Golden Valley chronicle. (Beach, Billings County, N.D.) 1905-1916, 1908-02-28
TURNING VANITY INTO MONEY
By JOHN K. THOMPSON
Treasurer Cook County, Illinois.

Z
that it appeals to MS Independent |
judgment" and classes him among the |
men who see things shrewdly and In |
q big way and. who scorn timidity. II |
he listens to this argument-and gen.
orally he does-he feels new sense
Of self-importance and OF independence
and "a corresponding disinclination to
listen to the advice of those whose
with business and finance
would enable him to steer clear of the
rocks of disaster. His judgment is
pitted against theirs and he is aroused
to a. determination to "show them"
that his, opinion is better than theirs.
This antagonism against the recep-
ton Of advice from men of experience
is the one thing which the investment
sharper most desires to awaken in the
prospective victim, for it will prevent
him not only from seeking sound ad-
vice but from acting upon it when it
is put in his way.
The schemers who have learned
how irresistibly the argument of man
age for yourself appeals to the man
who has never had chance to try
his hand at managing business have
not stopped at this point; they have
also learned that men in the humber
walks Of life are clannish and inclined
to think and act together. Along with
this they have realized that It is
easier and cheaper to hunt their game
in aocks and droves than singly. When
the sportsman wishes to get a big bag
of game and get it quickly he goes
after. the birds which travel in flocks.
So with these gunners who are adopts
in the use of decoys and calls" They
arrange their hunts in line with this
idea Of clannishness, of mass move
ment, and use the ammunition of '.sact
for yourself so that every shot will be
pot shot"
Here is an example of how this kind
of financial sportsmanshfp is prosecut-
ed: Some time ago an inventor
brought out machine for the making
of print paper from the pith of corn
stalks. So far as making an impress
size, scientific demonstration, was con.
cerned, the device was admirable, but
when it came to its ability to compete
commercially with wood pulp mills
and their products, that was a prob
lem that did rot greatly concern the
promoters with whom the inventor
and patentee became associated. So
long as the machine did its demonstra-
ton work with convincing PLAUSIBLE
ty their immediate purpose was fully
met. The paper production in which
they were most concerned was that
upon which the handsome stock certifi-
Gates of the company were printed.
The corporation was capitalized at
several million dollars and the cam
paign Of stock exploitation put in the
hands Of q man who was q past master
in the particular. line of appeal with
which this article is concerned.
2 He Immediately turned his guns
upon wage workers of the printing
and paper trades.
BY personal solicitation and printed
literature he piled the members Of
these trades with the argument:
Make this your own industry! Here
is the: opportunity for you to. keep in
your own hands the thing which is
going to revolutionize the paper bust
ness just as the typesetting machine
has revolutionized the printers, craft.
You can, BY coming lin now, with: a
small investment per- man, place your
selves in control,o an. industry which
Will .hold,ofn its, grip a product, of mil
Hons of dollars, a. year--a product
upon which the whole paper and print
ing world depends for it's existence. -
This was an argument which every
man in the mechanical department of
newspaper or q commercial printing
establishment, and every paper mill
or paper company, could understand.
1t met him on his own ground and, he
began to see visions of. himself as one
of the powers" In the very industry
ip which he was an obscure wage
worker: What Affirming OF the tables
there would be- when the world
awakened to the fact, that this great
"revolutionizing.: invention" was con.
trolled by the men at the type case
and machines, the printing presses,
the stereotyping tables, the pulp watts
and the paper warerooms! Then the
last would become first, the paper
industry would be ruled by the men
from the bottom Of business; the
journeyman would be the magnate
and would know the feeling of power
and authority!
BY scores and hundreds the wage
workers in these trades rallied to this
cry and the leaders among them were