The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-05-24
WALL STREET ETHICS.
A Few Straight Tips ON What Not 10
Do, and How to Do 1t.
From The New York Press


A successful gambler is the 1olnest sen.
satlon in the world; failure is more de-
pressing than malaria. 70 make little
on the outside" is the ambition of nearly
every wage-earner. Wall street beckons TO
him, the race track invites him. the
wheel, the bank. the dice summon him
The bucket shops appeal to him. and the
poolrooms of Messrs. James A. Mahoney
& Co, referred TO by Mazeteer Moss. open
wide their doors to offer him warm wei
come. Old men of 20 and boys of 10 20
about the city looking and asking for
good things" Anything for a gamble
Avoid Wall street as you would avoid
he'll In that zone of chance all hope is
abandoned. Consider we'll You 40 there
to make much out of little. You help 10
support over 5000 brokers who live in
splendid style You are hedged about with
the mystery of margins. and bound with
miles of tape-white and red II you get
out alive you are lucky.
If you want to buy 100 shares of Hook
ing Coal, offer a broker, a strange UNI
known creature of the street, 81 900 and ex-
plain that you are putting up a 10 per cent.
margin. He might otherwise imagine you
are giving him the $500 as a present That
$500 is 10 protect your purchase down nine
points in addition to the point at which
the 500 Is invested, less certain mysterious
perquisites which you would not be able TO
understand in twenty-five years For buy
ing the 100 Hooking coal he exacts $l25G;
for closing il out another $3.50; for carry
ing the stock he charges you interest at
8 per cent on $1,000, the value of the stock
at the market-$l6 share. He makes you
pay 81 for revenue stamps All this being
calculated beforehand, and deducted from
your deposit, you are ''in the market 4"
your Hooking coal Standing you net
about 1e3a. II must go up TO 179s in order
to earn you 500. Yet you bought II at 16.
Tt is one thing to be ''in the market and
another TO be lin touch with the market"
You have several ways of showing you
are ''in touch Join the crowd OF tape
hogs and hang over the ticker from 10
to 3. Tell the friends you meet that the
market is strong, or weak, as the case
may be from day TO day. and don't forget
TO mention that your are doing a few
hundred shares" Just a flyer, don't
you know, on a sure thing" With your
hat on the back of your head drop into
every beer dive and whisky den you come
across, rush up to the ticker in a hurry
run twelve yards Of tape through your fin
gers like creased lightning. gallop up
to the bar, order a small beer toss down
the collar and hasten out If it's going
your way tip your hat over the left ear;
If it's against you don't make a sign.
The standard of morals in Wall street,
broadly speaking, is lower than the bot
tom of the bottomless pit. Brokers are
not members of the stock exchange for
their health. They are there to edo"
you, and you are on the outside to do"
them Away from the zone broker
may be one of Gods noblemen. but once
he passes over the line his cloak of virtue
availeth not. 1t is checked on the outside.
He charges you per cent for carrying
your 100 shares of Hooking Coal, while he
borrows the money at 2, 3, 4 and per cent.
He beats" you out of the difference and
charges it to clerical expenses, etc. II
is required that notice of purchase shall
be given the customer. stating price. II
is also required that notice of sale shall
be given, stating price and the name of
purchaser. But, bless you! Not one
firm in 1000 will do this unless you in
sist upon 1t. / have had brokers say to
me: you don't care to have us give you
the name of the purchasers Of your stock,
do you?' Lamb-like. j would say. po-
Iitely: "Oh. no; it is not at all necessary"
| was a fool. Always insist upon such
notices, and keep them as you keep re-
ceipts.
Who do brokers hesitate TO give notice
OF every transaction2 / have in mind a
case where q sale of 900 shares of stock
was made at the market for a customer
who declined 20 trouble his brokers for
a notice. He supposed he would get $751;
they turned in his account at SSs. Hap
pening TO look over the papers giving sales
by the minute and hour, he came across
a transac tion made at the time his stocks
were closed out-1,000 shares at 1874 Il
was the only 1,000-share lot sod that day.
He called the attention of his brokers 10
it, and they Immediately made restitution
He has not traded there since They
good" That's a small matter
Never go in Joint account" with a
friend Take a stranger. Have no money
transactions in the street with friend
You will expect too much from him, prob
ably, and he will neglect to give you an
accounting on the score of "old fellow"
Both may take liberties. There Is not
one friend in 100000 who can be abso-
lutely square in money matters. Not that
he means TO take any advantage. Oh. no,
The sin is one Of omission only: he sim
ply says: "Oh, Jim's all right; what's
the use of bothoring with him?" But Jim
Is the very man who should be most care
fully looked after because Jim is a friend
and a friend is exacting, though he NAV
not say So
The small Spectator has no business
"rnonkeying" with the Stock EXCHANGE
but should have the run and privilege OF
bucket shops. The Stock Exchange is
one great bucket-shop admitted by every
one in the know; but the fact Is con-