Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1884-07-31
STOCK GAMBLING CONGRESS.
MEN.
The Extent to Which it is Carried On
..SOme Notable Instances.
ALBANY IN. Y. Evening Journal.

ALBANY On " Evening Journal.
People away from Washington would be
surprised to know how much Wall-street
gambling is done by members Of Congress.
| can tell you some stories that would sur
prise you, but it does not pay to be too ex-
plicit about these things. Right In the
House corridor telegraph station Is main
tained for stock speculations, where the la
test quotations can always be seen. A few
steps away banking house in this city has
telephone station where messages are re-
ceived for the purchase and sale OF stocks.
Some of the gilt-edged operators do not
deign to go out after the quotations, but
send pages. The great New York banking
houses keep salaried agents here who hang
about the Capitol, gain the confidence OF
members regarding probable legislation,
and repay by giving them points" You
can see how much Congress can do to effect
Wall street 1t attacks or covers up the
fault it the national banking system, and
directs the financial policy of the Govern
ment. This year it has taken direct
hand in its assaults on the land grant rail-
roads. its threats to make the Union Pa
cific pay its Government debt, the PROPOSE
ton to establish Government telegraph
and the proposed subsidy to the Pacific
Mail steamships / know that several
Democratic statesmen have made hand
some amour s, in several cases far exceed
ing their salaries as members OF this Con-
gress by selling railroad stocks short and
then putting them down by bringing up
questions of forfeiting their land grants.
This has been exceptionally the case with
Northern Pacific, whose preferred stock has
been largely sold at the Capitol at figures
above fifty Some one must have big
profit there.
But the biggest deal has been in Union
Pacific. That stock is not worth half so
much as it was last December. The scare
then was based upon legitimate reasons.
The company owes the Government over
$40 100000, which it never intends to pay.
How to make it do so is problem. The
brokers got Phil. Thompson interested and
had passed in the House bill to have 55
per cent. of its net earnings paid over to
| the Government AS Abram 5. Hewitt
said in debate, this would bankrupt the
road and not only make the stock worth
less, but also millions of various kinds OF
bonds. which, in disregard of the law, have
been issued, but are now held by innocent
holders. who have been deceived into buy
ing them, in the belief that they were per-
fectly safe. This bill, if passed, would
virtually wipe out over $1OO,OOO,OOO OF
securities. You can see the result, and on
a sure thing thousands of dollars were
made by those on the inside. If the Senate
had not acted as safety-valve, and had
passed the House bill, l believe we should
now be in the midst of a panic worse than
that of 1873 for under Jay GOuld's mani
pulatiOn every one has lost confidence IN
railroad mortgages and shares. But the
| Senate Judiciary Committee saw how de-
structive such course would be, and they
, have made an arrangement with the Union
Pacific, bv which all further proceedings
are to be stopped until next December.
They make no concealment in that this
was done in order to prevent crash.
Next winter the company will be made to
Weld to the laws which it has boldly
broken. 1t can never pay another dlvl-
dend, and in few years the wise ones
look to see it in the hands of receiver,
and ultimately in the Government control.
YOu can see how members who were cog
nizant of these things could profit by
them. One Southern representative told
friend the other day that he had made
S37 900 by selling Union Pacific since Feb
ruary. There is enough in some OF these
things to warrant investigation how mem
bers have taken advantage OF their official
knowledge to make money. In one case
some of these smart chaps have been
beaten. When the Senate put the subsidy
clause" upon the shipping bill it was fgur-
ed up that Pacific Mail could be benefited
some 100000 year. They formed pool
and bought large block of the stock in
New York at prices varying from As to 5l.
1t has been down as low as 81 since then,
and never above AZ, and now that the bill
has been deprived of its subsidy provision
it looks as if they must wait great VINE
before they take out their expected prohts,
although some of them talk confidently OF
squeeze to carry the price up twenty
years ago some of these things would have
made graat sensation. You remember
the Credit Mobilier scandal came out OF
members having an interest in Union Pa
cific, then asupplicant for Government and.
Now there are more who are pecuniarly in
terested in putting its price down, when 1t
is begging for mercy and their votes may
| determine it.