Business; Capitalists and financiers -- United States; Speculation; Wall Street (New York, N.Y.)
He was no longer to have the privilege of pulling the wires, nor the
wool over other people’s eyes. On the contrary, he was to be one of the
puppets that should dance to the music of Gould and Fisk, and let them
pull the wool over his eyes. He was not to ask any questions, but pay
his money and take his choice, that is to say, whatever Gould and Fisk
chose to give him. The terms were rather humiliating, and on reflection,
Uncle Daniel revolted. He did not see the point of paying the piper
without having the privilege of choosing the tune. He, therefore,
withdrew his funds after losing a million, and undertook the task of
bearding these two young lions in their den—the den which he had
constructed for them, and the two young lions which he had so carefully
nurtured to destroy him. They were very wroth with him on account of
what they regarded as his treachery, which virtually consisted in his
refusal to be totally devoured by them. The fact is, however, Daniel
could not have been true to any one, any more than they. “Can the
Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?”
After considering the matter prayerfully, as he always did in such
emergencies, he resolved to operate alone, and the oracle told him to go
on the short side. It was evident that the Gods had doomed him to
destruction, so he rushed in madly to sell the market, which moved
persistently upward.
In this emergency he took counsel of a Christian brother, who advised
him to pray. He tried hard to pray, but his irresistible desire to keep
constant watch on the tape of the ticker, to see the quotations,
evidently distracted his devotions. This was probably the first time
that he lost faith in the power that moves the arm that moves the world.
He went to his Christian brother with tears in his eyes, saying: “It is
no use, brother; the market still goes up.” And Uncle Daniel ceased to
pray, and despairingly fixed his attention on the ticker.
Daring November, Drew contracted for the delivery of 70,000 shares of
Erie at current prices. It was then in the vicinity of 38. He proceeded
on this line of operation until he was hopelessly “cornered.” He then
applied to the court. Application was made for an injunction in the name
of August Belmont, but Gould and Fisk offset it by applying for another
injunction to their faithful Barnard. That upright Judge not only
granted an injunction restraining all suits brought against his two
eminent protegés, but appointed Gould Receiver of Erie. He also gave
authority to the directors of Erie to use the funds of the corporation
to purchase and cancel 200,000 shares of stock, the legality of whose
issue had been questioned, at any price less than the par value, without
regard to the rate at which it had been issued.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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