Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-01-09
MORNING, JANUARY ., 1850.
Washington Letter.
rosTAAsTEE-GENERAL KEY WAR on swlSD
LEEs NOT YET ESDED-A GIGANTIC BROKERS

roSTHAsT EI:-GFNEgAL KEY > WAR oN swIND-
LEI.s NOT YET ESDED-A GIGANTIC BROKEH's
swIyDLE.
WAsHlHGToS, ID. C., Jan. 5, 1879.
To the Editor of the Free Press and Times:
The good that las been accomplished, and
, that will be accomplished by Postmas,cr-Ge
cral Keys siarving-out war on lottery men
and other swindles can scarcely b. estimated
! Thousands Of men in this country carry on
extensive business with purchasers and
clients whom they have never seen. Their
business is legitimate and honest, but it sui
fcrs more OF less from comparison with
these fraudulent concerns which are the OBJ
ject of Postmaster General Keys attack.
The lotteries, and many other confidence
schemes that judy" Key has throttled, very
truly plead that their business has been the
source of an immense revenue To the
Government, through the Postotfice
Department. But if this plea was worthy
Of consideration il might be answered that
by dcbauching the mails, and abusing bust
ness confidence, they have diverted a much
larger revenue that would have accrued To
the Government through the channels "f
legitimate business. If men all over the
country, whether they want 10 make pur-
chase, prosecute a claim, secure II patent or
a pension, could believe that advertisers do
lust what they advertise to do, business
| through the mails would he immensely aug
| mepted. and the veXed problem Of the
| domination of the superiluous middle man"
would hc in a measure solved, confidence
would be restored, and Il much better class
of advertisers would find the press an Indis-
pensibc medium Of communication Judge
| Keys work is not vet complete but II IL
progressing. and is doubtless already reach
ing in hcalthful cxtirpation far beyond the
so-callcd firms that lac has denudcl OF power
| to gull green horns through the mails.
\ gigantic brokers' swindle has recently
been unearthcd in New York. Some time
ago the attention of the POstOfiice Depart
ment was called TO a circular purporting to
he issued by Lawrence & Co, bankers and
| brokers" II was filed with seductive words
and accounts Of poor men who had become
\ suddenly rich through stock spcculalions
| One instance in particular was givcn of IA
clerk in the Postotlce Department here, who
had intrlstcd 300 to the firm named, and,
by allowing it 10 h. continuously invested,
had realized no less than S2G, 600. The cir
cular was headed with wood-cut Of large
building, with several smaller houses by its
side, and the New York custom house in the
distance On the wall of the large building
the words Lawrence Il Co, Bankers and
Brokers'" were conspicuously displayed.
Convinced that the firm, if it really existed,
was engaged in deceiving the public, the
Department authorized its special agent in
New York to investigate the matter and re-
port. The result has been to unearth one oil
the largest if not the most extensive swind-
ling concerns in the country.
| The list of swindling concerns published
by the Postofiicc Department is already large,
and many additions will he made before the
''wceding-out is completed. Meanwhile
many who SO far escaped the vigilance oil
Judge Key are fleeing Of their own accord
from the wrath TO come. A too trustful
public has been put on its guard, and poor
men and women who have given their earn
ings in the feverish hope OF speedy fortune,
have been taught another lesson in the edu-
cation that the only way for them lies through
| industry and economy. Honest advertisers,
doing Legitimate business, have been greatly
benefited and no reform that has been at
| tempted will lie farther reaching in its henci
cent influence. Yours, Mn