The San Francisco call., 1910-06-29
lew GuSFGfS yWgN thg, Production Of St0tGS Oh fGIdS
english SYNDICATE
is BRITISH PUBLIC
Promoters of Oil Companies in
London Have Made Hand
some Profits on Deals

The term English syndicate" has
become something of fixture in the
vocabulary OF California oil and has
been used with more or less indefinite
ness wherever petroleum is discussed.
II has. been assumed. naturally. that
a group OF British capitalists, mysteri-
Gus and unnamed. had undertaken to
buy."Qut all the oil properties in the
state: rnis hardly is the case
The: English syndicate" has been
largely an agency institution and il
has found the buying and selling of
california. Oh producing properties a
handsomely profitable industry. AS
Nltn6sS TO this one needs but To glance
over some of the suits that have re-
suited from misunderstanding after
the. completion of a transaction The
commissions have run as high as 10
per cent which is. certainly as fat a fee
as one could conceive, especially when
it is recalled tlrat some of the largest
Iea3 estate transactions involve only
= per cent commission
The great mysterious purchaser in
Britain has not been d king of finanee.
Us may have been supposed. but in
Naltty the British public The oil
+roperty purchased in California has
ln@ many. instances been organized on
an: English system and the stock sold
l<0nQ0n
the: provinces. It has frequently han
pened that the English promoting com
pa5}5- otherwise the syndicate has
made an enormous profit on the fiota-
tion.
IN some instances, however. the
English purchaser has been a man of
great financial strength. who, with his
assoeiates, has held the property for
development. With the precedent of
success set by the California oilfeIds
Limited, an English concern, it is only
surprising that British capital did not
take to California oil before this.
The latest purchase of great size by
English people was that OF sections 80
ano So IN Coalinga. This sale was ar
ranged by Major V Carter West, act
ins for the British company. which is
known as the International land and
Industries, limited. Major West said
Ihat his corporation intended to turn
the. property over to a company for
development The major is quoted as
saying:
London is crazy over the Cali
fornia oil fields. The capitalists are
enthusiastic over the possibilities
tor: making money there, and the
entluslasm has reached the nobil-
ltt- g.. A typical instance was the
uDaJng of the latest big company
= London, the Consolidated oil
nelos of California, limited, f1oated
-NtLAe NDil4Rdllts capitalized
900 pounds, or about ss75.OOO
The stock was placed on the mar
ket Nay %. In two days the stock
was OVerSubScribed with a sub
scriptiOn Of 21S,000 pounds. that is,
we had 10. return to those who
wanted 10 invest $4,000 oversub-
scrfbed: This shows the confidence
felt. ia regard TO California oil
fields -
The directors in this new big
company include many prominent
Englishmen. The board is headed
by Sir Henry Wardlaw. Bart, Pit
-resvie, n B.. the thiTty-sexenth
peer Of his line. Major General Sir
Norman r. Stewart. Bart, COM
lnander Of the Bath, q noted SOL
der is on the board. as are others
well known in the British capital.
The land controlled by the Consoli-
dated oil felds of California company
consists largely of property in Sonoma
county. where the Englishmen are
making many improvements