Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1901-05-29
LIKE FLEECED LAMBS.
CONDITION OF MANY INVESTORS
IN TEXAS OIL STOCKS.
The Big Companies Can BE Depended
Upon to Control the output-An I'm.
meuse Amount of Stock Sold Which
Is Probably Worthless

The oil craze in Texas has subsidized 60
such degree as TO cause many people
10 look into things in 4 practical man.
ner, and the outlook to the great ma
Jority is not very promising. Fortunes
have been made and more will be made.
but the small investors will have TO pay
for them. Amoag this class are the thou
sands of widows, seamstresses, clerks,
children and domestics. They have pour
ed their savings into the treasury of
some one or more of the speculative oil
companies and have had visions of great
and expec,>u quick returns. They are
sure TO be disappointed. Experiences OF
others in the past in chasing wildcat
schemes held forth no lessons or warn
ings TO them.
Nearly 500 'oil companies" have been
organized in Texas during the past
month. says a Beaumont correspondent,
and lit is estimated by a prominent pro-
moter that 90 per cent of them will
never pay a dividend. About 10 out of
every 100 have something bordering o.
the substantial to offer to the public IN
the way Of speculative investment, but
the others have nothing more than a
little tract or two of land. bought for
eastern Texas, and around which no eff
fort has ever been made to find oil. They
may strike oil, no one can tell anything
about that, but their chances are small,
and if they ever do their stock has been
-watered until no oil well in the world
could pay interest on the investment.
The promoters, however, come out all
rieht. for they get big cash bonuses out
of the treasury from the funds reaized
from the sale OF stock. so it does not
make very much difference TO them
whether oil IS struck or not. Then, there
are the heavy salaries of the officers 70
be paid ali the time the stakeholder is
waiting for the well, If any is ever
bored. to get down far enough to even
hope for oil. In the meantime it is prob
able that the small investors are working
and saving so as TO be ready to grasp ut
some other bubble" which may be form
"a from speculative soapsuds.
Facts and Figures.
1t must be remembered that the great
majority of the small investors are rep
resented in the small companies. The
big companies, the ones which will inake
the money and control the output, are
owned by the people who have plenty of
money and do not find it necessary to
advertise their oil stock for sale. Now,
n hrst-cass gusher in the Beaumont field
has been selling for Sl,250,000. 1t will
. require another million for pipe lines aud
tankage and a quarter of a million for
other expenses before fuel oil markets
have been opened up. II the gushers
would continue to gush as they are now
doing everything would be profitable to
the owners, but sooner or later the pumps
will have to be applied and then diyi-
dends will decrease. Even then it might
be possible to pay interest on the invest
ments of the big companies, but the pros
poets Of the smaller ones are exceeding
ly gloomy.
Most of the other companies are cap
italized from 100000 to $l.000,000.
Their stock is sold way below par and
when the promoters get through with the
treasury funds but little is left for de-
velopment purposes. Should these small
companies strike oil and should the flow
average 100 10 20O barrels day. which
would be a big well as wells go, the ques-
ton then arises what would they do with
the product? The big gushers. even after
the pumps are applied, will surUly all the
fuel oil for which there is a market for
many years to come, for it will be long
time before coal will be generally sup
planted. The gusher companies will be
amply provided with pipe lines and tank
age and the smaller companies will be
completely at their mercy. even granting
that some one big concern does not come
in and secure control.