Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-05-03

Correspondence San francisco Bulletin.
In New York at present there are 1000 stock
brokers or persons calling themselves such,
$500 produce brokers, Of whom 9, 500 belong -
the exchange, and2 coo cotton br0kerR Of whom
only 366 belong to the exchange. Judging By
the estimates Of the mest careful brokers when
have been able to talk to. about $50 cut Of
those "A 600 brokers are really engaged In buy
ing and selling actual grain. cotton OF stocks
for persons who wish to export, or weave, or
grind, or invest permanently. The is, $50 other
weii-dressed gentlemen who pass their lives
with their feet up on desks watching the stock
ticker through the smoke Of ha.f-dollar cigars
gamble on their own or some one else's &c
count.
do you see that handsome man buying straw
berries at Sc a quartz" said a friend of mine as
we were walking past fashionable importer OF
southern and hot-house fruits yesterday. "Do
you know how he makes a living? Well, he has
done nothing for the last five years but buy and
sell fictitious lot Of 100 bales of cotton. He
passes his life at it, He buys it and sells it half
dozen times day, when the fluctuations are
heavy. He does not know one grade Of cotton
from another; he probably never saw a cotton
held or the inside of q cotton mill, and it is
doubtful whether he ever sees any cotton even
in bale, but his calculations in liie his interest
ms very being. are wrapped up in that lot of
cotton, which exists only on paper. He is moth
ing but an inveterate gambler engaged in heec-
ing ioosh people In reality he is not parti
Gle better than the faro player upon whom the
police might pounce-but do not. The social
difference, however. is immense; one is pillar
OF the church. highly respected member Of So
cietV, who cannot find words too severe for the
faro player. while the latter is social Outcast.
''Some day, in the chance which comes to all
men once or twice. that man will be carried out
OF his depth by some run OF luck. and will be
tempted to extend his operations beyond the
l0O bales OF fictitious cotton. He may make
fortune In week. The chances against his
Keeping it are 80 to 1. Once gambler-afways
a gambler. He knows no other pleasure Since
ne was an Office boy he has known and heard Of
nothing but buying and selling 100 bales of cot
son. He knows nothing of books. art or music.
and OF the theater he knows only the worst
eide. His intellectual vision is limited to the
elated or depressed according to its behavior.
When It makes $40 or $50 a day for him. he
rides home in cab and buys some Strawberries
ut Sc quart
This is not a pretty picture. but It is true
one one has only to listen to the talk of the
young men who haunt the neighborhoads of cur
exchanges to find thousands Of Just such men.
They are Intelligent young fellows in appear
ance, sprucely dressed, quick in talk and always
with their red leather-cOvered note book in
hand. II they have not got to the supreme
happiness Of actually buying and selling stocks,
answer the purpose almost as well. A gives to
b paper which says in substance, ''Good for
bale OF cotton at 1880 to-day, February 34"--
value of $50 25. the standard bale of Gotten
being supposed to weigh $50 ponds. At 8
O'Clock the transactions closed If cotton at the
exchange has gone down to 10 cents pound.
makes 50 25 or half cent pound on $50
pounds. which B Is obliged to pay. If cotton
closes at IL cents a pound, loses s2.35. This
lis simply betting on the price Of cotton at
tain hour; but supposed dignity is given to
the operation by trading In fictitious bales of
cotton.
After all, what the brokers' boys do in the
streets is precisely what the brokers do in
more systematic fashion. They are betting on
whether cotton or grain will go up or down, the
size of the bet depending on the amount of the
nuctuatiOn. No better illustration of the eX-
tent to which specu!atienin our exchanges over
tops legitimate buying aad selling can be given
than by quoting from the last report of the cot
ton exchange. from which it appears that during
the year ending May 81, 1881. actual GOTTEN was
sold on the exchange as follows: For export,
14S, 2e3 bales; for spinning, Isl, 96i baics for
speculation (holding in store for a r:se), IL. 1873
bales; in transit, $3.50 bales Total. 3lO.5l6
bales representing the entire strictly legitimate
business of the exchange During the same
period, 90 TIL 500 bales were bought antisoId
Tor future delveTy-that is, pieces Of paper rep
resenfiny bets on that amount Of cotton were
exchanged, no actual cotton appearing in the
transaction.
Tie question. .'who supports the 1900 New
York brokerswho 1--we in luxury must suggest
itself TO every one. they cannot live on one an
ether for long. A gango of sharpers cannot sutsist
oithout pigeons TO pluck, and the same rule holds
good with the enormous gambling rings known
as the stock. cotton and produce exchanges
Inc speculative public nnquesticnahly pays the
piper. Our brokers are notorious for high
living and extravaganza Of every kind, and IT
may be taken for granted that at tie lowest
figures their earnings will average So 600 year
Fourteen thousand brokers'. at 5000 wear.
makes q total OF SO, 600 GOO, which represents
the sum paid annually to New York brokers by
country gamblers for the pleasure of gambling.
An experienced broker, who has large dealings
with the south, explained the recent high price
OF cotton by the fact that that in some southern
communities every man, woman and child had
been Specializing In cotton. In the west, the
same thing is true OF Grain. People too poor to
lose more than IS at a time club together and
divide the profits Or share the less, generally
the latter. These are the people who enable
the New York broker to buy February straw
berries.
Some Of the lambs, in fact. I suppose the ma
jOl1ty, believe that the particular broker to
whom they entrust the sum they have resolved
to devote to gambling (resoiylng also. Of course,
that II 1t is lost. nothing shall ever tempt them
to gamble asa:n). is sharp individual. brighter
and sharper than any Of the other brokers, who
Nil VIC suIc w kUOW HOW tIlC IhtsENCt ~ gong
The fact ia, that the brightest broker that ever
speculated is no better off than the simplest
Two or three of the oldest brokers in the bust
ness. one Of whom has been dealing in cotton
for 80 years, have told me that nothing is more
certain in that business than that sasaclty.
shrewdness and experience 60 for absolutely
nothing in cotton and grain speculation. Cases
were cited Of several men who, having passed
years in compiling elaborate tables showing
the fluctuations of cotton. hour by hour, for
periods Of years, had speculated upon the detiuc-
items reached. and lost every cent by this sys-
tenn faster than If they had trusted to inspira-
ton. Not dozen men are known to have re-
tired from cotton exchange speculation with
fortunes. Fortunes are made there every day
or two, but they are lost just as quickly. If
the spectators on the spot have SO little
chance what chance have the outside specula-
tors. who have to do all their gambling through
others?
So much is written just now about gambling
IN cotton and grain that it may not be without
interest to describe briefly the machinery fer
Specializing in these staples, and the meaning Of
the exchange slang. which makes market re-
ports unintelligible to most persons. The cot
ton exchange was organized In 1871. There are
four ''ealls" dag, "calr' being the name for
short auction at which members Of the exchange
bid on cotton, the price obtained going forth as
the official price Of the exchange. Specializing