THE HISTORY OF THE MORRISON KENNEL—NICHOLAS THE 1ST—A STOCK
SPECULATION, &C.
It is a pleasure which comes gratefully home to the heart, when
contemplating the picture of human life, in whatever grade of society
or condition we view it, amongst the multitude that flit by us,
occasionally to see a being that stands out in bold and bright relief
to its dark shades.
On the second day of my visit to Wall-street, while sitting with my
venerable friend, the old gentleman, pointing to the street asked,
“do you see that man.”—“Yes,” I answered, “and I know him; he is a
man of honor, such as honor should be considered,—one of nature’s
noblemen; his word is as good as his bond, and his friendship is better
than either. He pays his debts because he promises, lends to oblige
his neighbor, and gives to benefit the receiver—he tells the truth
because it is right, and cheats nobody because it would be wrong.
He has gradually risen in wealth and credit, has the confidence of
every body, and amidst all the slime and filth that surround him, his
character stands untouched and unsullied by its poison.”
ONE HONEST MAN IN WALL-STREET.
He may be seen every day, at half past ten, going to the stock
exchange, with a book under his arm; and may be known by the breadth of
his foot, the swing of his legs, and the weight of his bottom. He will
occasionally appear in the course of this history, under the name of
Mr. Bottomly, and I hope his conduct will vindicate my description of
his character.
The old gentleman heard my remarks with apparent consent and pleasure,
which were indicated by a smile of satisfaction peculiar to himself;
but my silence was immediately commanded by a significant nod, with
a gesture of the hand, as much as to say “there are some things
however in Wall-street, which I know better than you do,” and he then
proceeded, agreeably to promise, to relate the history of the Morrison
Kennel.
THE VALUE OF A NAME.
The garrulity peculiar to men of his age, must excuse the frequent
introduction of remarks foreign to the narrative; and when I tell
my readers, that my friend is a man of deep reflection and high
toned moral sentiment, as well as acute observation, they will not
be surprised at his occasional illustration of fact by reference to
principle.
“The practice of the aborigines of this country,” said he, “of giving
names to men and things, indicative of their qualities and exploits, is
well considered savage. Since the day when the poet first propounded
the question ‘what’s in a name?’ mere moralists have been at fault. But
modern practical skill has discovered that there is much; and it was
left for the originators of the Morrison Kennel, to find out the best
use that could be made of it, viz: that it may be made to cover one
purpose under color of another—may gain credit for what it is not, and
shield from detection what it really is, or may gull a State with the
promise of improvement, and cheat the people of their money for their
credulity. In short, the advantages to a stock company of a judicious
choice of a name, are incalculable; not the least of which arises
from properly compounding it, so as to mean more things than one, as
the Morrison Kennel and Banking Company. One peculiar advantage of
this last is, that as the projectors are not always certain what they
will do, but intend to be governed by their success, they are thereby
enabled to shift their course to suit the breeze.”
WHY THIS WAS CALLED KENNEL.
“This company would probably never have attained the _soubriquet_ of
Kennel, a mere play upon the original sound, but for the remarkable
financial talents of Nicholas the 1st, profanely called old Nick, in
the first place, and its employment afterwards to help to hold up the
sides of the great bull dog of Pennsylvania, ycleped the U. S. Bank,
who had grown so weak from disease, that it was feared, without such
aid, his attempt to bark, would prove a concussion of air from the
wrong orifice. In other words it was feared, that without collateral
support, the first resumption would _not_ last as long as the second
_did_.
“The circumstances which called into activity the financial talents
of Nicholas, deserve a particular notice, as they have an important
bearing on this history. And for that purpose, I must introduce to
you a gentleman well known in Wall-street; of amiable disposition,
gentlemanly deportment and honorable connections. His person may be
known from his resemblance to king Saul, being taller, by the head,
than any of his tribe of brokers, and, as he bears the appellative of
an immortalized Friend, and the signification will be descriptive of
his character, I will call him Mr. Friendly.”
