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memoirs of general william t. sherman-1-第37章

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rt notice。  I went soon after to General Wool's room; where I found  Crockett and the rest of his party; told them that I was out of the fight; having resigned my commission; that I had neglected business that had been intrusted to me by my St。 Louis partners; and that I would thenceforward mind my own business; and leave public affairs severely alone。  We all returned to San Francisco that night by the Stockton boat; and I never after…ward had any thing to do with politics in California; perfectly satisfied with that short experience。  Johnson and Wool fought  out their quarrel of veracity in the newspapers and on paper。  But; in my opinion; there is not a shadow of doubt that General Wool did deliberately deceive us; that he had authority to issue arms; and that; had he adhered to his promise; we could have checked the committee before it became a fixed institution; and a part of the common law of California。 Major…General Volney  E。 Howard came to San Francisco soon after; continued the organization of militia which I had begun; succeeded in getting a few arms from the country; but one day the Vigilance Committee sallied from their armories; captured the arms of the 〃Law…and…Order party;〃 put some of their men into prison;  while General Howard; with others; escaped to the country; after which the Vigilance Committee had it all their own way。  Subsequently; in July; 1856; they arrested Chief…Justice Terry; and tried him for stabbing one of their constables; but he managed to escape at night; and took refuge on the John Adams。  In August; they hanged Hetherington and Brace in broad daylight; without any jury…trial; and; soon after; they quietly disbanded。  As they controlled the press; they wrote their own history; and the world generally gives them the credit of having purged San Francisco of rowdies and roughs; but their success  has given great stimulus to a dangerous principle; that would at any time justify the mob in seizing all the power of government;  and who is to say that the Vigilance Committee may not be composed of the worst; instead of the best; elements of a community? Indeed; in San Francisco; as soon as it was demonstrated that the real power had passed from the City Hall to the committee  room; the same set of bailiffs; constables; and rowdies that had infested the City Hall were found in the employment of the  〃Vigilantes;〃 and; after three months experience; the better class of people became tired of the midnight sessions and left the business and power of the committee in the hands of a court; of which a Sydney man was reported to be the head or chief…justice。

During the winter of 1855…'56; and indeed throughout the year 1856; all kinds of business became unsettled in California。  The mines continued to yield about fifty millions of gold a year; but little attention was paid to agriculture or to any business other than that of 〃mining;〃 and; as the placer…gold was becoming worked out; the miners were restless and uneasy; and were shifting about from place to place; impelled by rumors put afloat for speculative purposes。  A great many extensive enterprises by joint…stock companies had been begun; in the way of water…ditches; to bring water from the head of the mountain…streams down to the richer alluvial deposits; and nearly all of these companies became embarrassed or bankrupt。  Foreign capital; also; which had been attracted to California by reason of the high rates of interest; was being withdrawn; or was tied up in property which could not be sold; and; although our bank's having withstood the panic gave us great credit; still the community itself was shaken; and loans of money were risky in the extreme。  A great many merchants; of the highest name; availed themselves of the extremely liberal bankrupt law to get discharged of their old debts; without sacrificing much; if any; of their stocks of goods on hand; except a lawyer's fee; thus realizing Martin Burke's saying that 〃many a clever fellow had been ruined by paying his debts。〃  The merchants and business…men of San Francisco did not intend to be ruined by such a course。  I raised the rate of exchange from three to three and a half; while others kept on at the old rate; and I labored hard to collect old debts; and strove; in making new loans; to be on the safe side。 The State and city both denied much of their public debt; in fact; repudiated it; and real estate; which the year before had been first…class security; became utterly unsalable。

The office labor and confinement; and the anxiety attending the business; aggravated my asthma to such an extent that at times it deprived me of sleep; and threatened to become chronic and serious; and I was also conscious that the first and original cause which had induced Mr。 Lucas to establish the bank in California had ceased。  I so reported to him; and that I really believed that he could use his money more safely and to better advantage in St。 Louis。  This met his prompt approval; and he instructed me gradually to draw out; preparatory to a removal to New York City。 Accordingly; early in April; 1857; I published an advertisement in the San Francisco papers; notifying our customers that; on the 1st day of May; we would discontinue business and remove East; requiring all to withdraw their accounts; and declaring that; if any remained on the that day of May; their balances would be transferred to the banking…house of Parrott & Co。 Punctually to the day; this was done; and the business of Lucas; Turner & Co。; of San Francisco; was discontinued; except the more difficult and disagreeable part of collecting their own moneys and selling the real estate; to which the firm had succeeded by purchase or foreclosure。  One of the partners; B。 R。 Nisbet; assisted by our attorney; S。 M。 Bowman; Esq。; remained behind to close up the business of the bank。




CHAPTER VI。

CALIFORNIA; NEW YORK; AND KANSAS。

1857…1859。

Having closed the bank at San Francisco on the 1st day of May; 1857; accompanied by my family I embarked in the steamer Sonora for Panama; crossed the isthmus; and sailed to New York; whence we proceeded to Lancaster; Ohio; where Mrs。 Sherman and the family stopped; and I went on to St。 Louis。  I found there that some changes had been made in the parent; house; that Mr。 Lucas had bought out his partner; Captain Symonds; and that the firm's name had been changed to that of James H。 Lucas & Co。

It had also been arranged that an office or branch was to be established in New York City; of which I was to have charge; on pretty much the same terms and conditions as in the previous San Francisco firm。

Mr。 Lucas; Major Turner; and I; agreed to meet in New York; soon after the 4th of July。  We met accordingly at the Metropolitan Hotel; selected an office; No。 12 Pall Street; purchased the necessary furniture; and engaged a teller; bookkeeper; and porter。 The new firm was to bear the same title of Lucas; Turner & Co。; with about the same partners in interest; but the nature of the business was totally different。  We opened our office on the 21st of July; 1857; and at once began to receive accounts from the West and from California; but our chief business was as the resident agents of the St。 Louis firm of James H。 Lucas & Co。 Personally I took rooms at No。 100 Prince Street; in which house were also quartered Major J。 G。 Barnard; and Lieutenant J。 B。 McPherson; United States Engineers; both of whom afterward attained great fame in the civil war。

My business relations in New York were with the Metropolitan Bank and Bank of America; and with the very wealthy and most respectable firm of Schuchhardt & Gebhard; of Nassau Street。  Every thing went along swimmingly till the 21st of August; when all Wall Street was thrown into a spasm by the failure of the Ohio Life and Trust Company; and the panic so resembled that in San Francisco; that; having nothing seemingly at stake; I felt amused。  But it soon became a serious matter even to me。  Western stocks and securities tumbled to such a figure; that all Western banks that held such securities; and had procured advances thereon; were compelled to pay up or substitute increased collaterals。  Our own house was not a borrower in New York at all; but many of our Western correspondents were; and it taxed my tune to watch their interests。 In September; the panic extended so as to threaten the safety of even some of the New York banks not connected with the West; and the alarm became general; and at last universal。

In the very midst of this panic came the news that the steamer Central America; formerly the George Law; with six hundred passengers and about sixteen hundred thousand dollars of treasure; coming from Aspinwall; had foundered at sea; off the coast of Georgia; and that about sixty of the passengers had been providentially picked up by a Swedish bark; and brought into Savannah。  The absolute loss of this treasure went to swell the confusion and panic of the day。

A few days after; I was standing in the vestibule of the Metropolitan Hotel; and heard the captain of the Swedish bark tell his singular story of the rescue of these passengers。  He was a short; sailor…like…looking man; with a strong German or Swedish accent。  He said that he was sailing from some
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