SHOWING HOW STOCKS ARE BOUGHT AND SOLD—HOW BROKERS GET OUT OF
A BAD SPECULATION—HOW MONEY IS SOMETIMES MADE BY DOING A
LOSING BUSINESS—HOW DISCOUNTS ARE MADE AND OBTAINED, &C. &C.
Before proceeding to relate the conversation of my friend this day, I
must first state a few facts, for the information of those who are not
already acquainted with them.
THE LAWLESS HAVE LAWS.
The Board of Brokers have many rules for their government; one of
which is—that, when a broker is employed by another person to buy or
sell stock on time, he has the right to give the name of his principal
within twenty-four hours, and then, if the other party is not satisfied
with the security, he is required to deposite ten per cent., or the
contract is cancelled. If the broker so employed, does not give
the name of his principal, he assumes the responsibility himself.
All contracts for the purchase or sale of stocks, on time, are, in
themselves, illegal; the contract cannot be enforced by any law, and
the only security that operators have for their fulfilment, is, that
rule of the board which expels a member, if he fails in his contracts.
Just as all gamblers may be supposed to expel a man from their society,
who takes up his winnings, but never pays his losses: or, upon the same
principle on which there is held to be honor among thieves—whoever
takes more than his share, is expelled from the gang.
Stocks sold on time, are seldom delivered; but, when the contract is
mature, the difference between the sale and the average market value
then, is paid over by the loser.
There are a few men of property, not brokers, who occasionally buy
fancy stocks in Wall-street, when money is scarce, and sell again
when it is more plenty, and reap a profit by it; but their number is
so small, that they have never attained the respectability of any
distinguishing name.
BULL-BACKERS AND BEAR-TRAPS.
There is a larger class, who sometimes control a good deal of money,
and who make speculation their business. These generally unite in
squads, for the purpose of _cornering_—which means, that they first
get the control of some particular stock, and then, by making a great
many contracts on time, compel the parties to pay whatever difference
they choose—or rather, I should say, whatever difference they can
get—for they sometimes overrate the weight of the purse of those
they contract with. These persons are denominated Bull-backers, or
Bear-traps, according to the nature of their operations. The first
signifies that they have bought stock largely, and hold it; and the
second, that they have sold stock which they have not got, and trust
to circumstances to be able to supply it. The brokers, themselves, in
these cases, are called Bulls and Bears.
There is another, and a much larger class, who, deceived by
appearances, come into the market without any knowledge of it, and
generally lose what they invest. These are called Flunkies.
With this elucidation of terms, I am ready to proceed with my friend’s
narrative, whom, true to his habit, I found at the spot, and anxious
for a listener; and, from the nature of his remarks, I am induced to
believe that he suspected me of some desire or design to enter on the
business of stock jobbing.
HOW TO QUALIFY FOR WALL-STREET.
“If,” said he, “you have any intention of entering into business in
Wall-street, you ought first to know, that, although there are many
respectable men and firms here, who have accumulated property and
credit, by a long course of industry and application, as in any other
branch of business, there is, nevertheless, a very large class, who
look upon every new comer as a fit subject for their stratagems. And
very few such escape one of two extremes: either the loss of their
property, or a sacrifice of conscience, honor, honesty, and every noble
principle, to the mean and sordid one of getting money. The first
sacrifice you would be called upon to make, would be, confidence and
respect towards your neighbors—you must disbelieve every thing you
hear and see, and look upon every one as having a design on your purse:
no very comfortable position for an honest man.”
FANCIES BETTER THAN SOUND STOCKS.
A very large portion of the stocks termed ‘fancies,’ and in which they
mostly deal, are entirely worthless in themselves; unlike articles of
merchandise, which may be seen and examined by the dealer, and which
always have an intrinsic value in every fluctuation of the market,
these stocks are wholly wrapped in mystery; no one knows any thing
about them, except the officers and directors of the companies, who,
from their position, are not the most likely men to tell you the truth.
They serve no other purpose, therefore, than as the representative of
value in stock gambling, which might just as well be wholly imaginary,
and of any other kind, as these; and you would soon learn, that the
reason why there is so much dealing in _depreciated_ stocks, and so
little in those which are solvent and at par, is this: Nearly all the
fluctuations in their prices, are artificial—a small fluctuation is
more easily produced than a large one, and as the calculations are
made on the par value, a fluctuation of one per cent. on a stock worth
only twenty dollars a share, is just five times as much on the amount
of money invested, as it would be on a par stock. Consequently, if a
‘Flunkie’ can be drawn in, he may be fleeced five times as quick in
these, as in good stocks.