MR. FRIENDLY AND HIS APPETITE.
“The only thing remarkable about this gentleman is, his extraordinary
appetite; from which, taken with his slender proportions, it has been
inferred by some, that, like the bird most avoided by sportsmen, his
alimentary canal consists only of a straight passage; for he has been
known to gorge and digest more stocks in one day, than the weight or
bulk of his whole body in the certificates.”
FRIENDLY’S CAUTION.
“With this introduction of a part of the ‘dramatis personæ,’—having
already described, with some particularity, the motive for, and the
manner of, getting up stock companies, with such parts of their general
management as can be interesting to the public—I will commence with
the Morrison Kennel, at that point when the causes for the activity
before alluded to commenced, viz: precisely at that time, when the
directors had expended the whole amount of capital subscribed, together
with a loan of seven hundred thousand dollars obtained in Holland, in
digging a ditch through the State of New Jersey, which served little
other purpose than to drown the Jersey farmers’ pigs—without any
one of the said directors having cleared more than fifty thousand
dollars out of the company, by means of contracts or otherwise—when
their credit was exhausted, the stock reduced in market to one fifth
its original cost, and the directors ready, on the first symptom
of alarm, to take to their heels for safety. Then, fortunately for
them, Mr. Friendly, desirous of improving his fortune, which at this
time he found to be in rather a waning condition, formed a scheme of
speculation in the stock, commensurate with the vastness of his own
desires; and, with this view, he began with the caution and finesse
of one who has a game to play. He first ascertained that some of the
directors were still in possession of a considerable amount of the
stock; whom he could, very probably, draw to his own interest by
endeavoring to aid them; and he then proceeded to the office of Mr.
Bottomly.”
CALLS ON BOTTOMLY.
“Good morning, John,” said he, “how are you?”
“Pretty well Dan, how are you?”
“Hard up.”
“Hard up,” eh!—“No cornering, I hope”—“No,”—“dull times, no
movements, things are paralysed, very much.”
Mr. Friendly wished, and was therefore pleased, to find his neighbor
alone. So he sat down without ceremony. And after a variety of common
place remarks, he at length arrived at the point where he should
unburthen himself of his subject. His object was to enlist Mr. Bottomly
in his proposed speculation, and thereby secure his means, his
influence, and his interest in its favor.
“John,” said he, “the Morrison stock is very low, what do you think of
it?”
“That it sells for more than it is worth.”
“That may be, but a thing is worth what it will bring.”
“The seller always thinks so, but the buyer sometimes finds that he has
paid too dear for the whistle.”
TWO WISE HEADS TOGETHER.
“What would you think, John, to see the Morrison at 75.”
“I should think very strange.”
“Stranger things have happened though, John. I have a mind to move in
the Morrison, what say you to join me?”
“What do you propose?”
“Why, you have the means,—the stock may be had at twenty, and a
hundred thousand dollars would control the whole of it. It must be done
quietly; and then by contracting on time we should have the power to
deliver without loss when we sold; and by making three contracts to
receive to one to deliver, we can make them pay whatever difference we
choose.”
“That would be too much power to get in our hands, Dan, would it not?”
“True, it would not answer to trust every man with so much; but in your
hands and mine, I think we would not abuse it.”
“What amount of exaction do you think would be an abuse of such power?”
“Why, it would be wrong to take more than two hundred per cent. profit,
unless we got hold of some one who could well afford it.”
“But that would be using force to appropriate other people’s money to
our own use. I think it would not be justifiable.”
PLAN CHANGED.
