The independent. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907, 1905-01-26

Ole Nebraska
The brokers proceeded to wash" thu
stock accordingly.
Let us say that the stock was worth
fifty cents q share. One broker bic
flfty-five cents for a thousand shares
and they all pretended that it was q
legitimate transaction-in reality il
Twas q fake bid and fake transaction
INC @s0tAeFzmA<s1aar engaged in the
h skin game would then BID sixty cent
for another thousand shares-and Sc
lit would go.
Not one person engaged In the
swindle was actually buying single
share OF stock. They simply bid back
and forth, pretending to buy it, and
putting the price up day by day.
The crowd of poor fools that believe
in the "honor" of these disreputable
Wall street gamblers looked on at this
mock auction, this fake selling and
buying OF stocks, amazed and excited
by the constantly increasing values.
Occasionally some gullible creature
outside Of the combination that was
doing the stock washing" would come
in and In good faith buy some shares,
actually paying his good money for
the worthless stun.
This won't on until they had forced
the price Vt the stock up to a high fig-
ure, ten times what i. was worth. Dur
ing this 'USShing" operation, they had
ozief orklng OF good deal
en- thhlSy stock on the public that be-
lieyed the crooked sales were really
That IL the sort OF thing that is
done constantly in Wall street 1t is
one way that the high-lass guardians
OF the nations financial honor have
OF building up their fortunes and rob-
bling the fools.
This particular piece OF stock swind-
ling Is interesting, hoI7ever, not be-
CaTIsa the public WIS swindled-that is
too common thing ii wan street 81
attract notice-but because of the great
big bank that absolutely made itself
a party to miserable swindle.
The vice president OF the bank was
in the conspiracy to unload this stock
by a swindling device on the public.
He owned stock, he had underwritten
(which means that he had agreed to
take a certain very large amount at
a very low price.
He not only was interested in the
swindlfng operations of the swindling
brokers that cheated the public with
their fake SaleS-mock auction prac-
tices-but he actually lent the money
OF the bank to these brokers to carry
on the swindling practices. Every
day. he lent them sixty thousand dol
lars
And he lent this money. belonging
to the honest depositors of the bank
or belonging, perhaps, to the United
States government which deposited /
money in that bank-he loaned it
without dollar Of security Of any
kind
What do you think of this little
glimpse Of high American finance and
American business honor?"
lAC AAOUlO U0AhlAS SCAtlCu1Cu uCCIy
all attacks on cur banking system
They say it would be preposterous to
have the ignorant people have their
own postal savings banks or govern
ment bank system of their own.
They feel that the serious business
interests Of great and splendid ma
ton require the careful attention of
the high-class, noble, honorable pri-
waite bankers, who alone could give the
proper protection.
Nice protection they give in this
case, isn't it?
Nice. honorable banking. that lends
without security the money of the pub
lie to help a crowd of rascally brok-
ers sWindle the public.
But whose money is going to pay
their debts? Will the bank official
who helped to rob the public by wash
ing stocks, and who fradulently lent
the public's money to swindling brok-
ers without security, now use the pub
lilo money to pay those brokers' debts i?
What will the honorable bankers of
the city do about this? What action
will they take?