登陆注册
5260400000014

第14章 Chapter V(2)

And once the change was made Cowperwood was convinced that this new work was more suited to him in every way--as easy and more profitable, of course. In the first place, the firm of Tighe & Co., unlike that of Waterman & Co., was located in a handsome green-gray stone building at 66 South Third Street, in what was then, and for a number of years afterward, the heart of the financial district. Great institutions of national and international import and repute were near at hand--Drexel & Co., Edward Clark & Co., the Third National Bank, the First National Bank, the Stock Exchange, and similar institutions. Almost a score of smaller banks and brokerage firms were also in the vicinity. Edward Tighe, the head and brains of this concern, was a Boston Irishman, the son of an immigrant who had flourished and done well in that conservative city. He had come to Philadelphia to interest himself in the speculative life there. "Sure, it's a right good place for those of us who are awake," he told his friends, with a slight Irish accent, and he considered himself very much awake. He was a medium-tall man, not very stout, slightly and prematurely gray, and with a manner which was as lively and good-natured as it was combative and self-reliant. His upper lip was ornamented by a short, gray mustache.

"May heaven preserve me," he said, not long after he came there, "these Pennsylvanians never pay for anything they can issue bonds for." It was the period when Pennsylvania's credit, and for that matter Philadelphia's, was very bad in spite of its great wealth.

"If there's ever a war there'll be battalions of Pennsylvanians marching around offering notes for their meals. If I could just live long enough I could get rich buyin' up Pennsylvania notes and bonds. I think they'll pay some time; but, my God, they're mortal slow! I'll be dead before the State government will ever catch up on the interest they owe me now."

It was true. The condition of the finances of the state and city was most reprehensible. Both State and city were rich enough; but there were so many schemes for looting the treasury in both instances that when any new work had to be undertaken bonds were necessarily issued to raise the money. These bonds, or warrants, as they were called, pledged interest at six per cent.; but when the interest fell due, instead of paying it, the city or State treasurer, as the case might be, stamped the same with the date of presentation, and the warrant then bore interest for not only its original face value, but the amount then due in interest. In other words, it was being slowly compounded. But this did not help the man who wanted to raise money, for as security they could not be hypothecated for more than seventy per cent. of their market value, and they were not selling at par, but at ninety. A man might buy or accept them in foreclosure, but he had a long wait. Also, in the final payment of most of them favoritism ruled, for it was only when the treasurer knew that certain warrants were in the hands of "a friend" that he would advertise that such and such warrants--those particular ones that he knew about--would be paid.

What was more, the money system of the United States was only then beginning slowly to emerge from something approximating chaos to something more nearly approaching order. The United States Bank, of which Nicholas Biddle was the progenitor, had gone completely in 1841, and the United States Treasury with its subtreasury system had come in 1846; but still there were many, many wildcat banks, sufficient in number to make the average exchange-counter broker a walking encyclopedia of solvent and insolvent institutions.

Still, things were slowly improving, for the telegraph had facilitated stock-market quotations, not only between New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, but between a local broker's office in Philadelphia and his stock exchange. In other words, the short private wire had been introduced. Communication was quicker and freer, and daily grew better.

Railroads had been built to the South, East, North, and West.

There was as yet no stock-ticker and no telephone, and the clearing-house had only recently been thought of in New York, and had not yet been introduced in Philadelphia. Instead of a clearing-house service, messengers ran daily between banks and brokerage firms, balancing accounts on pass-books, exchanging bills, and, once a week, transferring the gold coin, which was the only thing that could be accepted for balances due, since there was no stable national currency. "On 'change," when the gong struck announcing the close of the day's business, a company of young men, known as "settlement clerks," after a system borrowed from London, gathered in the center of the room and compared or gathered the various trades of the day in a ring, thus eliminating all those sales and resales between certain firms which naturally canceled each other. They carried long account books, and called out the transactions--"Delaware and Maryland sold to Beaumont and Company," "Delware and Maryland sold to Tighe and Company," and so on. This simplified the bookkeeping of the various firms, and made for quicker and more stirring commercial transactions.

Seats "on 'change" sold for two thousand dollars each. The members of the exchange had just passed rules limiting the trading to the hours between ten and three (before this they had been any time between morning and midnight), and had fixed the rates at which brokers could do business, in the face of cut-throat schemes which had previously held. Severe penalties were fixed for those who failed to obey. In other words, things were shaping up for a great 'change business, and Edward Tighe felt, with other brokers, that there was a great future ahead.

同类推荐
  • 宜都记

    宜都记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 南平县志

    南平县志

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 蠡海集

    蠡海集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Forty Centuries of Ink

    Forty Centuries of Ink

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 辽东行部志

    辽东行部志

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 浮山法句

    浮山法句

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 天才游戏:破局

    天才游戏:破局

    有那么一瞬,程度甚至感到自己产生了幻觉,仿佛能够看到她眼底藏有一抹邪魅的红光,如魔刀,出鞘必见血。
  • 幻想乡的流亡者

    幻想乡的流亡者

    这是一个被月之都一炮崩到幻想乡里的星际流亡者的悲催(幸运)的故事。想象中的自己,我觉得我是个高人,工业进化,机械成神,可现实却是……走开,你们这些该死的月都人,走开,不要再用炮轰我了……我每天都从美妙的幻想乡中醒来,是个对生活极有品味的人,没错,吃观音土当早饭,生病用的都是永琳牌药片,然后用金钱收买灵梦用武力威胁紫妈,对了,我还跟文文搞事……呃,这个没有。总之,我真是又绅士又伟大,我就是这样一个尊贵的人,哈哈哈哈……
  • 龙少的金丝雀