Mr. Friendly, though not devoid of sound sense and a good judgment,
usually suffered his eagerness for speculation to blind his mind to
every probable result but the glitter of gain. He had never looked
on the subject in this light before. He intended nothing but a “fair
business transaction,” and was desirous that his friend Bottomly should
share in its success. His mind revolted at doing a positive wrong;
he therefore abandoned his plan, but adopted another on the instant,
which though less culpable on his part, was in the end productive of an
equal degree of evil. Always quick and decided in his actions, he said
“well John, you are always right-minded, though you are sometimes wrong
headed, we will say no more of this plan for the present; but I think
well of a speculation, and therefore you shall buy me five hundred
shares to day at ‘the board,’ I will send you in a check for ‘ten up,’
and the rest we will arrange to-morrow.”
THE BANK PARLOR.
Having decided upon his plan of action, Mr. Friendly then immediately,
sought the directors who held stock. Fortunately he found them all in
the bank parlour. They had just been talking over the affairs of the
company, I will not say that they had been discussing its affairs,
for their conversation was like any thing else but a discussion, and
consisted of sundry expletives directed principally against their
predecessors in office. And here let it be remembered, that those
gentlemen, whose ambition had led them to desire such a post of honor,
were but newly installed in their places. And, having purchased stock
to procure their election, with knowing but very little about the real
state of the company’s affairs, they were now unable to get rid of it,
and were lamenting their folly and cursing the authors of it. For be
it known, that their ambition and vanity had been stimulated by their
predecessors before the election, to induce those gentlemen to seek a
post which they wished to abandon themselves, knowing that sooner or
later it would disgrace them.
Mr. Friendly disclosed his errand at once, and was well received.
EAVESDROPPERS.
He said he was apprised of a speculation going on in the stock of the
Morrison; he intended to embark in it—wished them to hold back their
stock, and aid his views in effecting a rise, and he would aid them in
disposing of theirs at the right time. He did not tell them that he was
the sole author of the speculation; he modestly forebore that, under
the plea that he did not feel at liberty to tell all that he knew. But
the directors were almost immediately confirmed in their good opinion
of his knowledge and sagacity, as well as of his intention to do them
a service, by hearing of the large purchases of Mr. Bottomly, at a
considerable advance on the previous market value.
It is curious, as well as amusing, to see how many and how slight
causes sometimes tend to aid or to frustrate a speculator in his
designs.
There is a set of proscribed men in Wall-street, who were once
brokers, professionally, and are now broken in reputation, credit and
finances—having no means but what they have kept from their creditors,
and—being expelled from the exchange board for defalcation or bad
conduct—they still linger round their old haunts, and carry on a
system of gambling in what are termed fancy stocks, through which
they contrive occasionally to entrap and empty the purse of some
newcomer, or filch each other of their ill retained means, until each
in his turn gets placed on the “black list,” which is the final seal
of reprobation, and in Wall-street signifies—“that whoever deals with
that man, shall himself not be dealt with by any one.”
EAVESDROPPERS.
These gentry may be seen, daily, in squads of three, four, and five,
standing on the side walks, or on the steps of the large offices,
talking vociferously, and making such bids and offers in the funds, as
that one not knowing better, would suppose that each held the finances
of the country in his palm.
One of them, whom I will call Mr. Eavesdropper, had his ear timidly
placed at the key hole of the Stock Exchange, and heard Mr. Bottomly’s
bids for Morrison, which instantly infused such courage into his
mind, and activity into his limbs, that he went out, and before the
transactions of the board were publicly known, he had privately
contracted for the delivery of a large number of shares; and then, to
aid his purpose in effecting a further rise, gave out that he was in
confidence with John Jacob Astor, or some one no less powerful, who
had determined to buy up the whole company.
MR. SPRIGGINS.
As soon as Mr. Friendly had returned to his office from the meeting of
the Board of Brokers, on the day I am speaking of, and, as is common,
had laid open on his outer desk, for public inspection, the record of
the transactions which had there taken place—in which he had carefully
noted all those in the stock of the Morrison—he walked out into the
street, where he encountered Mr. Spriggins, who, contrary to his wont,
for some cause, had not been present at the board that morning.
