The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1884-05-22
TIE EXPLOSION or ROTTEN.
NESS.
Cincinnati Com mefcIaI Gasette.

men who would be sent up from New
York, II Obt-ining moaey under color of
legitimate business through confidence
s;hemes were made . penitentIary Of
Tense. The disturbance In New York,
which seems to have eliminated
yesterday, was caused BY the ex.
plosIon OF f0ttenness and moth
ing else. The offensive discharge affected
the countFy at large more os less, but
outside Of New York It was chiefly
through sympathy. There are q great
many people. however, who lost money IN
aquiet way by placing confidence In men
who abused It. In this company Of
martyrs, widows and orphans may Be
largely counted.
There is nothing in the condition of
the country generally to warrant q
financial disturbance. There Is a natu-
raj depression resulting from over pro-
ductiOn, but this should not cause a
financial panic, and would not but for
the rotienness that centers in Wall
street. As II Is, there is no serious dis
turbInce outside of New York, and in
that city il 10 cont1ued 20 banks that
were managed by mere spectators
rather than bankers, and u brokers who
were links 10 the cham of speculative
ventures that had their roots 10 the
sand. The great industries were not af-
Eected, except so far as they may be tenn
pOrarily embarTass through the un.
settling OF confidence in the banking in
situations that loaned money largely on
securities. In Cincinnati 1t would not
have been known that there was dis
turbance but for the spread of the
news from New York. There
were no local causes. The banks were
in good condition, and business men,
while not booming, were close to shore
and solvent. This remark applies also
to other cities outside of New York.
Fortunately the speculative fever had
largely subsidized. and few were con-
cerned in stocks and produce outside OF
the active operators. In this respect the
situation !s exceptional. In former times
Of trouble the speculative fever and its
consequences spread over the whole
country. Few cities were exempt. Even
interior points were involved. The New
York operators did not suffer near so
much as they do now. They had the
outside public to lean upon. Now they
have only themselves to lean upon, and
their relief will come when the outside
public begins to buy good dividend
paying securities, which, in the general
stampede, have been forced largely be-
low their intrinsic value.
But the roltcnness to which we have
referred cannot be revived, at least not
sooD, and It is to be hoped never. OF
this pyramid OF action the public have
but feeble conception. And it is sur
prising how easily people are deceived
by shrewd inventors of fiction. There
is mania for making money rapidly
and easy. This Is the spirit that bats the
trap The most astonishing perform
Gnce in THE direction was that of Ward
s. Grant, whose failure precipitated the
trouble. This cannot be called by any
better name than q confidence game.
That it was, surely. The following re-
ceipt indicates the character of the bus
mess:
"OFFIcE OF WARD s. GRANT, !
NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 1884.
Received Of - fifty thousand dol
lars, payable on the 18th of May, 1884,
with five thousand dollars profit.
WARD s. GRANT"
Inc profit, it is seen. as promised
equaled forty per cent. per annum
There were men who walked into that
trap with half a million dollars. The
person who received the receipt quoted
above for $4,000 was a director in the
Marine National Bank. OF course
such business could have hut one end
ing, and that it reached with q crash
The amazing part is not that men werl
found capable of practicing such con
hdence game, but that men were founC
silly enough to be caught. Among thu
latter are railroad presidents and banl
presidents and directors. Some o
these are 81 much ashamed of them
selves that they are not pressing theI
claims. They probably drew out mos
if not all, the principal in interest.
Outside of New York, we presum
few people have suffered IRON th,
operations of Ward & Grant.
But in other ways and by other pee
pie the outside public have been In
posed upon
A favorite and successful plan lately
10 make money without earning it, hs
been 10 organize and build railroad an
telegraph lines that were not needed an
, for which there was not room, for tn
purpose of selling bonds and getting fs
contracts. The West Shore railroad
one OF the schemes by which a gre,
! many western people were relieved {
7 their money. The bonds were placed b
. the old and we'll known house of Win
low, Lsnier s. Co, and were sold
: eighty cents on the dollar, interest pay,
BILE semi-annually at the rate of @ pr
cent. per annum. Bee Iuse they wei
I Endorsed by house of high standin
known IN the Wjst even better than in Ii
f, east. small savings were largely inVeste
In them. The road was built for specv
, lation aud to blister Vanderbilt. VIII,
4 is the RESULT Coupons are in defau
4 and the last quotation we remember f
a the bonds was fifty cents. This was oil
r OF the best undertakings of the kin
There were hundreds of them. Viii
> these bonds were being sold at eighI
4 cents on the dollar to confidlng peopl
| money was lOaning in New York at tv
q per cent. per a1num on call. There WI
n plenty OF capital there to build Il
. West Shore railroad if there had been
; place for it. But the money of Widov
II an orphans has gone largely into tn
- enterprise to stay, 1t is to be feared.
Thus the rotrenness which at last I:
y ploded was accumulated, aud the who
). country will be better for the collaps
= and 1t would bs still better If the M
who prodted by the schemes could
reached aud punished. II is a pity th
any of them should be able to rest
luxury while many OF their dupes 8
$ not far from the poor-house.
VI.
al