The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1908-01-03

md they felt that their financial n
ture was more than assured They
showed these remittance letters to
the friends they wished to favor and
this process multiplied the victims in
q cumulative ratio besides drawing q
big increase Of Investments" from
the original victims. or course the
number OF the earlier victims was
very small In comparison with the
crop which this cumulative process
Of culture developed when once the
effect Of the stimulant was realized
from a broad territory. Therefore
It mattered little II the first or orig.
inal crop of victims received a total
Of dividends" amounting to their
original investment with a good profit
added. So long as new victims null
.tiplied In numbers with each incom.
Ing mall and the older ones added to
their speculative contributions the
dividend" game could be played with
:mpunity.
Investors by the tens OF thou,
sands poured an ever-increasing vol
m OF money into the treasury Of
this infamous get-rich-quick swindle,
and when the postotdce 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 postofice inspector was sum-
moned to Washington to explain the
situation. The only explanation
which he made or needed to make
was to produce the proofs that the
concern had been paying dividends
from moneys received as investments,
not from profits actually earned. He
was told to go back to his work. Sub
s~equently the Ease was turned e
to the department of justice for Grim
inal prosecution and the men In the
swipdle-or at least some OF them
were convicted and sent to the peni-
Tertiary. 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.
or course variations in almost In
finite number have been devised, ana
some of them possess a degree OF re-
finement which makes their LIKENESS
To the original diffcult to distinguish.
But the possible investor will do well
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 1t.
This nation has enjoyed a long Pc
Rod of unexampled prosperity. AS a
result, thousands Of men who q few
wears z were either poor or only
moderately wellto-do have become
comparatively wealthy and have
made more money than they need in
the operation Of their regular bust
nesses. In fact, there is a 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 a 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
lew CAPITALISTS Will icob tioupiS thoh
Is required to write n set OF circu-
lars and form letters. And he does
not have to promise big monthly div
idends' or anything of the kind. Cap
ital Ia not impatient when 1t Is So
cure; ~semi-annual or quarterly divi-
dends will answer its purposes very
well, and 1t is generally suspicious OF
anything which promises an extrava-
CANT percentage of return.
In view of these facts there Is but
one conclusion to be drawn. The invest
ment enterprise which has to conduct
a house-to-house campaign. by means
of the United States mails, or by So
licitors, or both Of them, to collect the
savings OF the working people makes
practical confession that fits PROPOSE
ton is not solid enough to command
the confidence Of those who are CON
stantly looking for places where they
can put their money and get a return
insignificant in comparison with that
promised by this class Of financial out
laws.
Copyright. By Joseph B. Bowles)