Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-27
WHITNEY, THOUGHT DUMB
In CRISIS, HEADS EXCHANGE
Former Star Athlete Snaps Fingers at
Legend Branding Him as Poor
Business Executive.
BY THOMAS CARENS.

4 will become president of the New
York Stock Exchange, that for six
months he has been swapping hi;
fingers at legend that would make
most other men see red.
The legend, If true, would set Dick
Whitney down as one of the dumbest
men in Wall Street, when everybody
from page boy to banker down around
that Whirling corner of Broad and Wall
knows that he is one of the smartest
Other men, placed in similar circum-
stances, would gnash their teeth in rage
and would send impressive looking rep
reSentatlveS around to editorial sane
tums seeking explanations. Young Mr.
Whitney has found too many things Of
greater Importance claiming the fleet
ing moments of each day
The legend was born on that never
to-be-forgotten Black Thursday-Octo-
Der "a, 1929-when security values
started to hit the toboggan at a speed
unprecedented in Stock Exchange his
tory. 1t was solemnly asserted by
writers who should have known better
that at a crucial moment on that fran
tic afternoon Mr.. Whitney stepped up
to the Steel Post" on the exchange
floor and bid 205 for $4,000 shares of
United States Steel, which had just
been offered at 1874.
HeroiSm Brought Joshing.
Any attempt TO check the headlong
liquidation of that afternoon was big
news and the newspapers of the follow
ing morning paid considerable atten-
ton to MT. Whitneys supposed contri-
button in that direction. They referred
to his "heroiSm," and when steel kept
going down under l94 there was dis
position to subject Mr. Whitney to some
good-natured joshing.
The sophisticateS of Wall Street
knowing Dick" Whitney and familiar
with the mechanics of floor trading.
knew from the first that the story was
absurd For the man who agrees to
buy stock above the current quotation
is automatically obligated to take every
share which has been offered below the
price he sets. Anxious as Mr.. Whitney
may have been to avert the impending
panic, neither he nor the gigantic bank
erS pool which he was presumed to
represent could have afforded such a
heroic gesture. 1t might have meant
bankruptcy for all of them, and the
last state of the market would have been
worse than the first.
1t occurred to some OF Mr.. Whltney'S
friends therefore, that he ought to spike
the story at once. and some of them set
out to find him and tell him so. But in
those days the proverbial needle in the
haystack was easier to find than this
stalwart vice president of the exchange
who had been compelled. through the
temporary absence Of the president. to
assume all responsibility for weathering
the storm.
Kept Friends Chasing Him.
When they caught up with him three
or four days later he did not know what
they were talking about He had
scarcely had time to eat or sleep, to say
nothing of reading the newspapers. And
-v-Na~ they suggested that he try to
oyerUaKe the legend he told them he
was too busy to bother And for prac-
tically every working day of the inter
yening months he has been just as busy.
Therefore it was only natural that
when the official nominating COM
mittee of the exchange two weeks ago
presented him as the only candidate
for the presidency at the election on
May II some newspapers blossomed
forth again with the story of the bid
of 205 for steel that was selling at 1874
AS usual, his friends told him he ought
to scotch such reflection on his bust
ness acumen. AS usual, he snapped his
fingers and told them he was three
minutes late for another committee
meeting four floors above.
What actually happened at the time
this legend gained such wide circUla-
ton may now be authoritatively set
forth. All Mr. Whitney remembers is
that on the afternoon of black Thurs
day he walked up TO the Steel post,
noted that the last quotation was 205
and bid that price for l0,000-not 25,-
O00-shares. He Immediately hustled
away TO execute another order. Suisse
ouently only 200 shares were delivered
TO him. To him it was a trifling
episode in a rather narrowing day. AS
for demanding an eXplanation-why
the Stock Exchange itself has furnished
two empahtic answers: First, by the
adoption of an extraordinary set of
resolutions by the governing commit
tee on November 81; and, second, by his
unanimous nomination as its presi-
dent, The youngest man ever to hold
such tremendous responsibility.
Resolutions Tell Of Service.
The resolutions adopted by the gov
erning committee last November are
worth reprinting in full, for they recite
very compactly the service which Mr..
Whitney rendered during the panic.
They read:
1T is an old saying that great emer-
gencies produce the men who are COM
petent to deal with them, and the truth
of that saying has just been verified in
the New York Stock Exchange. The
recent crisis brought on by an unprece-
denied decline in security values and
the strain on the physical machinery
of the financial district that accom-
panied IL will go down in history as
unusual both as TO its magnitude and
as 70 its gravity To meet the danger
Gus conditions that had developed so
suddenly and so Unexpectedly the Stock
Exchange needed above all a leader
endowed with courage, resourcefulness
and sound judgment in ORDER that the
efforts Of It's members should be
properly co-ordinated and skillfully
directed. This leadership deyolved
upon Mr.. Richard Whitney, vice presi-
dent of the exchange. who exhibited
the required qualifications TO such a
high degree that the storm was sue
cessfully weathered and the prestige Of
the exchange maintained and strength
ened. Be II therefore
Resolved, That the governing COM
mittee do hereby express TO Mr.. Rich
ard Whitney their appreciation of his
efficient and conscientious labOrs dur
ing the severe financial disturbance of
October and November, 1929 their ad-
miration for the rare qualities Of lead
prship displayed by him and their con-
Eiction that these qualities proved to be
Of inestimable value to the exchange;
yId be 1t further
Resolved, That these resolutions BE-
b~read upon the minutes Of the meet
Ng and copy thereof suitably en-
E ossed be presented TO Mr. Whitney"
That copy thereof suitably engrossed"
Is now between the exquiSitely bound
covers Of a book which is the most
priced volume in the library at the
Whitney town home az lis East
Beventy third street
Predecessor Lauds Whitney.
Another characteristic tribute comes
from the man whom he succeeds as
president of the exchange-E. H. H.