Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-24

pered.
Now. the other day this man called
together a meeting of all those creditors
my brother represented my old interest
and he paid off that debt from which
he had been absolutely released more
than score Of years ago. dollar for dol
lar, with accrued interest to date. What
does that say for the men of Wall street,
and is it right to call them thieves and
tricksters. and the like-these men who do
things such as that? The man of whom
l speak was strict Presbyterian and a
conscientious Christian. You could not
say that he was not, could you?"
''Then you did not leave Wall street
because you had scruples. or did not APP
prove of the game there?'
Indeed, I did not: simply followed an
old inclination. ! had always had de-
sire to take orders, and when the oppor-
tunity presented itself took it. Then.
too. / found life there rather more eX-
citing than l fancied. Some men cannot
live outside of the excitement of the life
in the market: it gets in their blood, in
their BRAIN becomes the very essence or
their being and sometimes it drives them
crazy. Men have taken their own lives
from the strain of Wall street rendering
them mad, while there are others who
go through it and keep perfectly cool .
Il am a very enthusiastic person. and
whatever 1 go into l enter with all my
force, and l found in time that l could
not sleep at night. but would lie awake
and think of my business ventures. So.
as I say when the opportunity offered.
was more than willing to change the
pealed to me. But. even then. ! should
not have done SO ii l had not felt that
1 was called to the ministry, as l was
not to a business life.
But l believe in speculation. Why
not? Every business has an element
of speculation in it. And there is wide
difference between gambling and specula-
ton. They are as different as buying
a horse because you think he can GO and
betting on a horse because you believe
my Office and given me an order to buy
or sell; they didn't care which, SO long
as they were risking money on some
thing. They were gamblers. They'd bet
on the way a bird would fit, or the
place on which fly would light. They'd
bet on anything.
But not SO the Spectator. He thinks
he sees a chance to make money by buy
ing shares In certain stock, and he
buys. If the stock in which he has in
vested justifies his judgment he Is all
right, while il he has miscalculated he
is the loser. He has pursued straight,
legitimate business method. and things
haven't happened as he had hoped. that's
all.
All business is a speculation. Take these
merchants down town, for instance.
They buy a certain line of goods. They
don't know whether that particular sort
will take with their customers or not.
They buy it on the chance that it will.
They think fhov kn0U their oaonlo
they believe they will be able to get rid
of those goods at a profit. Now, suppose
they do not take? They have had a los
ing speculation. that's all there is to it.
The result did not vndicate their cal
culation. The marked-down sales prove
this right along.
1.-THE man who built my fathers house
in New York failed on a speculation.
He was big speculator in buildings.
He considered that a certain venture
would pay, but it happened that the
houses he had built did not find ready
purchasers and, as consequence, he
went under. He simply backed his judg-
ment. and it did not prove good. These
same thing. They put up a row of
houses, because they think they will be
able to dispose of them probably. II
the houses are not what the people
men who specialized in them, and they
lose. through no fault of their own.
Its the same in everything. When the
Fifth Avenue Hotel was built in the early
sixties the man who built 1t was warned
repeatedly that 1t was rash enterprise.
as. 1t was predicted. 1t would be left on
his hands q failure. Yet when ! went
there In .'65 there was no room to be had
for love nor money in that house. That
was a winning speculation. The event
justified the mans judgment. If the ven
ture had not been successful. would you
call the man a thief? Or would you say
he was a trickster because he had sue
ceeded? Nevertheless. he was quite as
much of a thief and trickster as the man
who, in a straight transaction. buys
shares in Wall street because he thinks
1t will be a winning speculation. They
both follow the same method for the
same reason-they want to make money.
And there is nothing reprehensible in
wanting to make money It's a fine thing
to have. l wish I had more Of 1t, especial
ly for my church and my many charities.
/ don't approve Of a man who allows the
love Of money to drive all better senti-
ments out of his life, but 1 consider 1t
perfectly natural for q man to try to get
money. You cannot do much good now
adays without 1t. Everybody has right
to his share.