The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-11-25


this amount week and still make
| money.
Not only were the people living in
greater New York large depositors with
the syndicate, but cities all over the
| country contributed the earnings of
| scores of their residents to swell the
wealth of the syndicate The mail de-
livered daily at Millers Office amounted
to about three wagon loads and most
of the letters contained money. Miller
had faculty of displaying a large
amount of his wealth, and the offices
on Floyd street were piled high with
greenbacks of all denominations and
heaps of gold. This seemed to lend
confidence to those who came with
their little subscriptions and it is i'm
possible to even estimate where the
endless chain" would have ended. The
principle of the endless chain as devel-
oped by Miller depended upon the fact
| that his other customers brought him
| additional members and were allowing
commission of 5 per cent. upon all
moneys thus invested. Those who were
drawing this income of 5 per cent. be-
came walking advertisements for the
| Franklin syndicate.
For several weeks the United States
| postal department has had it's trained
| investigators at work trying to catch
| Miller and his associates, but in vain.
| Rev. DR.. Meredith of Brooklyn, for
mer pastor Of Miller's complained to
| the Brooklyn police that the man was
| swindling half of the young men of
his congregation. Formerly Miller was
a member of DR.. Meredith's church
and became acquainted with many of
the men belonging to the chapel and
congregation
The ten per cent. week guaranteed
by Miller did not begin in reality to rep
resent the obligations incurred by the
head of the syndicate. The rate of $40
per cent. a year is estimated on basis
of simple interest only. But nine tenths
of his patrons were in the habit of REIN
Vesting the ten per cent. interest or pyr-
aniding their gains.
One of Miller's patrons, who invested
500, Immediately reinvested the ten per
cent. allowed him at the end of the first
week, making a balance of $110 to his
credit. The next week he received in
terest on both principal and interest.
thus giving him balance to his credit
of $121. AT the end Of twenty-five weeks
he found himself with a credit in the
Franklin syndicate of $1,029. AS Miller
refused to carry accounts of more than
$1,000 this customer was compelled to
reinvest in the names of other members
of his family. At the time of Millers
arrest he said that he had over $4,000
in the syndicate, all from the original
ty,xrh %
investing in the name of other members
of the family was carried on to a large
extent among the poorer classes. 1t is
stated that one family, consisting Of
sixteen members, had $100 invested for
each member of the family, and inter
est was paid on all the claims each |
week.
Miller claimed to make abnormal |
profits through speculation in Wall |
street, but there is no evidence that he |
ever speculated in stocks to any ex-
tent. His employees threw out vague
hints of inside information which Mill
er, they alleged possessed. For in
stance, at the outbreak of the Spanish
American war, it was claimed that |
Miller made immense profits out of |
Cuban bonds, and despite the fact that |
these bonds have not been a favorite
form of investment with financiers, the
secretary succeeded in making thou
sands of poor people believe the story.
Later it was announced that Miller was
in with a senatorial clique at Washing
ton from whom he received tips on the
market. Still another story extensive
ly circulated was that he recently made
twenty five per cent profit in a single
day on a transcontinental railway stock
speculation. This despite the fact that
since Miller commenced his operations
no transcontinental railway stock has
moved up or down twenty-five points
On Tuesday of this week, Just before
charges of libel were preferred against
Miller, he is said to have taken in $685.
300 and paid out $31 900. The confiden-
tial representatives of one of the banks
who visited Miller's office about this
lime said that he never saw so much
money scattered aronud loose in his
ife. He said that 1t reminded one of
he tales of Monte Cristo and Monte
Carlo combined, but that as an abso-
ute fact Miller did not have facilities
'or taking care of all the gold and
sreenbacks which poured In upon him,
md empty barrels were brought up
rom the basement of the building in
which he operated, and tens of thou
lands of dollars were dumped into these
barrels by Miller'e employees. I
One of Miller's trusted employees stat
ID that the Franklin syndicate had TAX
n in over $4,000,000. 1t is known that
when the banks shut down on Miller :
yesterday and refused to accept his de-
,osits any longer he withdrew $150,000
rom the Wells, Fargo bank. 1t ie as
erted tonight that Miller deposited /
100000 with the German consul.