Wacha, Dinshaw Edulji: Premchund Roychund: his early life and career (Bombay, 1913)

There was hardly a company in which his
assistance to bull its securities in the mar-
ket was not invoked by promoters. But
for his active or passive support not even
one-fourth of the bubble companies that
floated awhile on the surface could have
found their shares quoted at some pre-
mium, more or less. Without any excep-
tion every concern, whether started 12
months before or only a week, was quoted
above par. The true history of each and
every one of them, from first to last, has
yet to be written if the intensity of the
speculation, both in volume and capital, is
to be accurately gauged. It would indeed
be a marvellous history, more fascinat-
ing in its incidents than many a tale
of Arabian nights. But the unconscious
maker of that history was primarily Mr.
Premchund himself. His genius alone
led the speculation to the giddy height it
reached. But for his skill in manipulating
the shares, be they of the wealthiest re-
clamation companies or of the poorest

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