Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-09-21
The Haste to get Rich.

ST honestly believe that this fever
Of speculation, this craze to get some
thing for nothing, this craving for
sudden riches, no matter how they
come, contains the elements OF far
greater danger to our whole people
than any possible turn of the pOIiti-
cal Weat her-cock. 1t is cont0gion
more insidiOus and fatal than any
epidemic, and it is spreading from
the great centers of speculation and
gambling out among all classes and
conditions Of people in a manner to
alarm every thoughtful observer. y
The speaker, says the Rambler Of
the Pittsburg Dispatch, was q mem
Der Of one OF our most conservative
and reliable banking firms, which
also does q large and strictly legiti-
mate investment business. With the
words quoted above he had concluded
an earnest and manly philippe
against the speculative. tendencies of
the day, and now proceeded to en-
force his position by q case in point:
"a distressing instance came under
my personal observation not very
long since. There were two maiden
ladies, sisters, who by long years of
81 Liz 1-Cl4 aCCAALlLA4Cl lEtL gpLOsOOL.
We had been investing the money
for them for q long time at rates
/ averaging about 3 per cent. They
| had some time ago dropped from the
! ranks of school teachers, and, being
unable to earn anything, they had
| to manage to live upon that income
/ OF $500 a year. "Smau wonder that
! they often used to ask us if we could
not secure q better rate of interest
/ on their money. But just as often
we had to answer that 3 per cent was
the best we could do for them in any
| investment that we knew to be alb
| sOlutely safe. OF course there are
| other investments paying more in
/ terest, we would say, that we think
/ are quite safe; but there is always
| some shadow of doubt about them.
| II you were men we would tell you all
/ the circumstances, and you could
use your own judgement about TAX
! ing what risks there might be. But
/ for helpless women, we WillnOt invest
a penny unless we know it is safe IN
! all human certainty
Such replies always seemed to
! satisfy the old ladies until one day
/ when they came in and said that they
/ had to have a larger income in some
! way; that a certain broker had told
them that they might get 8, 10, Is,
! OreVen so per cent out of some in
vestments, and WOuld't we please
! put their money into something Of
! that kind.
g No, ma'am, we viii not said
my military brother in his brusque
| but kindly way; we can't find any
thing safe for you at more than 5
per cent. We're tired of telling you
this, anyhow, and if you want we
viii give you back the money right
now without waiting to sell. L dom
! know anything about the brOkeryOu
named, one way or another, but if
/ you think he viii do better for you,
90 to him by all means. But one
thing-dOn't you come back here
crying
''They took the money and left.
/ Inside of two weeks they returned
and with tears in their eyes begged
us to help them make that TascalIy
broker disgOrge. He had put their
| $4,000 into petrOleum-sO he told
them-it had all been swept away,
| and now he was after them for $500
more for additional margins that he
claimed to have advanced himself
1T was outrageous, atrOciOus; it
made my blood holland that the
more because, from inquiries [ had
made in the meantime as to the bro
! ker's character, / more than suspec-
ted that he would want nothing bet
ter than just such a chance to pat
/ $4,000 into his own pocket without
taking it into the market at all
But what could be done? Doubtless
they had in their ignorance author
lied him to invest in oil for them, and
he could swear the rest of his defense
through easily enough. Publicity
has no terrOrs for such fellows. All
we could do was to tell them that Of
| course he had no claim on them for
the extra margins he talked about,
but they had just as little chance of
recovering their money from him.
81 shall never forget the look Of
utter desOlatiOn and horror on those
/ poor old WOmen's faces as the truth
dawned upon them-the hard saw
ings Of years gone in so many days;
| nothing left for the old age already
closing upon them but the poor
house and the pOtter's field. And
| the dignified banker cOuohed slightly,
drew a handkerchief from his pocket,
and proceeded to free his eye glasses
Of the moisture caused by an imagi-
nary cold.
Diamonds Too Rich for That Cow.