The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-10-22
ETHICS OF SPECULATION

E s. MARTIN in Appleton's for No
 vember writes: 'It tells in a Sun
 A< day paper of the date of this writ ing, how somebody made million dollars in day. The somebody himself tells the story. It was done in Wall street when Union Pacific lately lifted itself by the boot straps. It was not really done in of anxious headwork. The continuation came impetuously, and proved to be un- expectedly tall and ample.
 MT. Somebody is a decent man, for aught that appears to the contrary, and the millions that his Pacific plunges brought him seemed to be honest money as money goes. How good is this money which MT. Somebody scooped up two months ago? It Is just as good as any money to buy things with. Jewellers will take 1t, and yacht builders and sellers Of automobiles. and grocerymen and marketmen too, and churches and col leges.
 What Is the matter with the pro- cesses, and why, if we have preserved any ethical instincts, do we dstrust them, even to the point in some cases, of hold ing that the next worse thing to losing a large sum of money In Wall street Is to win large sum there7 If We had sufficient money in hand, and knew posi- lively that by buying in the open mar ket certain quantities of certain stocks we could win a large sum, would we refuse to do 1t? Not many of us would But in actual practice fiscal opportunity does not present itself as a certainty to be accepted or refused as one may choose. It offers as a risk, and as a rule 1t offers only to persons who are looking for chances. Speculation is a mental and moral poison, just as alco- hol and, to less degree, tobacco are physical polsons. That Is not a conclu- slve reason for letting 1t entirely alone Tor very many of the poisons are useful to take. But it is a first-rate reason for using the utmost caution in dealing with 1t. There Is a speculative element In almost every kind of business. Farm ing is partly speculative; so Is manu- featuring and banking and shopkeeping work that has not gamble In it. s by so much, the worse for the lack We like a gamble better than certainty provided the hazard is not too great The fisherman who makes a small haul one day and big one another day, gets better entertainment out of his work than if he got precisely an average weight of fish whenever he went out. But there is a wide difference between work that has speculative element in 1t, and that species of speculation which is the expression of a desire to step in and reap where another has sown This last is not an elevating occupation It is not Illegal, but at least 1t Is parasitic And 1t is very greedy! Is 1t not true that mind that is once committed 10 the aspiration to get something for noth- ing is debased. and is the more debased the more 1t succeeds In getting what it Is after?
 Somehow MT Somebody's millions won overnight by the advance of stocks bought on margins, are not quite as good money as they might be. in spite of their purchasing powers. Hard as 1t is to generalize about speculation-to say this sort is fair and thatsi Is not, this sort is respectable and that isn't, this sort Is useful and that pernicious-we do in our minds make distinctions, and most of us are clearly conscious of having vastly more respect for money that has in some sense been earned than for money that has merely been gambled for What does this easy-come money do? Does 1t strengthen character or weaken it? Does 1t establish families or destroy them? Does 1t make for righteousness or for rottenness? l have no answer to give to these questions. I merely wonder about them. There Is bone and sinew in the country now. Where did 1t come from? There will be bone and sinew in the country fifty years from now. How much of 1t will be the product of this easy-come money? There are 100 brokers on the New York Stock Exchange. The number includes many strong, upright, and remarkable men. Their trade is considered to be about the best paid trade in sight. l do not know of any trade In which the same amount of ability, integrity, and work gains as much money as in the stock brokers trade. Is 1t a good trade? It has it's good points and undoubtedly 1t has its good men. Moreover. 1t Is a trade that is indispensable to the bust ness of the country. But as commonly conducted it must be pretty trying to the sensibilities. To be doctor and see folks physical sores has it's drawDacks but to be a broker. and have the cupid ity of ones fellows under constant in- spection must be a good deal worse. Moreover, the doctors have the happ.- ness to relieve suffering and help to cure disease but the brokers don. make many cures. Like the doctors they live by disease. but their office is rathe- 70 promote than abate 1t. Certainly the brokers trade deserves to be profitable, 1t must be so unpleasant.
 "The game at It's best is dog eat dog. and at Is ordinary worst 1t Is dog eat rabbit To play it as game is more tolerable than to make serious work of 1t. but it is a game that Is apt to run away with its players and absorb more thought. If not more money, than they can spare.
 That Is the worst of stock speculation Its devastating and unsettling effect upon the mind. It Is the enemy of tran ouility. of concentration, of all lofty thought. It is expressing. and incurably