The Greeley tribune., 1907-12-05

so 900 900 In the mails oi ''e N>'
on which Post Office Inspector stuart
NJ CHICAGO. enforced the fraud oroe'
against this swindle more thah 49,
900 in post office money orders a,o"'
was received at the Fund w o'nee'
1rh. check books of the concern
showed that this money with that re-
ceiycd In other forms or reml't"n..
was 10 be used to pay ai.iuenu
amounting to 100000. turther e~
animation into the affairs OF lne
swindle established the fact that 'he
current receipts from victims "eie
used right along to pay diVlaehas
without any regard whatever 10 ANY
deals on the board or any pEon's
therefrom-and these DIVIDENDS
were put out where they would do the
most good in stimulating those VINO
received them to increase their n
vestments" and to spread the news Oh
this quick and easy road to weaith
among ne;ghbors and friends. Some
of these so.called monthly DIVIDENDS
amounted to more than II per cent.
Here was actual fufillment. not
nromise, When the victims cashed |
those dividend checks" and found
that they were honored. any missiV-
inss they had harbored disappeared
and they felt that their financial tu'
ture was more than assured. Ihey
showed these remittance letters 10
the friends they wished to faVor anu
this process multiplied the victims IN
A cumulative ratio besides drawing
big increase of investments from
tho original victims. OF course the
number of the earlier victims was
very small In comparison win Tue
crop which this cumulative process
of culture developed when once ehe
effect of the stimulant was reailzeo
from a broad territory. Therefore
it mattered little If the first or orig
inal crop OF victims received total
of dividends amounting to their
original investment with good profit |
added. So long as new victims mui-
tiplied in numbers with each incom-
ing mail and the older ones added to !
their speculative contributions the
dividend" game could be played with
impunity
Investors" by the tens of thou
sands poured an ever-increasing vol |
ume of money into the treasury OF
this infamous get-rich-quick swindle.
and when the postoffice department
shut down the iron gate of the fraud
order. thousands Of angry letters OF
protest were sent to the head OF
the department at Washington. These
protests demanding the inspectors re-
moval were SO strong and carried ev-
idence of actual profits SO plausible
that the postoffice inspector was sum-
moned to Washington to explain the
situation. The only explanation
which he made or needed to make
was 10 produce the proofs that the
concern had been paying dividends"
from moneys received az Investments.
not from profits actually earned. He
was told to go back to his work. Sub
seauently the case was turned over
to the department of justice for GRIM
inal prosecution and the men in the
swindle-or at least some OF them
were convicted and sent to the peni
tentiary. But the work of these swim
dlers has lived after them in thou
sands of other schemes fashioned on
the pattern of the Fund w" in every
essential feature.
OF course variations in almost in
finite number have been devised. and
some of them possess degree of re-
finement which makes their likeness
to the original fiicult to distinguish
but the possible investor will do we'll
to consider that the actual payment
OF or the promise to pay an excessive
rate OF return is sufficient ground for
the suspicion that the scheme is
questionable and should be sifted to
the bottom before any money is put
into it.
This nation has enjoyed a long pc
riod of unexampled prosperity. AS
result, thousands Of men who few
years ago were either poor or only
moderately well-to-do have become
comparatively wealthy and have
made more money than they need in
the operation of their regular busi-
nesses. In fact. there is great null
titude of these new capitalists who
have retired from their former occupa-
tions to live on their money.
This means that everywhere there
Is an accumulation of capital seeking
investment at reasonable rates, and
the man who has proposition which
is essentially sound has only to make
proof Of this fact In order to com
mand all the money needed whether
the enterprise requires millions or
only thousands. He has no need to
deluge the mails with circulars and
form letters making appeals to "the
people to come in with their savings.
II his enterprise has real substance and
bottom he can get the money from a
few capitalists with less trouble than
Is required to write one set of circu