Fifty years in Wall Street
humble part in a business career, such as that of which my firm affords
a fair and most successful example.
The same remarks will apply to any other young man who does not
appreciate his vocation, and try to know himself as old Seneca taught.
I don’t insidiously single out the dude for an odious comparison. The
remark will apply just as appropriately to the young man who is better
fitted for a blacksmith or a farmer, or perhaps a preacher, than a
business man or a financier.
“All blacksmiths,” says the Rev. Robert Collyer, “can’t become
preachers, and it would be bad for the world if they did.” There is a
good deal of philosophy in the remark of this popular preacher, and
quite to the point on the subject which I am now attempting to handle.
In fact, there is nothing in this world would grieve me more than the
prospect of being obliged to reflect in future years on the fact that I
had been instrumental in keeping a young man’s “nose to the
grind-stone,” so to speak, in my office, where he would make a very poor
employee without the chance of attaining average success, while in a
career for which nature and education had fitted him, he might not only
be happy and successful, but make his mark as a star of the first
magnitude.
When viewed in this light, the question of adaptability becomes a
serious affair, for young men starting in life, and for their parents,
who often sacrifice a great deal of their worldly comforts and peace of
mind to launch their fond offspring.
The best thing for parents to do, then, as a general rule, is to
encourage their children in that occupation or avocation for which they
show a decided preference. Whatever young men do voluntarily, as a rule,
they do well. This is especially illustrated in the lives of youths who
exhibit an inclination for a military pursuit, which offers the least
inducement to human avarice, and attracts the mind through the more
sentimental motives of patriotism and the love of glory. But in our
present civilization there are national feelings that must be inculcated
and encouraged.
I entertained at my Newport residence, during the past Summer, the
officers of the 23d Brooklyn regiment of the National Guard of the State
of New York, because I felt it a matter of duty to do so, as well as a
privilege to do my part in contributing to the encouragement of the
young men who have taken it upon themselves voluntarily to be members of
that militia company.
These young men visit Newport at very great cost to each one, as they
themselves have to contribute to the expenses attending the trip, and
their presence in Newport in going through, regularly each day, their
drills and parades with as much precision and correctness as though they
all had been graduates of West Point, all well equipped and well attired
in plain but most becoming military apparel, made a most interesting
scene to witness, contributing not a little to the amusement and
gratification of the residents of that famous watering place. They are
becoming disciplined to be soldiers. They are mostly young men of good
families, of profitable occupation, many in business for themselves and
others trustworthy clerks in the employ of others, with good salaries;
consequently they make a great sacrifice to themselves in the time that
they thus bestow upon such excursions as well as ordinarily in the
drills which they have to go through, when at home, once or twice each
week, frequently oftener. What is the incentive in this personal
sacrifice on their part?
The answer is, the spirit of patriotism, and that really is what it
means, for in the event of a foreign invasion or internal disturbances,
their services are pledged to the State and to the Government. They are
therefore liable to receive at a moment’s notice a call from any quarter
to go to the front with their lives in their hands, leaving their
families, their wives, their children, their old parents, their
business, leaving all and requiring a farewell at their departure, as
the dangers they may have to encounter are threatening in character and,
not unlikely, may prevent their ever returning alive.
Taking this view of the subject, therefore, these young men should be
encouraged by all who have the means and power at their hand, and to the
full extent of their ability. Whenever they go on missions of State
defense, it is only just and fair that they should be received as
soldiers, and accorded the honors which soldiers merit. They are
entitled to it to a greater extent than the regular soldiers of the
United States standing army. These men do not make one-half the
sacrifice that the young militia do, nor do they make any better
soldiers on the battle-field.
These militia soldiers, when they go to the front, leave behind them
enough, in the way of properly, good homes and families, to make them
more enthusiastic to fight for victory, than the regular army, so that
they may return to their own domestic circles with the laurels that
victory gives.
In thin country we do not desire standing armies, for we do not wish the
expense entailed upon the Government to sustain them, but we do want the
young men encouraged to do military duty and be prepared for action when
it comes. The only money, therefore, that the Government need expend to
protect our continent is a good militia force in each of the various
States, to be well disciplined. In that case our country will be
prepared to meet foreign foes.
I am also opposed to a large standing naval force, not only on account
of the expense, but also because our country is less likely to get into
trouble with other nations, providing we have no ships to send into
their waters. Naval officers are often very impetuous and chivalrous and
sometimes fancy they have grievances to repel, which are largely
imaginary, and with them it is a word and a blow.
