The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1883-03-21
Tile "Fund" Speculation in Nassachu.


sets.
The chioi topic OF conversation this
week has been the sudden and unac-
countablc changes in certain business
places, and the collaspc OF The Chicago
grain spcculators' expectations Fari-
Gus reasons are assigned for the bu-i.
ness changes, and different re pie he.
lieye different stories. Some o. the tales
are scarcely 10 be credited, and II j. said
that persons Of whom they are
being tod threaten 20 make the
gOss.pcrs prove Their assertions. 1t
is TO be hoped il they make the at on pit
the will su coed, and not find them
selves in the prcdicamcnt a certain
politician is said 10 have once found
himself. Returning home one night
in quite "a state OF mind his wilc
asked what the matter was "lna'
gcoundrel Jones called me Lar Ue ore
the Whole meeting he replied. ''But
that hadn't ought to annoy sou, she
y id, "iOr hc couldn't prove it,
"Ihcrcs the trouble ro1red tie hus'
band, "iOr he did prove it, The rev.
citation that has come w'th the closing
Up OF the grain swindling firms is rather
startling TO people who little guessed
how the mania for speculation had per-
yaded our community formonth, the
thing has been going on, and during that
time scores, ayc hundreds OF mrn and
women, girls and boys have been drawn
into the seductive yOftcy an invested
from $40 10 800, in many cases their
little all, thinking TO econ" wealthy.
The history Of the matter is but q ropi-
tilon OF the old, old story of swind cr3
and swindlcd. A few months ago sov-
eral persons received circulars from
Chicago parties rel tive 10 grain spccu-
latiOns, purpOrting 10 show the cnDr'
nous profits made by shrcwd pur has
cIs, explaining the ".uud scheme, ard
offering the recipient 81 on every 80
forwarded from other parties Mos' ii
these people threw the circular into
the fire, knowing that tie schc'Dc was
swindlc. and only IL 10 be Cai5cd with
cheap oitcn =. liu, three o. four took
IL up and W see the re ul to-day IN M
aggregate loss Of several thousand dol
lars. These agents or "lund
formers took at first a few shares and
induced their friend, to do the same,
on the Chicago mems prOmis. o twenty
five per cent ii idGndj every three
months, and also smaller occasional
dividends. This promise was, Ol
course, kept for time. and the
showing o the divide Il checks and
profitable balance .slcc's set lots oil PEG.
pie fair y wild to get into it, Men and
women who had $50, 500 or $500,
saved by years OF har work, made haste
to invest ne man who put in few
hun'Ircd dollars, a.trr getting his first
dividend check, announced that he had
given up working and was Going T. live
on the profits Of his investment Not
wilder were the dreams Of the dupcs OF
Laws hsiOr cal Mississippi and West
India colonization scheme, nearly two
centuries ago, than were those Of Our
oycr-crcdulOus grain spectators. But
they had similar ending. Not the
least surprising feature is that quite u
number Ol men were bitten who lave
had the credit heretofore Of having
heir eye teeth cut. These excuse
Themselves by saving they knew the
thing WIS n fraud but thought thew
could get their none, back and more
with it before the scheme went up 4
business mm who pat in 500 makes
no bones OF frankly saying h. hn- lost
every dollar oil il. One OF the worst
TEXTURES Of the mattcris that oven school
pupils were induced 10 thus early in
their lives beg gambling. Led by one
ol their associates several high hool
boys invested from $40 10 $50 ch.
and have lost nearly all of it. Ii this
experience serves tp keep them from
such things in future the lesson has not
been too dearly pa Il for.
But the blame Of this state of alairs
lies not wholly with these Il pes Of Chi
clgo swindlcrs. Rather il fails on The
men Of wealth and standing in the com.
nlunilr who have for years made
speculative stocks n considerable source
of proit-or loss. They were able 10
put mp large margins in the New York
markets aud frequently Nuke quite
stake, which they were not slow 10 tell
q, but seldom let ANYTHING be known
ol their losses. Not many months ago
one spec lntor tol your correspondent
that he held $ 900, OOOworth Of various
Kinds OF stocks On margins, hut he up-
parcntly has had good cause since TO re
Grcl his investment Even the luca
mining enterprise aided ia fostering the
speculative fever, although that has
been conducted honestly and ecouom-
ically, and as yet has produced only IN
ns cssmcnt instead of hoprd.ror
dividends. This weeks collapse viii
probably prove II waning that is likely
10 @ hccdod iora long me to come
against lnirnsting money To unknown
firms who have no business rating and
promise enormous profits. -- IicsHcM
cIlS) Cor Spy~2dcH (HmSJ Re-
pY6iicaR