The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1905-10-04

lions of the Standard Oil crowd, of
which Lawson confesses he was at one
time q member. He now pretends to
be fighting his old-time Standard Oil
associates, but whether that claim is
true or whether he is working q new
scheme to fleece the public, is a ques-
ton to which there may be moret than
one "
The latest installment of this story
OF "Frenzied Finance purports to
give an account of Stand ard Oil over.
lures to F. Augustus Heinze for the
sale of his Montana mining interests,
an effort which did not meet with sue
cess. Mr.. Lawson relates the story at
great length, but its substance is about
as follows:
Heinze, according to Lawson's sto.
ry, had gotten control of the local
judges at Butte and brought about q
receivership for the Boston & Mon.
tana properties of Rockefeller and
Rogers. Heinze withheld the news Of
this %receivership, and, anticipating its
effect upon the stock market, quietly
sold short enormous blocks of Boston
& Montana. Under his secret selling
the stock slumped and the Standard
Oil crowds were thrown into a panic.
Lawson vas sent to negotiate terms
with Heinze, but found that picturesque
individual impossible" Lawson
practically offered him $1,000, 900 for
his Butte interests If he would quit the
fight. Lawson's story then goes on
to say:
"Heinze, will you take five million
dollars:"
~ will tell you whether l will or
not when you get Rogers signature
on a paper saying he offers five mil
lion dollars-not till then"
Every argument l could form l
spread before him with enthusiastic
patience, as though he were a child
with a handful of matches whom l was
trying to coax out of a powder maya
zine. But l could not bulge him. He
had the cards. Tonight he vas bigger
than "Stadard OIL" Rockefeller, Rog-
ers and the whole bunch, and he would
have it his way or let the smash come:
and his way was that | should go and
talk with Rogers and Rockefeller and
bring him their written offer Of five
million dollars, and then? No, he
would not promise to take it.: he would
only tell me whether he would or not.
81 can't tell. l may when | look it
over and send you back to have 1t
raised to ten millions-yes, l may
make it twenty.fiv millions. What
ever sum Rogers and I agree upon
tonight, whether i, is three millions,
five or one hundred and five, l get in
one way and no other. Rogers and
Rockefeller sign a paper, which I am
to publish where l please, admitting
that they came to mt and begged to
settle-you understand, don't your
begged me to settle, and, in addition,
they are to acknowledge that l am all
right and agree that l shall be presi.
dent of the consolidated company"
The man in the storybook who was
thrown in his nightmare into a cool
lake only to find he had tumbled out
Of bed and bumped his head against
the water pitcher, was not more SUR
prised and stunned than as I listened
to o proposition that would have
seemed disproportiona lately lurid ever
! If the speaker had been wearing
straight jacket In a padded cell.
Lawson then goes on to say that
finding it impossible to make term
with Heinze for the sale of MOntan,
' mining interests, the attempt wa
abandoned. According to the Lawson
, story, Heinze was persuaded to joil
Lawson in q stock jobbing scheme t
? beat the Standard Oil crowd, and in
= stead of keeping faith with Heinze il
E. this scheme Lawson acknowledges tina
t he betrayed Heinze to the une Of man,
hundreds Of thousand of dollars.
:. With such a confession recorded ii
black and white, who a tell the tru
I purpose of Tom Lawson IN his allege'
I exposure OF the stock market pirates
PROSECUTING THE PACKERS.