HOW FALSE LIGHTS ARE SHOWN.
The arts and tricks resorted to, in this kind of gambling, are the
same as in all others. When the brokers and speculators engaged in
it, have no customers on whom to practice, and each one is shy of the
other, they lovingly play among themselves. To keep up appearances,
large transactions take place, which, by mutual understanding, are not
to be fulfilled, and like children at chequers, when the game is out,
the kernels are thrown into common stock again, and a new one begun.
And, strange as it may seem, these transactions are published in all
the commercial newspapers, and go forth to the world as the evidences
of value, and the condition of the money market, to deceive the unwary.
Every editor, who properly regards the welfare of the community, over
which his position gives him great influence, ought at once to refuse
the publication of any sale of stock, but such as are of standard and
intrinsic value; for it is by these means, that so many are drawn from
their regular pursuits, into ruinous speculations; when, if nothing but
truth were told them, they would stay at home, and save their money—to
say nothing of the mischief of idleness and dissipation, which the
habit of gambling engenders.
WHO IS TO BLAME.
I must not be understood as applying what I have said, or shall say,
to every man in Wall-street: far otherwise. Nor would I be understood
as applying it to brokers exclusively, or to any one in particular. I
only say, that if the coat I shall cut out suits any man’s shape and
dimensions, let him put it on. On the whole, the brokers are less to
blame than those who support them; and, if left to themselves, their
trade in fancy stocks would soon cease. If people will gamble, there
must be some place to do it, and some persons as directors, agents, and
co-partners in the business; and, until the people are reformed, it is
doubtful if Crockford, in London, and the brokers in Wall-street, are
not more honest and respectable than their supporters.
SECRETS LET OUT.
Stock gamblers of very small capital, often have contracts pending,
of many hundreds of thousands of dollars—they sometimes operate for
a rise, sometimes for a fall, of prices. In the first case they buy
deliverable at a future time, at a certain price. In the second, can
they sell in the same way. And, in either case, their profit or loss
depends on the rise or fall of the stock bought or sold; as, indeed,
all their profits do; for there is no such thing as a dealer’s profit
for the labor and risk of distribution, as in merchandise. The whole
process is a mere betting upon the future value. In this way, it will
be seen that the number of chances for gain or loss is just doubled,
as compared with dealers in merchandise, who always get what they buy,
and sell only what they have got. They frequently make a condition to
their time-contracts of “buyer’s option,” of “seller’s option,” which
means, that the person to whom the option is given, may, at any time
within the period of the term of sale, by giving one day’s notice,
call for the stocks, and this enables them to take advantage of any
temporary fluctuation which may happen, or which the parties interested
may be able to create. These circumstances easily explain the reason
why fortunes are often so suddenly made or lost in stocks. No system
could be devised better calculated than this is, to excite a gambling
propensity, and afford an opportunity for the exercise of ingenuity and
cunning.
“But,” said my friend, “lest I should weary your patience, by too much
generalizing, and seriousness, I will inform you how Mr. Tell-it got
out of a bad speculation.”
A NO. 1. CHARACTER.
Mr. T. is a regular descendant of Mr. Jacob Broker, of the seventh
generation, and one that does honor to his ancestral renown. No greater
contradiction of terms can possibly be used, than exists between
his name and character, for he was never known to tell a thing that
he knew, however trifling. His conversation and answers are wholly
by interrogatory. When asked at what price he will sell, his answer
is, “what will you give?” and he never commits himself in a promise,
without first receiving a promise of another, or, what suits his taste
much better, something tangible in its stead. This peculiarity of mind
has led to one great virtue, to which I bear willing and honorable
testimony—he was never known to tell a lie. If people take false
impressions, it is because they assume false premises—if they indulge
in wrong opinions, it is because they have not been diligent enough
in search of truth—and, as he is a competitor for the great prize of
life, he cannot spend his time to correct other people’s deficiencies.
HIS CHARACTER.
