The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-04-18
WALLSTREEI'SJ
There Is a Remunerative Market
Even for Dead and incur
y rent Securities.
How Impending Bankrupts Load Up
on Cats and Dogs to Account
-. for Assets.
New York Sun.


-.. New York Sun.
Inc Old Scrip Man was sitting in his
little office on the top floor Of "a Broad
street. On the deck in front of him was
one OF those big tin boxes whichvin busy
law offices are usually labeled, ''Estate of
The lid of the box was turned back so
that the contents were easily seen. It
was filled with bonds and certificates of
stock. The Old Script Man had just
completed a mental inventory of what the
box contained when Sun man. entered.
F'Ah. my boy, sit down. said the
specialist in the worlds old securities. Il
have just been taking my weekly inventory
or assets. / don't bother much about
liabilities because, if you look out for the
assets and keep an eye to WindWard. the
liabilities will take care of themselves.
Always spend less than you make, and
your financial foundations will be as solid
as the foundat tons of Gibraltar. l find
that my box contains to-day just $780,
900 worth of securities. Tidy little sum-,
that.
Il suppose I am the only man in the
! world who knows the exact value of the
contents of that old box. When I said
there were $500. 900 of stuff in it. I meant
that that was the par value of the paper.
what would l take for it? For the
whole lot, suppose you mean? Well, as
! don't like to buy a pig in a poke. SO l
don't like to sell one. However, it some
body insisted upon thrusting $4,000 of the
coin of the realm under my nose. and was
equally insistent upon taking therefor all
the paper in that box, | suppose l would
have to part with it.
But wouldn't be SO especially enthu-
sastic over the exchange. Some of that
| stuff may not be worth as much as a
government bond, but I had hard work to
get it. and I'd hate. to see it go out Of
the shop. And it wouldn't be such a
| profitable sale for me, at that.
why I wouldn't take $4,000 for the
| repudia ted sta te bonds alone. Then there
are some securities in there that would be
mighty valuable as bankrupt assets. But
I don't like. to deal in those things much.
because I always feel when / sell any of
my securities for that purpose, that I am
more or less a party to q bunco game"
What do you mean by bankrupt as
sets?' asked the Sun man.
/ l''Well, I don't mind telling you all about
those things. It's just as we'll that folks
should know all about the game. IT,
Every now and then a man fails. 1t
may be a big failure and it may be; a little
one; re- but big or little, the first. man to
know about it is the man who; makes the
assignment: . r. ,-5.r+ -:
.He knows he is going to fail long be-
fore any one relse yfdqes,, and most times
usually MAKES Some saortoVision for himself
and his family, if he has any, before he
takes the dear public into his confidence
and the papers are filled with stories about
Blank G. Co.'S big failure. ~ -
! ,f'Most men who have made up thei1
minds that it is absolutely necessary fol-
them to fail have some valuable assets
| These assets may be in the form of nego-
/ table securities. Before the formalities
1f ccso
signor concludes that it might be pre-
cautionary measure if he made some sort
of substitution in his security box. Sc
he comes around to see me.
| "He asks me what I have to sell that
was once pretty good and I mention a few
Of the cats and dogs that I have in my
| box. OF the things / mention, don't care
a continental which he buys or how many
of them. He pays his money and he
| takes his choice.
''He will pick out, for instance, few
old railroad bonds, some bonds of a water
! company or two, and he never fails to ash
for little mining stock. Maybe he will
I buy, par value, $4,000, 100000 or ever
| 5000, 900 worth Of securities.
Then he'll ask to have them put int
envelopes and write across the envelope!
what the securities were worth. say ten
1 fifteen or twenty years ago. That done
| he pays the score and goes away with thu
purchases in his pocket. He has paid me
maybe 5000, for what was once worth
5000, 900.
"Then he goes back to his place of bust
ness, opens his security box. puts in VIVA
he's bought from me and takes out VIVA
there was there. That which he takes ou
is PLACED where the assignee couldn't flint
it with dark lantern and a search war
rant. The creditors find that which HI
got from the Old Scrip Man.
~ f~0r ,@r
worth lot of money some time or othe
and the assignee and the creditors cal
readily understand how it was necessar.
for the man to fail when. poor devil, HI
had SO much money tied up in securitie
which had SO greatly deprecated. 70,
follow me?
"Of course, none of this class Of Gus
toners ever told me he was making pur
chases from my box for the particula
purpose which 1 have here suggested
after having noticed several failures, how
| ever. and the printed lists Of assets,
came pretty near being able to, tell wher
| the assignors got those deprecated Sc
curities, and what they got them for.
cit was some time before I caught on
but after a. while I got wise, and now
take the liberty of asking anybody whom
I may suspect Of being about to make
substitution for revenue only what h,
wants to do with what he purchas es from
me. If he makes a frank statement o
his desires,~I tell him there is nothing
doing. If he lies. like a gentleman, VIII,
there is nothing leftsfor me to do but t.
make him pay well for what he buys
what did you mean. asked the SUI
man, when you said that the defaultet
state bonds in your box were wortl
$1O,00O?' sE s.. e.. ~. ~
That's an interesting story answere,
the old scrip man. you see, my bushes
is dealing in defunct and uncurrent Sc
curities. In all sue hsecurities I am
specialist and, without putting on to-
much side, suppose I am the best ex
pert in the world. You see, I wouldn'
have to be a very great shakes, at that
because there are mighty few in my lin
Of business. ~. 4. .&
after the war all the southern state
4 issued bonds for something or other
Most of these bonds were issued for tn
purpose of raising money to build rail
roads. The state of mississippi however
put out a great quantity of bonds for tn
building of waterworks.
Practically all the southern states de
fau1ted on those postbeIlum obligations
There were plenty of northern states, toe
that put out bonds before the war, an,
afterward defaulted on them. For in
stance, some time in the thfrties Michi
gan, as well as some other western states
!, put out bonds to build canals. That wa
: before there were many railroads in tn
Z. west, and the general understanding va
s that no railroad should ever be built t
!, parallel the canals.
Il In some cases the understanding wa