The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-03-09
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES SENATOR'S.

GET-RICH-QUICK SENATORS.
The trial of members of a fraudulent
''get-rich-quick" concern is to come
up in st. Louis shortly. At the trial
it is promised that there will be some
spicy developments, when it comes to
submitting certain documentary evil
dence discovered in possession Of the
defendants. The company promised in
vestors a profit of 70 per cent. per
annum. Every sane man knows that
the public is not admitted to partici-
patton in such profits. They are re-
served for such men as Mr.. Rookie
Teller, Mr.. Carnegie and other monop-
olists who have managed to get in on
the ground floor" The mere offer of
any such profits must have been suf-
ficient evidence to thinking men that
there was something wrong some
where. The man with a scheme to
make profits of q per cent. a year
would never give the snap away; he
would work it for his own benefit.
Nevertheless it is asserted that the
st. Louis 70 per cent. concern not only
''roped in" men and women from the
ordinary walks of life, but received
the accounts" of preachers, ~lawyers
doctors and other professional men,
and even of United States senators.
Some of the correspondence of these
prominent personages is to be pro-
duced in evidence at the trial. One
letter. that of a prominent Western
senator, which has found its way into
the public prints, reads as follows:
United States Senate, Jan. %, 1903.
Dear Sirs: After arriving in Wash
ington and giving your proposition
some thought, l decided to deposit ST.
600 with you under the per cent.
per month plan, and so advised Mr..
- to make the deposit for me.
have this day received two certificates
from your company of $1,000 each, sent
to me through Mr. -. From the
investigation that l have made 1 feel
that my money deposited with your
company will be safe, and 1 know it
will be quite impossible for me to find
a more profitable investment. Faithful
~ yours,
This thrifty senator, having intelli-
gence enough to get to Washington,
must have known that no legitimate
enterprise open to the public could
pay any such profits as those offered.
Nevertheless he was willing to take a
$4,000 flyer" into the scheme, depend
ing, possibly, upon his political prom
inence to stop the investment concern
from playing him false. Would even
questionable company dare hold up the
profits promised to a United States
senator? Would not the prestige of the
Senate command the payment of the 70
per cent. per annum? This was posi-
bly, the trend of thought that ran
through the mind of this statesman
looking to the main chance.
Having received the foregoing very
cordial and flattering letter from the
| senator, the investment company
made use of it for advertising pur-
poses. The company could no doubt
have afforded to pay the senator the
~ per cent. promised, as a return for
| the use of his name in the effort to
catch suckers. But when the indorse-
ment of the concern, over the senator's
| name, began to be circulated broad
| cast, he became afraid. Publicity may
be a good thing for trusts, but it is not
a desirable thing for United States
senators looking for 70 per cent per
| annum on their investments. In view
| of this, therefore, the senator wrote
another letter to the investment con-
Germ, as follows
ri O
| Dear Sir: Enclosed l hand you here
with certificate. L cannot permit my
| name to be used in recommending this
| company. Letters are coming in from
all parts of the country making in
| quiry, and unless it is stopped now
shall make public denial and simply
say l know nothing about the company
whatever. Please return my letter to
me. Faithfully yours
Was the senator unwilling to let the
public into this good thing?" If he
had such confidence in the company
as indicated in his first letter, why
should he object to having his friends
and others apprized of the opportunity
for taking magnificent profits by his
recommendation? The senator was
willing to accept a handsome rake-off
for himself, but he had not the cour-
age of a patent-medicine faster The
governors, representatives and sena-
tors who taste patent medicines
are perfectly willing to have their tes-
timonials and their pictures printed in
the papers; but this man, who had
found gold mine, declared he would
repudiate it unless its promoters stop-
ped using his name!
Senator Tillman says the Crum nom
ination will never come to vote; that
he will take the contract. IL necessary.