The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1908-02-21
tcopyrlsht. By Joseph D. Rowle..l

Nbbiab hHu lue Udu MithJuL phStiIci
experience m~ouopolize the space in the
swtndIers' list of victims. This i'm
preston Is far from warranted by tbs
facts. The truth, as gained from the
records Of hundreds Of swindles which
the federal. state and city authorities
have run to earth. Is decidedly unfiat
teFing to the sbrewdness of the ay'
erage business man-the merchant,
the manufacturer, the contractor and
the mar who gains his livelihood by
barter aud sale.
or late the business man has re-
celyed special attention from the pro-
gressiye and up.to-date swindler and
several special and adroit schemes
have been prepared to divorce him
from his money. An important feature
OF several Of these devices Is an ele-
ment Of potential blackmail introduced
for the purpose Of %silencing any victim
who may be inclined to put up a fight
after he has parted with his money
and 1t becomes apparent to him that
he Is to get nothing in return for his
Investment.
Hundreds OF ambitious business men
throughout the country have been
caught In the snare Of the swindler
who poses as a capitalist with an
abundance of money with which to
finance manufacturing and merchan-
diGing enterprises. These s%harpers,
claiming to furnish capital TO business
concerns, get hold Of their victims In
two ways: 1t Is a common practice for
men who wish to secure capital for an
enterprise to advertise to that effect
and In good faith. These advertise
ments are Immediately clipped and
answered by the fake capital-furnish-
Ing concerns. The letter Is craftily
and conservatively written and con
tains the plain inference that the capt
tai will not be forthcoming until the
proposition has been carefully sifted.
He is also told, in the original letter,
that a personal interview will be nee.
essary and Is invited to come to the
Offices of the company. The other
method for getting in touch with pros
pectlye victims is for the concern al
leging to have the capital to advertise
to that effect. Those answering the
advertisement are also sent the same
letter already described, 1t should be
noted that the one thing insisted upon
In every letter Is a personal interview
Ia the Offices of the company.
When the man who is doing a pros
porous little manufacturing business
reads this letter he sees bright visions
of the future and hastens to the office
evidences Of the present and pros,
pective success Of his business which
he can muster. He generally tinIs the
capitalist in a well-furnished office.
He is taken out to luncheon or dinner
and Is treated handsomely but con.
sefvatlyely, for conservatism is the
essence of the methods by which this
class of swindler works.
After the man who is looking for
capital carefully explains the nature
and condition Of business and of the
field of its operation he is carefully
questioned by the capitalist. The in.
~terrogations are shrewd and pointed
and such as would be asked by a bank.
or or the credit man of a big mer-
Chandising house,
Finally the capitalist admits that
the business has really remarkable
prospects and should be floated on a
basis sufficient to provide for and in.
sure the wonderful expansion of which
It Is capable. He then suggests that
It could be readily bonded for q figure
much beyond the amount Of capital
asked by the manufacturer. The offer
Is then made by the capitalist that he
viii agree to place the bonds to that
amount On a commission basis, and do
so at once. There viii be no trouble
about that, as he has d man looking
fnr just such an investment. The pa
pers are drawn up and the manufac-
tGrer is correspondingly elated,
Suddenly, in a purely incidental way,
the capitalist looks up from the blank
contract which he is filling out and
asks the name Of the company which
Il to guarantee the bonds, The manu-
facturer is astonished and asks an eS.
PLANTATION. He Is told that in these
days a bond which Is not guaranteed
has no chance whatever on the MAJ.
ket: that this ~precaution is invariably
demanded by the ~up.to.date bond pur-
chaser. But" adds the capitalist. you
will have no difficulty on that score.
There are a half,dozen reliable guar
antee companies within a block of
here which will be glad to act on SO
substantial a proposition as yours,
There is the %Impregnable in this
building, the lnyincible in the next
block, and the Prudential in the pru-
dental Bank block. Go to any one
of them, talk 1t over and II there is
any trouble about getting the guaran-
tee call me up OF the phone"
Probably the manufacturer says he
will go to the Prudential, because IT is
In the Prudential Bank building, and
he draws the inference that there is
connection between the bank
and the guarantee company. When
it is possible these companies To-
In bank buildings In order to
create this inference. He finds the
of the guarantee company re-
splendent in plate glass and mahog-
any, and in the elegant private office
Of the president he tells about his
business and the offer of the capital
LIST. The president contrives, II posi-.
BILE, incidentally to learn how much
money he has on his person or In a
bank in the city or near the city. II
he succeeds In drawing out this infor.
.,Aka. - 1-s--- 49, $500 I