Mr. Spriggins is one of those gentlemen, whose conceit of himself
supplies the place of education, manners, and intellect, and he
accosted Mr. Friendly as follows:
“Dan, what does all this speculation in the Morrison mean?”
Mr. Friendly, whose polite manners encouraged the freedom of such men
as his friend Bottomly, held in contempt the rudeness of impudence,
and, instead of answering Spriggins, turned on his heel without
noticing him.
THE FEVER UP.
Spriggins, who could never imagine the existence of such a feeling
towards a gentleman like himself, attributed this treatment entirely
to another motive; and knowing Mr. Friendly’s speculative character,
he at once imagined that Friendly had a secret that he wished to keep,
and improve for his own benefit, and he immediately resolved in his
own mind to outwit him. Upon this impulse he hurried away to purchase
all the Morrison stock he could get hold of—which he did at a large
advance of price over the purchases of Mr. Bottomly; and when he had
done so, exultingly told Mr. Friendly that he was “not to be come
over.” “But never mind,” said he, “you can keep your secret now, Dan;
but if you are so disposed, as you know what is going on, we will
operate together.”
Mr. Friendly was not disposed to embrace this offer, liberal as it was,
and maintained such a reserve as excited still further the cupidity of
Spriggins. Meantime, having heard of the operations of Eavesdropper,
Mr. Friendly perceived that he had fairly put the match to a train
that, if properly fed, would lead to an explosion. But he resolved that
before it should happen, he would take good care of himself.
LOAFERS.
There is another set of men in Wall-street, which demand my
description. They have neither trade nor profession of any kind, and
if they ever had any, they have abandoned it. Some of them are of
that class called Gentlemen, who have married fortunes and squandered
them—some are broken merchants—some disgraced politicians—defunct
post masters, &c. &c.,—and all of them are Loafers. They have neither
wit enough to contrive, nor credit enough to carry out, a speculation:
but when one has begun, like that I am now describing, they may be
seen flocking in and out of the brokers’ offices—examining the stock
books—talking wisely of the nation’s affairs—each one pretending
to know more of finance than even Mr. Woodbury himself; and their
exuberance of knowledge is almost as luminously exhibited. Like flies
round a honey pot, each one is anxious for a sip, and according to his
slender means, pledges a hundred dollars, more or less, and orders his
broker to buy as many shares as he will upon this security. They thus
materially aid the great speculators; but the result to themselves
generally is, that their families or friends suffer precisely the
amount they have risked—and so it was in this instance.
DEEP IN FOR IT.
Mr. Friendly continued to purchase largely of the Morrison stock, which
increased the excitement, and continually advanced the price; and Mr.
Spriggins, nettled by Friendly’s reserve towards him, continued to be a
large purchaser also, and induced several of his friends to join him.
It ought to be observed here, that these purchases were generally made
“on time:” that is, the stock was agreed to be delivered at a future
day. And it so happened that when Spriggins was the buyer, Mr. Friendly
was generally the seller, through some other persons, as his agents;
and he had taken care so to provide himself with stock, that he could
meet his contracts on time—not only without the danger of loss, but
with a certain profit.
HOW SOME PEOPLE NEGOTIATE LOANS.
So long as the stock maintained the very high price to which it had
now advanced, all was well; but the time must come, when it would not,
and then, there was danger that Spriggins, and his compatriots in
the speculation, would not be able to fulfill their engagements. Mr.
