a big manly fellow, president of a bank now and asking
no odds of any, for he can buy 2,000 shares of Sugar at any time and
draw his check to pay for it against a bank account honestly earned
since the day his wife wrote that letter.

And I see a grateful mother teaching three youths to say a certain
prayer, and then I forget the critics' scathing sermons against stock
gamblers. It does not pain me when my own children ask, "Why do they say
such awful things about the stock operator?" I answer: "Oh, they mean no
harm; they don't know the stock gambler they write about."

ONE OF THE SYSTEM'S SHADOWS

That my readers may not drop this chapter with a false idea of the
results of the stock-broker's efforts to "live and let live," I will
give them an illustration of one of the counterbalances of the law of
compensations.

In the same year with the Sugar transaction, in an evil moment my mail
brought me the following letter:

_Dear Sir_: I have read with interest your proclamations
about "Coppers." I am not a rich man, but I have about
$20,000 lying idle which I should like to add to, and will
put it into anything you advise.

The writer received the following answer from my secretary:

Mr. Lawson instructs me to say he received your letter of
---- and he knows no better investment than the stock of the
Amalgamated Copper Company, which will be offered for public
subscription next week. In the advertising which will
accompany the offer you will note that it is to pay 8 per
cent., is now earning 16, and should sell at $150 or $200
per share. It will be offered at par. Not only does Mr.
Lawson personally believe in every word in the
advertisements, but they are vouched for by such men and
institutions as the National City Bank of New York, Henry H.
Rogers, William Rockefeller and others, whose names are
synonymous with success in business affairs. Mr. Lawson does
not hesitate to advise you to invest your $20,000 in this
stock, provided you are not looking for an investment that
is absolutely safe, that is, one that should not, in these
times, pay you over 3-3/4 or 4 per cent.; but if you are
looking for a semi-speculative investment, that is, one that
will pay you over 6 per cent., and where the chances are
good for large profits, he recommends this stock.

Later I received the following:

Upon