Fifty years in Wall Street
interested, and that to a very large extent, and then treated me with
the basest ingratitude, repudiating their bonds, and cheating me out of
my money and property in every way conceivable.
I attribute the cause of this unjust treatment, however, to Andrew
Johnson, who, by accident, through the assassination of President
Abraham Lincoln, became President of the United States.
Mr. Johnson was a Tennesseean, loyal during the war to all appearances,
and for all practical purposes of the Union cause, and he would
doubtless have so remained had it not been for the unfortunate
circumstance of Abraham Lincoln’s death.
This made him Executive of the nation, for which by ability he was amply
fit and qualified, but through bias and temperament, entirely unfit to
fill creditably this eminent position for the best interests of the
country at large.
The position I took, as above stated, was, that since the war was over,
it was a thing to be forgotten as speedily as possible. The finality was
seriously delayed owing to the hostility that President Johnson did his
best to excite and prolong amongst the people of the South.
Congress, it will be remembered, was leniently disposed in the passing
of measures and framing of laws to bring the traitorous States of the
South back again into the Union. The members of Congress most cautiously
and delicately worked to patch up old sores that were supposed to exist
between the victors and the vanquished, but when their bills went to the
President they were unmercifully subjected to a wholesale process of
vetoing, almost indiscriminately. This produced a condition of chronic
hostility between the legislative and executive branches of the
Government, and the wider the breach became the stronger and more
vindictive grew the spirit which it naturally aroused in the Southern
people.
These people were sadly misled by the President, whom they trusted, and
his hobbies were humored at the expense of their prosperity.
Johnson made the people of the South believe that his vetoes would only
delay legislation until Congress should be forced to find them something
better. They, accordingly, reposed faith in him, and were badly
deceived.
The feeling of animosity excited by this condition of things so worked
on the minds of the people, causing the South to wax bitter and
revengeful, that it appeared to people on this side of Mason and Dixon’s
line that their Southern brethren had become even more implacable than
during the hottest scenes of the war.
It was for the reasons above stated that bonds which had been issued by
the South for money invested by the North were, in a large measure,
repudiated. As soon as it was discovered that most of the vested
interests were owned by Northern people, the spirit of revenge and
avarice combined was aroused to the point of repudiation. And, unlike
the courage of Macbeth, it did not require any stimulant to make that
the sticking point. Every method that ingenuity could devise to strike a
blow at the North was employed. No opportunity was allowed to slip that
afforded any advantage, either material or moral.
Thus, instead of accepting the situation as General Lee had done, they
were led astray by every one who had a political axe to grind. They took
an active part in politics instead of looking after the various
industries of the country and developing its resources. They engaged in
political discussions and their attendant broils, to the neglect of
necessary enterprises that would have brought them material prosperity.
Thus they became poorer and poorer. Many years were lost in these
political turmoils, and the people became more and more embarrassed.
From these circumstances there were many financial victims, but few, if
any, suffered more in that respect than myself.
I had over two and a half millions of dollars invested in the State of
Georgia securities, and in other ways, a million more at least in
Alabama and North Carolina together, all of which was perfectly
annihilated, the entire disastrous result growing out of the factious
spirit that was created and fostered by the vile and narrow prejudices
of President Andrew Johnson, of whom I have still more to say in another
chapter.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER L.
WESTERN AND SOUTHERN FINANCIAL LEADERS.
ALFRED SULLY, HIS ORIGIN AND SUCCESSFUL CAREER.—CALVIN S. BRICE, A
FINANCIER OF ABILITY.—GENERAL SAMUEL THOMAS, PROMINENT IN THE
SOUTHERN RAILROAD SYSTEM.—GENERAL THOMAS M. LOGAN, A SUCCESSFUL MAN
IN RAILROADING AND MINING.—FINANCIAL CHIEFTAINS OF BALTIMORE.—THE
GARRETTS.—THEIR GREAT SUCCESS AS RAILROAD MANAGERS.—PORTRAIT OF
ROBERT GARRETT.
Alfred Sully, who has become so prominent in the financial world within
a year, is tall, rather slightly built, nervous, and energetic. His
face, by its long, square contour and thoughtful lines, suggests that of
Senator Wm. M. Evarts; the eyes are keen and penetrating but kindly. At
heart his tastes are those of a genial literary recluse. Circumstances
and unquestioned ability have made him a financial leader. He was born
about 46 years ago in Ottawa, Canada, where he received a good
academical education. He tried his fortune in the West. He went to
Cincinnati, studied law, and was graduated from one of its best schools,
whereupon he went to Davenport, Iowa, and formed a co-partnership which
became known as the leading law firm of the city. He acquired some
means, and in 1872 came to New York, the proper place for men of
ability. It is understood that at this time he had some idea of
indulging his tastes for authorship, but Austin Corbin put a veto on
that. The two had become acquainted in Davenport, where Mr. Corbin was
formerly a banker, and the latter, on meeting Mr. Sully in New York,
tendered him the position of General Manager of the Corbin Banking
Company, which he had established here. He accepted it. But this post,
responsible as it was, could not long hold a born financier, and we soon
find him obtaining control of the Indiana, Bloomington & Western Road.