Friendly, therefore, as a stimulant to the action of Spriggins, and
to prepare for the denouement, hinted to him that, as the stock had
now so much increased in value, probably Nicholas the 1st would loan
money liberally upon it; and, as the stock must rise still more, such
an accommodation would be very desirable, to enable one to hold it. He
dropped this hint in such a way, as led Spriggins to believe that he
intended to make the application for himself. He had really, however,
no intention of asking such a favor, for such a purpose, but he knew
well what the effect of such a suggestion would be with Spriggins,
and—as he expected—the dapper gentleman immediately started, post
haste, for Philadelphia, and succeeded in obtaining from Nicholas,
the promise of a loan of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, on
stock of the Morrison, which, six weeks before, was not worth, in the
market, one-fourth of that amount: that is, provided Mr. Spriggins
would negotiate half a million of dollars of the bonds of the U. S. B.,
payable in twelve months from date; by which means, Nicholas cunningly
foresaw, that, instead of lending Spriggins, he should himself be
the borrower of no less a sum than three hundred and fifty thousand
dollars. But those were palmy days of credit: the bonds were all
negotiated with ease, and the Morrison stock transferred to Nicholas,
as security for the _loan_, as fast as the greedy purchases of Mr.
Spriggins could command the large amount necessary.
FRIENDLY’S PLAN CONSUMMATED.
Mr. Friendly now saw all his hopes about to be realized. By obtaining
the control of a very large amount of the stock at 20 to 25 per cent.
on the par, and stimulating the cupidity and self conceit of Spriggins,
he constantly went on buying ten shares at an increased price, and
always selling, through some one else, twenty shares to every ten
that he bought, until he succeeded in throwing the whole stock upon
Spriggins, and his associates, who, as we have seen, were supported by
Nicholas, in their mad speculation. And, in less than four months from
his first purchase, Mr. Friendly retired, with a clear profit of one
hundred thousand dollars, and the eternal gratitude of the directors of
the Morrison, whom he had assisted and relieved.
THE DIRECTORS STUCK FAST.
The directors of the Morrison rubbed their hands with glee, and treated
Mr. Friendly with the greatest respect, when they found that they had
got rid of all their stock, not only without loss, but at an enormous
profit. But then came the affairs of the company, which were not a whit
better now, than when the stock was depressed. In fact, they were every
day growing worse—for the interest on their enormous loans, was now
becoming due, and they had nothing to pay it with.
At a meeting of the board of directors, about the time we are speaking
of, for purposes of business, they all sat in silence, for some
minutes, looking at each other—each one wishing that his neighbor
might propose some remedy—and their hearts sank within them, as each
one successively uttered a desponding sigh at the poverty of his
invention, or—what was still worse to get over—the poverty of their
finances. At length, Mr. Faintheart proposed that they should all
resign, and let the affairs of the company take care of themselves.
This course—although so successfully practised some time afterwards by
their successors in office—did not suit the taste of Mr. Hold-on; who
said that “the public mind was not now prepared for such a movement.
A few years more, and the people will be more enlightened, and will
not expect directors to retain their seats when they have nothing to
gain by doing so. But, if we desert them now, the thing will be looked
into; we shall be accused of all the roguery that others before us have
done—we shall be hunted like rats. My motto, therefore, is, ‘don’t
give up the ship;’ and, as none of you propose a remedy, I suggest
that, as Nicholas now holds a large amount of the stock, perhaps he
will loan us a couple of hundred thousands, especially, if he is made
to believe that it is wanted to finish our works of improvement, and
that _when_ they are _finished_ it will improve the value of his stock
fifty per cent.”
A WISE SUGGESTION—ITS RESULT.
The proposal was hailed with delight, and Mr. Hold-on was deputed to
manage the negotiation, which he did with the same success, in the same
manner, and on the same conditions, as did Mr. Spriggins.
This cunning device of Nicholas, always to be the borrower, when he
appeared to lend, is altogether a modern invention, and was very
successfully practised, a few years since, in an attempt to relieve the
merchants of New-York, and which, some have wickedly said, was used to
enable certain gentlemen to collect their private debts, and finally
went to relieve Nicholas of his money, by throwing the same debts upon
him. Be that as it may, it is universally admitted that Nicholas was
the first inventor of a bank, whose business was to borrow, instead of
lending, money.
OLD NICK’S SHREWDNESS.
