The San Francisco call., 1896-11-12

J. will take the most favorable position first
the thing is good enough to demand I'M
| mediate attention. Brown is sent Tor, his
papers gone over with him, and chances
| are is entirely unprepared to answer many
questions t. at are put to him. Whetner
Brown is mining man or not 1T woulo De
an extremely wise policy for him to an
! ticipate all questions that may be asked.
| The city firm, however, is impressed with
the mine and sends for its solicitors (you
! can do no business in England without Inc
| intervention of sulicitors). 1t has been
| said even that the English promoter wnen
visited by an American promoter, nrst
| thinks the man is about to get the oest OF
] him. He then calls his solicitor IN TO see
whether he is or not. The solicitor de-
cides no. Then both consult how to 40
! the American promoter and keep out OF
| iail. This is very probably an exaggerated
! view of the case. But the London solicit
ors are very painstaking and consclen-
| tious set of men who would not let their
clients buy mine if the slightest flaw ex-
| listed in a title, or until they had run up
| sufficiently long bill. The chances are
that Brown is not prepared with his titles.
| OF course, they can be seEt for, and TINS
course is suggested. Brown sends for his
titles. The English promoter rests on
his oars. The first thing that Brown
| knows, after some weeks, rs that there is
flaw in his title, II there is no flaw some
one, hearing that Brown has already sold
the mine in England (as Brown has prob
ably written confidingly to his friends),
has begun blaekmailing suit. OF course,
this part of the business is an American
popularity. want to even up on what l
have said about the London solicitors.
"There is q lot of time lost, and. of
course, when you have paid money for
time option on property, time absolutely
is money. Finally, ii the mine has not
already been examined by one of the Eng
lish firms experts, one is sent out there.
His arrival comes pretty close to the ex-
piration of the bond. Poor Brown is now
very much in hole. His expert is on the
ground, with chance of ready commu-
nica,ion with the owners, when his bond
has expired, and as yet is not sure that the
London crowd will buy the property. He
calls upon them; they assure him that
everything is all right, and there is only
one little thing standing in the way of
the deal-that is Brown and his friend's
commission. They think it ablormally
large. In fact, they have never
heard of such an exorbitant COM
mission. (When Brown first met his
crowd it was considered most m oderate.)
Yet, if Brown will take off about so per
cent of his commission, they think that it
may be possible for them (no Englishman
ever uses in business a positive express
sion) to put the deal through within the
necessary time. Well, Browns friends
will put up probably as much as they care
to, and will have to put as much more up
if the bond should expire. Possibly the
owners of the mine will have lost conf
dence in Browns crowd. Brown knows
this and can do but one of three things
buy the mine himself, which is out of the
question; interest new crowd, which is
not permitted by the lack of time; Or sub
nit to the extortionate reduction of his
comm ission or a mod ification of it. This
he generally does.
1.-The deal is finally made. Browns,
Smiths and Robinson's reports are ali
quoted in this prospectus, and they are
spoken of in the most fattering terms
terms strange to their friends and surpris-
ing to themselves. Brown and his crowd
are to receive some money. This is given
grudgingly. A good many fully paid
shares are due to him. Now, to the aver
age mind, fully paid" has an attractive
sound, as it means no further liability.
In England, however, it means nothing
has been paid. There are contributory
shares which the promoters and public
have subscribed for. If these are called
up to 10 shillings and pence or any frac-
tion of a pound they alone are good de-
livery on the Stock Exchange. The fully
paid shares of Brown have little market
value. Brown didn't know this, and ac-
cordingly is cinched.
''This is true story of friends Eng
lish experience. For heavens sake, don't
take it as my own. What wish to. con
vey is that few Americans who go to Lon
don know that their scheme for fotation
must be prepared as carefully for the pro-
mote- as a lawyers brief Then, again, to
escape with any money he must learn a
good many tricks which the city man has
up his jacket"
"Still, are there not investors in Eng
land desirous of going into legitimate
mining inyestments?" was asked.
81 don't hold the British public's hand"
he replied, $50 can't tell it's pulse. But
1 will say that | never found a mine-buyer
in England. Each one has a friend in
view, which friend has another Big fieas
with lesser ones to bite 'em. And so on ad
infinitum.
"You get pretty clear idea of the condi-
tion of affairs over there from the fore
going.
Shares generally are underwritten;
that is to say, certain sum of money is
guaranteed for working capital and for
the purchase of the property. II the un-
derwriter guarantees pounds he will re-
ceive, say, 3x one pound shares. If of
fered to the public and fully subscribed
for he reaps an immediate reward of three
to one. Ifthe public does not come in his
profit must come in from market trans
actions or must depend upon the merit of
the mine"