New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-12-06

.hh DAHL ibid u NE, WI
and IN the week ended December there was
depression of to s per cent in government and
State securities Following the firing on Fort
Sumter the general market declined 2 per cent
on the average. and in June, 1861, government
bonds were on the bargain counter. Mr.. Sted-
man goes extensively into such topics as specu-
lation in government notes which comes under
the chapter entitled Legal Tenders; he tells
OF the banks rallying to the governments rescue
In the early days of the Civil War and the sub
| sequent suspension of specie payments by the
banks; Of war taxation and of the going into
effect of the legal tender" measure; and. in
fact' he includes in his work every feature of
the financial situation which played such an i'm
portant part in the history of the country in
the oUg. Trading in gold was not tolerated
for an length Of time on the New-York Stock
Exchange, but the effect of the speculation in
the metal had as Mr.. stedman states an i'm
portance to the country at largs never paral-
ieied by any other sort of dealing In 1863
gold was sold at $50 and in 1864 Secretary
chase sold several millions of gold in this city,
putting the proceeds into the sub-Treasury. Re
garding this Mr.. Stedman saws:
aTk s oPTTate d. in two ways to break the stock
down u s, III sorts Of merchandise. also carried
in governInn ana the locking up OF much money
Was d, was he Morse panic Mr. chases action
t tbS ao me gold premium but the bulls had
made vain on e anT ascent IS again The government
II 1alIed; and the price of the metal steadily ad
n}t the hi history tory of the soeaed gold boom although
the metal In O 6cla 69siness 80 was paid for
fXchange was organized.
The chapters dealing with the great financial
giants OF the Street In days gone by are filed
win entertaining details Of stock market battles
III winch the leaders in speculation made and
losI fortunes and In which the big stock
market corners were engineered in way not
equalied by the operations of the traders Of the
present day The conditions responsible for
lie 80 caiied Hlack Friday" panic are we'll
known by the few remaining oldtfma snecuIa
tors of Wall Street, out if is o,ita mol, tbo+
me present generation knows little Of the actual
situation and the progress Of life in wall Street
in the days of the Civil War and in the twenty
years Immediately following The modern
Spectator does not bother his head with
study of the past But it may pay him. never
theless, to read carefully the record Of other
days as set forth in THE History of the stock
Exchange
1t is generally agreed that the panic Of Fri
day September "a. 1869, more disastrous
in its effects than any other disturbance ever
recorded in Wall street OF this day MI. sted-
man says:
aser Of Black FRIDAY mad been engineered By
the clique. The movement made itself felt early
grew worse with each succeeding day. Gold opened
@H ss efPoon Fisk At 9 byps had
driven it ; points higher The closing quotation
also the merchants. long used TO regard per
cent fuGtuaton in the metal as sufficient for one
day and now alarmed lest an interval Of wart inc
uncertainty should recllr. The Clique now mac
in It's control between $i $40 and sltSoowo OF
Inarkable 1T commenced with jay Cooke. said
fact. it included every firm in this country of any
magnitude whatever Long before the gayel
ness on the morning Of septeInber "a the financial
It's visitors We're quite una ware that BLACK Fri
day had dawned. They could not foresee to what
moose was Tightening about his neck, the average
demned. But every man knew it was time OF
revealing in his power and Importance He sat in
his shirt sleeves. armed with heavy cane and in
in and down ny t room st carrvine the cane and
ihformfne his sateIfites in pompous tones that he
was the Napoleon Of Finance Mr. Gould sat quietly
father may contempatc the doings of a precocous
child. II was Fiske who spoke wren Speyers
had S TeacRed his nt e told S te broker TO go
back and buy all the gold he could get at 80. The
formal opening of the days business in the Gold
Room the metal at that price, and for about
ly the ring not quite ready to put the screws
on. But the crowd well krew that the agony was
Two hundred brokers crowded about the fountain,
where stood the Cupid carrying a dolphin in his
arms and hurled their fierce CALCULATIONS the
Enclosure. At the centre ring was packed a mob
were two galleries in the Gold Room the lower one
set apart for messengers and the upper one now
could not enter crowded New, Broad and Wall sts.
Just outside the entrance where the indie tor
the silk-hatted importer josted elbows with me
shoestring gamestfr, TIE samins slippeInented the
pickPocket covertly piled his calling.
nem MEMBER IF Tie STOCK B6ard pushed his way
through the crowd to tell him that the brokers at
to bid some one would shoot him down He
would continue to bid Having thrown out his def
door Some 81 tRe menbprs who evdentiy regarded
his action silly bravado Kissing as he went Then
return 10 the cold Room and put gold up to 16o
adding: You'd better be QUICK for I've given some
other brokers the order to pay that price for It
without a question as to his own security or the
sanity Of the movement without one cent of mar
gin or yestige of written authority for this wild
Work It was Shortly after ii ociock that the
torrents Of realization For long, DARK nouT
hundreds of men OF all classes from the opulent
earnings were imprisoned in a margin. had stood
at the outer railing and turned fearful eyes toward
gle. Some there were who had already slid over the
edge of the bankruptcy pit. but many were simply
that deadly Indicator and business credit, fortune;
the bulls fail carry forward ller designs should
eS hausted capital or rnc99qrera6le foes compel opel
dared to hope come to the rescue before it was
too late. the inflated price would sink as brisky |
as It had risen and the air would still be good TO
breathe and the sunshine good to see So they had |
wait for reprieVe. Wien Speyerss memorable |
voice began to lift the premium higher they saw l
The bids mounted with only inconsfderabIe reac-
oH5 M9thing 1 was apparent TO hinder the raising