The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-12-16
REGARDING CORNERS,
THOUGH NoTrHEKlNo PUssYwANTs
Uncle Rufus IIatch's Highly ilumofouA Tesilmony Il
ils Don't BelIe's In WaterInr stock Tale"
IS lls Ia Ia the Rlsg-Jay Gould's
lIomlly on CornerA and Paalrs,

minister the oath TO him, "Haye / got t
tell the truth, the whole truth and nothin,
but the truth9'
"Are you familiar with making corners?
was the question asked.
"Pve heard people speak Of corners.
never made one that l remember. ! dom
know whether Pm associated with peopl
who arc making corners or not. A cornel
Is buying more OF Il certain commodit,
than really exists in order u sell 10 some
body else for profit, The Hannibal 4 st
Joseph corner was m illustration of hov
tightly the boys sometimes get squeezed
Laughter. | had no interest in that cor
ner. The making OF corners is very detri
mental 10 commerce.
The question Of futures was then taker
up, and witness answered: at Is Il diff
cult question 10 answer. Now, last year,
bought three times more corn than ther,
actually was in the market. | simpl,
bought the imagination OF other people Il.
TO whether the price was going up or down
II l had held OH to the stutl thirty day
longer than ! did I should have nettet
100000 profit. Tint whole TRANSACTION
was about as Legitimate as u business
could well be. did't want tho
corn to use, and those thought Of didn'
have it to sell. Laughter. Chicago i!
the headquarters OF modern speculators
though her business in this line ha.
dropped off little in this direction in til,
last year and half. z S
STOCK EwArEmSG. +. '
Under the subject Of watering stocks
Uncle Rufus had some interesting words tt
say "When Vanderbilt declared m s;
per cent scrip dividend be went to thu
Legislature and got it legalized. Flo viii
tell you all about how it was done. The
is that Vanderbilt must charge
just SO much more for freight and passcn
ger fares in order to make up. The result
you see, is poorer accommodations
in telescopcd cars, funerals AMI
things. Yes, stock waterns is antago
nistic, l suppose, to industrial interests
and | anl opposed to stock wateriug-un
less l am in it myself. 1t is occurrin,
every day, however. railroad industriei
being the principal Sufferers from stocl
watering. Now Mr.. Fink, who is Wander
bilt's clerk, can tell you all about this
whole subject into which you are enquir
ing from A to Il. I'd like myself to si1
down aud ask him questions for three o.
iour days and have him answer them hon
estly."
JAY .GouLD's EXPERIENCE,
Jay Gould, appearing before the Com
mittee, said he WAS in the railway business
and manager OF railways, and had beer
such for twenty years. He was familia
with operations in stocks but not will
grain. He was familiar with corners ii
stocks and also III dealing in futures ii
stocks.
The effect Of making corners Is 10 max,
an uneven transportation. Corners ar,
made every little while but / cannot re
member the last one. The system o
making corners does not injure trans
portation interests, as it makes large mar
kets. On the whole I think it helps. L
gives producers better prices and those who
make corners lose. The consumer may
pay more; also spectators satier. The
corner engineered in Chicago two year,
ago is reputed to have lost millions. The
farmers kept back their grain and the,
made the money. I recollecta recent cor
nering transaction in the stocks OF th,
Hannibal l. St. Joe. It resulted disastrously
to the man that made it, for when he goi
through with his corner he had lost his
fortune. g. '.4 ,gg
lSpvcEDl?) TO SELL. q r'
was interested in the Chicago 4 North.
western corner. 1t was selling ut Is OF
80. l thought it cheap at that price
and my brokers had orders to buy all tha,
was sold, and when it got scarce The price
ran up. 1t resulted in carrying the price
up high, 10 $50, and then fell back again 10
50. l think. l was induced to par,
with some at 250. l do not think
this corner had the slightest effect upon
the community in general, although it may
have hurt the private fortunes OF individ.
uals. l cannot recall any other corner
The "EIarlem corner" was before my time.
The effect OF dealing in futures Of stock
upon the general WelIare ii lnslgnttlcant,
owing to the fact that few options
are dealt in. l think speculation
tends to do good, rs it brings
money 10 this country. The more free your
markets are the more freedom you give ia
capital. I would be very careful what re.
strictions put either on stocks or grain
for the reasons mentioned. The men who
speculate are not those who plow the soil
or produce the grain. The men who spec.
llate do SO for the reason that:it is their
legitimate business.