The evening times., 1896-02-10

current issue of S1GO ,OOO 900 worth OF
| bonds.
| The stories told of profits made By bidders
| who weat into IL purely matter of spec
| uiation. without capitalandupparen.ly with
oat responsible ba cking .rea d like fairy tales.
Fortunes have been made in Il day, and
| that wiih"at the expenditure OF n dollar or
the assumption of responsibility. 1t has
/, becn III some instances dazzling and gilt
1 teriIg fca aiizaiion OF wild dreams of finan-
| cial good fortune.
An. man coaid bid for bonds 10 an unlim-
| itcd cxteut without "A line OF guarantee or
| the deposit of ii ccut OF forfeit. Adventures
| with au eye for the main chance could not
| have imagined mere brilliant opportunity
10 clear enormous profits without a parti-
| Che Of risk. aud will the deposit OF even
| The most Insignificant stake.
THE GAME.
| The only wonder is that more men did
not take advantage of IT, for the game was
one which almost any man with n little
familiarity with financial methods and the
run of the stock exchange might have
played with 4 fair chance OF winning.
| As it was, some men without dollar 10
| their names and without any personal
| financial responsibility put in their bids
for amounts OF bonds which D9body but
the biilicnairc could have been able TO take
up and to which reputable banking insti-
tuiioas would not have dared to attach
their nJines.
All these incn had to do was to make out
their bids AT varying rates with a little
shreyd calculation as 10 the price at which
the ma Joriiy OF the bonds were likely 10 go.
For example. it was pretty thoroughly
accepted in financial circles before the bids
! were opened that any offer of 112 or over.
I Il
bonds. Z
Offers below that rate might involve
larger profits but there would he a lcssdegree
of certainly III the realization. IL was 10
be assumed that the large syndicates would
take a very considerable share OF the
bonds at the lowest possible rate. but above
his there would b- a margin which would
have TO In divided among the smaller
bih.!ers who made more generous offers.
All that was necessary. therefore, WAS
for the speculative Individual 10 enter his
b,d and co,npia Gently await the result,
knowing that there was nothing for him 10
lose and that there was much which he
might gain.
II his name should appear n the list OF
awards IT would b. only necessary fer him
80 90 to II responsible banker. VINO had
facilities for securing gold, and sell his
option on the bonds at good margin
There was plenty of tine, as according
to the terms OF the sale ii was not necessary
to make The first payment of 90 Fer cent
In gold until February 15- That day has
not yet arrived. but the bonds are already
quoted at III in the open market and
on margin OF that amount there could
be no trouble in disrosing of the option
at good profit.
no DEPOSIT REQUIRED.
But even If this did not niaterializc there
fA va
In case OF a failure To seil the option, or
in case the rate offered was too high
for a responsible banker TO handle the
bonGS at n profit no bidder was under any
ohlICatian To close MS contract and no
ppnaity was involved.
1t Is true the government retained the
right 10 reject any and all bids, and several
bids for great amounts were rejected IN
this way because they we're palpably the
offers of irresponsible cranks. But out OF
a list of nearly five thousand bidders 1t
has. of course. been out of The question for
Ih., committee on awards to detect every
irresponsible offer. especially where the
address OF the bidacr was at some financial
center.
wherever the government has offered to
public competition the contracts for public
works of any kind ii has been the rule of the
Treasury Department to require each offer
to be accompanied by certified checks as an
evidence of the sincerity and responsibility
OF the competing bidder.
In some instances this safeguard is re-
auircd by law. and its object is to pre-
vent straw bidders from entering into
ccHpetition with responsible contract
ors soleIy for the purpose OF reseliing
or subletling the contract or OF throw
ing it Up altogether in case purchaser
could not be found. From the bidders
for bonds practically nothing was re-
Quired except the ability 10 make out
a proposal intelligently and sign name
Several instances have already come
to light Of the nature Indicated. and doubt
less there are others. One of the successful
bidders turns out to have been bucket shop
uperatOr in an Eastern city. who entered
bids at different rates Tor several miiiions
OF bonds He was allotted over one mill
ion. Before the award had actually been
made iic had received an offer Of $500
for his chance, but refused it. Now since
the award he has been offered $50, 600.
\ FINE EXAMPLE.
This shrewd Spectator two weeks ago.
1t is said was sued for 4 debt of less tfan
Sloo which he was utterly unable to pay.
In this particular instance the operator
had taken the precaution which seems to
have been unnecessary. OF getting an OPP
tion IN advance upon the gold necessary
to carry into effect his bids. but he lad
not been involved in any expense The eahN
from which he secured the option will
probably take the bonds off his hands and
clear such profit as does not accrue to
him.
one bidder in New York who bid slightly
over III has been awarded S2o0.000 in
bonds and has already sold his option for
81 $500.
As 4 matter of fact the method pursued
by irresponsible. bidders differed in no es-
scntial particular from that followed by
the Morgan and Stewart syndicates.
For example, Picrpont Morgan, in bid
ding for the whole issue had previously
made himself the representative of Others
who were prepared ofurnisb the gold either
all at once or in the installnents required
br the Treasury circular. Now that about
S:s3. 900 300 have been allotted tn Mr.. Nor 1
gan he will promptly dispose OF his option
lea almost exactly the same manner and
perhaps Il, an even higher figure than have
the IRRESPONSIBLE adrrninrers who have
sriccecded in procuring smaller allottments.
The ONLY difference is that Morgan was
dealing with an absolute certainty and
with a complete sense OF responsibility.
KILLED BY 4 DEAD WIRE