New-York tribune., 1903-04-16
WALL STREET.
n Store of Information for the
Outsider.

Pratt limo. pp. xvii. 2s6- D. Appleton q 70
Mr.. Pratt who has followed the course OF az
fairs In Wall Street for many years, as jour
nalist, has prepared IN this book a compreheh-
s.ve explanation for the general reader OF tne
subjects Of speculation. investment ana money
as illustrated IN the history Of our exchanges
In the opening chapter a sketch is given OF lne
history and early evolution of Wall Street. now
the second market OF the world The funcuohS
Of the Stock Exchange, the methods OF the
brokerage business. the relations OF the haI aIoilS
Treasury and the money market the conducting
Of banks and the phenomena OF panios an" 0'
ners are described in detail.
Some discussion Of speculation as feature Oh
normal business activity is entered into' as the
book is aimed not at the men engaged IN the
daily use OF stock market tools, but ct the ou'-
slider who is apt to have his views clouoeo py
prejudices resulting. naturally. from the s'sn'
Of abuses But the vast organization OF the
Street" is not wisely TO be condemned for It's
unhealthy conditions.
7, WALL Street upon the substantial founoa-
.son of investment. has been built vast super
.--,ct,,rs o< sneculation- Speculation is an IN
,estn1ent Of money in which large risk is taken
tn expectation OF great gain But IL Is hot eaSg
N draw the line where investment eluS diIu :
sr.c,,is+soT begins In Wall Street such line
S. drawn, but II Is arbitrary DIVISION: "ne.. ne.
bought
a,ev ~ riace for safe keeping, and held for
tbe Income fl yields-that is called an invest
.71ent When q security is bought on MAJ @ sIn
and held for sale as as the price advances
that IS speculation. The bulk OF dealings IN
stocks IS speculation
The operations Of the merchant who buys on
credit in the expectation Of disPosing o. MS
goods at profit are much the same as those
oS the broker who in the same manner buys
stocks
II all business. whether in stocks or in trade,
were conducted strictly on the cash or lnFest-
,Y1en+ basis the transactions would be very nm
fted Credit means expansion and activity IN
times Of panic, when credit is Withdrawn, speCu-
lation ceases and all business becomes OF the
investment order. Then stagnation sets H.
wages fall and widespread suffering is caused.
Some one has said that speculation is a disease
Of the mind" but Henry Clews gave lar petter
definition. He said that Speculation is n1etnoo
for adjusting differences Of opinion. as TO future
values whether of products or of stocks II
-egT,fatee production bv instantly advancing
prices when there is a scarcity, thereby stnu-
lating production. and by depressing prices
when there is oVerproduction.
The victims Of corners, the author says. are
not entitled 70 any great sympathy. as they
have. with their eyes open, contracted to sell
something they do not After reciting the
chief corners which have occurred in the Wall
Street market from Gould's famous attempt to
corner gold, which ended in Black Friday, the
author observes that corners in grain. cotton
end coffee have generally been failures.
Even Keene failed utterly in effort TO cor
ner the corn market The reason is that the
products are too large. and there are too many
sources Of supply, successfully to establish
monopoly Still. there have been a few successful
corners In products, and IL is related that more
than 112 years ago Ouvrard noted European
specuiator, succeeded in cornering first the
paper and then the coffee market
curious attempt to produce stringency in
the money market is remembered OF Daniel
Drew, who. in 1866, carried several millions Of
dollars in cash to Jersey City in a carriage.
The copious explanations Of the methods and
tools of Wall Street are made palmer in this
book by numerous facsmiles of business forms,
drafts statements, clearance sheets-even
brokers' pad memorandum is shown The facade
Of the new Stock Exchange appears as frontis-
piece