The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1892-09-10
SECURITIES.
.v THEY ARE DISPOSED OF IN
! LONDON WITH IMMUNITY.

.-.,ta in N mtEICd III De the continent,
Especial Correspondence
1oypoy, Aug. 25.-London enjoys the
.DOviable reputation of being the great,
N indeed | may add the only, market
,hs world for the disposal of stolen
L0ds. share certificates and scrip of
Pa,v description. Incredible though it
NV appear, the transactions in this par
sr,ar class of plumber are carried on
AN the utmost publicity and without
Iv danger of interference on the part
line English authorities. This strange
rmupity is due to the peculiar and
Irtuuately unique regulations of the
(ordop Stock exchange and to the Eng
h law on the subject of stolen scrip,
|bich permits a thief to give a good and
nal title to bonds which he has oD-
l;rpd by crime, and to the ownership
which he has therefore no legal title
mself. According to this statute, the
Olen bonds Fan be recovered by the po-
i only if the actual thief is captured
Nh them in his possession. But from
. moment that he has transferred
EN- to any third party, then recovery
1 law becomes impossible.
Few people save the police, the bank
Ihbers and the members of the London
bock exchange are aware of these facts.
INF seems to me that the matter should
! made more widely known, in order
hat public pressure from every quarter
d the civilized world may be brought TO
ear upon the British government with
h~eOblect OF inducing the latter TO amend
h laws in accordance with the dictates
commercial honor and probity.
Il was but last year that a British
burt Of Justice, presided over by the lord
lbief Justice of England, affirmed once
more the existence of this extraordinary
av, according to which stolen bonds
Institute a valid exchange and a he
kotiable instrument OH the London
took market. They remain so even if
ualifed by a public notification Of es-
oppel by the government or concern
rhich has originally issued them. Ac-
kording to the sworn testimony of the
PRESIDENT Of the London Stock exchange,
kiven during the course of the trial ir
question, it is beyond the power of that
Institution to take cOyniZance Of any es-
tOppel of a bond.
II the latter is genuine-that is, not a
fOrgery-and il it il not nominal, but
Iegotiable by transfer to bearer, the
Lvndon Stock exchange does not cor
ider itself to be at liberty TO step into
be place Of the issuing government o.
EnCern and to alter its character. Il
es not even consider it to be necessary
bat the vender of a stolen and stopped
bond should inform the purchaser Of its
FEue character. Nor has the party who.
having given an order to q Lroker 70.
be purchase Of bonds, receives scrip
Fhich has been stolen and stopped any
legal right to refuse delivery thereof.
1t is easy TO understand that with
ftnlcs such as these prevailing in the
Ceatest commercial center of the uni
trse, and tolerated by the law of the
fnd, d new. aud powerful impetus
as been given to the profession of bond
fObery. In former days, before the Brit.
k%h tribunals had affirmed this state of af
alrs, bank burglars never stole anything
the nature of bonds, securities, stock.
and shares, They We're deferred by the
%rificulty Of d~isposing of them, and re
garded them not only as useless, bu;
Fven as dangerous. Their entire atten,
non was devoted to the specie and bank
po'es' Nowadays, however, the bank bur,
gias makes "a point of carrying off every
Nlapo Of paper on which he is able to lay
lanas' and the entire package is at one
conveyed to London either by the thieves
themselves or else by the resident agents
The London dealers in rogue bonds"
Fs sOlen paperis denominated in Thread
needle street.
ihese agents are stationed in almost
every important city of the continent OF
Europe and of America. AT Paris they
laOs'ly haunt tie cafes in the neighbor
,oOd Of the Elysee Montmartre. III
view York they frequent certain well
,uowh purlieus of Fulton street. The
-"acon principals, for whom they act
naa IN whose employ they all stand, are
''ner ~outside-that is, curbstone- brok.
u, money changers or lawyers. Many
ue latter affect to belong to the old
@nod OF family solicitors, wear white
uaals, swallowtail coats, and transact
Aar business in stolen bonds with
s"cn JUNCTION and outward semblanc.
~tespectability. One of them is known
nave had as much as $500, 600 wortu
stolen bonds pass through his hand
~ year during the space Of one month,
whenever any bond robbery take
aaVe nowadays-and they have enor-
4'usiy increased in number and i'm
"sahce of late-the victims OF the
"!' and the police by de-
lung all their energies toward pre-
sA'ihS the stolen scrip from leaving
country and from reaching London.
~ mug TINS they cndeavor 10 arrest the
~.aai Thief with the plumber iii his pos.
~0'oh before he has had time to Ills.
us0 OF 1t to his dealer. There are
ca..'es who have been captured, to-
ct ,'uer with their booty, while in the act
Vn'erlng the door of the dealer. Were
ponce to have awaited for them to
"etge before making the arrest they