The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1879-12-19
THE OLD BEAR.
Rufus Hatch on the Stock Market, and SO
Notwithstanding Statements Respect
ing William H. Vanderbilt
New York SIM

~ reporter OF ours called on MIR. Rufus
Hatch at his Office, 10 inquire about his
views respecting the present financial
situation of the country and the great
Vanderbilt sale. The following is the
concentrated wisdom delivered during
the interview:
blr. Hatch-As far as our customers
are concerned the situation is all salts
factory. We have q little wheat, pork.
lard, cotton and few PEI cents. but
nave not any photographic pictures to
Reporter don't mean about your
own Office or customers, but this sale of
Mr.. Nanderbilt's, and its effect upon the
future stock market, and why Mr. Van
derbilt sold his stockg
MI. Hatch-I think the sale shows
That he is as much ahead of his father as
the commodore was ahead of the men he
was dealing with in his day.
Reporter-What do you think of the
statement that Mr.. Vanderbilt made to
the publicg
Mr., Hatch-It is childlike and bland
and had he employed Uncle Sammy Til.
den to make il, 1t could not have been
better done. He should, however, have
added to his statement little scripture,
something like, 1.-THE harvest u nearly
ended" or Feed the lambs" There
were, probably, many things in Mr.
Vanderbilt's mind that he has not made
public. Possibly there were IA great
many things that he thought it would
not be proper for the public to know. Ii
Is possible that he thought the proper
time had come for him TO squeeze out
some of the water his father had put into
New York Central, and invest il in four
per cent. government bonds Taxes are
certain to be collected 10 pay up quarter
ly dividends TO him, and he will have TO
pay none of them. One other thought
he may have had, that New York Cen
trail and Hudson River, at par value and
premium added, is about 5000, 900 900,
and IL can all be duplicated for $40, 0OO,-
OOo-eyery piece of property that they
own or lease. IL takes $500, 900 900 to
go from here TO Chicago, and il can all
be duplicated for S6O,000,000 la So
100000, with a shorter and better road.
heporter--Do you think anything of
that kind will ever be startedY
Mr.. Hatch-Why, of course, / do. Mr..
Vanderbilt realizes his own weakness
first and acts on il. They all laughed at
this new telegraph scheme, and private
subscriptions were made for six times
the amount Il required 30 duplicate cv-
cry pole and wire or other piece of prop |
erty that the Western Union own. Then, |
you know, Mr.. Vanderbilt may have IN |
his mind IA large crop in Europe, and !
then we should hear again the remark |
that Mr.. Vanderbilt made last year: Five !
trunk lines from the west, and business |
for only two" This remark was made |
at the time he was laying in a little |
Lake Shore for family use at so to %. a |
year ago last July, and New York Cen |
trail at par, and Michigan Central at 40. |
Then, again, he may have in his mind |
the cancelling of $350,O0O,O0O of legal
tender greenbacks. You know, Mr. Van
derbilt, kind, generous and benevolent as
he ha f,,x- h.,g
disposed TO feed on these foreign lambs.
Of course, there is no reason why an
Amsterdam Dutchman or any other gen
tleman representing the lambs interest
at home or abroad should not have some
of his chromos,
Reporter judge, Mr.. Hatch, that
you are very bearish on the stock mar
Mr.. Hatch-Oh, no, not at all. Ihave
no interest except, rs l stated before, for
our customers. This is a regular tulip
mania-anywhere from So to $1,000 a
sprout on account of the scarcity. Only
year ago last July / tried to
make up a syndicate to buy Lake
Shore here l went to Mr.. Sage, Mr..
Gould, Mr.. Morgan, Mr.. Slocum and 9th
ers, to induce them TO buy Lake Shore at
under go. Mr.. Keene was the only man
who had pluck enough to 90 in. He
bought about 10000 shares, and skipped
when he had twenty points on IT, al
though the boys all said il would
break him at first. You could have
bought all the st. Paul you could shake
stick at at IS cents; Northwestern
enough to make you seasick at 35 to 40
and every other stock now considered
first-class investments ut corresponding
prices. Our new unsophisticated bank
ers and brokers are now buying these
stocks on five and ten per cent margins
for every draymen, dressmaker, clerk,
bootblack, lawyer and politician. These
are the lambs.
Reporter-How about the sale of the
forty seats in the stock exchangeg
Mr.. Hatch-More of the unsophistoca-
led.
Reporter-Why, you don't think the
country is going backward, do your
Mr.. Hatch-Notby jug full. Stocks
that sold from 81 to $50 within year
are now selling from $50 to 800. Their
actual value is just the cost of the paper,
ink and presswork. Isn't that prosper
ity enough? It's too good for me, too
good for me.
Reporter-Why do you advise your
customers TO buy wheat, and what are
your reasons for bulling il Mt the pres
ent time? !
Mr.. Hatch-The more you find out
about the condition of all Europe, the {
less you will find they have, or, in other
words, the more they will want up to ,
the next harvest. You will also find
out, on intelligent inquiry, that the crop
IN this country has been over estimated | ,
and while it is a good, big crop, the eX-
port since August last shows that the far
mers have made very free deliveries. I
Probably 80 per cent. of the whole crop
raised in 1879 has been sold from the
farmers hands.
Reporter-Well, how about provis-
ionsg Why do you bull provisions?
Mr. Hatch--Pork, bacon, sides, hams
and short ribs are all filling, if you eat !
them, and the same increased consump- !
tive demand is certain to exist rs ON !
wheat.
Reporter-How about cotton?
Mr.. Hatch-The cotton crop is about !
the same rs last year, little larger per- !
haps. The consumption of goods all I
over the world, AMI especially in this I
country, will be from thirty To fifty per y
per cent. larger than ever before. Fac l
tories, warehouses and country stores
are all empty, and the manufactures in =
this country have no stock on hand. In /,
addition to this there is the speculative !
demand and the tulip masia," which :
will strike the cotton, grain, and proVis- /,
ion markets before another crop is
raised.
Reporter-Has Mr.. Kecne any interest c
in wheatg b
Mr. Hatch-You had better ask Mr.. q
Keene about his wheat business or any /
other business. He wOu'a not tell me If a
should ask him. The Chicago dealers d
and the Chicago press abused him like a I
pickpocket because he bought n few
bushels for family use and paid for it. 7
My impressions are, however, that the n
short sellers of wheat in Chicago will .
find themselves all lambs before another n
crop, and those that are selling provis- q
ions or taking the short side will be =
hunting the woods for hogs. Leaving .
all joking aside, Mr.. keene first COM
menced providing for accidents in the
markets, and Mr.. Vanderbilt second. A q
good many of the boys are skating on c
the ice, and if Mr.. Vanderbilt will take d
my advice he will put all of his Union q
Pacific, Northwestern, Michigan Cen d
trail, Lake Shore, Canada Southern and z
New York Central investments, except ii
holdings enough to enable him TO be a
legal director-yes, and all his poles and
wircs-into per sent. untaXable securi- -
ties; in other words, provide for acct Il
dents and take in sail, both here and on }.
the other side. :,
Reporter-Do you think he will do it? =
Mr.. Hatch-You had better ask him. D
don't know anything about what he Is +
going to do, but il looks very much like q
Il to me. don't care, but will tell you 4
this much. / went to him with the list -
Of the Michigan Central stockholders,
and showed him the weak and the strong
points in that property, two years ago Il
last March. The dates are all down in tC
my Office, and our conversation, rs / re- "
membered il when l returned from my o.
Interview. The stock was 1854 when l Il
lcft my Office, and 30 when / returned, G
and has never been there since. He g
f1naht IL from that hour went TO him b