St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-07-06

integrity had not been thoroughly es-
tablished. Remember poor Ketcham.
How. soon the flying hoofs Of his iron
grays clattered with him to his de-
struction! Remember poor Gay. at 30
years of age astonishing the world
with his fortunes and his forgeries.
Remember that famous man whose
steamboats, and whose opera houses
could not atone for his adulterous
rides through Central park in the face
OF decent New York and whose be-
havior on Wall street by its example
has blasted tens of thousands of young
men of this generation.
I hold up the polluted memory to
warn young men whose moral princi-
pies are not thoroughly settled to keep
out of Wall street. It is no place for a
man who shivers under the blast of
tempta ton. Let me say also to those
who are doing legitimate business on
that or similar streets of which that
is type to stand firm in Christian
principle. You are in a great COM
mercial battlefield. Be courageous.
There is such thing as hero Of the
bank and hero of the stock exchange.
You be that hero. have not so much
admiration for the French empress
who stood in her balcony in Paris and
addressed an excited mob and quelled
it as have admiral ton for that vener-
able banker on Wall street who in 1864
stood on the steps of his moneyed in
stitution and quoted the fears of de-
positors and bade peace to the angry
wave of commercial excitement. God
did not allow the lions to hurt Daniel,
and He will not allow the "bears" to
hurt you. Remember, my friend, that
all these scenes of business will soon
have passed away, and by the law of
Gods eternal right all the affairs of
your business life will be adjudicated.
Honesty pays best for both worlds.
At certain times almost every pros
porous merchant wakes up, and he
says: 'Now, have been successful
in my line of trade, and I have toll
cradle income. I think I shall go
down to Wall street and treble it in
three weeks. There's my neighbor.
He was in the same line of business.
He has 100000 or 100000 from the
simple fact that he went into Wall
street. I think shall go too" Here
they come, retired merchants who
want to get little excitement in
their lethargic veins. Here they come,
the trustees of great property, to
fooleverything away. Here they come,
men celebrated for prudence, to trifle
with the livelihoods of widows and
orphans. Do you wonder that some
times they become insane? It is in
sanity. Do you know there are hum
dreds of young men who are perish
ing under the passion for stock gam
bling? Do you know that in all
Christian lands this is one of the
greatest curses?
It is not peculiar to mercurialAmer-
leans. Oh, no! Almost every nation
has INDUCED in it. The Hollanders,
the most phlegmatic people in the
world, had their gambling seizure in
1853. 1t was called the tulip mania.
It was speculation in tulips. Prop
critics worth 100000 were turned into
tulips. All the Holland nation either
buying or selling tulips. One tulip
root sold Tor 5000, another for 2,000.'
rolling on and rolling on
until history tells us that one Am
sterdam tulip which was supposed to
be the only one of the kind in all
the world actually brought in the
market $1,s16,OOO! That is matter
Of history. OF course, the crash
came, and all Holland went down
under it.
But France must have its gam
bling expedition, and that was in
1916. John Laws Mississippi scheme,
It was called. The French had
heard that this American continent
was built out of solid gold, and the
project was to take it across the
pecan and drop it in France. Elk
element beyond anything that had
yet been seen in the world. Three
hundred thousand applicants for
shares. Excitement SO great that
the mounted military
had to dispense the crowds that had
come to buy the stock. Five hun
lred temporary tents built to &C
the people until they
could have opportunity of interview
ng John Law. A lady of great
ashton had her coachman upset her
,ear the place when John Law was
passing in order that she might
lave an interview with that benevo-
ent and sympathetic gentleman.
Stocks went up to 1850 per cent,
Until one day suspicion got into the
market, and down it all went-John
Jaws Mississippi scheme-burying
is protector and some Of the great
st financiers in all France, and was
llmost as bad as a French revolution.
Sedate England took its chance
n 1920. That was the South sea
bubble. They proposed to transfer
Ill the gold Of Peru and Mexico and
he islands of the sea to England.
i've Millions worth of shares were
tut on the market at e 800 share.
The books open, in few days it is
IL taken and twice the amount |
Excitement following excitement |
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