Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-12-15

great degree to the commercial world.
nor lead 10 bank suspension which
had marked the other panics. In 9TH
er words. II was confined 10 the
street. Its effects. however. We're
most disturbing, Jay Gould and
James Fiske had made an audacious
attempt TO corner gold. They bought
Il right and left. lifting prices 70 phe-
nomenal figures. They even permit
ted the idea 10 ga abroad that the
president. Grant. was in sympathy
with them; indeed. a participant. and
that they would not be nterfered with
from Washington. Perhaps that was
their undoing. for at the momen OF
their success, when it Was supposed
that they had all the available gold
in the country. the government step
ped in and sold $4,000. 900 Of gold
from IFS vaults. The corner fell.
Many men were ruined and the man
ayers Of the corner were deprived OF
the enormous profits they anticipated.
BY evasion OF verbal agreements ana
Reputation of contracts they saved a
profit out OF their nefarious scheme
which has been estimated at Sll OOo.-
00O. The influence of this unsuccess-
ful intrigue was felt for several ears
Away Back In 81.
The panic Of 1855 followed twenty
years OF almost unbridled railroad eN-
pansion. when miles and miles of rail-
roads were built through unremuner-
alive territory. The direct cause OF
the panic has been attributed TO the
defective currency system then OBJ
tanning and 10 unstable banking prac-
tees. At hat time the banks were
all OF them state banks, existing under
no more supervision than was made
by. a most defective state system. In
deed. each individual bank seemed to
be a law unto itself. Each bank made
it's own issue Of notes and decided for
itself what credit Il should give over
extension Of credit on the pert or most
OF the banks was adjudged to be the
immediate aus When the crash
came. bank after bank closed It's
doors. announcing its suspension,
Raids on the banks forced the suspen-
sion. There was. In fact, little re-
sumption. Commerce was greatly al
fected and the failures in the COM
mercfal world were SO many that a
survival Of those dreary days was sub
seuuently a tower of strength Ia the
commercial houses that a lived
through the time.
The Most Disastrous.
The panic of 1897 was the most dis
astrous in the history Of the coun-
TRY. II followed a peilou 81 flbNN'iii
years OF prosperity which had been
dominated by the United states bank
This institution had been bitterly OPP
posed by General Jackson. The ques-
ton Of whether or not a United states
hank should exist was In politics. In
I 1896 the charter Of the bank having
expired. General Jackson was strong
I enough 10 prevent It's renewal. with
It's sudden removal from the affairs OF
the country financial and commercial
there was a revolution, II a descent
into chaos can be called a revolution.
Everybody chose to leap into the
banking field. Not alone banks char
tered by states solicited support, but
private hanks were organized which
had little more to commend them than
the confidence of a community IN the
Individual who had assumed to be o
banker. All these banks issued cur
rency which was circulated over the
country That II was a deprecated
currency may well be imagined. None
Of il but was viewed with suspicion.
There was no stability. II was at this
time that the term wild cat as APP
piled to banks and TO currency came
into use That crushing failure should
follow was natural. IL did. and COM
mercial houses fell over the country.
the news Of which struggled for place