The morning call., 1891-07-26
THE SOUTH SEA
BUBBLE COMPANY.
Some Entries Thai Are Of Much Historical
Interest.
Some New Light Thrown Upon One Of the
Greatest Swindles Of the Times-Ex-
tracts From Many Letters.
The reports of the Historical Manuscript.

INC pages Vi Lu6 tUIuiU6 1TOUu WHICH These
quotations were made (Tweltth Report. APP
pendix. Part TX: Eyre & Spottiswoode)
we have come across other entries of much
historical interest. There are. for example,
numerous letters relating to the famous
South Sea bubble, some extracts from which
our readers will no doubt be glad to have.
Everybody has heard, of course, of the
South Sea Company. though probably few
are acquainted with the circumstances under
which it came into being. 1t was estab-
lished by Harley (afterward Earl of Oxford,
in III, and. possessing as 1t did important
commercial privileges. it continued for some
years to be one of the most considerable
and esteemed mercantile corporations in
the country. Eventually the Government
thought it polite gradually to pay off the
national debt by Incorporating portions
of it with the stock of fourishng COM
panies. The SoHth Sea stock was Sc
lected for this purpose, and the Directors
of the company soon became so keen after
absorbing the national debt that they Of
fered more than e7,000,000 for it. Their
terms were accepted by the Government,
the stock was issued, and for time the
whole country was in state OF frenzy.
Landlords sold their ancestral estates :;
senting ministers, men of fashion, poor
widows, as well as the usual spectators on
Change, flung all their possessions into the
new stock. Then came the inev-
liable reaction.
THE BUBBLE BURST.
Bankers and goldsmiths who had loaned
money on it were everywhere falling. The
stock fell faster than it had risen, in few
weeks the Ell Dorado dreams were diSpelled
and disaster and ruin were carried through
all classes of the nation"
The story is an old one. But 1t Is not so
old as to prevent the contemporary letters
which we are about to quote from being
read with interest. The first Of these docu-
ments is dated somewhat about 1920. and
consists of a letter from Mrs. Windham, who
was at the time il London. to Ashe Wind
ham. of Felbrigg Hall, in Norfolk. 1t runs
as follows:
"South Sea is all the talke and fashion;
the ladys sell their Jewels to bye, and hapy
are they that ara in. 1t has fell little,
some say till the bill is past; others, foreign
ers doe not come in; last post sayes 1t sells
in Holland for 400 but the first
gamers. jenny (Ashe Windham's brother)
so pleased with bis good fortune, his grave
face Is turn'd to smiling; he can't locke
on you without a shipper. Mr..
Whltworth gave me 200 guineas
for tbs refusal of South Sea at 500 in two
not take it, and | be a rich widow at last.
Never was such time to get money as now"
The next letter is from James Windham,
and is equally enthusiastic:
81 grow rich so fast that like stock Job
bling of all things. Since the South
Sea has declared what it gives to the annui-
tants stock has risen vastly. South Sea has
this day been 400; they offer 80 per cent for
the refusal of 450 for the opening. | think
it will be 800 before the shutting, l mean
the stock"
But ere long change came Ger the spirit
of their dream. The bubble burst. The
following letter (Mrs. Windham to Ashe
Windham, August %, 1920, is somewhat in
coherent but it is clear from it that there
has been disaster or that
DISASTER Is ABOUT TO OCCUR.
THE bubbles instead of million have. by
underhand ways, have projected to increase
their stacks to millions without end, have
forced the Government to zoe about to sup
press them, and ii they cannot doe it, the
Parliament must, or millions must be undon,
for how can lutstrlng cOpes, and Thames
water, or insurance employ millions,
abundance will be loOsers now; Sir Alex
Cam. fsic] $4,000, Lord WestmorIand
915n,000, and lesser people in abundance.
Stocks that sell at 100 canot divide 81,
some not I'D"
A month later September OF, 1920 Will
lam Windham writes to Ashe Windham as
follows:
There never was such distraction and
undoing in any country. You can't sup
pose tho number of families undOne. Ono
may almost say everybody is ruined who
has traded beyond their stock. Many q
hundred thousand man not worth sroat,
and it grieves me to think of some of them.
L have no contracts against me only that
they upon whom have obligations are bad
paymaSterS. They call South Sea
800, but there are no buyers. Mr.. Walpole
and giVa hOnaS Of hpttnr
things in few days; not penny stirring"
james Windham appears to have suffered
severely from ths failure of the company.
Poor Jimmy's affairs are almost ire
trievable (writes William Windham to his
brother in Norfolk, Or November 26th), and
as TO the misery which | think will attend
this affair we DO not see the one-hundredth
part Almost all one knows or sees are
upon the very brink of destruction, and
those who were reckoned to have done we'll
yesterday are found stark nought to-day.
These devils of Directors have ruined more
mems fortunes in this world that l hope old
Beelzebub will do
SOULS FOR THE NEXT.
Lord Irwin has compounded difference
of e27,0 with Colonel Charters for under
$1,000, but over, L fear, great sums Dor
row'd. Sir Il. Wrench is quite out of heart,
going home On Monday. If the Ministry do
nothing after all their promises, they are as
bad as the Directors. ="
At last certain steps were taken in the
House of Commons. What these steps were
may be set out in the words of the unfortu-
nate Jimmy" himself. The date of the
letter is January 5, 1720-2l:
"a bill is ordered to be brought in to
make it felony for the South Sea Directors
and others of that house to go out of the
kingdom, felony to ALLEVIATE their wealth,
felony to conceal 1t and felony in other to
conceal 1t. Motioned by Sir Joseph Jekyll,
seconded by IL. Walpole and others, this
past nenine c0ntradicente and will put
them under great difficulties. A committee
of thirteen are ordered to examine this affair.
who are to be chosen on Friday by ballOting
There is no danger but enough will be
proved against them-it is illegal to buy
stock in a corporate capacity, unwarraut-
able to lend money on subscriptions, but
the top Directors have 100 things to answer
for. The town are very much rejoyced at
this vigor in the Commons for it was
shrewdly suspected the Court did desire To
screen the Directors, for fear it might draw
in CraggS; as for Aisleby, he must fall, he
has at least been guilty of as much villainy
as any Of them.
The Directors have brought themselves
into bankruptcy by being cunning artful
knaves; have come into the same state for
being very silly fool. / loose by people
being ruined, and by the third and fourth
subscriptions not being delivered out above
10000; this will pay no debts and binders
me from paying them other Pail
Mall Gazette.