His knowledge of men and things is regulated by their _properties_,
and his estimate of the proper pursuits of life has received a bias
from his literal construction of the Apocalypse, in which the streets
of the new Jerusalem are described as being of pure gold; and he
appears to regard the possession of it here, as the surest passport
on his way there. In exactness and punctuality, he is a model for
imitation. He generally operates “for a fall,” and, like his great
progenitor, his interest compels him to take pleasure rather in
demolishing than in building up. His assiduity and skill are such,
that, united with his great physical force, mechanically denominated
“_a purchase power_,” he can tear down more in one week, than the whole
fraternity can build up in a year; and he has been known to topple a
Bank, an Insurance company, a Railroad, or a whole bevy of brokers, by
a single application of his lever.
But such is the variety and opposition of interests created by the
multitude of heads, and the multiform opinions entertained by them,
the circumstances of which are varied by every transaction that takes
place, of which none but those concerned in them can have any control,
that the wittiest sometimes get outwitted, and the strongest outdone.
GETS TRAPPED.
Not long since, a squad of Bull-backers, had for some months been,
secretly, and unknown to Mr. T., getting control of a certain stock,
intending to “corner” some one with it; and, aware of Mr. T.’s tearing
down propensity, after due consultation, they laid a scheme whereby to
entrap him. Deputing an agent of well known paucity of dollars, they
sent him to Mr. T. to get a loan of money on a large amount of the
aforesaid stock. The loan was completed for the term of 90 days, Mr.
T. advancing two thirds the nominal value. Whether he had any ulterior
object, or not, in lending the money is not known; but, as he seldom
made such loans when such object did not sooner or later disclose
itself, it is suspected, that in this case, he looked beyond the
present bargain, and, believing that his debtors would be obliged to
sell the stock he held, for what it would bring, to pay his loan when
due, he commenced his operations for a fall in the stock, by selling
it all out. It so happened, however, that the Bull-backers aforesaid,
were the buyers of it, and this was just the snare into which they
desired to lead Mr. T., knowing that when their agent should pay up
his loan, and call for the stock, T. would be obliged to buy it of
them, at such increased prices, as they should dictate. And Mr. T. was
soon made sensible of his condition, by his debtor calling long before
the time, and offering to pay up the loan, and withdraw the Stock. He
was certainly surprised, but his quiet and collected manner betrayed
no emotion. And here I must render another tribute to his character.
He certainly bears his profits and losses well; as great men are said
to bear their honors and misfortunes, with unassuming and unrepining
philosophy.
The discovery of his situation however, called for the exercise of his
sagacity, and he modestly declined receiving the money, only saying,
that he preferred it should rest for the time agreed on.
IN A QUANDARY.
As soon as his debtor had gone out, he thrust his hands in his pockets,
his eyes resting on the floor in front, and sticking out his lips,
in a way which no other man does, he muttered to himself “I’m in a
bear-trap—this won’t do. The dogs will ‘come over’ me. I shall be
mulct in a loss. But I’ve got time—I’ll turn the scale, I’ll help the
bulls, operate for a rise, and draw in the flunkies.”
These men, I should have said before, have no other rule of judgment
for their operations than to follow in the wake of some great and
successful speculator. Mr. T. very properly regards them as sheep for
the slaughter; and although the milk of human kindness certainly is a
component of his heart, he makes no scruple of sacrificing a score of
them at a time. Why should he? for killed and eaten they certainly will
be by somebody: but they are a genitive race, and re-produce as fast as
destroyed.
WORKS OUT BY DRAWING OTHERS IN.
Mr. T. had need of no further exertion, to accomplish his purpose, than
to make his course _manifest to them_, they all followed his apparent
lead, as sheep will follow one another over a wall, if they all fall
into a ditch on the other side. Even the wise man of Israel, by his own
confession, did not know every thing. “The way of the serpent on the
rock was too wonderful even for _him_,” and so in this case; the way
of their leader was to them, “past finding out.” But the secret of the
management necessary, in this case, is, to do just the opposite of what
one appears to do. Mr. T. therefore continued to operate visibly for
a fall, by selling out small sums for future delivery, which he took
care to have trumpeted by another, while he was very reserved himself.
He thus drew all the “flunkies” after him, as _they_ supposed, while
he was in reality the purchaser, through his agents, of all that they
contracted to sell, and by this means, before the expiration of the
loan, he was in possession of the stock to deliver, with a difference
of ten thousand dollars in his favor, against the flunkies.
EVILS OF TALKING IN SLEEP.
