The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1883-09-20
ga C0RNER.0
what is Meant by tho Teru.-Its OrIEin-A
Specimen Whenr Corner.

whnt lB Meant by tho Teru.-Its OrIEin--A
Specimen Wheat Cornor.
The newspapers startle us all, now
and then, with headings such as "Disas-
trous Corner in Lard" Terrible
Breakiu the Oil Corner" I" Frenzy in
the Chicago Exchange; the great Pork
Corner all gone to pieces" High-princi.
pied men do not cry their eyes out
when they read Of this kind Of disas'
ter. Some men even smile, rub their
hands, utter exclamations of pleasure,
and express the opinion that cit serves
the spectators right p
But what is Corner2 Let us GO
back to the origin of things, like the
old-fashioned authors, who, when they
wrote the History Of the Isle Of
Dogs" began with the creation Of the
world and the fall of man.
Corners appear to have been in
vented at the time Of the tulip mania
in Europe, about 1885. When the
tul p was introduced into the northern
nations of Europe, about the year
1900, it excited the liveliest admiration
from the brill;ancy and variety of its
colors. The price of rare bulbs rose
every season, until several varieties
were worth their weight in gold.
Then the trade degenerated into gamb-
ling, and corners were made. For in
stance: A great lord would order,
April l, bulb of fashionable species
to be delivered to him on October l, the
price then to be two hundred pounds.
When October l arrived the ruling
price was one hundred and fifty
pounds. The great lord did not want
the tulip; he was only specializing.
Nor did the seller have any bulbs, or
expect to have any, for he, too, was a
speculator. According on October l,
the nobleman paid him the fifty pounds
which he would have cleared if the
contract had involved reality, and
that ended the transaction. If the
bulb had been worth on October l two
hundred and fifty pounds, the noble
man would have recovered fifty pounds
and the speculator would have lost
that amount. A corner in bulbs was
made when a dealer would slip over to
Holland, ascertain how many of the
bulbs (for which, at that date there
was the largest demand) were in ex-
istence, buy as many Of them as he
could, and keep them out Of the mar
ket until he had created an artificial
scarcity. Then the price rose and he
would sell.
The tulip corner was comparatively
innocent, because tulips are not one of
the necessaries of life. But what
shall we say Of corner in pork, in
corn, in oil, in wheat, in oats, in pota-
toesp What shall we say Of milton
aires who, by system of lies, make a
poor widow pay dollar and fifty cents
more for her winter barrel Of flour than
it is fairly worth?
Take, for example, the wheat corner
Lloyd in the North american Reoieao.
A few very rich men put their
heads and their millions of dollars to-
gether to buy mountain OF wheat.
First. they got fifty articles published
in their papers, predicting low prices
very low prices. kilograms from
various markets of Europe appeared
all speaking of the immense quantities
of wheat coming forward. The specula-
tors sold even a million bushels or so at
low rates, while buying ten millions at
the same rates. at length, when they
have bought from twenty to fifty mil
lions Of bushels, they stop selling ex-
cept at price which no legitimate
buyer can afford to pay. Read what
Mr.. Lloyd says about it: "The price
was run down to eighty-one and one
half cents per bushel. When all the
wheat and wheat contracts to be had
were obtained, the price was ra'sed to
one dollar and thirty-three cents" I"
"During the winter four hundred ves-
sells lay in New York harbor, the own
ers pleading for wheat, even at ruin
ously low rates Of freight"
In other words, farmers sold their
wheat at losing price, poor men paid
high prices for their flour, ship owners
suffered serious lose, and all interests
suffered. in order that six grasping,
merciless men might make two million
dollars each.
We should like to be king for about
half an hour just to place such s ecu
lating gentry where they would do
their country most COOL. Happily
their cornerings often corner them,
and their ill-gotten millions are gone
in a click of the telegraph.-Youth's S