The Washington times., 1903-07-03
MACHINERY OF SPECULATION
CLAIMS ANOTHER VICTIM
Charles II. Schwab's Breakdown and
the Moral to Be Drawn.

OF right minds. in the presence Of
| Charles NJ schwab's fnal breakdown.
| after receiving many rude bullets Of FOR
| tune. Is one OF pity. He seems victim.
His generation and the system Of great
J finance. upon which It was his lot to
( fall. have proved too much for him.
The fine natural abilities with which ne
| set out. the physical vigOr. the mental
energy. the technical training. the mas
/ terry Of men-today they all appear but
| as so much splendid promise wrecked.
| The vast and remorseless machinery OF
| financial speculation has drawn him in
and left him bruised and bleeding.
Five years ago. Mr. Schwab's position
was most enviable He had found his
/ work. The career open TO his talents he
! had successfully run. Rising by indus
! try and merit to be the managing head
OF the Carnegie company, he was an IN
| spring example OF the way in which this
country spells opportunity. and in which
among US talent pushes to the TOP.
Blessed with health, enjoying the con-
/ fdence OF owners and men alike. he
/ had "a heart that in his labor sings .
and might have boasted. with Lowell
( that such a heritage "a king
might wish 70 hold in fee" Great
| powers finding happy exercise-there is
good definition OF human felicity. and
Mr.. Schwab seemed to have 1t securely
/ in his possession.
| But the tempter lay in wait for him.
II took the guise or those glittering re-
wards which the gambling mania holds
out before those who would make haste
to be rich. There is an undoubted peril
1 here for every commanding talent.
Eager syndicates stand ready TO exploit
| II, exhaust It, and then fling it aside
K like a squeezed orange The process
has been seen in the literary world.
/ Success has been the ruin OF many a
rising author. He has jumped at the
money bait.
The big checks waved in his face By
/ competing publishers have dul1ed his
artistic conscience, and he has sold poor
work as il 1t were good. not perceiving
! that it was only himself that he was
really selling-and degrading. Some
thing like that seems 10 have been the
| seductions before which Mr.. Schwab
/ fell Not TO do his best work. bur sud
/ denly to get rich. became his ambition
The prizes dangled before his eyes daz-
zled him. With millions Won and lost
in daring speeulations. with paper for
| tunes made BY stroke Of the promot-
/ er's pen. why should he longer eonfne
\ himself 10 the humdrum task OF sim
ply managing with all his skill a great
property? He incontinently joined the
ranks Of the financial plungers- IN
other words. pursuing fckle fortune. he
followed her up to and over the edge
/ Of the precipice where IL is her won't 20
/ lead so many Of her votaries
IL would. OF course. be idle TO deny
that Mr.. Schwab displayed in all this a
| scrrowful lack OF mental poise and
moral fiber. he acted like a man whose
head was turned. His rakish descent
upon Monte Carlo was an eye-opener 70
the discerning AS we said at the time.
Il revealed a reckless spirit in a man
whose position laid upon him the abso-
| lutte obligation at least TO appear con-
| servative. It was. as We know, grief
10 his friends: but IL was more than
that It was a warning 70 investors.
/ How could they know that the man who
would ostentatiously stake thousands on
/ the red might not make ducks and
| brakes OF their property. by transferring
the scene OF his gambling operations
/ from Monte Carlo TO Wall Street? AS
Il turned out, we see that Mr.. Schwab
die, in fact, bear out the reputation
/ lie thus unwittingly won for himself.
/ He was loud and lavish in his personal
| expenditures. His chief outside enter
prise - the shipyard contradictory
pears in the light of judicial opinion
/ 10 have been at best a gambling spec
ulation; at worst. something still more
cuipable. The jUdicious, we are bound
to say, were not surprised at the recent
! revelations affecting this concern A
shrewd old business man put the matter
tersely. What else could you expect
/ frcm a Monte Carlo gambler?"
/ Il is only because there are 10 be
drawn from Mr.. Schwab's case certain
| broad fnferences and warnings. more sig
nificant than anything merely personal,
| that we have felt justified in referring
to it. For Mr.. Sehwab himself. we have
/ only regretfuI sympathy. But he has
| been unconsciously a powerful moral
| teacher He has revealed to the obser-
/ want the true nature OF that world OF
| high finance into which he so rRshly'
ventured-with all its desperate chances
and wild audacity and gamblers passion.
so destructive as we see. 10 physical and
moral life alike. He has shown US what
| comes Of thinking IN hundred millions,
and living in mad rivalry Of luxury.
/ The "get-rich-quick" method Of Wall
/ Street appears. in the light OF MF.
! Schwab's misfortunes. no better moral
| ~. and not even any more successful in
the long run. than fleeing schemes on
/ the Bowery. And he has done not a lit
| tie 70 remind US that the old-fashloned
/ ucraIities and the well-tried rules Of
! business are still supreme. Financial
i follies surely come home TO roost. New
! syndicates cannot enact new laws OF
morality. The gambler remains gam
bier still though he hazard millions. TO
have re-enforced while illustrating these
| hCmely truths. and 20 have done some
thing to lead the poor man, happy in
/ useful work, not 10 scorn his lot, may