Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-12-31

} land. In words Onceapplled by w ASH
] INGToN IRVING to his cOmpatriOts rs
"a nation of spectators"
The most conspicuous men, for in
| stance, in the United States, at this mo-
ment, are railway kings and giant Oper-
! tors on the Stock Exchange, men whose
| names are far better known i'll Europe
| than those OF the statesmen and Cabi-
net Ministers i'm office at Washing
ton. On tile other side of the Atlantic
| every one has heard of Mr.. JAY GOULD
/ and Mr.. W. II. VANDERBILT; but there
are few EngiiShmen who could pro-
! nOuncr of: hand the name of the Amer
| lean Secretary of State or of the Secre-
| tarv of the Treasury. The Stock EX-
! change of London and the BOurse OfPar-
| is" pale thcireffectual fires, when com
! parcdwith the multitude of the all-per-
| vading operations conducted ut the kin
! dred establishment in New York. This,
! rs Mr.. ADAMS points out, Is mainly the
result of the StupcndOuS civil war which
ragged in the United States, and came ID
| an end Just sixteen years since. 1t led,
| unqueStionably, TO a quickcned craving
| for excitement, to greatly enlarged
! grasp of commercial enterprise, and To
! vastly increased facility denomination.
| The immense operations of gigantic
war, the handling of large masses of
men, the lavish expenditure of unprece-
dented sums of money, the prOdiSious
financial transaction, and the possible
ties of effective go cooperation, being new
10 the American continent, were not
likely to be lost rs lessons upon men
quick to receive and apply new ideas.
Under these circumstances it can
little surprise that the gamblin" in stocks,
shares and mines, which is 50 striking
feature of modern American civilization,
should have Outrln the capacity Of the
Stock Exchange at New York to meet
its requirements The last adviceS from
the Empire City report that MIR. JAY
GOULD, in association with Mr.. RUSSELL
SAGE and Mr.. CYRUS FIELD, has con-
cCivedthe vast protector destroying the
Broad street establishment by starting
a rival organization upon much more
extensive Scate.'I The existing Stock
Exchange in Broad street, New York,
is what psychologists call ''plenum;"
la is e ~ IA s sS p 5t sfffFagans
or members, beyond which its capacity
OF admission cannot go. In London
there Is no limit To the number of new
members who can be elected to the
stock Exchange, where the operations
are conducted by men standing on foot.
In New York, on the other
hands, the Stockholders have
seats assigned to them, of which the
number Is necessarily limited. To
obtain q scat at the New York Stock
Exchange is an object Of such eager as
piration that not less than thirty thou
sand dollars can, it isalleged, always be
obtained from new candidate for adj
mission, when there is an empty seat
ON the board. The magnitude of the
sum Offered for this privilege is sufficient
To establish the fact Ofthe craze for stock
gambling which prevails in the United
States; nor can it be wondered at that
il should have entered into the heads
OF two or three Titanic spec
ulators TO provide increased OPP
pOrtunities for its indulgence and
extension. "The present Stock EX-
change says one of our New York
contemporaries, has very few friends
outside of its own members. 1t Is one Of
the most remorSeleSs and unjust trades
uniOps-u pom record. The brokers'
charges are arbitrary and eXOrbitant,
and the business is so transacted aS to
be grievOuS tax upon the investing
public" There are said TO be plenty of
American capitalists who are so discon-
tented with the establishment in Broad
street that they would gladly subscribe
the five million dollars, wanted for
the new building. The site up
on which, saccOruing to rumOr,
it Is in contemplation to
erect the additional seat of speculation
is i'm that part of New York which is
called the Bowling Green. 1t is histo-
rical spot, for here once stood the leaden
statue of King GEORGE Ill, which,
when the American revolutionary war
/. broke out rather more than a century
since, was pulled down by the rebellious
inhabitants of New York and run into
bullets. Fame, which is more busy and
often more mendaciOuS in the new world
than VIRGIL painted her to be in a me-
mOrable passage of his Fourth .FnCid,
alleges that Mr.. CYRUS FIELD has
lately made a large purchase of
property on Bowling Green, and that
most of the money subscribed for the
new Stock Exchange will go into the
pocket of the principal shareholder in
the Elevated Railway system OF New
York. BE this as it may, we have no
| doubt that some increased facilities for
carrying on the gambling in stocks, of
which New York is the centre will
shortly be needed, for ii is undeniable
that in no other great city of civilization
is there such an inOriinate appetite for.
making haste to grow rich' by specu-
latiOn rs in the commercial capital of
the United States.
Mr.. FIELD is reported TO have said
that the new Stock Exchange will be
the "talleSt building in New York, and
will be seen far out ut sea- The New
York Hour proposes that, upon the top
of the new editicC on Bowling Green,
BARTHOLDI'S enormous statue of Lib.
eTty Enlightening the World" should
be created, bearing three-sided pedes-
tai, upon which bas-reliefS of JAY
GOULD, RUSSELL SAGE and CYRUS
FIELD shall be placed, with inSeTip-
tons commemorative Of their
virtues aud great public SER
vices. Thestatue in question now stands
| upon BedlOe's Island, in New York har-
| Dor, 10 which it has been relegated from
| the inability of the municipal authOri
| ties to find more convenient site for il.
Seen, let us say, from the neighbOrhoOd
Of Sandy Hook, the impersOnati0n of
| liberty, rs il fiOuFiSheS in this Republic,
would serve toremind foreigners as they
draw near to our shores Of the amaz-
Jug chances offered, even to the
hlImblest and poorest in1mi-
grant, by the liberty to speculate
which awaits them, Sixty or seventy
years ago the bate Commodore VAN
DERBiLT was 1t obscure ferrynian who
| piled his boat between Staten Island
/ hndSC astle Gardens and he dis,l ~ il.
were the other day .:the wsaltaiesE 1;ti.
ZEN pf the Etliiite& .Ststes IL not The
most hpulent ind VIDAL ~ stssiss.