The Advocate and news., 1898-03-30
Pntrlotlsm Of Val street.

to the rescue Of the country when the
war broke out" And then he proceeds
to tell how the thing was done. Mr..
Cisco was sub-treasurer In New York at
the time, and, acting under instructions
from Secretary Chase, he tried to raise
some money to help the government
out. "He showed a number Of the lead
ing operators and flnanciers that within
a few days the interest on the accruing
obligations would have to be paid, or the
government paper should go to protest.
= 1t was one Of the most critical
moments in the whole history of the
republic" Mr.. Clews asserts, and wall
street men perceived the gravity Of the
situation at a glance" 1t was natural as
well as patriotic that these good Wall
street men should go down In their
pockets and from the fullness thereof
load Mr.. Cisco with funds to carry the
government over the crisis. But they did
not do that. And while considering what
might happen If the government failed
to pay promptly on time, sad reflections
passed like clouds over the minds Of the
Wall street men. "The foundation of all
securities was threatened with destruc
tive upheaVal," Mr. Clews says, and mos
serious consequences were likely to en-
sue. menacing a contraction Of all
values" OF course such an upheaval
would not affect the Wall street people.
They could stand any amount OF contrac
tion of values, and they cared nothing
about shaking the foundation Of securi
ties. for they were not engaged in the
security business But II they had been,
the patriotism of Wall street was never
known to be below par, and now that
there was an opportunity to go to the
rescue of the country they were not going
to let q little matter of an upheaval In
terfere with an honest discharge OF their
duty even If "the prospect was very
dark" And Mr.. Clews solemnly AYERS
that mot q ray of hope shone through
the sombre clouds that hung dismally
over the union. - The stOutest
hearts quailed" he says, "at the prospect
of our dissolution as a nation"
Is it matter for wonder that any men,
more especially wall street men"
should find themselves warming up to
the rescuing point and bubbllng with
patriotism?
Now listen! cat this Inomentout juno
ture," says the chronicler, when there
was no eye to pity and when no other
arm seemed mighty enough to save, the
Wall street men were equal to the occa-
sion"
How fortunate that was-that there
was an eye to pity and an arm to save,
and that too, right there where Mr.. Cisco
was, in New York. "They"-the Wall
street men-"put their heads together,
came TO the front, and resolved to ex-
tricate the government from its perilous
position"
That is the way patriotic men always
do in such emergencies. When they see
or learn about trouble, real, sure enough
trouble, they put their heads together
and resolve to extend the necessary as
sistance.
But here, dear reader, is the choicest
morsel in this devotional proceeding
the capstone to this monument to 10y
atty. 1t Is a pity we could not stop at
the last quoted word aHoVe-where these
Samaritans resolved to extricate the
government from its perllous position"
Could we quit there and enjoy the pleas
ure of feeling that the work had been
done and that indeed and in truth Mr..
Clews and his brethren had saved the
country for us, our opinion of Wall
street would be more satisfactory. Here
is the rest of the story: "It is true that
they were well paid for It. They charged
IL per cent. for the loan, but that was
nothing when the risk is taken into
account. Money was dear at
the time, and the government was only
obliged to pay what could have been OBJ
tanned in other quarters. Curiously
enough, private property then was con-
sidered better security than the govern
ment endorsement, on the principle
which was not very patriotic one,
though in reality true--that the country
could survive its form of government.
In this recital we have character por-
kv.,g a kwv hnw A