The herald., 1896-07-26
SPRING Street NOTE BOOK
by STANLEY B. ROSS

| iiOtCQ lOI IT'S lIdHCldl anu
consequent discomfort, much has been
said about the influence and design of
| the moneyed classes upon the conditions
prevailing in the country; around this
| standard a multitude of political par
| ties has gathered, each headed by it's in
dividual Moses, and they all seem to be
agreed upon the point that the power
| which is known throughout the length
and breadth of the land as wall
| Street. is the root of the evil. And it
may be there is more truth that poetry
about this general suspicion. Certainly
the principles which surround loaded
| dice, crooked card gambling, and doc
tored" wheels, are no further off the line
of fairness and honesty than the prac-
tices of this small but celebrated thor
| oughfare.
A great many, who have not seen. nor
| otherwise become informed upon the
| physical features of this street, imagine
1t to be a broad, busy avenue, at night
brilliant with lights and filled with hur-
rying crowds, on the plan of the Strand
| or the Champs d'Elysee, perhaps. But,
on the contrary, it is really insignfi-
cant-looking, but powerfully deceptive.
| place.
Away down on Broadway, commence
ing under the reproving frown of old
Trinity's shadows, where two centuries
| ago Queen Anne presented her generous
| gift to her co-religious subjects, and
running thence to the East river, is the
street wherein Is located the power
which undoubtedly has mighty infu-
ence upon the destinies of this nation
So narrow is it that the high monuments
of architecture on either side almost
hide it in perpetual gloom; and at the
first corner from off Broadway in p
structure which is now but a pigmy
compared with its more modern titanic
neighbors, is the Exchange, the head
center, the council chamber and gather
Ing place of the conspirat tors. whose in
fluence has made and unmade legisla-
lures, directed the operations of the gov
ernmental regime of Washington, spok-
en- with the voice of authority to the
nations of the world, and through whose
intrigues and Vaccinations the pros
perity and reverses of a great nation
have been made the playthings in the
financial game operated by the horde of
vultures congregated in the dark alleys
and hooks of this street, which ell con-
verge towards the Exchange" for "all
roads lead to Rome;" so in the neighbor-
hood of Wall Street, all ways lead to the
Exchange.
This legalized gambling hell has been
in existence for many years. Its power
Is always felt-a heavy load upon the
shoulders of a vigorous young giant
| striking a smile to the 'man of the
woods" and Sinbad But the giant has
| borne the weight so long that his
strength is based upon the standard
created by the burden. But once in a
while, the slowly increasing, steady
pressure gives warning to the nation
and world that crisis is at hand; that
the elements of creation are also those
of self-destruction; the lightning flashcs
threateningly from the heavy clouds
and a million firesides tremble at the
coming of the storm; for retribution
sometimes occurs, and the vultures,
the harpies themselves, are unable to
stem its course, to escape the Franken-
stein which tramples under foot and
destroys its creator. The balances have
been struck several times, conspicuous
ly in the late sos, the early '70s. and last :
ly in the sos, when Lombard Street,
London, trembled too, and the Barngs
and the Bank of France were strongly
in evidence.
1t was in 1884 that the last crash took
place. The air had for many weeks and
months been full of rumor and forebod-
ing, and the operators themselves had,
for long time, been seeking to still the
storm which was brewing in the dis
tance. The whole country was in state
or unrest and under tense strain, for the
mutterngs of the forces of destruction
was heard from ocean to ocean. The
close of 1883 drew on apace, and with it
the dread increased. By certain signs
the manipulators of the street" began
to entertain misgivings of their ewn
ability to stem the trouble, in time; the
corrupting processes of years of dis
honesty, and it's corollary distrust and
suspicion were now ripe for harvest;
they began to realize the slender bal
ance upon which they stood-that a
stealthy movement by one of their num-
ber-"unloading" large block of stock
.-WO111d nhoI h h,,;,,
trophe which for years had been waxing
strong In the shade" from the materials
gathered from criminal mismanagement
stock watering" lying statements re-
garding the stability of great railway
systems. and misleading reports of earn
ings ana surplus. The course of prices
for the shares had been stead
lily tending downward for two or three
years past, and as inside disclosures
every now and then regarding some
property heretofore regarded as i'm
pregnable and above reproach managed
10 escape through the yelled secrecy of
the street." the confidence and security
Of the country still further weakened.
AS the year drew to it's close events
shaped themselves more rapidly. and the
more prophetic of the denizens of this
underground night-bound hiving place
realized that the creature which had been
Lnelr servant so long, that history and
Aiou CCdSSu 10 exert the
influence they justified, had now be-
come their master, and that panic in all
It's destructiveness was soon to come on.
Those gifted with this foresight wasted
no time in closing out their IDEALS" as
best they could, without setting fire to
the mine on which they stood. and with
drew from the street or remained as
observers. The "Windsor' crowd. the
"Twenty-third street bear party" and
the hosts OF other operators outside the
pale OF the magic surrounding the "in
SIDE element were fast becoming filed
with the dread of the future. Each dav
the anxiety increased; suspicion stallxed
through the corridors of public conf
dence; securities which for years had
lain in the archives of firm belief were
now regarded with hesitation and uncer-
tainty; bonds and shares Concerning
whose integrity doubt would have seem.
ed sort of sacrilege, were deserted bv
the investor; wealthy middle-south-
ern system which for a quarter of a
century and more had been monopoiized
by solicitous parents and others filled
with regards for those dependent upon
them for investment purposes, had.
within few weeks, been shown to be
rotten to the CORE and its shares and
bonds thrown indiscriminately among
the wreckers Of the street" HOW
many helpless widows and orphans were
thrown upon the world by the shameful