Year: 1875

to him with letter of introducHon-or
without one, il you happen to be an
eminent editor, 'prize-fghter, lawyer,
theologian, or a member of any one of
the learned professions-and he insisted
upon you making his house your home
while you stayed, furnishing you with
horses, steamboats,, palace cars, or any
thing else you wanted to go with when
you went.


Invited down to his country seat, you
| were at liberty to remain as long as you
pleased, and perhaps you would not see
your host more than once during your
visit. The whole rancho and all it con-
tanned were at your disposal, however,
and if a man could not enjoy himself
with such freedom of range as this, the
fault surely could be but his own. I
have heard it said that the Bank of
California allowed him 1876, 900 year
! wherewith to entertain Eastern visitors.
Again, l have heard it stated that no
limit was fixed, but that carte blanche
was given him to entertain valuable visi-
tors as he pleased, and that ut the end of
the year he drew for the total expense
| incurred. If you ask me which of these
stories believe, I reply, without the
least hesitation, neither!


You have heard of the Bank of Cali
fornia, of which William G. Ralston was
president at the time of his death, per-
haps. Do you know what it was 2 No2
Well, the Bank of California was Will
liam O. Ralston. At the time of its Or
ganization he was cashier only, it is true,
but if you suppose that the president of
bank is anything less or is meant to be
anything more than a respectable figure
head, you know less about banks in gen.
eral, and New York banks in particular,
than one would suppose possible in this
age of general enlightenment. AS
cashier, William G. Ralston ran the
bank. AS president he ran the bank.
The bank he always was, and when the
bank no longer was, he died-by suicide,
some say-naturally enough, say I.
Here you have the whole history of the
bank in nutshell. AS for the directors
or trustees, all, they were good men and
rich men, undoubtedly and as such
they, in common With other stockhold-
ers, will now have an opportunity of
performing the first real duties which
the honorable situation of stockholder or
director makes imperative, viz, paying
in o handsome assessment to make their
stock good. Thus the end crowns the
work, and perhaps some day the day of
uumiuleS Will De uOne.


It may be complained that have writ
ten too much about an individual and
too little about an institution But it
WAS necessary to tell what the one was
in order to explain the workings of the
other, The Bank of California was
restless and ambitious, in direct response
to the characteristics of its founder.
The two pulses beat together. AS a
synonym for strength, its name on the
Pacific coast long ranked next to that
of the Bank of England. AS power,
the Bank of England was but country
schoolmaster in comparison with this
most despotic ccaliph-locally considered,
mean. The Bank of California either
controlled, OF meant ultimately to gain
the control of everything on the coast.
1t was at any time ready to contract to
take all the quicksilver, all the cattle, or
all the wool that the country produced.
A small slice of valuable mine would
not be touched at any price But go to
it with controlling interest to dispose
of, and you could name your own terms
that is to say, if William G. Ralston
wanted it. Anything that he wanted,
from Congregational church to a
mountain in the uttermost wilderness OF
Nevada, the Bank of California was will
ing to buy or take on deposit. 1t was a
power i'll politics, n mighty engine in
elections, a Colossus bestriding the
State as well as the mastodon of the
municipality of San Francisco admit
tedly it controlled the courts, but still its
restless arms were outreached for fur
ther conquest. (Again ! find it very
hard to refrain from moralizing. I'll do
it, though, or perish nobly in the
attempt.)


If you deem such a monopoly as the
/ Bank of California actually was Ito say
nothing of what it threatened to become)
detrimental to the morals of commu-
nifty, injurious in the highest degree to
the welfare of a State, I'll not quarrel
with you. But if you think such a
monopoly has ever reared it's head, or
gone on breathing for any comfortable
down dt the good Lords earliest leisure,
you're less devout than 1, and we'll say
nothing more about it, for fear of getting
into theological disputation, sort Of
cudgel play that should be avoided in
August.


It never seemed to me that William G..
Ralston did business for the purpose of
making money, exactly. He did bust
ness mainly for the sake of doing bust
ness, and this, to my thinking, is not the
Legitimate end of business doing. If the
excitement alone is wanted, why not
gambler Why do business unless you
do it with money success in viewa If
it's to come to the same thing at last, I,
for one, had rather lounge than seize the
greasy reins of commerce in my mad
grasp. Sooner far would go charioteer-
ing through the world in an OK cart than
driving q random tandem. So with
pleasure. If there's no fun in it, don't