The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1920-05-18
GAMBLING IN
TULIPS COMMON
IN HOLLAND
People of This Little Country Lost
Fortunes In Developing the
Beautiful Tulip.


How would you like to invest every
cent you possessed and mortgage your
future on the chance that a plant as
yet implanted would produce bulb
that in turn would blossom with a
flower the color of split pea soup?
That does not sound like very secure
investment, yet people took that and
similar chances not in isolated cases
but by thousands at the time of the
tulip mania in Holland in the 18th CEN
fury. Americans by the thousands are
making investments no more sound
every day in oil and rubber and mining
and industrial stocks.
The tulip madness seized on the peo-
pie of Holland at the close of the Thir-
ty Years War. The plans were intro
duced into Holland from Germany
where the first bulbs had been import
ed from Constantinople by Conrad
Gessne in 1859. From the original red
and yellow flowers, over 1900 varieties
and shades were developed by the
Dutch fanciers and sold for fabulous
prices. Deer 1900 forms ($5200) was
paid for a single Semper Augustus
bulb. Ownership in individual bulbs
were divided into shares and the
shares sold broadcast among the peo-
pie, rich and poor alike.
Bulbs were sold before their exist
ence by men who possessed none. More
bulbs were sold than existed and those
caught in the corner thus established
were drained of their last possession
by the "longs." The seedlings seldom
lowered until they were five years
old and when a new color was devel-
oped, there was no certainty that flu
ture blossoms would follow that color.
Tremendous prices and prizes weer Of
fered for new colors 100000 florins be-
ing once offered for a perfect black
flower. After the bulbs lowered in the
spring, they were dug up. wrapped
carefully and stored in a dry place I'M
til the following autumn when they
again were planted. There was endless
gambling and speculation in the
break" in color of such bulbs.
Trickery and violence were resort
ed to bull or bear the market. One
Spectator, it is said, who was long"
of brown and yellow tulips, finding
that one of the large fanciers would
produce a tremendous crop of those
colors, tied two cats together by a
six foot string and dropped them by
night into the beds where the bulbs
were nearly matured. The frightened
animals destroyed thousands of dol
lars worth of plants with their impro
vised mower and the market went up.
Not satisfied with the appeal to the
desire to gain wealth quickly without
working for it, the tulip promoters
even made an appeal to the religious
sentiments of their dupes. Many
adopted a slogan He who has no re-
gard for flowers, has no regard for
God, arguing that as the tulip was the |
most beautiful flower produced by the |
Creator, not to value it was to dis
credit one Of Gods most beautiful |
manifestations.
The tulip madness has its counter
part in the frenzy of speculation in I'M
sound and worthless stocks in America
1,n |
promoters are urging investors to sac
riflce their safe and profitable Liberty
Bonds and their savings and invest in
oil, mining and other ventures which
have no more security than the change
in color of flower. The tulip fanciers
learned to kee pthe cats out of their
gardens but no means has been found
to keep the present day wild cats out
of the oil fields or the mines.
After thousands of families had been
ruined, the Dutch curbed the tulip
frenzy and profiting by their lesson,
the inhabitants Of that country turned
to economy, saving and investment in
sound government securities. The OPP
portunity for such sound Investment |
now is present to the investors of |
America in the shape of War Savings |
Stamps, Treasury Savings Securities |
and Liberty Bonds. By the use of those
securities, this country may learn the
economic lesson at a profit insead OF
a loss that It took Holland years and |
terrible distress and financial disaster
TO acquire.