Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1907-03-22
THE PANIC.

Wtll street mas again thrown the
c. untry into panic. For two weeks
Il g Stock Exchange has been the
scene daily of wild, il not demonlacal,
sights. such az are seen nowhere else
unless in mad house. The excite
lnent has abated now, the battle which
was waged with never such fury has
ceased. and only the smoke is seer, and
the random gun is heard. After the
conflict let US look over the field. The
dead and wounded are being gathered.
the wrecks and ruins are smoulderlDg
and smoking here and there, and,
those VITO witnessed the confict afar
off are asking the reasons for 1t.
There is no necessity for such a den
o. iniquity rs the Stock Exchange.
Monte Carlo is not half 30 bad. The
Louisiana Lottery was mild affair
compared with it, and let us remark
right here, were the Stock Exchange
located in New Orleans instead OF New
York, it would be wiped out OF exis.
tence quicker than in the twinkling Of
an eye. But it is the pet OF Greater
New York, it ia the device Of the mon
led sharks to catch lambs, it Is the
gaming table at which the world plays,
and the hazards are greater than Monte
Carlo has ever been, At Monte Carlo
one has partial show. In the New
York Exchange a few "thimble rig
gers'' manipulate the cards, and those
on the wrong side of the tables are
neeced more uuMei cifully and more
criminaliy than the three card monte
man fleeces bis country pumpkin
friends at circus, or the Grand
Dukes are feeced at Monte Carlo.
Why then is the Stock Exchange al
lowed to exist? The question carries
with it the same answer as, why are
trusts and other rObbing devices al
lowed Money is everything, espec-
tally in New York. The scheme is too
enticing to the confidence men of Wall
street to permit of its destruction.
Similar houses exist in London, Paris
and Berlin. They are created by SIM
liar influences and supported by the
same character of patrons, as in New
York. After each furry in the market,
the suicides and wreckage appear there
as here, but the moral sense of the
public has not risen high enough to
blot them out. The rulers profit by
them because they stand in with those
who fleece the unsuspecting, or the
ignorant. or the small dealer.
But for the Stock Exchange We could
scarcely have a panic. Panics are
created there. Not one have we ever
had that did not have its origin In
Wall street. Confidence is destroyed
by the results of stock sales in that
gambling den, and for the sake of those
who wager that certain securities will
rise or fall today or tomorrow, the
whole country must suffer in its bust
ness, and suicides and criminals be-
come the bi.product of it's work.
1t should be bIotted out. Why stop
Garfield because his house took $500,
900 from Reginald Vanderbilt at one
sitting and leave the Stock Exchange
which takes billion from those who
can i'll afford TO lose dollar. in less
than day. If blotted out, those
who have stocks could still sell them,
but sell them as We do horse or COW,
or yard of calico, and not as is done
in Wall street, which is simply to gam
BILE On whether stocks will be worth
more tomorrow than they are today.
If blotted out there would be no
panics of day. There would be fewer
of those who rob their employers, EN-
bezze trust funds or blow their brains
out after each wild, disgraceful and
disgusting scene as the Stock Exchange
has just created.