Arizona republican., 1899-09-30
DUTCH GOLD BUBBLE
Public Deceived By Reports
 of Mineral Wealth.
Companies Formed With Capitals Varying From $IOO,OnO to S',5OO.OOO and inc Stock Sold Bus No Gold Is in Evidence

dia,'' the state department publishes a
 report from Consul Sidney B. Everett
 Of Batavia, Java, a part of which is as
 follows:
 Since the earliest times it has
 been known that gold existed in the
 islands of this colony in mere CT less
 ininitesimal quantities. Reports were
 started about bcItlcads Of natives hay ing come into the various settlements
 around the coast with their canoes
 loaded down with nuggets of gold. The Batavia and Soerabaya newspa- pers were filled with letters and arti-
 cles written by so-called travellers and
 prospectors, giving accounts Of the fabulous mineral wealth of the isl
 ands and declaring that they would
 rcove a second Klondyke. The next
 thing done was to start exploration
 companies with capitals varying frcm s1OO, 900 to $1,5O0, GOO, according to the
 money-drawing qualities of th5 direc-
 tors and the possibilities Of finding the
 gold When the prospects were most
 hopeless, they were generally started
 with the biggest capital.
 "The money being raised and the
 concessions obtained from the gov
 ernment. it was considered necessary
 to do something for f3Tm's sake to
 satisfy the stockholders, and expert
 mining engineers from the United
 States and Australia were engaged at large salaries to make pretense cf
 prospecting. Expensive mining ma
 chinery was imported, the commission
 being usually given to some impecun- ions friend rf enc. cf the directors, and the public was informed that the
 work was proceeding. From time to time (as a rule. I noticed when the mining share market happened to be sagginG a bit) enthusiastic letters from the engineers would arrive, giv- ing glowing accounts Of the prospetcs, and then the directors would go around whispering c0nfidentially that tkay had just a few more shares left, which they would be willing to let go at 2, point CT two under the market as a favor No means were neglected to induce the public to buy; even po2r kalf-caste clerks, struggling along on pitta1ces of $40 a month CT less, and the school teachers were persuaded to invest their savings.
 ''What is the net tangible result ot all this I? A number Of men who two years ago were on the verge of bank 1 ruptcy, have made fortunes, the public | is loaded with stock which at present i happens to be selling pretty fairly on ! account of an artificial boom, lots Of ! money has bean earned by brokers, ' but nc gold is in evidence. Fer the last ! year I have Eeen in direct correspon- dence with mining engineers in some of thess concessions, and speaking con- fdentiaIly to me they do net hesitate to tell the truth With possibly one or two exceptions it can be stated that not one Of the present mining concerns in the Celebes amounts to anything, 50 far as the prospects of getting gold in paying quantities within the next ten years is concerned.
 Meanwhile the infection has spread to Singapore and even to Hol- land, whence numerous orders have been received of late. There are in dications that the insiders here are now beginning to think Of unloading shares that did not cost them a csnt in the beginning. In all this combination of greed and plunder I do not wish to be understood as say f [ ed undertakings Even if gold never :, results in paying amounts, there are two or three of these companies that have been managed with a perfectly 7 honest and genuine desire to find one.
 ''I am led to report on this matter T because the operations have begun to affect American citizens and interests. :: Several have been induced to come nere under contract and in nsarly every case they heartily wish they were back. An important Chicago firm has been sending mining men u lere. If it knew how its good name vas being used to boost up queer en- .erprises I think it would hesitate before sending any more. There was ak some Ilule dSO OI trying GO 1HI0I- st American investors in these chemes. I sincerely hope the effort r, will not succeed. One of their GUS N oms is to hamper the engineers with fl ad or unsuitable machinery and then a: ay the blame on them for failure VI ''To illustrate the spirit of criticism f Americans which prevails here, I ite an article in a recent issue of the oerabaya Courant. It refers to the etroleum situation rather than gold gt mining, but the method of attack is ot he same in both cases. The article ia the assertion that the Amer tt ans are bribed not to find oil on the lu