These things would never have been known, but that T. sometimes talks
in his sleep, and while chuckling over the ruse de guerre, he recounted
the whole story, and was overheard by his chum, who thought the joke
too good to be lost.
HOW BROKERS SOMETIMES FAIL.
And now, said my friend, as I am in the way of story telling, I will
tell you how money has been made, by doing a losing business. It
will have been seen already that the failure of a stock broker, does
not involve commercial dishonor. It is a mere acknowledgment, of his
inability to pay his _bets_, for debts they are not. When this has
happened, he suffers the penalty of being expelled from the board.
It then becomes the interest of those to whom differences are due,
(the term used for stock debts,) to get what they can and discharge
him. The amount he will be willing to pay, depends on three-fold
circumstances—the amount of means he possesses—his own sense of
obligation—and the credit and advantages he is to gain, by being
reinstated. And a settlement once made with his creditors, it becomes
the interest of all, to reinstate him; for society becomes disjointed,
by losing its prominent members.
When a broker operates for others, as his principals, he usually
requires a deposit of ten per cent., as security against loss. They
generally operate in different kinds of stock, some of which turn
favorably for their interest, and the differences are in their favor.
In others the difference is against them, according as their risks, or
their judgment, may have proved favorable, or unfavorable. Commonly
their operations are very large in amount, and it sometimes happens,
that the fluctuations are greater than the security, and by the
occurrence of some unforeseen event, like the recent failure of the
United States Bank, a fair adjustment of the differences against them,
would ruin all the parties, consequently, one or all of them must be
sacrificed.
HOW THEY GET UP AGAIN.
Expediency, and interest dictate that it shall be but one, and that
one the broker. He consents, because it involves less dishonor with
him than the others. They can be screened by his defalcation, and, it
is equally his interest to take care of his customers, as himself. And
if he has not too delicate a conscience, (and all men have not,) the
way is now open for the following management. When differences are in
his favor, he may avow his principals, and the losers must pay, or
themselves suffer expulsion from the board. Where the differences are
against him, he may keep the responsibility to himself, and as they are
very large, he will be able to compromise them, for the ten per cent.
deposited, and perhaps less, if he has not been careful to exact the
security. And when the whole is adjusted, if the differences collected
exceed the ten per cent. paid, there is a profit to divide, among them
all. And, if these operations are not sometimes performed with a less
scrupulous regard to figures, suspicion has been guilty of a libel. I
do not say, that this is a common practice among the brokers, but the
power of doing, and the facility of screening it, are equivalent to an
invitation to rogues to embrace it, and all the world knows, how ready
_they_ are to seize an opportunity.
AMUSING OPERATIONS.
Although stock-speculators, generally, affect to be very secret, as
well as very cunning, in their dealings, they frequently contrive
to find out each other’s business, and the manner in which their
liabilities sometimes develope themselves is amusing. It lately
happened that two speculators, Mr. A. and Mr. B., had been operating
in different kinds of stock, and each of them thought he had a
considerable amount of profits to collect, and losses to pay; and
the whole having passed through a broker’s hands, neither of them
was supposed to know who the principals were. Circumstances led to a
comparing of notes, when it was found that their claims on each other
were so nearly balanced, that they settled it by offset. It is believed
that at least one of them intended to collect his profits, and back out
of his losses; but that the other, more cunning than he, had contrived
to take the place of a third party, (Mr. C.,) who was the real seller
of the winning stock on his side, and when a settlement had been made
between A. and B., that B. and C. divided the amount of profits on C.’s
stock between them. By these means, the third party, C., was enabled
to collect half of a profit, which he would never have got otherwise,
and the other, Mr. B., was saved paying half a loss, which he would
otherwise have had to pay, or to sacrifice his broker, who, between
them both, was saved from a dilemma.
WALL-STREET NOT A SAFE PLACE.
“And now,” said my friend, “unless you can follow all these windings,
and are ready to turn as sharp a corner as the rest of them, let me
advise you not to stay long in Wall-street; for, depend upon it, while
you are here, you are in the midst of temptation, and no man ever
trifled long with that, and came off with his honor unscathed, and his
heart not indurated.”
I thanked my friend for his advice, and replied, “that I had already
determined, that I could never aspire to a professorship, nor even a
pupillage, in a school requiring such active energies of body and mind.”
