The San Francisco call., 1899-05-14

resell it to the public at a fancy price.
When the scheme is the establishment OF
bank. first-class hotel, a MINING ColI-
pany a tramWay or similar e1lelpl@lse' @
the promoter and some unscrupulous pro
fessional gentleman generally ndndee, "
secure for themselves from 4log0 10 ~
600, and even more. The undertaklns9
thus promoted are in most cases Wouuu
up in a short time, and the shate-
holders are left to lament their crequlIly
The promoter as a rule mas the ull leCl-
ors, whom he qualities by giving them lHe
necessary number Of shares IulIy pau pau
up" These directors must pc men Wno
inspire confidence by either having nan
dies to their names or BENG aIit,l Ri1Wn +ba ba
subscribing public know very litue apput %
them, and thus it comes to pass tnaT "a !
many titled men, made unsu upstantiaI s la
'!guinea pigs by being directors or many
companies, realize handsome incomes p3
the mere fees paid to them as such, but
their names entrap the public
Guinea Pig" Directors.
The direction of companies has for
many years been quite profession "a
itself. But the practice is of very old
date. From Parliamentary documents OF
the year 1896 it appears from list OF
twenty persons who acted as directors
of companies, one was director OF SIX, an
other of seven, d third of eight, rourth
of nine, fifth of ten, sixth OF eleven
and the others. of two, three four ana IN
rectors of those days were but IN very
small way of business; it is now carried
on wholesale. According to the Direc-
tory of Directors for 1898 there are about
1900 gentlemen acting in this capacity, ,
of whom about 5000 appear for the first
time this year.
OF course great many of these direc-
tors are mere guinea pigs" dummies,
who are expected to vote as they are
directed by the chairman or the secre-
tary, who as a rule is the only one who
Is acquainted with business ana company
law.
Financial Papers.
The promoter of a higher standing de-
pends much on advertising and putting,
and the many so-called financial papers
all struggling for existence, are ready
the promoters hands. Two-thirds of
those papers, some started by promoters
to puff the companies they have started
or are bribed to recommend, are buffers
or blackmailers, according to order. Their
proprietorS Will send around TO the sec
retaries of newly formed companies and
promise a putting leader to the COM
pany that will advertise in their papers,
or hold out threat of ''wrecking" the
company if no advertisement is sent. And
they act up to promise or threat, and the
thoughtlessness or malice of the public
is so great that while they see through
the hollowness of the puff they take
the abuse seriously, and thus these black
mailing papers often do much harm to
really genuine enterprise.
And talking of wrecking reminds me
that as there are wrecking newspapers
there are lawyers who make company
wrecling their special business Years
ago it was my misfortune to be connected
with company with large paid up cap
ital and the brightest prospects, which,
in consequence of political complications,
over which we had no contorl, got into
difficulties. We decided to consult the
senior partner of the legal firm of Sell
q Grip, whom We had on former occa-
sion been referred to. We sent for him
and he came to a board meeting. We
began ny telling him that, knowing his
great experience in company business and
courteous speech from our chairman Mr..
Sell with the utmost cynicism brutally
replied: Wen. gentlemen, you, have done
well, for If you had not asked me to be
for you I should have been against you:
/ had my eye on you. We managed after
that to get what business we had to do
with the firm done through Mr.. Grip, the
junior partner, who was very decent
fellow"
Monte Carlo.
When one speaks of gambling. Monte
CARO- naturally comes to mind. 1t is with
an air of relief that Rouge ct Noir''
turns from the wolves in sleeps cloth
ing who fatten on public credulity to the
genuine. honest wolves who scorn such
masquerading, He claims that as gamb-
ing is not legitimate pursuit either on
the side of the banker or the public, and
no one is obliged to attend the gambling
table, s the gambler deals in a fancy
article which no one absolutely needs as
shoes are needed, he has right to charge
and earn whatever commission or per-
centage he chooses. Those who do not
Ike Ike his terms are not obliged to deal with
him, and therefore they have neither a
sright TO complain of them nor to pre-
scribe to him what they should be-
If there are allurements at Monte Carlo,
he continues. no one is bound to yield to
them No one is bound to visit the place;
1t IS long way from England-yet the
majority of visitors are English-and so
any one having started for the place has.
before reaching it, time for reflection and
repentance, and consequent change of
route. Let those whose means are linn
lted ana who cannot resist temptation not
expose themselves to it by going to Monte
Carlo, as people who cannot skate shoulo
not go on the ice.
In short. the Casino at Monte Carlo is
not the bugbear to the-inha bitants of the
neighborhood that it is to hYsterical busy
Tba TbaieS iolTg thousands OF miles away.
Inc MonaSasques enjoy most enviable
position; not only do they live amid the
most lovely climatic conditions, but no
tax gatherer. no rate collector ever dis
turbs their serenity. AS they are not AZ
lowed to enter the Casino the gambling
does not affect them injuri9usly.
Advantages and Evils.
The advantages the Casino confers on
me prlpclpahty of Monaco are far greater
than the evils it causes. Land formerly
not worth a few francs is now worth
thousands for the. erection of private
houses; d the grand hotels, beautiful villas
ano residential suburbs which in these
latter years have arisen along the R,
Vera, especially between Mentone anc
NiSe: "oGlu nave no existence were if
not for the Casino of Monte Carlo. AS
we now behold them they testify to the
eyer increasing prosperity of the districr
prosperity, you may say. due to tbe
money abStracted from the pockets OF
visitors True, but the visitors come yo,
unfairly. and their contributions are nor
eXacted; they offer them spontaneousIy'
not not without the hope of being themselves
ihe spoilers Of the bank. Moreover, fbe
oulk OF them do not feel their losses ana
such losses are spread over the whole
0 o O o O o O 0 .
IkIN DI NT( Ho