He next bought the Ohio Southern, of which he is still President, a
transaction in which he and his friend nearly doubled their money. Then
he made a great deal of money in the Central Iowa and other roads in
Illinois. He and Austin Corbin secured control of the Long Island Road,
and he gave much time and labor to the Manhattan Beach Road and
associated interests at Coney Island. Then he went into the scheme of
restoring the financial health of that enfeebled giant among railroads,
the Reading, and was one of the prime movers in the reorganizing and
consolidation of the Richmond Terminal, the Richmond & Danville, the
East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia, and numerous other Southern roads,
which now form one vast system, which will probably yet obtain an
entrance into New York.
CALVIN S. BRICE.
Calvin S. Brice was Vice-President of the East Tennessee, Virginia &
Georgia Road, and is a Director in the Richmond Terminal and numerous
other Southern roads. He is now connected with the United States Express
Company, in the management of which he will take an active part. He was
born in Lima, Ohio, about 48 years ago, and was educated as a lawyer. He
is below the medium height, and rather slightly built, but has broad
shoulders, a fitting pedestal for a good head, with firm square features
and keen bluish gray eyes. He wears a sandy beard, closely trimmed,
which tends to heighten the effect of decision of character. He is a
financier of ability.
GEN. SAMUEL THOMAS.
General Samuel Thomas, who is prominent in the Southern railroad system,
is now about 50 years of age, is a Western man, and before the war was a
civil engineer in the service of an Ohio railroad. After the war he
again became a civil engineer, but, drifting after a time to New York,
engaged in railroad enterprises, and ultimately secured a large interest
in Southern railroads. He is now President of the East Tennessee,
Virginia & Georgia, and is largely interested in the Richmond & West
Point Terminal, the Richmond & Danville, the Memphis & Charleston, and
other Southern roads. He is tall, well-built, energetic, and affable. He
lives in fine style, and is a member of the Union League. He is worth
several millions.
Gen. Thomas M. Logan is President of the Virginia Midland Railroad,
Vice-President of the Richmond & Danville and Richmond Terminal, and a
Director in all the roads in this system. He was born in Charleston, S.
C., about 44 years ago. He served with distinction in the Confederate
Army, and rose to be a Brigadier-General, being one of the youngest in
the service. He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, and
formerly practiced law in Richmond, Virginia, where he is also engaged
in extensive manufacturing and mining enterprises. He resides in
Richmond, and is a member of the Westmoreland Club, but often comes to
New York on railroad business, in which he has amassed a comfortable
fortune.
John W. Garrett’s name will always be associated with that great
property, the Baltimore & Ohio, which he rescued from the verge of
bankruptcy. He was a man of great force of character, and inherited an
aptitude for business. He was a graduate of Lafayette College in
Pennsylvania, and engaged in business in Baltimore. He became a Director
of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and in 1858 was elected its President.
He was a staunch supporter of the Union in the civil war. Despite a
disloyal sentiment plainly noticeable in Baltimore and elsewhere in
Maryland, he lent the Government all the assistance in his power in the
transportation of hundreds of thousands of Federal soldiers. He was
quick to repair burned bridges, and to do anything to facilitate the
military operations of the Federal Government. President Lincoln and
Secretary Stanton thanked him warmly. His salary as President was
$10,000 a year. The Directors repeatedly offered to increase the
remuneration, but he declined to accept it. He often refused offers as
high as $50,000 a year to become the President of other roads. He was
autocratic in his administration. His will was law. He found the
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad a weak and struggling underline in the
railroad world, and he left it a giant in the American system of
railroad transportation.
Robert Garrett, the son of the preceding, and now the President of the
Baltimore & Ohio Road, is one of the railroad kings of the United
States. He became the President of the Baltimore & Ohio in his
thirty-seventh year, after having served as Third Vice-President and
First Vice-President under his father’s administration. He is a graduate
of Princeton, a man of genial characteristics, and a favorite in
society. He has made a study of railroad administration, but is now
understood to seek some relief from the burdens unavoidably incident to
his position as the head of a great railroad. And he is wise. He is many
times a millionaire. Why should he devote his life to unnecessary care
and labor? Rich men in this country are apt to work too hard. They do
not enjoy life as men of far less wealth do in Europe. Under almost any
administration the Baltimore & Ohio Road has a great future before it.
The road was built to draw the Western trade to Baltimore. This trade
had been diverted from that city by the building of the great canals.
New York & Philadelphia were receiving the lion’s share of the traffic.
The first stone on the Baltimore & Ohio Road was laid by Charles
Carroll, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, in 1828.