But my friend continued, and, taking out his watch, remarked, that,
as he had yet time to spare, if I pleased to listen, he would tell me
something about the manner in which discounts were sometimes made, and
obtained. And, willing to be informed of all particulars, in which I
had now become deeply interested, I signified my wish to hear how these
important appendages of trade are managed.
FICTITIOUS CREDIT.
“Young men,” said he, “often mistake the basis of their own credit,
and are flattered by the freedom and liberality with which money is
sometimes lent them. They could not possibly commit a more fatal error,
and this arises in a great degree, perhaps, from the false estimate of
what is commonly called money.”
The system of Bank credit, which has so widely obtained in this
country, and which allows of a circulation of their notes, or bills
of credit, as a substitute for money, has been productive of untold
benefits. But its long success has led to its abuse; and the manifest
advantage, to those who held the privilege, has led designing men to
seek an influence in its control. In times of ease and plenty, these
gentlemen are ever ready to exchange their credit for the substantial
securities of the merchant, receiving therefor the premium of interest,
as their profit. These Bank credits, being readily convertible for the
payment of debts, entice men of small means into an enlarged business.
COMMON MISTAKE.
The error of young merchants seems to have been, an appreciation of
Bank issues, to be the same as money, instead of an equivalent in
credit, and a discount obtained, as an exchange of securities for
cash, instead of a new debt contracted. They have overlooked the
fact, that the same circumstances that will cause distress to them,
will also cause it to the Bank, and bring with it a curtailment of
their accommodations, just at the time when their wants require their
enlargement. Their independence is gone, as soon as they are obliged
to solicit a favor, and if in the hands of heartless and designing
men, this is just the time when advantage will be taken of their
necessities, as long as their securities are good; and they will find,
when it is too late, that they have leaned on a broken reed.
HOW THEY GET SERVED.
The habit of merchants leaning on a Bank credit, and considering it
better than their own, with the dependence growing out of it, has
enabled the latter, by common consent, to throw around it a sacredness
of character that does not attach to credit in any other place or
form; and instances are of daily occurrence, where men do injustice
to a neighbor, to enable them to pay a note at the Bank; while the
latter, to protect themselves, will sacrifice a score or two of their
customers, without mercy or compunction. When men become necessitous,
they are afraid to let it be known out of doors, because it will injure
their credit; and they will make almost any sacrifice in private, to
save such a mortification. And to this fact, designing and unprincipled
men, who, in times of pressure, convert the capital of a Bank into a
means of preying upon their customers, owe their security in doing
it; when, if the undisguised particulars could be known, they would
immediately lose their charter and their reputation.
The way these things worked a few years since, in the Stork Bank and
the Water Works Bank in this city, is worthy of being told by way of
illustration.
HUNGRY BEGGARS.
The cashiers of these banks thought themselves so firmly seated in
power, that nothing could move them. By way of brevity, I will call
them Jack and Bob; but let no one suppose that the impudent familiarity
of using these barbarous corruptions of a Christian name, was ever
permitted to any but themselves. The bad times—which in business
parlance, in its proper construction, means, that period of time when
the mischiefs designed by one party, or arising from the follies and
imprudences of the other, are in course of developement—brought crowds
of anxious applicants daily to the counter of the bank. They arranged
themselves in rows along the walls, or by the side of the counter, with
anxious faces, each one waiting for his turn, and as each received
a negative, his eye flashed with anger, or his cheek blanched with
despair; and while others would march up, to prefer their own claims,
in the vain hope of better success, those behind occasionally peered
out from the long line in which they stood, and cursed the gravity
and self-possession of the cashier, while he held a long parley with
his customer; and the last in the line sometimes betrayed, by the
uneasiness of his limbs, that the vulgar saying of “the d——l take
the hindmost,” was uppermost in his thoughts.
MONEY MADE BY FEEDING BEGGARS.
When men of business become dependent on borrowing, to meet their
engagements, the daily supply becomes as necessary as daily food. The
proverb tells us that a hungry man will break through a wall; and, to
use a fashionable phrase, of some who do not understand their mother
tongue, the cashiers were “_au fait_,” in this principle of natural
philosophy. Their eager eyes scanned with solicitude the cadaverous
countenances of the hungry applicants, to see where their scanty means
of supply might be most _profitably_ applied, and when occasionally,
some one received _permission_ to call again when the press was over,
hope at once beamed in his eye, a smile played gently about his mouth,
and had the cashier been a lady, he would have fallen on her neck and
kissed her. Punctual to the hour, he returns and receives from the
complacent lips of the cashier, the joy-giving intelligence—“Mr. A.,
we have so great a press upon us just now, that we find it impossible
to meet the demand for discounts; but, if it will oblige you, I will
take your notes at seven per cent. interest, and give you a check on
Mobile at sight, and at par, in payment.”