    龙少的金丝雀

    S市令人闻风丧胆的大佬龙冠霖,看上了娱乐新星周忻露,不择手段的让浑身带刺的小野猫掉入他的陷井签下了“卖身契”,如愿成为他圈养的“金丝雀”。为了驯服这只野猫似的“金丝雀”,他乐此不疲的实行不服从就扑倒扑倒再扑倒的原则。后来他发现剧情没有按他的剧本来进行,当初一把“龙麟”剑横扫S市的冷酷魔王居然一步步堕落成了她专属的“小狼狗”。多年后,某女侧卧在床,抚摸某男那浓密的头发。“乖,听话,下半辈子我会对你好的。”“听话,是不是就可以让我每天吃饱?”“再吃,老娘连渣都不剩了。”“龙家未来的人丁兴旺可就靠你了,来老婆,再生一个。”遇到这种事,小狼狗秒变大灰狼。“三个了,不生了,封肚了”某女扶腰怒斥大灰狼。
  • 格格千岁千千岁

    格格千岁千千岁

    首先,这是同人文!是还珠格格+铁齿铜牙纪晓岚作为被皇阿玛和老佛爷最宠爱的格格作为协助管理后宫的掌事嬷嬷作为爱走江湖仗剑天涯的女侠艾潇潇的压力很大的自从遇见那个叫做福康安的富察大人之后艾潇潇就时常思绪混乱,词不达意,可是他对她的宠爱,他对她的放纵,他对她的霸道尤其是,那句潇潇,我定会护你一世周全!让她沉溺不已,这一沉溺,便是一生。
  • 输中自有颜如玉

    输中自有颜如玉

    6岁沈玉:朱颜,今天作业你搞定,我找小胖去了啊!10岁沈玉:朱颜,我爸你搞定,我打游戏去了啊!19岁沈玉:朱颜,我这大堆情书你搞定,我打篮球去了啊!23岁沈玉:朱颜,今天这相亲,女的不是我的菜,你帮我搞定,我泡吧去了啊!29岁沈玉:朱颜,今天我结婚,新娘你搞定!我换礼服去了啊!朱颜:沈玉,有没有搞错?你当这是卖白菜了。来宾都到了,我上哪去给你找个新娘,我搞不定!闻言沈玉:颜颜,相信我,这事就你能搞定!朱颜:有木有人人告诉我,这是个什么情况?直到互换完戒指,司仪宣布礼成。朱颜没弄白自己咋就糊里糊涂结婚了。沈玉一脸阴谋得逞:‘朱颜,不对,老婆,婚也结了,以后孩子的事情烦劳你搞定哈!
  • 有明月如眉

    有明月如眉

    明月眉父母皆为西陇大户人家,父亲又年纪轻轻就金榜题名蒙圣恩钦点入翰林院,更是官至三品户部侍郎。怎么看她都应该是那个前呼后拥,集万千宠爱于一身的千金小姐。可现实却是在她出生之前她母亲的正妻位置就被镇北侯府小姐齐菀芝以“平妻”的名义抢了去,并终生被父亲放逐在了老家。关起门来明月眉是明家三老爷、堂堂户部侍郎的嫡长女,可是门外轻视与嘲笑从来不曾离开过她们母女。明月眉的母亲更因常年郁结于心早早撒手人寰。面对母亲的突然离世、冷漠的父亲、虎视眈眈的继母、各怀心思的亲戚们、逢高踩低的下人们、年仅十四岁的明月眉不但要保护好自己,保护好自己身边的人,还要顺便为自己谋个好前程。出身已经这样了没得选,下半辈子她可要好好为自己谋划一下,她要让自己和身边的人都过上无忧无虑的生活,她的人生目标是“先苦后甜”。
  • 商务合同大全集

    商务合同大全集

    本书根据我国最新颁布的《中华人民共和国合同法》和国家工商行政管理总局及其他有关部门制定、发布的合同示范文本编写。本书从合同的相关知识点入手,具体介绍了买卖合同、供用电水气热力合同、联营合同、转让加盟合并合同、赠予合同、借贷款合同、担保合同、租赁合同、融资租赁合同、承揽合同、劳动合同、服务合同、合伙合同、建设工程合同、运输合同、技术合同、出版合同、保管仓储合同、委托合同、行纪合同、居间合同的内容、格式和签订合同时应注意的问题。同时,本书还附上了《中华人民共和国合同法》以供参考。本书为读者进行商务活动签订合同时提供了详实的专业指导。
  • 虫子爬吧

    虫子爬吧

    《周涛童趣作品:虫子,爬吧》主要内容是:虫子们爬动的时候,那是姿态万方,各显其能的,看起来令人神往,有时候一不小心是可以使人入迷的。总的来看,虫子爬行的各种姿态比人丰富多彩得多了。蚂蚁显得有点儿匆忙,但也经常有左顾右盼、犹疑彷徨的时候。它是一个坚定的种类,但勤劳坚定如蚁,也难免有“遇歧路而坐叹”,有团团旋转不知何去何从的时刻。所以,看看蚂蚁对我们人类是有启示意义的,因而也就懂了为什么自古就有“走路怕踩死蚂蚁”的人物。
  • 重塑诸天万界

    重塑诸天万界

    原名《谁说我是植物人》。意外激活了自身的天赋异能的丛林,在一系列的事件中,接手了父母预留给他的祖地。触碰到父辈们的不为人知的一面。混乱的诸天,破碎的世界,残破的星球,哭泣的生灵……。种种经历,让丛林不断成长。父辈仍在拼搏,我辈当需奋起直追。一起,去拯救多灾多难的万界吧。