With a thoroughly equipped and largely efficient naval force, we might
thus not unlikely be driven into a conflict without cause or reason with
some friendly power. Our country is happily located far in the distance
from the quarrelling nations of Europe, and our being so removed is our
protection. It is not desirable to be brought in closer contact by
sending our naval vessels into their waters, to be under their fire. The
policy of this nation is peace and good will to all mankind. What gain
would it be to America to have a conflict with England, even though we
should conquer in the end, or France, or Germany, or Russia? We couldn’t
tow any of these countries to ours, nor could we hold on to our conquest
as a permanent possession; neither should we desire to do so, as we have
territory enough in the 38 States which comprise the United States of
America, already, without desiring to annex that of any of our far-off
neighbors.
And if an emergency should arise in what has been called the last resort
of kings, namely, the necessity of going to war, it would be found that
the importance of this training in the special business of war could
then be appreciated at its true value.
The importance of business training, that is, training for the special
occupation in which a man’s energies are to be developed, is always made
apparent when those energies are put to the test of competition, or are
called upon to put forth an extraordinary effort. If a man has not got
the special training, whether in the army or in civil life, he is never
reliable in an emergency, but is like that weak and vacillating friend
which old Solomon compared to a broken ankle.
I say, therefore, to the young man of the rising generation, while you
don’t relax any effort to procure all the education that your time and
means will afford, above all things, don’t neglect the paramount
importance of business training.
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CHAPTER V.
PERSONAL HONOR OF WALL STREET MEN.
BREACH OF TRUST RARE AMONG WALL STREET MEN.—THE ENGLISH 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.
There is no place in the world where people are trusted so much on faith
as they are in Wall Street; not even in the Church.
The business is one of mutual confidence, and each day there are
numerous opportunities for men to secure many millions of dollars of
other people’s money and take themselves safely off to that Paradise of
defaulters and absconders over the Border. Yet instances of this nature
are comparatively rare when we consider the large number of transactions
and the immense amount of money handled in Wall Street.
The men of Wall Street have, therefore, become world-renowned for
straightforward dealing, and have thus obtained the first position as
leading spirits in the speculative affairs not only of their own
country, but of the entire world. Wherever the speculative spirit of the
age has obtained a foothold, there Wall Street is a household word, and
Wall Street men are held in the highest esteem. It has become a term
familiar to the ears of those even who know nothing about the business
which has made its name almost universal.
“What is that Wall Street?” said an English curate to a friend of mine
who recently visited Liverpool. “What a queer place,” he continued, “for
Mr. Talmage to have his Tabernacle.”
The English divine, evidently only having “caught on” to isolated
sketches of the Brooklyn preacher’s calumnious invectives, thought they
were actually delivered among the bulls and bears, and that Talmage had
the boldness to beard these ferocious animals in their den.
It is true the honor of Wall Street is sometimes slightly tarnished,
especially in the eyes of those who reside at a great distance, owing to
the occasional delinquencies of dishonorable men, who consider Wall
Street men and Wall Street money fair game for swindling operations.
These are for the most part outsiders, who pounce upon the Street as
their illegitimate prey, after probably making a show of doing business
there.
There is no place, of course, where confidence men have the opportunity
of reaping such a rich harvest when they can succeed in establishing the
confidential relations that help them to secure their swag. But Wall
Street proper is not any more responsible for such men than the Church,
whose sacred precincts are used and abused by the same social pariahs in
a similar manner. The Street is the victim of these adventurers, and has
no more to do with nurturing and aiding them than the Church has.
What should be said of a financier who would have the temerity to assert
that the Church was an asylum for swindlers, and that thence they issued
forth to commit their lawless depredations on society? He would be
tabooed by all intelligent people. Yet there would be about as much
truth in such a statement as in most of the eloquent anathemas and
objurations launched from the pulpit every Sunday against Wall Street.
There is no place on this earth where adventurous thieves have fewer
sympathizers than in Wall Street, except perhaps in Pinkerton’s and
Byrnes’ detective bureaux.
There is another popular delusion with regard to those who don’t succeed
in Wall Street. Their failure is frequently attributed to sharp practice
on the part of the old habitues of the Street. People forget that the
business of speculation requires special training, and every fool who