The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-02-11
LOOKING FOR A NEW
CRISIS IN WALL ST.

From the New York Press.
Men in Wall street do not want a crisis
just now, but they are looking for one, and
in every ear there is whisper that 'ft's
bound 20 GOMEZ 1t is a safe sort of tip to
give out. OF course, things cannot go on
thus forever. What goes up must come
down. 1t is only a question of when eau
tious customers are advising customers to
go slow.
The first great money crisis through
which the country passed was the panic of
1887, caused primarily, by a craze for spec
ulation, which swept like great wave all
over the country. Paper money was SO
plentiful, owing to excessive issues by ire
sponsible state banks that men were
loaded down with luere and all gambled In
stocks-just the entire country is doing
today with the currency of the realm.
The distribution of the surplus revenue
was a cause of arrangement, and the last
straw was the governments order that all
payments for public land should be made in
specie. All the banks in New York sus-
pended specie payments and those in Bos-
ton Providence, Hartford, Albany, Phila-
delphia and Baltimore followed suit
Over 300 failures took place in this city In
short time, involving loss of millions.
In two days houses in New Orleans stopped
payment. owing an aggregate of $27, 900, 900.
In Boston 1853 failures occurred in less than
six months.
BLACK Friday'-September "a 1S69-is re-
membered by nearly every broker in the
street, some of whom still speak of it in
whispers. Gold went up, manipulated by g.
bull clique, from 191 to 164. Money got tight.
Stocks fell. New York Central dropped ~
points in 20 minutes. Hudson river fell 10
points. Margins were wiped out Scores Of
Spectators and weak houses went to the
wall. 1t was known that the clique held in
gold and contracts for delivery, $12O, 900, 900,
while all the current gold in New York did
not exceed $4,000 900. 1t believed that the
president and members of his cabinet were
In league with the clique. Suddenly man
rushed into the gold room and exclaimed
that the government would sell gold. The
price dropped from 164 to 1876, and the power
OF the clique was broken It's members
were obliged to conceal themselves for safe
ty. Congress appointed committee to in
vestigate the charges against the presi-
dent, and they were proved to be without
foundation.
High living, the importation of vast guam
titles of merchandise and a subsequent bal
ance of trade of some $6S, OOO,O 900 against US,
too much building of railroads and an I'M
precedented activity in the promotion of
boom towns, caused, partly and principally,
the panic of 1873. We stepped little over
ourselves and got a hard fall The credit
system was entirely suspended Runs were
made on numerous savings banks, and but
for the thirty-day notice privilege many
would have gone under The New York
Clearing House suspended. Some railroad
stocks fell 40 points, while many others
dropped from 20 to 80 per cent. Thousands Of
workmen were thrown out of employment,
and thousands of others were put on
duced pay. The effects of the panic were
felt for several years.
The panic of 1880 was caused by the theft
of Russell Sages loan tickets. Daring
brokers got hold of them and learned that
certain prominent houses in the street,
known throughout the financial world, were
borrowing money from the old mser at Is,
16 and even as high as Is per cent. This en-
abled the clique to put the screws on
as the phrase goes, and several large firms
were destroyed on November 10. In this
crisis Decker, Howell & Co. failed for $l1,-
100000. over in England guarantee fund
of $50, 900, 600 was raised by bankers to save
Barring Brothers from bankruptcy.
The time is ripe for ano.-.er Credit Mo-
bilier Object-Nicaragua canal What
glorious opportunity. But have we an
Cakes Ames and Schuyler Colfax in con-
gress today? Have we even so miserable
man as Brooks of New York? Strange was
it not, that New York should have fur
nished the two men so deeply implicated in
the scandal-Colfax and Brooks? Pretty
good thing! Credit Mobilier paid as high
as go per cent. on the capital invested.
Shares sold as high as $500. Colfax was
speaker at the time, and Brooks was gov
eminent director of the Pacific railroad.
Ames had pretty knack of letting con-
gressmen in ION the ground floor, but he
was censured by the house along with
Brooks.
The capital stock of the Credit Mobiier
was $4,000, 900, afterward increased 90 per
cent 1t was the biggest thing of it's day,
vet what an utterly insignificant affair
when compared with the stock companies
and corporations of today, with capital
stock of $500, OO0, Goo Any old thing in the
shape of a trust nowadays is reSared as or
no consequence unless it's stock is above
$25, 000, 900.
Marian West in the Puritan. J.
Every day at three precisely,
We are dressed up very nicely,
IL elf wi m