Bisbee daily review. [volume] (Bisbee, Ariz.) 1901-1971, 1908-04-12
LAWSON YUKON
DEAL CALLED
BIG SW|NDLE
Mining Authority Brands
Thomas Latest As Another
Scheme To Catch the I'm
wary Sucker on Wall Street.
(Mlning and scientifc Press

| mining and Scientific Press.)
The hippodrome is Wall street;
the clown is Thomas w. Lawson;
among the other performers are pro
fessional men of the highest stand
| ing; the on-lookers that throw their
pennies into the four-ringed circus
are the horde of simple greedy PEG
| pie, VINO accept the antics OF the
clown as finance, who rate the finan.
eial aerobats as philanthropists, who
expect to get SO for IS, and mistake
the performance of a circus for the
business of mining. OF all the AR
| pudent assaults on the credulity of
the public, the prospectus of the Yu-
kon Gold company is the least 'excus-
| able. Like an overture to a ballet,
Lawson had previously issued sever
al faring notices limiting and promis-
/ ing something splendid In the way OF
n get-rich-quick scheme and we had
i read them as we read the aQSer use
ments of pink pills for pale people,
| for such stun throws side-lights on
human folly. We began to wonder
what new imposition Lawson was
going TO foist on the p1blic-the
very public whom in q magazine ar
| ticle he recently f1outed as Saffron
blooded apes" and spined
shfimps," because they had proved
unwilling to accept him as a reform
| er, having found out that he was an
impudent scoundrel. But the widest
guess would never have imagined
that the Guggenheims and all their
cohorts of technical talent would be
playing the harlequin to this clown
of many stock exchange circGses.
We would as soon have expected
| Phelps-Dodge & Co. or Lee, Higgin-
son & Co. to enlist the services OF
| Jack London or Garry Nation in dis
| posing Of the Copper Queen or the
Calumet & Hecla. Not that the Yu-
kon placers are comparable for a mo-
ment with the two enterprises men
/ toned. We say frankly that in San
San Francisco, where information
concerning mining in Alaska is not
wholly wanting, it has been supposed
| by those unfriendly to the Guggen-
! helms that their Dawson invest
| ment was a rank failure, while those
who are without prejudice have in
| ferred from reliable news that at best
| 1t was yet a doubtful venture. What
ever doubts existed are not removed
by the statement quoted IN the fam
boyant prospectus of Lawson.
That prospectus probably garbles
the reports and at best gives unly
fragments of the complete statements
submitted by the engineers. Until
we have seen the complete reports of
Messrs. A. C. Beatty an do. B. Perry
we shall withhold criticism, in the in
terest of the profession. 1t will be
time enough next week to offer a
critical analysis Of the estimates.
At the present writing we desire
simply to express disgust at the
prostitution of the mining BUSINESS
by such fellows as Lawson. He
shamed the cause OF reform in
America; he now makes mining ri
diculous. Lawson offers a number
of statements, unsupported even by
the fragmentary quotations from the
engineers reports. In his latest ad-
vertisement he says that the actual
worth" of the stock is SIS, that is, on
a capitol of 100000 shares, the
mines are worth s52,500,000, while
the estimate given in bis own pros
pectus is that s36 900 900 of profit
will be forthcoming in Is years. on
which basis the present worth, allow
ing for interest lat the rate of 10 per
cent, the minimum for gold mine)
on capital, is less than $4,000, 900
small boys arithmetic is all that is
needed to demonstrate the absurdity
Of Lawson's wild assertions. Our
readers do not need to be told that a
placer mine is BOT ike vein mine;
the latter has possibilities in depth,
miracles may happen, and even the
hupgriest looking prospect may be
the top OF a great bonanza; suca
things have happened. although no
sane man would base aay estimate
on such a doctrine of imDrobability.
On the other hand in every dimen-
sion; it can be measured, and any
Unforeseen developments are usually
of the wrong kind, that is. the total
profits are much more likely to fall
short of, than to exceed, sanguine an
ticipations. In this case, on the most
reasonable of Lawson's many state
inents, the speculator pays one dollar
on the expectation that II all goes
well he will get return of one dol
lar, and IL any estimate is incorrect
he will get less than one dollar and
meanwhile his dollar will be used by
the philanthrbpist who invited min
into the game. But, the reader will
fiotation. The man who buys for one
dollar expects to sell to someone
else Tor two OF three dssiars; the in
trinsic merits do not count; of |
course, there must be reports and so /
forth, but as long as well known |
men are directors and strong back |
ing is forthcoming, the issue win be
a success and there win be plenty NJ !
reople to join in a stampede for the |
shares. So the specuIator gambIes |
on being able to unload upon some
one more reckless and more greedy /
than himself: he PLAYS the game for /
awson, he joins the Guggenheim |
people In the hiDpodrome. and final |
ly some miserable sinpletons hold |
the bag.
The mines are said to be rich, they |
are said to be fully equipped (which |
is not correct, they are said to be |
and enormous financial power So /
says lawson Why then do they !
want to sell the stock? People owa-
ing good mines usually offer shares |
for sale because they have neither /
the money necessary for developmnt |
nor the funds to build a mill or a !
smelter It takes money to make
even a good mine profitable Hence I
the issue OF stock in legitimate enter
prises. But in this case the condi-
tons are difeheIt. Lawson says
that the Guggenheim grouu conerols
companies paying enormous annual
dividends they have been liberia
and far-sighted IN their expenditures
for plant and the mines are thor
oughly equipped" Why then the |