Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-11-13
A DEFENSE OF WALL STREET.
The Stock Exchange and Its Methods
Defended-SpeculatiO

The Stock Exchange and Its Methods
Defended-specuIation on.
George Rutledge Gibson. of New York
city, addressed the convention on the SUBJ
ject of "Wall Street" He said in the
course of his address: "The principle OF
speculation is inherent in all business; it
is, indeed, but another name for foresight
and progress. 1t expresses itself perhaps
more quickly and palpably in a stock ex-
change than in purely commercial circles,
Just as a wave of heat registers itself more
quickly on bulb Of mercury than upon a
bar of iron; but the heat is there exactly
the same in both instances. The merchant
endeavors to read the future, and prepares
himself for it; the manufacturer sells his
goods in advance of their production; the
contractor agrees to build house before
he owns a plank or board or nail-or to
build a railway before he buys a cross tie,
a rail, or a shovel.
The Farmer Is sin It." Too.
1.-THE farmer who markets only enough
of his wheat, or the planter of his cotton,
to meet cash necessities, and withholds
the remainder because he expects higher
prices for his nroduct, and not because he
wishes to consume such surplus is NOR
ally as much of u speculator as the person
who, also with a view of reselling, tries
to buy the farmers wheat or the planters
cotton at current prices The Bank of
England, that Gibraltar of conservatism,
which occasionally goes into the London
money market to borrow on its consols
for the purpose Of stiffening the rate of
money by absorbing the supply of loana-
BILE funds. performs a speculative act as
distinctly as Vanderbilt, large owner of
l. - 4
into the Stock Exchange aud purchased
all OF that stock floating on the market in
order to create higher quotations and
better market.
What Influences Wall Street.
1When killing frost blights farm in
the northwest, or a destructive flood sub
merges plantation in the south, Wall
street takes immediate note of the fact.
and IL general damage be done to either
section. all the railway aud other corpo-
rate properties located therein whose
shares are held or dealt in are immediate
" deprecated in value. The destruction
of property by the great Chicago fire was
estimated to have deprecated Stock Ex-
change securities $500, 000.0O0. On the
contrary, if crops are large aud farm pro-
ducts high, the values of these properties
reflect the prosperity of the agricult ural
regions.
Spectators and Legislation.
at is sometimes alleged that corrup-
tion fund exists in Wall street designed
to promote legislation hostile to the coun-
try. This is palpably absurd, for nowhere
is to be found wider diversity OF views
as to- political and financial measures
than within the purlieus of the Stock Ex-
change Republicans, Democrats, mug
wumps, free traders, protectionists, siu-
gle standard men. hi metallsts debtors
and creditors, all shades of opinion and
sentiment mingle there. Wall street
itself is largely composed of brokers, who
act as agents for their principals, who
may be western farmer, southern
planter, New England manufacturer, as
well as local capitalist.