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FIFTY YEARS IN
WALL STREET
“TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS IN WALL STREET,” REVISED
AND ENLARGED BY A RÉSUMÉ OF THE PAST
TWENTY-TWO YEARS, MAKING A RECORD
OF FIFTY YEARS IN WALL STREET
BY
HENRY CLEWS, LL.D.
SUBJECTS THAT ARE OF NECESSITY BRIEFLY TOUCHED
UPON IN ORDER TO KEEP WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE
PRESENT WORK FIND FULLER EXPOSITION IN THE AUTHOR’S
“WALL STREET POINT OF VIEW,” FOR FURTHER
REFERENCE TO WHICH SEE NOTICE AT THE END
IRVING PUBLISHING COMPANY
POST OFFICE BOX 1915, NEW YORK CITY
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COPYRIGHT, 1908,
BY HENRY CLEWS
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PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR.
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15 TO 17 BROAD STREET NEW YORK.
_To My Readers_:
The following pages are intended to throw some light on imperfectly
known events connected with Wall Street speculations and investments,
and also upon the condition and progress of the country from a financial
standpoint, during the fifty years which I have experienced in the great
money center.
The theme is worthy of an abler pen, but in the absence of other
contributors to this branch of our National history, I venture the plain
narrative of an active participator in the financial events of the time
in which I have lived.
I have also made a brief retrospect of the history of Wall Street, and
financial affairs connected therewith since the origin of the Stock
Exchange in New York City.
In sketching the men and events of Wall Street, I have freely employed
the vernacular of the speculative fraternity as being best adapted to a
true picture of their characteristics, although probably not most
consonant with literary propriety.
I have simply attempted to unfold a plain, unvarnished tale, drawing my
material from experience and the records of reliable narrators.
HENRY CLEWS.
=NEW YORK, March 31, 1908.=
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CONTENTS.
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INTRODUCTORY.
PAGE
My Part in Marketing the United States Civil War Loans xxxi
CHAPTER I.
MY DEBUT IN WALL STREET.
Results of the Panic of 1857.—Creating a Revolution in 5
the Methods of Doing Business in Wall Street.—The Old
“Fogies” of the Street, and How They were
Surprised.—Their Prejudices and How they
Originated.—The Struggle of the Young Bloods for
Membership.—The Youthful Element in Finance Peculiar
to this Country.—The Palmy Days of Little, Drew and
Morse.—The Origin of “Corners,” and the “Option”
Limit of Sixty Days
CHAPTER II.
WALL STREET AS A CIVILIZER.
Clerical Obliquity of Judgment About Wall Street 13
Affairs.—The Slanderous Eloquence of Talmage.—Wall
Street a Great Distributor, as Exhibited in the
Clearing House Transactions.—Popular Delusions in
Regard to Speculation.—What Our Revolutionary Sires
Advised About Improving the Industrial Arts, Showing
the Striking Contrast Between Their Views and the Way
Lord Salisbury Wanted to Fix Things for This Country
CHAPTER III.
HOW TO MAKE MONEY IN WALL STREET.
How to Take Advantage of Periodical Panics in Order to 19
Make Money.—Wholesome Advice to Young
Speculators.—Alleged “Points” from Big Speculators
End in Loss or Disaster.—Professional Advice the
Surest and Cheapest, and How and Where to Obtain It
CHAPTER IV.
IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS TRAINING.
Sons of Independent Gentlemen make very bad 25
Clerks.—They become Unpopular with the Other Boys,
and must Eventually Go.—Night Dancing and Late
Suppers don’t Contribute to Business Success.—Give
Merit its True Reward.—Keeping Worthless Pretense in
its True Position.—Running Public Offices on Business
Principles.—A Piece of Gratuitous Advice for the
Administration.—A College Course not in General
Calculated to make a Good Business Man.—The Question
of Adaptability Important.—Children should be
Encouraged in the Occupation for which they show a
Preference.—Thoughts on the Army and Navy
CHAPTER V.
PERSONAL HONOR OF WALL STREET MEN.
Breach of Trust Rare Among Wall Street Men.—The English 33
Clergyman’s Notion of Talmage’s Tirades Against Wall
Street.—Adventurous Thieves Have No Sympathizers
Among Wall Street Operators.—Early Training Necessary
for Success in Speculation.—Ferdinand Ward’s Evil
Genius.—A Great Business can only be Built up on
Honest Principles.—Great Generals Make Poor
Financiers, Through Want of Early Training.—Practical
Business is the Best College
CHAPTER VI.
WALL STREET DURING THE WAR.
The Financiers of Wall Street Assist the Government in 39
the Hour of the Country’s Peril.—The Issue of the
Treasury Notes.—Jay Cooke’s Northern Pacific Scheme
Precipitates the Panic of 1873.—Wall Street Has
Played a Prominent Part in the Great Evolution and
Progress of the Present Age
CHAPTER VII.
