Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1907-07-05
PLAN TO FIGHT GRAFT
Banker SJegests the President
Lead Organization Against 1t.
INCOME OF 81, 900, 600 NEEDED

e. Stafebco JONES' oehs"ss ~~s"
Rich Men Have Same Horror OF Graft
a. He Has to Assure sbeesss-Weuld
Offer Prince Fer censietion Of Dis
honesty.
That graft and corporation dishon-
esty In the United States could be
stamped out II President Roosevelt up
ON his retirement would head an or
ganization to be formed for that pur-
pose is the opinion Of +. Clarence
Jones, a New York banker. who recent
" left for Paris 10 begin his annual
automobile tour OF the continent. says
a London special cable dispatch TO the
New York Herald.
Foreigners are criticising American
securities and American business meth
DDS so adversely and with so much
Justice In many cases that the necessi-
ty of reform Is apparent TO every hon
est American business man." says Mr.
Jones. 1T Is fact that the small
shareholder suffers from graft In al
most every great business enterprise
In the United States.
1T lay be that the robbery amounts
to only two or three dollars on each
share of stock. But think Of the as
gregate on hundreds of millions of
shares whose owners suffer from or
gained peculatlons!
MANY years experience and thought
have convinced me that the only meth
cd Of dealing with this widespread dis
honesty is by n powerful unpurchasa-
BILE organization which could offer at
tractive prizes for Information and con-
vlction. At Its head there should be a
man whose personality Is Of interna
tiOnal weight, whose name 10 synony
nous with the square deal to wage
q successful campaign.
This association would require an
income Of $1.OOO,OOO year, which
means that It would have to possess
capital Of $20OOOOOO. do not say
twenty men could be found who would
be willing to subscribe S1.0O0,O00 each
of money for man to part with at one
time But do believe there are enough
wealthy men In the United States who
have the same horror Of graft that
have for the raising Of the necessary
capital TO be a possibility, while there
are many more who would be willing
to leave large requests to the fund.
III Mr. Roosevelt would consent to
take the head Of such an organization
the necessary money could doubtless
be raised quite easily. for everybody
In the United States, irrespective of
party. has confidence In his integrity.
1T may be argued with some reason
that such an organization would be
liable to become a great Matchmaking
agency, but with big. honest man at
the head this could not happen. Mr..
Roosevelt IL the one man. In my Opin-
Ion. who could lead such force as
suggested. and he Is the man who
could make it absolutely efficient
With an income Of 100000 year
the association could offer prizes for
the detection and conviction of dishon-
esty Nobody commits crime without
somebody else knowing 1t. II false
entry is made by order Of the manager
Of q corporation some clerk shares the
secret. II the clerk under present con-
ditions were to tell he would lose his
Job and ind 1t impossible to get an
other.
III you 60 to the district attorney
with information of wrongdoing that
Is not actually murder. what does he
say? My dear Mr.. So-and-so. II you
will get me evidence that will procure
conviction l will get you an indict
ment But this office has no funds to
run down every rumor brought in
what 10 the result? Most OF the ev-
idence against corporation as was evil
denced In the recent government In
vestigation In the rebate cases, Is OBJ
tanned through the instrumentality of
rival business organizations or Of per
sons who have an individual grievance
I'm San Francisco 1t was possible to
obtain the conviction Of Schmitz and
Ruef only because Rudolf Spreckels
put up 500, 200 to make the fight Do
you suppose the county officials would
have been able to do anything without
such assistance?
1.-THE United States government pays
for information regarding the viola
tons Of customs laws. State govern
ments promise immunity to minor par
Elephants In crimes who turn states
evidence. There is no surer way to
awaken individual honesty than by
touching the nerve that leads from the
pocket
Make graduated prizes which will
enable men In minor positions to hire
attorneys to prepare cases for the in
formation they furnish and rid them
selves from fear Of the immediate fu-
ture; make 1t worth while for the thou
sands Of brilliant young lawyers all
over the country to pass their spare
time hunting for evidence of fraud and
preparing them. No manager of cor
poration Is going to steal If he knows
some underling Is constantly on the
alert for such thing and will be paid
to tell about it.
Confidence In American bonds and
stocks has been SO thoroughly shat,
tered abroad that unless something
olOng these lines be done there will be
great difficulty in restoring it. With
the management Of all the great cor.
porations remaining In practically the
same hands since the recent investiga-
tiOns, foreigners feel that the testimony
already given In the insurance and
railroad cases Is ample reason for re-
naming alOOf and believe that STINT
lar state Of affairs probably exists in
other quarters yet uncovered"