The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1907-11-28

clal experience IS usually, TO
making the contents of his pay envel-
'ope cover the household bills-has to
see through the mysteries of the prop
osition?
There are a few of these financial
s%emaphores, however, which every
wage worker should know how to
read, and can know. At first glance
they seem to show a clear right-of-
way, to give the signal to come on"
at full speed, with your savings &C
count in your hand; but when you
know the rules of the road, you a
see a red light-a danger signal
swinging from every one of these SEM
aphore arms.
Here are some of the danger sig
nails of this sort which are very dccep-
tive at first glance:
"This company is going to be kept in
the hands Of the common people and
out of the hands of the capitalists"
"The shares of this company have
increased SO per cent. since our fiscal
agents put the first block of develop
ment stocks on the market, go days
ago; they will be advanced 20 points
on the first day of next month and
you must act promptly and remit at
once if you wish to take advantage OF
this handsome advance"
1--WE need only a limited amount for
immediate development work and in
order to secure the requisite sum
without delay, we are making the con-
fdential offer of a bonus of n
share of preferred stock for every ten
shares of the common, which you can
secure at 80 cents on the par value
if you respond at once. Just as soon
as our needs for development ex-
penditures are met by subscriptions
on this liberal basis, it will be impos-
sible for you to secure the common, as
it will be withheld from the market
except on offerings Of 60 cents or
better"
"You are taking no risk, for our
guarantee is behind every share OF
our stock. The Silver and Gold In
vestment and Surety company is back
of our securities and the Searchlight
Investigation and Expert Engineering
Association has made a detailed exam
nation and analysis of our properties
and stands sponsor to the world for
them. In the first three months of
operation of u properties, we have
been able to pay u stockholders a
dividend of ~ per cent, and the splen-
did ore bodies now in sight warrant us
in assuring our stockholders that this
dividend will be substantially in
creased in the next three months, ow-
ing to the increased facilities of pro-
duction made possible by great addi-
lions to our working equipment"
These are only a few of the most
glaring statements contained in the
"confidential' circulars and letters,
displayed in advertisements, and made
by solicitors, to draw money from the
pockets of the wage rne There
are scores of other and more subtle
and clever bats in every mode of ex-
preston, but they all spell one word,
and that is B-U-N-C-O.
How do I know it? How do I dare
make so broad a statement? Because
we have had times of unprecedented
prosperity for SO long that millions Of
dollars belonging to capitalists are ly-
ing idle or drawing only small inter-
est. AS a result, the sound securities
and the solid investments are snap
ped up by men who understand values.
These men command large sums, and
in order to ecure all the money re-
quired for a solid and honest enter
prise, it is only necessary for men
having real investment "opportuni-
ties" to go to them and convince them
of the merit of their propositions.
They will not permit to slip past them
any chance to make 33 1-3 per cent.
or even 10 per cent, provided the risk
involved is not too great. Which is
only another way of saying that when
a concern must go forth with blare Of
trumpets to secure money from the
wage workers, the proposition it has
to offer is not only not worth consider
alton, but it should be left severely
alone If it were sound to the core.
idle capital would be put into it be-
fore the Confidential" letters to pros
pective wage Garner investors could
be printed.
And this feature of the matter
stands out in it's true light when some
thing of the cost of selling stocks by
an appeal to the common people" is
understood. Not long ago a Chicago
concern which had gone to the "peo-
pie" for it's support went into the
hands of a receiver. Wage earners
and people working for small salaries
had put 100000 into the enterprise.
When the receiver began his examina-
ton Of the affairs of the company in
order to determine how much those at
the head Of it had diverted into their
own pockets, he was amazed to dis
cover that the entire $1OO, 900 had been
spent in getting the great publicity