The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-05-07
s35,00o,ooo.
Charges of Theft Lodged
Against BaIfour.
a Notorious SwindIer-Widows and
Orphans His Victims.

teur, the absconding ex,member Of parlia-
mont who wus responsible for the collapse
OF the Liberater Building association and
other companieS yhcrvby thousands Of In
vestors were ruined, was put 10 the prls-
onsrs' dock .yestcrdAy and charges were
formally lodged against him. he looked
In good healthS hat be waS down-cast and
taeisuru. 1nlebur upon being arraigned
wessenAndad until Maye.
4tt since ths bursttng of tho South Sea
Bubble has there been q financial scheme
90 w1de0 ruiAous to oonadfng investors
~ 6he oposstions Of Jabes Halfour, che
man Just brought back 10 England. The
losoB through the COLLAPSE Of his CON-
panies were literally to he numbered by
hundeds Of thousands. These were
largely The people who could least afford
to loes-wi0ows end orphans and aged peo-
PIE Of small means.
They bad besn Induced to invest because
'Mr. Balfcuk wss such good mani" His
fathar and mother had been temperance
lcoturefs. Hs was leader In church af-
fairs, and looked with the strongest disap-
provsis upon theaters, music balls, cards,
dancing, and all such worldly things.
no was, moreover, membcr Of the
house OF commons, whore he was one Of
the most enthusiastic followers of Mr..
Gladstone, one Of the stanchest champions
Of homo rule and one Of the sternest re-
provers Of the house Of lords for it's plutoo-
racy and its contempt for the common
people. Strange as it may appear, he laid
the foundations of his colossal scheme upon
the ruins of various similar schemes that
had ended In disaster-to their conhding |
stockholders.
History Of 'sThe Liberator.-
The Lberator, his chief concern, was |
built upon tho ruins of the Alliance Ma
tional Land, Building and Investment So
ciety, and the Estates bank and number
Of other concerns known as tho Alliance
group. Having previously had some ex.
per1cnoe in the efiioe of q firm Of parlia-
mentary agents, he came modestly before
the world Ia 1857 as the virtual founder of
tho Lands Allotment company, from
which seven months later was developed
the Ldberator Building society.
Tho basis Of the organization was ex.
pressed In it's Latin motto, 'Libera sedes
noerun faoit' - free home makes free
man. It's name was q success hundreds
Of CopGregationalists were attracted by It's
prospectus, and an appeal was made To
NcncUnformist ministers and others con-
neceed with temperance and religious so.
sistie1 all ovcr the land to promote its
bens0cent objects. In the first year they
recetvcd per cent commission on the
shares and deposits, and subsequently, v
per cent, and in the end q round sum Of
e7oA 900 was paid in this way.
IN IS7o auotber association was hatched. !
soo L4nds Allotment company" with
practically the same directorate and Jabez
Spsncsr Balfour as the controlling genius.
I1be relations between these were exten.
sive and peculiar; In Eve years the Lib
crater had financed the other two 20 tbe
extent of oe00, 900, It's shareholders and de.
pontors knew little, II anything, Of the
staee Of affairs, while, according to the ex.
sminasion In tho bankruptcy court, its
leading directors and officials were equally ,
innocent Of all knowledge-the one thing ,
In which they all agreed being implicit
and unlinaited confidence in "Mr. Bal.
four" ,,
Unsurpassed Recklessness.
From this period onward there was n
regular succession of new companies; the
Docsot Of Balfourian finance was: 'When 7
n 0n1culty start "a new company In :
most Of these concerns there was a reru. 4
arly paid dividend OF per cent to the Z
'hareholders and per cent to depositors. 4
The rccklessness Of the financing was
never surpassed.
Balfosr discovered a progressive builder
Il Croydon named Hobbs, man in a
comparatively small way Of business IN j
ege. Such largo amounts were advanced {
o Hobbs that In 1856, when he was prac. Q
lcAlly insolvcnt, he owed the Liberator
100000. Finally, when Hobbs failed, his
oncern wac indebted to the Liberator TO
be extent Of $40, 4a6, 900.
Apart from these transactions, "the BAL.
our group" were financing properties OF a q
acre or less speculative character all over q
be country. All these Involved SCORES of
honssnds Of pounds. Though disaster
Dllowed these concerns from first 10 last, 7
ividends were slways> found In the new =
Inscriptions and de- V,its, and directors =, :,
rmuneration never failed Under the :.
Atser bead, Jsbcz Bslfour and his col. o.
'agues divided among thom from the
'ven leading companies n total Of Sspe. 40.
The total amount Of ruin brought upon ~
avestors Through the Anal crasb aQrre- .,
Ated fso ,77o, q colossal sum. Bu, h'
hero are other items which, N added 80
'osld bring N up to nearly or quite Sa5..
]o0oo