Golden Valley chronicle. (Beach, Billings County, N.D.) 1905-1916, 1908-02-28

wages dIS lutS0tlu6 Iu0lr SAVINGS IN !
the stocks Of wildcat companies
against the advice of friends compe-
tent to advise them and in the face |
Of their own better judgment?
The obvious answer is: Because !
they expect to profit greatly by the in
vestment-to ''get rich quick" az the |
common saying puts it. This Is only |
half the answer, and the other half
often the more powerful-is seldom |
brought out.
1t can be stated in one small word
Vanity.
This is not fattering to the invest
ors who have defied the sober counsel
OF experienced men Of affairs and who
have stifled their own natural fore
holdings and sense of caution, but the
fact remains that vanity has, In hun.
dreds of thousands of cases, been the
one factor which has turned the tables
against reason, judgment and good
counsel and emptied the pockets of
the wage Garner and the salary worker
into the Golfers Of the fake Investment
shark. -
This trait of human nature does not
occur to the general public of honest
toilers, but the study of human ma
ture is the everyday business Of the
man who is out after the savings of
the workers; like the surgeon making
a thorough physical examination of
patient, pressing every part of the
body to locate the weak spots, SO the
investment schemer applies all his
cunning to the discovery of the weak
spots: in the sort of human nature
with which he has to deal. And he
has come to understand that there is
no weakness more common among
the men who have to work hard for
comparatively small returns than the
trait of wishing to have part in the
management of the affairs of business
and. more particularly, tore Hooked
upon by their fellows s1eiates
as a man Of affairs, with aperspnaf in
terests and personal influence busi-
ness. councils, an adrhfnis traters inst the
Internal affairs of Industrial. or
financial organizatio :. e.
The desire-conseip ST suncon-
scious-of the small ssin.yestof to-. be
able incidentally to remaflSio hts fell
lows: I'm interested In sfhe Solid
Rock Investment cempanys or eve
got to lay off tomorrow to- attend the
stockholders meeting of=de Sure
nough Securities corporation, in which
I'm interested" has landed quite as
many fairly hard,headed men of small
mems in the. net of the. investment
schemes as has the simple desire to
make money without work. OF this
am thoroughly convinced, although the
two appeals always 20 hand in hand.
When the bait thrown out is equally
attractive to the cupidity and the van.
1ty of human nature the catch is al
most certain--and the clearness with
which the. latter human weakness is
understood BY the sharpers who lie
in wait for the surplus savings
!. of those who do the worlds hand
work, is evidenced by the fact
that the literature sent out to lure
the unwary is full Of phrases like this:
Why not become an associate of
men who are doing things? We want
your influence in your community.
AS AA4OA1 WAAO al . .stln C4AAS 0uI0EDE1S0
are known i'm the business world and
they desire cooperation Of Others who
are capable Of broad and, independent
Judgment, s4f men like yourself WHO
can see beyond The, RIM Of d silver dol.
lar and appreciate large opportunities,
men. of eonstructNsi abilities who are
ready to takeea hand in the: develop
ment of one Of, the greatest enter
prises of the present day Your ad-
vice, influence and cooperation are
more valuable to us than your money!
When this appeal..is put to- a man
who has always worked under others,
who has never been consulted by "a
business man, whose opinions on bust
ness matters have never been asked
by any person outside hfs own family
circle, the temptation to new and
delightful feeling of. self-imr crtance is
almost Inevitable There Isl not a
clerk bending over desk or a coun-
ter, mechanic, working at his lathe
or bench, or laborer toiling in street
or field who has not at times felt that
he has had ideas about some feature
of business worth considering, who
has not harbored secret longing to
have a place and standing among the
men who pull the wires which move
the machinery Of business When such
a man-and his kind is legion-re.
ceives one Of these artful and insinu-
ating appeals to his vanity he is rare
ly poised and gifted with common
sense above his fellows ii he does not
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