A STORY FROM LIFE

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 12023, 29 December 1924, Page 5

A STORY FROM LIFE

FALL OF WHITAKER WRIGHT FINANCIAL GENIUS WHO CRASHED FROM THE HEIGHTS. TRAGIC END IN CQURT. ; About the year i 899 Mr Whitaker Wright was one of the , most' talked of and most powerful' men in England. He' had the reputation of being a multi-millionaire, .but that fame constituted but half of his prestige. He semhedfto despise, money; he was ■ its master. He could make tens of thousands where others toiled paiiffully for hundreds, and t at his nod the rose and fell- , ~ ‘ He was known all over liondon- jn the most exclusive circles, and ' men bearing great names were 'glad . _ to render him little services, and highly honoured when he chose them to adorn the prospectuses of his companies.’ ' A PALACE OF DELIGHT/ The house in which he lived at Whitley Park had been built in .great part from hiß own designs, and here the strung business man had allowed a light fancy to wander and, ■ like a modern Kubla Khan, he had-, decreed a £'stately pleasure dome? in. which Oriental richness and display mingled -with Frettoh 1 artistry, and that sober grand style of which we English/ have the. secret. - : - .Two lions in Btone guarded the entrance : a magnificent garden and park of half a mile square spread in its lordly beauty, and the house was a palace of delight. Beneath an artificial Jake he had built a ballroom, so that the light diffused 1 gently through the water, and, looking up. one could see the carp at play in their own element. EARLY DAYS. •' ''The master of this country seat'was then rather over 50 years of age, and one glance at him was' enough to discover the powerful personality that had conjured up these wonders. Whitaker Wright had a head and face that might have been taken as a model for one of those great organisers, or captain's .of industry, whom the Americans are especially prone to admire. [ The. square figure, the hold features cast in. the mould of a Roman Emperor, the keen, steady eye, the iron jaw that seemed as if closed by a lock—all that, indicated adamant, relentless will ; yet the expression of the mouth relaxed at , times, it oould be humorous and was not at all disinclined to the easy good-nature of the strong battler sure of himself. I The few who were really intimate, with Whitaker Wright, and especially those who knew him in his young days, liked , to recall, his, earlier phase-7-that of the adventurous, jolly young Englishman who had .gone to Leadville to make his fortune, but who: joined in all the. sports,, knew the miner’s -life through and through, and had responded to the free and generous spirit of the times. HIS FIRST THOUSAND. -Whitaker lyright was horn in. 1845 in; the North of England, ihis parents being in rather poor circumstances. He- Had" been favoured by fortune very little, unless indeed the best "favouritism be considered that which endowed him with health and strength, intelligence and courage, and even something more telling still the inflexible determination to win. His education was summary, hut he had dipped into chemistry, and he knew how to assay metals. Thus equipped, he set out for the land of the West, and, not wasting too much time in the big citiee, he pushed on till the fields of Eldorado, not yet sill explored, lay before him. ’He had very little cash, hut that did not deter him. Having found a suitable claim, he bought it for the equivalent of fifty pounds, and then sold half of it to procure a working capital. A- man of this resourceful spirit need not long remain in the depths. He w&b soun in possession of his first thou-

