Page:The Wizard of Wall Street and his Wealth.djvu/116

 remark was fatal to Mr. Gould's plans and he felt it, in his own words, "as a wet blanket."

Mr. Fisk, in his testimony, frankly said:

"On our passage over to Boston with Gen. Grant we endeavored to ascertain what his position in regard to finances was. We went down to dinner about nine o'clock, intending, while we were there, to have this thing pretty thoroughly talked up, and, if possible, to relieve him from any idea of putting the price of gold down."

Mr. Gould in his testimony said of the President: "He was our guest. At this supper the question came up about the state of the country, the crops, and the prospects ahead. The President was a listener; the other gentlemen were discussing. Some were in favor of Boutwell's selling gold, and some were opposed to it. After they had all interchanged their views, some one asked the President what his view was. He remarked that he thought there was a certain amount of fictitiousness about the prosperity of the country, and that the bubble might as well be tapped in one way as another. That was about the substance of his remark. He then asked me what I thought about it. I remarked that I thought if that policy was carried out it would produce great distress, and almost lead to civil war."

However, Gould was already in, and he was not a man to back out as long as he saw any chance for success, and he finally succeeded in really impressing on the President's mind that in order to move the crops it was necessary that gold should sell at