By these master strokes of policy, Nicholas came into possession of a
claim of two hundred thousand dollars against the Morrison, and held
an equal amount of their stock, both which in six months afterwards he
found to be not worth a farthing. To these circumstances it was owing,
that, through his influence, the Morrison Kennel was afterwards revived
with great splendor, and scenes were enacted, which, though they have
caused many a tear of grief to flow, will, I hope, not fail to excite
your laughter by their relation.
My venerable friend here excused himself on account of fatigue, but
with the assurance that, at our next meeting, he would introduce
me to some new and original characters, and also tell me about the
negotiation of a great state loan—how the directors of the Morrison
helped to nurse the great “bull dog” of Pennsylvania in his sickness,
and how they all ran away, when they found he was likely to die,
together with some account of his disease, and his last moments.
HOW THE OPERATORS CAME OUT.
If any one is curious to know what became of Messrs. Friendly,
Spriggins, and Eavesdropper, after their figure in the Speculation, I
will take this opportunity to tell them, that what has here been said
is but a small part of the fame to which they are entitled; but it is
my business only to show the results of such things as I have related.
Mr. Friendly, as all good men do, spent his money liberally and
charitably. To a large circle, his house was the centre of politeness,
elegance, and hospitality; but his insatiable appetite for speculation
ruined him at last, as it does all others; at least, he is so far
ruined, that until another speculation shall turn out like the
Morrison, he will be content to practice economy. Mr. Spriggins set
up his carriage on his anticipated profits, and was let down from it
before his coachman had fairly mounted his livery; and report says that
he has since done the same thing three times over. Mr. Eavesdropper
ran wild with his first success, and, in the end, only arrived one
stride nearer the “black list.” And exactly one hundred and forty
others were made poorer than they were before, by the whole amount
which they put at risk.
RESULTS OF GAMBLING.
If the mischiefs arising from this species of gambling were confined
to those who set that kind of speculation on foot, or who make it the
business of their lives, there would be nothing to lament. But such
is not the fact. The whirlwind naturally sweeps everything within its
influence, and over which it has power, to its centre. Hundreds, nay
thousands, allured by the success of a few, are induced to embark in
the rash adventure. They are unacquainted with the real character or
causes of the fluctuations, and even if they are not ignorant, they
are liable to be outwitted by some of the hundred minds that are
continually plotting against them. Here is the fruitful source of all
those defalcations of public officers—the purloining of money by
officers, and clerks of institutions which have so much multiplied of
late—inflicting misery on the families, and disgrace on the names of
many a once honorable man.
GOOD LESSONS TO THOSE WHO WILL HEAR.
The business is showy and fascinating, its temptations subtle and
alluring. Young and enterprising merchants embark in it, and find that
they have lost their money and their credit, when it is too late to
repent. The hard working mechanic embarks a few hundred dollars, and
when he finds himself in debt and no means of paying, sees that he
has been outwitted, and that, if others have made money, he has lost
it. In fact that it is he, and others like him, who have assisted the
successful to pocket his profits. Women yield up the savings of years
to be invested in something, they know not what, and wail over their
folly and their credulity, when all their bright hopes have faded into
a worthless certificate. In fact it is only the loss sustained by such
as these that enables the operators, as they are termed, to accumulate,
or even to live by their business; for they could do neither the one
nor the other within themselves. And it will be found to be a necessary
consequence, that in all such speculations as that of which I have
endeavored to give but too faithful a picture, if one is made rich, a
hundred are made poor. In no country in the world, is the hazard of
stock gambling, so great as in this, where there is such a multitude
of stocks, based upon the schemes of individuals, and affected by the
ever changing prosperity of our growing, yet comparatively unsettled
condition; and where the capitals are often so small, that it is in
the power of two or three designing individuals to raise them above,
or depress them below, their real value, as may best suit their plans
or their convenience, thus often destroying the sole dependence of the
needy and helpless.