sand pounds, and he knew that he had already climbed not the, highest-hut certainly the most'difficult peak. TWO FORTUNES DOST. Always adventurous, and treating, money like dirt, Whitaker Wright had at the age of thirty mad© and lost two fortunes. That seems- a more tragic outcome now than it "dad" to him at Leadville. The' making of a fortune was a great game in itself;, the greatest he knew, and losing it—well, if you play at bowls, you expect the rubs. . . ’. He had travelled in tbe States and be was . well known in,. Wall, street, and especially in the mining world, as one of the' men who cOuntecU : Then in the year 1889; while still in all hid prime and vigour, Whitaker Wright felt the call of the Old Country L and ho returned to England.. \ . ~ ■■■>'■ ; He was new the greait. company promoter.. He had" resruEd All the tricks of the trade in the West, and 'in Chicago, and in Nbw York, and it corresponded with his .own ■ optimistic and resolute temperament. he'preferred to launch his enterprise with great impetus, with all tho accompaniments of “get T rich-quiok” excitement. He soon, began to roll tens of thousands on tens of thousands; he Was lured by the dream of .millions.. , At .that, time He. 'had still retained, his breezy, generous style, and his Optimi'soa, his good-natured helpfulness, made him popular everywhere. BRAIN BEHIND THE'board. His companies succeeded each. other, with great rapidity, and at first they were all successful—Lake Views, Paddington •Conaols,,- Wealth of Nations, ancf then, finally, the great I central building of which these Were .the. annexes,. The London and Globe v Financial Corporation. A peculiarity about all these companies was that they were all .installed under the- one roof, 'and that though they were constituted as companies!, with imposing boarcCs of more' or less ornamental ~ directors, ■ yet, Whit-akei. Wright was'the sole controlling mind. Even the rule that the cheques should be signed 'by two directors He; ooplly brushed aside,., and proceeded- on the assumption that his own Signature and that ' of his private secretary were sufficient.THE CRASH. But even High finance cannot float for ever in;the ‘Air, and, .moreover, in the city, though there (ire many rash speculators, there are cooL and .keen brains capable of being pitted ’’against those of the 1 Whitaker Wrights: His companies begjan ■to- tliwer tho fire of criticism. Lake Views' began to decline. He went to the fescue, not by developing the assets of the company,' but by throwing in' money derived from the other companies. At first Lake Views responded to this operation. At one time tfie shares made o jump to three times their" value; but the work of depreciation persisted, and Whitaker Wright, in order to - keep np appearances • before the public was forced to' those illegal steps which afterwards brought him to ruin. ■■■'.,•• , . ' ‘ His plan was that which was known before his time, and which has also been copied since, and with disastrous results..' .On the eve Of-publishing a balance-sheet of one of bis companies, he carried out bogus transactions with certain other of his companies, and in such a way as *to show a .great profit in the company which was destined to come into the limelight. ~ Of course ' expedients of this sort could not go on for ever, and towards the end of 1899 Whitaker Wright was losing his . buoyant; cheerfulness, and his bulldog fade was showing that the qualities of fierce and tenacious fighting , were also his. _ It. is said one of his agents kept advising him wrongly, and at the same time giving his friends the tip to sell. THEPUBLIO ENRAGED. Finally'the whole imposing structure of -Whitaker Wright's finance; "went smash. He had:profited by past experience; and he had provided for'himself in case of failure. The victims however, bSgaii to ory, and at length public opinion was moved.* The matter: was actually brought up in the House of Commons as an Amendment to the Address, hut the Solicitor-General, while saying 1 hat he believed Whitaker Wright had published a false balancesleet, asked whether anyone could assert that he could be prosecuted or. that account. This statement roused the public more than ever, ana at,. length, . in

1903,; Air Justice Buckley gave the in* . Btruchkms necessary to initiate a pup- esecutfbi.’ Whitaker Wright £ was gp« Paris, and on receipt of a wire from a ' friend, he sailed to the States under sn assumed name. He was -detained’ on arrival, and seeing that the game was np, he waived Ihe question of extradition, and returned. He remarked to a friend in his old Confident wa,v than he would never be imprisoned. _ GUESSED TTTS SENTENCE. The trial was held before Mr Justice Bigham, and the. prosecuting counsel was Mr Rufus Isaacs, now Iprd Reading. Rqth these men were experts tot only in Company law,, but in tho ways of financiers and though the trial was long they , succeeded in ; making clear to the jury what Whitaker Wright had really been doing. , B , He' himself was a man" of judgment; -* 'and' when’he flame to court on the last ■•' day -he-had no doubt of the verdict. He had even guessed' correctly that the sentence would'he seven years! penal servitude. • - ( He’ heard the sentence with a calm,- t unruffled expression, and then retired . -with" the’ warders to a small room adjoining the- court. , Then while puffing at a cigar he suddenly lurched forward, fell on his face, and expired. He had provided himself with prussic acid in a capsule, and be had taken the dote.