coast. 1t was at any
time ready to contract to take all the
1nly oil no oil hn
wool that the country produced. A
small slice of valuable mine would not
be touched at any price. But go to it
with controlling interest to be dis
posed of, and you could name your own
ston wanted it. Anything that he wanted
from a Congregational church to
mountain in the uttermost wilderness of
Nevada, the bank of California was will
ling to buy or take on deposit. It was a
power in politics, a mighty engine in
elections, a Colossus bestriding the
state, as we'll at the mastodon of the
municipality of San Francisco; admit
tedly it controlled the court, but still
its restless arms were outstretched for
further conquest.
William @. Ralston did not care
enough about money to keep it after it
was made. What welded him to his
work was the excitement attendant upon
making immense trades and moving
millions. AS for keeping the money he
made, that never entered his mind-he
scattered it broadcast on every side. 1t
was as though man should pump away
for dear life and all the while have
nothing but a bottomless vessel to hold
his pumpings-Yes, though one should
pump away, with clang and noise, but
have never a valve in his pump.
AN UPPER NILE MAIDEN.