The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-07-11
HOpESOF i5PER CENT.A MONTH
,r,DoJT AMERICAN FINANCE
AND MORTGAGE COMPANY.
80 y.o,s IN T. a.. 1. and Rock island. Say Its
Letters. Netted lB and lS Per Cent.
RaItes, Ex-Hsank President. at the
uc,a Of the 81 900, 600 Corporation.

RaI,es. Ex-Bank President, at the
u.,h Of the &l, 900, 600 Corporation.
.r,o American Finance and Mortgage
c,,,n,ny" oc cupies practically the entire
t,.,b floor of ll2 Wall street, and its
,.aasurer Thomas J. Martin. said very
.,,,ha,icalv Yesterday that II Is not
-, rich quick concern. Recently the COM
Ssa,,, has been sending out great many
ll,.a,Iar letters. in which the public is in
Nod 10 send its good money to the COM
,a,,,. ~ be invested, at somebody's discre-
,;or in stock speculation. At the end Of
~. reriod Of speculation the company
rromises to return principal and profits, less
% nor cent of the latter, which is to be
tho companya commission.
T,yo os these circulars were received by
A. old friend Of THE SUN in New England.
rho .ent them to THE SUN office with
m in1,lirv rs to whether the scheme
,,,s q good one 70 go into The first Of
,ho circulars is dated New York, June %,
,aoq The letterhead says that the Ameri-
con Finance and Mortgage Company has
canital of 81, 900, OO0 that 1t transacts
raj IlllUntldl iiNHO'Au'V' bN'hN's
mort cages and loans and acts as general
fiscal agents,
According TO the letterhead, the officers
~ the company are: President, Fernando
paItes, vice-president. W. H. Meyer;
treasurer, Thomas j. Martin, and secre-
,ary. j. Sheldon Shields. The first para
craph Of the letter reads
rho closing Of our Tennessee Coal Il Iron at
,rrt rroNt of 10 per cent. We feel the most
keen qualification in making this announce
mcnt 10 Our clients and III view OF the sttua-
No and nothing on the list that looks so tempt
inc As Tennessee Coal Iron, so that We
have decided to operate again in this stock
and will receive subscriptions for our special
Tennessee toa' iron rahsactioh uhtiI
Then follows statement about Tennessee
Coal and Iron, after which the letter con-
times
We take this opportunity Of answering
few questions which are asked US almost
@ y The rs the s drsnt h specS eGg
Never over thirty days. For instance. our
book, close for subscriptions to our Special
Tennessee Coal and Iron transaaction on
IN or before the first Of August.
The moment the deal is closed it is our
custom 10 make the announcement and then
ms soon ~ our bookkeeping department can
complete their statements. checks are for
wlrdad to our customers. either for their
profits or principal and profit as may DO
requested.
have grown very extensive and II takes our
bookkeeping department several days to
complete them. IL requires ut least week
after the close of the deal before these ac-
counts are made UP and sent. and we know
of r n max ing returns more TnDldly.
The letter of July 3 is similar to the one
from which quotation has, been made,
except that il announces that "we have
ust closed our last transa Ction in Rock
Island at Il net profit of 1879 per cent, and
checks and statements are now being
forwarded to those who had an account
IN this deal" This statement prefacess
The announcement that "our next special
operation will be in Pennsylvania Railroad
stock, which. "at its present price, offers
u golden opportunity in every sense of the
term This is followed by "the assurance
from lis that the profits derived from this
deal will prove very satisfactory and beyond
your expectation.
A reporter of The sun called at the offices
Of the company yesterday afternoon. The
entrance is through a door labelled Cash
inr" Inside the door there is a ground
glass partition with little peephole in IL.
\ young woman looked through the little
window and asked what the reporter wanted.
When the young woman had found OUT
man who said he was Thomas j. Martin
appeared and said he was ready to answer
Questions In doing so he said:
"Emphatically, this is not a get-rich-
quick concern. We are doing legitimate
business in the purchase and sale OF stocks
We operate one deal at time, to which
We invite the public TO subscribe. When
{ he deal is closed, we return the principal,
if it is asked for and such profits az there
may be, less 20 per cent. for our commission.
II client sees fit to withdraw his money
before a deal is closed all he gets is his
principal.
There was nothing said in either of the
letters sent to THE Sun about the company
20 per cent. of the profits for
ITSELF but, Of course. the American Finance
and Mortgage Company could not be ex-
prCted to do business for nothing. Mr..
"artin went on to explain that the COM
lanv invited the public to lend its money
10 the concern to speculate with and take
chances on profits or losses.
DO You pretend to have any more in
formation about the course OF the market
than any other we'll informed operator in
Wall Street,"
we do not, was Mr.. Martins reply.
We do gel information, but l suppose
others get ~ good
rs any officer of the company, or any
ooGr connected with il a member OF any
If The exchanges on which you say you
op"ratH'' Mr. Martin was asked.
"" ,lr, was the answer, I'VE are not
members of any of the exchanges. We
have aur brokers' and speculate through
hem
What guarantee can you give to any
ot the persons who invest money with
Won hat they will ever see il again?"
what guarantee does Henry Clews 4
Go or any trust company give to that eff
f"cr'" replind Mr.. Martin we have
resery" capital of $500 900, in securities,
which We never touch, and which we hold
as any bank does its capital Further
more, We arc Incorporated under the laws
ct he State of Delaware.
Nha' have YOU, other than your say-so,
hInd'"
We know it, and that is sufficient for
our needs was the answer
, Inc June letter stated that the Tennessee
'oaI and Iron deal Melted profit Of 10 per
cont and that the Rock Island deal netted
~. per cent An expert on the stock
market did little cipherng on these state
neIis Yesterday afternoon. Then he said
II they began their first deal on May
= las Mr Martin said they didl, Tennessee
Goal and Iron sold on that day az $50
oh June % it sold at 1917 During the
weeks 'ha' interviewed il ranged from Az
h5'. OH.Iunc 3, the date OF the beginning Of
-" alleged Rock Island deal. the stock sold
AZ 80 On July IL sold at 334. In be-
.We"n II ranged from 3l4 20 30, If they
,ook instant advantage Of the fluctuations
went short ana then covered, such a thing
might be possblo. but I doubt IT,"
, me old Wall Street operator was told
,n,t Mr. Martin had said that not short
s I!e mad been made in that case" said
'n% man, they never did it,.