“But I do not know what to do with it,” says Mr. A. “How will that
relieve me?”
“Well, I don’t know, Mr. A., but I have understood that the Waterworks
Bank is buying at a discount of five per cent. That is rather a large
sacrifice to make, but it is the best that I can propose.”
THE DEATH-STRUGGLE.
“Hang the five per cent.,” thought A. to himself, “it will cost me
but a hundred dollars, and I can pay my note;” and, to him, a day’s
salvation from bankruptcy, was an age of happiness. The proposal was
eagerly embraced, and while the Waterworks was buying the checks of the
Stork on Mobile, Savannah, Columbus, &c., the Stork was buying those of
the Waterworks; and mischief-makers have reported that they were all
exchanged in the afternoon.
Mr. Eavesdropper, whose name implies that he attends more to other
people’s business than his own, reports having overheard the following
dialogue between the cashiers, at their afternoon meeting.
A BRACE OF JACK-ALLS.
JACK. Well Bob, this business works well yet, I have pocketed five
hundred dollars, to day.
BOB. Yes, Jack, sure, and it works well at present; but, upon me soul,
I don’t see the end of it, and if we were exposed, we should make a
dangling appearance, if we were even in the ould country.
JACK. Never fear, Bobby—a man never dangles here, as long as he has
got money; and besides, the dogs dare not whisper a word; their lives
depend on their credit, as the only means of supporting them, and they
would be cut up like mutton-chops in the market, the moment they lisped
their own secret.—We are safe.
BOB. Troth Jack, you’re always awake, but I’ve gone so deeply already,
that I couldn’t pay a draft to day from the Secretary at Washington,
an’ if it were not for that brother of mine, with the Scotch christian
name, who is busy at Washington, hang me if I think I could stand this.
JACK. Mr. Cashier, excuse my departure from our usual friendly
familiarity, but, depend upon it, the authorities of the country will
never oppress, in their individual circumstances, those who are
legitimately engaged in support of their authority.
HOPES AND COMPLIMENTS.
BOB. Arragh, Jack! and you’re complimentary—but the marquis cares
nothing about your ragamuffin authorities.
JACK. No Bobby, true, but he cares about your dividends, and that is
what you are to take care of.
BOB. Sure and I’ll take care of that, by the faith of me, and how much
shall _we_ make, Jack, by this management?
JACK. Why at least fifty thousand a piece, if nothing occurs till the
excitement is over.
BOB. If nothing happens, aye, and there’s the rub, Jack. I’m afraid
you’ll bleed some of the patients to death.
JACK. Never mind, Bob, if we see them fairly gasping, give them another
dose, and take double fees before hand. We have good security for the
past already. Good evening Bob.
BOB. Good evening to ye Jack. Long life to ye. And when ye die, may ye
have an uncommon long funeral. And as Jack departed, he muttered, “and
if them ye murther are mourners, by me sowl it will be long enough.”
A PROBLEM.
These things may be all slander, but still, there are some who believe
that a bank, which in the course of twelve months, divides ten per
cent. profit to its stockholders, and accumulates a nominal surplus of
twenty per cent. more, could never have done it by loaning money at
seven. And it certainly is a problem in arithmetic, which requires some
new devise of figures to solve.
The interest of description, would be lost in sameness of character,
should I attempt to describe all the ways in which the dependent
borrowers are made the chief sufferers, to gratify an undue propensity
of the lenders to accumulate.
A DEFAULTER.
And I will only add what is well known here, as a warning for the
future to those whose avarice outruns their integrity, that these
banks, like the repentant harlot, have long since “wept by the
willows,” for their departure from their first love; and the only
thing I know against their present government or officers is, that
the president of one of them, in paying over about one hundred and
fifty millions of dollars, was detected by General Jackson in being a
defaulter of eleven cents, but as the general could not tell exactly
where the default lay, he escaped all other punishment, but the natural
one of being removed from his office, to make room for others; who, if
they were in default at all, would make it sufficiently palpable to
avoid the necessity of searching out these contemptible digits.