Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-03-16


Attempts have been made from time to
time 10 envelope with legal restrictions the
lie abilities Of promoters in England and
France. Every time large swindle is
pulled on the authorities and the law
makers strive to console the victims with
assurances OF a legal trap for the next
batter Of the comeons. Some little progress
in this direction has been made in the two
centuries since the famous South Sea
bubble, but not enough to warrant con
gratulations Of success. History shows
that the foxy promoter Of crooked schemes
II leagues in advance Of the legal hounds,
and when the latter surround an expected
path the former seeks and usually finds =
/ new route to the purses OF the gullible and
greedy. Seven years ago the British Par
| lament passed an act designed to protect
Investors by requiring from promoters a
full statement Of profits in company
prOspectuses and by imposing on d.
rectOrs responsibility for the truth Of state
ments made in a prospectus. Experience
since then proved that the law Is defective
and did not seriously restrict the talents
Of promoters in fabricating misleading and
/ deceptive prospectuses. 1t Is now proposed
/ to amend the law by providing that
prospectuses must be published in one or
more newspapers. A law Of similar pur-
! port became operative in France on March
/ 1. This law requires promoters before Of
! ferlng shares for sale to insert in an Of
4 ficial bulletin detailed information about
| the project. Such notice must bear the
| signatures Of those who offer the shares
for sale; who must be domiciled In France,
and in all prospectuses, advertisements,
etc, reference must be made TO the number
Of the bulletin where such official statement
is made.
The first thing Chief Secretary Birren
bumped against when he took UP the
| rains of government in ireland was the
entrenched bureaucracy in Dublin castle.
/ The system is a link OF Russian autocracy.
| II Is not responsible TO the British Parlia-
/ ment and is really a separate government
! for Ireland OF the most odious and lrrespon-
sible kind. Dublin Castle is the center of
a series Of bureaus or boards sxty-seven
OF them, composed of a host Of grafters
with enormous salaries not subject to any
| revision or control directly. The R75OOOO0
that goes to the civil government Of ireland
! goes into these hands, and R3,0O0OO0 Of It
remains with them as salaries, making
Ireland the most expensive government in
the world, while every need and expressed
wish of the people Is Knocked at and
! tween the people and the government has
to go through Dublin Castle, and by the
| time the particular set of boards that
each particular bit of business must go
through is consulted and heard from there
| Is no money nor time left for the business.
| These are the obstacles Mr. Birrell must
! meet and deal with. Some OF these high
] salaried, hair-splitting, time-killing boards
have stood between the people and the
land act, so that in three years and a half.
since the land act passed. Of $3.50 evicted
tenant cases brought before them less than
500 were satisfactorily dealt with.
Now that General Botha is at the head
Of the Transvaal ministry II IL interesting
to recall what he said before he entered
upon office. In a statement. meant for pub
lication in England. he declared: British
supremacy will be safer in the hands Of the
Beers than in those Of cosmopolitan capt.
talists. The questions OF the nag and Of
supremacy have been settled for all time
They are both now outside politics. We
are now concerned with our domestic af-
| fairs. Having got free government, our
natural desire is. and our sole endeavor
will be. to so govern that the country shall
| prosper and the two races be drawn to-
gether. At Vereeniging I signed the treaty
OF peace then solemnly accepted your
king and your flag. They are now our
king and our flag People talk about our
hostility to the mines There is no such
hostility. We simply object to the men
who run the mines also running the eoun-
| try. Had wished I'll TO the mining indus
| try as such. I had the fullest opportunity
during the war of wrecking the works along
! the Witwatersrand reef. recognized then
| that my people must look to the mines for
| help and. as 1 protected the mines then, so
shall see that they are not injured now.
| This talk Of wholesale Chinese expatTia-
1 tion regardless OF consequences Is nom
/ sense, I say emphatically that nothing
/ shall be done to embarrass the mines so
/ far as unskilled labor is concerned. We
/ want to pursue a just and liberal policy.
It Is an accepted principle that English
shall be the compulsory language. AS re-
CARDS education generally, we are pre-
| pared to work on the basis Of the COM
/ promise which was reached fifteen months
| ago by the representatives of the Volgites
and the official representatives of the gov
| eminent"
"The great wave Of prosperity that is