MORE WAR REMINISCENCES—BRITISH AND NAPOLEONIC DESIGNS.
How Napoleon Defied the Monroe Doctrine.—The Banquet to 45
Romero.—Speeches by Eminent Financiers, Jurists and
Business Men.—The Eloquent Address of Romero Against
French Intervention.—Napoleon shows his Animus by
Destroying the Newspapers Containing the Report of
the Banquet.—The Emperor Plotting with
Representatives of the English Parliament to Aid the
Confederates and Make War on the United States
CHAPTER VIII.
FOREIGN INTRIGUES AGAINST AMERICAN LIBERTY.
How the Imperial Pirates of France and England Were 59
Frightened Off Through the Diplomacy of
Seward.—Ominous Appearance of the Russian Fleet in
American Waters.—Napoleon Aims at the Creation of an
Empire West of the Mississippi, and the Restoration
of the Old French Colonies.—Plotting with Slidell,
Benjamin, Lindsay, Roebuck and Others.—Urging England
to Recognize the Confederacy.—Disraeli Explains
England’s Designs and Diplomacy.—After the Naval
Victory of Farragut and the Capture of New Orleans
England Hesitates Through Fear, and Napoleon Changes
His Tactics.—Renewal of Intrigues Between England and
France.—Their Dastardly Purposes Defeated by the
Victories of Gettysburg, Vicksburg and the General
Triumph of the Union Arms
CHAPTER IX.
SECRETARY CHASE AND THE TREASURY.
The Depleted Condition of the Treasury when Mr. Chase 73
took Office.—Preparations for War and Great
Excitement in Washington.—Chivalrous Southerners in a
Ferment.—Officials Up in Arms in Defence of their
Menaced Positions.—Miscalculation with Regard to the
Probable Duration of the War.—A Visit to Washington
and an Interview with Secretary Chase.—Disappointment
about the Sale of Government Bonds.—A Panic
Precipitated in Wall Street.—Millionaires Reduced to
Indigence in a Few Hours.—Miraculously Saved from the
Wreck.—How it Happened
CHAPTER X.
THE NATIONAL BANKS.
Secretary Chase Considers the Problem of Providing a 81
National Currency.—How E. G. Spaulding takes a
Prominent Part in the Discussion of the Bank Act.—The
Act Founded on the Bank Act of the State of New
York.—Effect of the Act upon the Credit of the
Country.—A New System of Banking Required
CHAPTER XI.
THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE.
History of the Organization for Ninety-four Years.—From 87
a Button-Wood Tree to a Palace Costing Millions of
Dollars.—Enormous Growth and Development of the
Business.—How the Present Stock Exchange was Formed
by the Consolidation of other Financial
Bodies.—Patriotic Action During the War
Period.—Reminiscences of Men and Events
CHAPTER XII.
“CORNERS” AND THEIR EFFECT ON VALUES.
The Senate Committee on “Corners” and 95
“Futures.”—Speculation Beneficial to the Country at
Large.—A Regulator of Values, and an Important Agent
in the Prevention of Panics.-“Corners” in all kinds
of Business.—How A. T. Stewart made “Corners.”—All
Importing Firms deal in “Futures.”—Legislation
Against “Corners” would stop Enterprise and cause
Stagnation in Business.—Only the Conspirators
themselves get hurt in “Corners.”—The Black Friday
“Corner.”—Speculation in Grain Beneficial to
Consumers
CHAPTER XIII.
THE COMMODORE’S “CORNERS.”
The Great Hudson “Corner.”—Commodore Vanderbilt the 107
“Boss” of the Situation.—The “Corner” Forced upon
Him.—How he Managed the Trick of getting the Bears to
“Turn” the Stock, and then caught them.—His able
Device of Unloading while Forcing the Bears to Cover
at High Figures.—The Harlem “Corner.”—The Common
Council Betrayed the Commodore, but were Caught in
their own Trap, and Lost Millions.—The Legislature
Attempt the same Game, and meet with a Similar Fate
CHAPTER XIV.
DANIEL DREW.
Drew, like Vanderbilt, an Example of Great Success 117
without Education.—Controlled more Ready Cash than
any man in America.—Drew goes Down as Gould
Rises.-“His Touch is Death.”—Prediction of Drew’s
Fall.—His Thirteen Millions Vanish.—How he caught the
Operators in “Oshkosh” by the Handkerchief Trick.—The
Beginning of “Uncle Daniel’s” Troubles.—The
Convertible Bond Trick.—The “Corner” of
1866.—Millions Lost and Won in a Day.—Interesting
Anecdote of the Youth who Speculated outside the