The Saint Paul globe., 1899-07-16

cent. The city began to suspect some
thing was wrong. "Argentines'' fell
Sharply and became practically unsaI-
able. In August an attempt was made
TO form South American trust to which
all securities OF that name were to be
turned over, the ultimate purpose being
10 unload them on the public. The at
tempt was failure, and 1t was openly
charged the principal mover in it was
the Barings. Still the prestige of the
mousse did not generally suffer "Arge1-
lnes Kept on falling, but It was not un-
I'll November that the Barings yiel:leI
to the inevitable. They had accented the
drafts of S. B. Hale, another great nro-
noting banking house, for $40 5000 .0O0. OF
this S2O,OOO,OOO came due about the mid
ole or November. Lord ReVelStoKa went
to see Mr.. Lidderdale governor of the
Bank of England, and told him the stu
at1on Vague rumors that some great
mouse In London was in difficulties reach
ed the financial centers of that CITY. as
we'll as New York, Chicago, Paris and
Berlin within the next few hours There
were several days of suspense, broken
by brief announcement in The Times of
NOV. l5 OF the failure OF q large firm
whose name was not mentioned The
following Monday the whole world knew
the Barings had gone down, with liabili-
ties exceeding s10O, 900, ,000-the greatest
TO AVOID A PANIC.
Mr.. Lidderdale, to whom Revelstoke
had gone, had acted promptly. 1t was
evident If no steps were taken 10 avert a.
panic the like of which had never been
seen would run around the world, car
ry1ng thousands to ruin. He called a.
meeting Of great bankers and proposed a
syndicate should be formed which would
guarantee the Barings liabilities and un-
dertake their slow liquidation The Bank
or England signed the agreement and
below its name followed those of the
Rothschilds, the London and Westmin-
ster bank. the Hambros, the London
Joint Stock bank, Glyn Mills & Co, the
great Scotch banks, and all the financial
aristocracy of the city" The guarantee
was for &100. 100000. The Bank Of Eng
land had to borrow &15000, 900 in gold from
the Bank of France, and nearly $4,000 600
from the Russian government to meet
the crisis 1t was the second time in his
tory the French bank had helped out lis
English neighbor.
The panic was sort and sharp In Lon
don when the fact was announced the
Bartpgs' liabilities would be met The
effect was different in the United States.
A financial crisis had begun in Novem-
Der, which the Barring failure Increased
many fold. Railroad and Industrial stocks
TO Is per cent a day on certain days
There were scores of failures all over
the country. Other concerns that wealth
cred the hurricane created when 1t was
known that London, the financial center
of the world, was in the throes acumu-
lated the weakness that ended In their
collapse in the panic of 1895 Many con-
struction enterprises were in progress in
Various sections. In the South dozens Of
new towns had been laid out, some were
half-built Millions were involved in this
movement, which came to a sudden end.
Railroads were under construction theIe
was strong mining fever and hundreds
of new manufactures were planned. The
Barring collapse stopped everything. 1t
had so wide and direct an effect that in
the panic Of 1893 it was referred 10 as
the latter's real beginning. There are
numerous bankers who say It's effects
were not wholly overcome until last year.
The members of the Barring firm gave
up their magnificent mansions and es-
tates. The American branches Of the
house were reOrganized and the English
firm converted into a joint stock COM
pany. A remarkable evidence of the re-
Operative power OF the English was
furnished. By 1893 they had wholly 1e-
covered from the Argentine disaster and
were engaged in the wild speculation in
South African mines which brought Bar
ney" Barnato into the front, and later
In the industrial organization which made
Hooley a figure. But the Barings have
not recovered their old prestige, and The
once first house in London, though still
in business no longer dictates investment
OpiniOn