The New York herald., 1874-10-07
THE GREAT LAND SWNDLE
The Finale Of an Extensive Fraud
and Its Lessons.
BURSTING or ANOTHER BUBBLE

One OF the easiest modes OF feafhering ones
nae, and acou,r,n4 some OF the nlthy lucre so
aro.ntlv des,red py men Is that OF forming" an
aaaoc,ar,on or as it 10 more aptly called Ia Eng
land. .oromotingv a company. To obtain con1-
dence in any speculation II IS only necessary to
.,v,a one,s self "Presidentn OF such and such a
comnany or association and the company or asso-
citation must therefore be formed, Tor the purpose
M giving the officers a chance OF making money.
gnere are q great many OF these ''bubble'' COM
NAMES based on fraud III this city, and many OF
The .promotersn who nave styled themselves
Presidents or secretaries have had to reside
for n while tn Ludlow street JAN and
appear as Defendants in the Courts OF justice.
signal instance OF tnls curious branch
OF speculative industry Is afforded, by the
cabinet Makers Cooperative Building
Association whose sad experiences have from
time to time, they came up In the Courts, been
fully detailed In these columns. The arrest OF ex
Justice Stemmler who was generally regarded as
the promoter Of this association, aud OF Jacob
schmey, its notorious president, as well as OF the
other "oficers," was reported at the time IN the
HERALD, and the character OF the most remark
able transactions in which they were involved
will yet be remembered by its readers.
THE SIX HUNDRED POOR GERMANS
who were induced to buy lots IN Astoria from
Stemmler, believing them TO be free OF all encum-
brance have found out TO their sorrow that they
had been deceived, that there we're heavy
mortgages on the lots; ana now that
the mortgages have proceeded, under
Judgment OF foreclosure, TO sell the
land which these deluded vicLims already re-
garded their own, their CONSERVATION and
Indignation are unbounded. 1t will be remembered
that the suit against Gerhard Schneider, Jacob
SIMON, Jacob Schmey, August Albrecht and VIII
m
failed to restore to the poor victims the money
out OF which they mad been swindled. The COM
paint IN that case as drawn up by Mr. Henry
Wehe, gives the best his ory OF this remarkable
fraud, ana recites that the above-named defend
ants cons pred and combined together with the
design and intent and for the purpose OF cheating
ana defraudng the plaintiffs TO style themselves
On association; that JACOB simon was styled the
secretary and acted as the chel lnsugator and
manager OF the lraud, and tnat they issued cir
cuiars IN the German language statlng that they
were an association founded Tor the purpose OF
enabling mechanics TO make secure investments
IN real estate and
TO ACQUIRE HOMESTEAD FOR THEMSELVES.
The complaint goes on to show that rne associa-
ton were selling lands at the rate OF $500 per lot
payable in instalments OF So per week which were
mOrtgaged, and that they concealed rom the
plalnt1ns the existence OF the mortgages so that
tue land would now be sold under a foreclosure.
The officers OF the association bought these lands
from ex-Justlce Stemmler, who had purchased them
from Bacon ana HYDE Tor $4,000 He only paid
this enormous mortgage the purchasers OF the lots
knew nothing. Stemmer effected settlement
with the victims when The fraud became matter
Ol public nOtoriety, and now that many OF the lots
have already been sold under the judicial order Tor
aforecosure, hundreds oipoor Germans find them
selves robbed o1 what taey had considered as their
own property, paid for with their own hard-earned
savings,
VIEWS OF THE REFEREE.
HERALD reporter called yesterday upon Mr..
Alfred I. Aikert, who was referee in the case, IN
order to ascertain waen tae remaining lots
IT.
warrantee DEEDS were gwen by stemnlerl would in
all probability be sold. M. Akert SAID this final
sale, which would at last dispose OF this sad case,
would probably take place III SIX weeks. The lots,
he SAID, were TO have oeen sold last week. but the
proprietor OF the house at which the sale was ad-
vertised to take place was AFRAID that the poor
Germans, IN their indignation at the outrageous
manner III which they had been victimized, would
be tempted to violence, and the sale mad to be
postponed In consequence.
The reporter inquired how Stemmer could es-
cape from his responsibility Tor the fraud. The
referee replied that his defence had been that he
gave these Warrantee deeds to SIMON, the treas
urer OF the bogus association with the instruction
that they were not TO be delivered to the pur-
chasers Of the lots until the release IRON the
NOR tgaQe had been obtained, and that they were,
nevertheless, given to them without hts knowl-
edge or sanction. Mr.. AiSert was OF the opinion
that the ignorance Of these poor Germans was as
much the cause OF their misfortune as any thing
else, for they Jailed
TO EXAMINE THE TITLE TO THE LAND
The land would have to be sold TO satisfy the
amount due TO the plaintiffs, Bacon Hyde, which
was $1,000 less the amount already realized by
sale and releases. Mr.. Aikert was unable TO give
an opinion as TO who were the most guilty parties
In the shameful transaction.
Mr.. Browne, the attorney for Bacon HYDE said
the lacts were Simply these :-the pialntfs sod
their farm IN Astoria to stemmier and his vile
and took Rom them mortgage for $4,000, no
portion OF which had been paid. neither principal
nor interest. They proceeded TO oreclose the
mortgage and found that great many Of these
lots had been sold to these poor Germans. They
made all the purchasers defendan to the action,
and the usual decree OF foreclosure was obtained.
Under that decree the property would be sold, and
now Bacon hyde realizing the hardships OF
these Germans, were Wiling co execute releases
60 them. Offering TO take ten per cent and give
them three wears in which to pay the remainder.
Mr.. BrowDe's opinion was that tnese Germans had
been either grossly deceived or been the victims
OF their own ignorance and reckleSsness. The
case was undoubtedly very hard one.
THE BOARD or TRUSTEES,
into whose care Stemmier turned over the prop
erty at Lne time he made the settlement, have
done all that was ID their power to protect the
victims against losing All they had paid Mr.. Field
man, one OF the trustees, said yesterday that the
first element OF fraud was III the fact that these
and also that Schmey and Schneider made con-
tract with Stemraler to buy lots Tor $500 apiece IN
the name OF society which positively did not
exist The plan oil tue trustees was that each Of
the purchasers should bug one ol the unsod lots,
the amount being also sufficient to pay Of the
mortgage on the lot already bought by
him. some OF them followed this advice and
were thus protected against loss; hut the
deeds which they nad got from stemmler pro-
tected them sufficiently against the possibility OF
sale OF the property, aud had thus lost all the
money paid by them. He did not think that the
sale OF all the lots would be sufficient To satisfy
the mortgage, as they would PROBABLY ietch very
low prices.
Although the prosecution against the perpe-
traitors OF this outrage has been once abandoned
there is ow very good prospect OF seeing 1t re-
neweG. Some OF the purchasers OF the lots VINO
are better of tnan the rest have engaged ex-Judqe
CardOzO TO prosecute Schnley. schneider and their
coniederafes on criminal charge, and say they
are Wiling 10 spend $1,000 III order to see this
outrage avenged.
TIE LORD MAYORS IpCTUPE
Iaat evening ahouL nine hnndred nersons Wern