The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-12-14

M W&YU0c40 unfortunate TeiuttSs anu
b 80 considered against good conduct
- the part OF gentlemen"
tE Rock Island Deal.
n. EhArtn Il Company, in this deal.
NIL nAd ,rderx to bay 4e.Geo shores In
Il twenty lots, among twenty brokers,
NnbNn was gross violation Of the
u commissicn rule, and an oTense
A&ainst y fellow man."
Samuel +. STREET.. Of III. T. Carey q
4 Company, member of the board of
governors CT the exchange. and chair
man OF the clearing house, explained
thai all members in good standing
were members OF the clearing house
which cleared for the exchange mem
bers. 1t acts as az auditing depart
ment Tor eu,befs of the exchange,
he said.
..No one presents an actual certi-
ficate of stock on the exchange sug-
!. gesied MIR. Ua;ermyer.
No one. That's left 10 the brokers
5 to settle on clearing house tickets"
replied Mr.~Streit
Mr.. Cntermyer: If required to pre-
gent the actual certificate Of stock that
woud reduce speculation? ,"
Il am not prepared to say" re-
piled Mr.. STREET
You have net made up your mind
as to the moral slant " short selling ."
suggested MIR Untermyer.
Thinks IA legitimate
II think it leg Innate. replied Mr..
STREET.. But came here to tell abou:
i the clearing house and am not pre-
pared 10 talk on other phases of the
inquiry
He was excused
An interesting witness who could
see nothing wrong with stock ex-
change methods was Henry Content,
of H. Content & Company. one OF the
mest active traders on the exchange.
His smile never failed as ne blandiy
assured Mr.. Untermycr that every
thing was legitimate. and all right.
but he refused to admit any direc:
knowledge Of stock manipulation.
He explained that when an opera
tor wanted to depress stock he sold
II short, If he did not have 1t, and
covered or sold when he got it to the
bottom, as he saw fit
You think that legal?" demanded
Mr.. Untermyer.
Il do.
Isn't pool often formed to make
= stock actlve?' asked Mr.. Inter
nyer.
old-Fashioneti Way.
THAT would he the old-fashion,
way said Content There are
nun Der Of big opera tors now and they
4 don't go into pools They don't want
partners"
Mr., Untermyer: They think IT safer
to GO alone and not to trust others"
yes. that's where your short sell
ing gets In Its work" commented Con-
tent.
Mr. Content did not know OF brok-
ers receiving orders to make stock ac-
tive.I think that banking houses do
that direct" he said. Il think that
many Of these orders 10 scale up or
down are To quiet or steady the mar
ket'
"non't you think that the public
4gas deceived 4av thts o'' Il
Il don't think SO. I think people
who buy shares and hold them gener-
ally profit" said Content
but II they buv on a Margin" OBJ
tected Mr.. Untermyer.
Many profit" replied Content
Did the people benefit in the furry
few days ago." asked Mr.. Inter
nyer.
Many Wiped Out
mo. many were wiped out" said
Content pleasantly.
And you think this all legitimate7"
inquired Mr.. rntermyer in concluding
rhe examination.
"Oh. YES. perfectly legitimate stock
trading concluded MIR. Content
j. r. Greier. of c. p. Barney & Com
pany. an Investment brokerage house.
said that he hid learned more from
the testimony OF Mr.. Content than he
ever knew about stock manipulation.
His firm had never acted for any syn
dfcafe in market operations. but he
knew that there were some large
speculative Offices in New York.
Bank Note Monopoly.
Mr.. Unfermyer took t1u the uflesfIO
Of the American Banknote Company's
monopoly OF security engraving bust
ness on listed stocks because If the
stock exchange friendship. George A.
Field. vice president of the New York
Hanknote company, a rival Of the
American Banknote company, said
that of the si0.0n0.000 capital of the
American company. about 81 500. 900
was held by j. r Morgan. William
Nelson Cromwell, F. G. Converse and
Joseph D. Delany, while the remainder
81 the stock was scattered. About
fifty members Of the stock exchange
are stockholders. A special committee
OF the stock exchange passes on the
quality Of all listed securities They
accepted the work Of the American
Tankpote COMPANY: The international
Ranknete company: the Western
/ Tanknote and Engravln~ company. ana
The Lee company. The American com
ranv absorbed It's rivals on the stock
EXCHANGE, and a number of others The
Huches commission declared that a
monopoly existed in the printing of
listed securities
Tax.d s2cco Day.
''It IL estimated" said Mr.. Field.
"that those who have to issue the list
ed securities are taxed about 81 GOO
dav In excess cost Of new certificates
Other engraving ccmrantes DO as good
wo~k for fifty rer cent Less
I'D you ever do work on the stock
exchange securities asked MIR. Tn
ternyer
I'm 1887 Jay Gould gave us an order
for Western Union certificates" said
Field "The exchange rejected them.
Mr.. could threatened 10 take his stocks
on the exch ange unless the order was
rescinded. We did work on listed
stocks for Eve years when we were cut
of finally"
w. e. Otteson. secretary of the Wa
rash railrced. and w. T. Andersen for
nner assistant treasurer Of the ehlgh
railroad, said thar security issues of
sfbeir roads engraved ty the New York
Hanknote company had been rejected
by the stock EXCHANGE, and that they
had heen forced 10 Issue new securities
ct considerable expense