The Washington herald., 1912-05-04
TRYING 10 BEAT THE
WALL STREET GAME
By c. n. kEYs.

By G. n. KEYS.
A few days ago It was announced
that the so-calIed Rogers Pool- had
assigned for the benefit OF It's credi-
tors. Thus, in. the usual way. ends
the brief but spectacular story Of a
system invented by a wise man to
gather in for the benefit Of his clients
the profits OF stock market specula-
tion without running the usual risks
Of such operation.
Mr.. George Davidson Rogers. who
invented the formula and undertook
to put II into practice. was at one time
a secretary 20 MI John ID. Rockefel-
Ter. He became imbued with the idea
that II he only had sufncient capital
he could operate with absolute. safety
In the stock market and earn from 50
TO 75 per cent a year on all the money
that he was using. He impaired the
Idea TO a few Of his close friends and
associates in a church in Newark n.
J.. and II appears that IN HIS venture
his principal hackers were four men,
bers Of that congregation. who be-
tween them put up about $4,000 Of cash
and became participants in the so-called
pool 70 this extent
On the strength Of this beginning the
Rogers Pool" advertised extensively
I'm the newspapers and cireularized very
extensively. sending out literature TO long
lists OF names bought from name brok-
ers OF secured in various other ways,
As a result Mr.. Rogers found himself
operating for a group Of people number
ing. II Is said, several hundred, a few
OF whom were comparatively wealthy
people and well able to run the risk Of
such q speculation. but the great major
ity OF whom were little people. men of
moderate circumstances and women on
the verge OF poverty, who put their en-
tire savings into the hands Of the pool
and cast in their lot for good and all
with It.
At times this operation was successful
and for four months last year dividends
were paid on all the particiaptions at
an average rate OF more than IS per
cent year. On the whole the opera
tons OF the pool from the beginning ap-
peared TO be successful and profits were
very much larger than the depositors
could have hoped TO have obtained by
any Of the ordinary methods OF invest
ment Mr. Rogers name became a house.
hold word for honesty, ability and bene-
hcence in many households.
A couple OF weeks ago, however, two
or three OF the larger depositors in the
pool notified Mr.. Rogers that they in
tended TO withdraw in May and June.
The terms OF the pool required a certain
length Of notice, and Il was this notice
that was served on Mr. Rogers. A
glance at his books showed, him that IL
these Withdrawals were made bankruptcy
would follow, because IN paying the large
dividends which he had paid he had
really drawn upon the capital resources
of the pool Hence the only thing TO
do was to assign for the benefit OF bis
creditors, and this assignment was fled
a few days ago.
Quite contrary 10 the usual proceed
ing, the leading participants in the pool
have stood aside like gentlemen and are
willing to take a total loss on their par
ticipation and thereby allow whatever
can be saved out OF the wreck to 90 TO
the small participants In this venture
II is said. however, that the total as
sets will not be much more than Seo,0oo.
and that, consequently, even the little
will lose most that they
put in.
This pool was probably the elesnest
and safest-looking, venture OF its sort
that existed in New York. The man
who was running II was not a light
weight. crooked operator, so far as can
be discovered On the contrary, he SEEM
ed TO be a level-headed. trained and well
equipped man to handle just this sort OF
4 proposition Nevertheless the reports
Indicate that he actually lost money con-
sistently on almost all the important ven
lures made by the pool and that most of
The so-called profits were paid out Of
capital-
The conclusion is perfectly obvious It
Is not possible to secure out OF the stock
market a consistent and steady income
of any very large proportion. In other
words, it Is not possible to beat Wall
Street at its own game. OF course. II
can be done in scattered instances and
Tor short periods Of time: but the con-
clusion OF the whole matter seems to
be that in the long run any attempt to
orofit by speculation from the outside
Is against the stock market game as
played from the inside is impossible.
Money put into speculation is money |
-isked, the world over. Though specu- |
alton may be disguised as thickly and |
as Mr.. Rogers disguised Il, |
{ is still simply speculation with risk |
% lose everything that is staked and |
| chance to make profits correspond |
ngly large. II Is not a scientific use OF |
money. The only safe use for money |
which one cannot afford to lose is |
which is. after all. the put |
ing away Of money for income and not |