The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-07
TAKERS SECURE
 OVER$1OO,OOO,OOO
Get -Rich-Guick Artists Are
 Reaping a Harvest
MIR. HITCHCOCK'S FIGHT
Postmaster General Is Conducting an Enormous Campaign Against Fake Mine om0ters--Much
 Help From Newspapers
nr nnnEnIck cIIrroRp

Wasnlngton Aprllt b.--tSpeclal. )--fost- master General Hitchcock. the bane of fake mining promoters and other get rich-quick artists, estimates that the peo- pie of this country during the past ten years have been robbed of sl00 100000, through fakes of every kind, patent medi- cines. mining, real estate and reclama- ton projects. The postmaster general estimates that the American people are the most credulous people on the face of the earth While Mir. Hitchcock refrains from putting his thoughts irlo words, he nevertheless comes to the conclusion that the American public will take chance on anything.
 As result of a years crusade against the get-rich-quick schemers, who have been using the United States mails in the consumation of their nefarous schemes MT Hitchcock says that dis tinct type of criminal has been developed During the last year, he says, the Amer ican public has been swindled out of nearly s77,OOO 000. The schemes used by the promoters cover every possible phase of industry and business life from the sale of a single fake article of a
 
 scheme, well figured out on paper and existing only in the mind Of the promo ter.
 The crusade conducted by MT, Hitch cock against these fakirs has been a great commercial help to the country. In one case single fraud operator or com binations of operators manipulating rail- road bills of lading and acting as agents for insurance companies were able to ob- tain S2, 500.0O0 from foreign cotton buyers and at the same time destroyed the credit and confidence in the mediums of | realizing upon the offering ol cotton in | the market This was done through bo- gus bills of ladlng sent through tue me- alum of the nited States mails. These wealthy fraud artists, Mir. Hitch COCK says, invest their money in legiti- mate enterprises and many of them con sequently become promoters of banks, owners of manufacturing plants and other wealthy and innuential organi2a- tions Because of their position ana high station in life, il is dlHicult matter to | convict them. as their resources appear to be unlimited.
 However" the Postmaster continues, during the past year over regiment of these promoters have been taken into custody by the United states govern ment, their business disrupted anu near ly 2U0 of them convicted within six months on charges of fraud. Among this number are some eight of ten million aires who are serving terms of inprs- onment in federal penitentiaries. "Heretofote" continued MT Hitch- cock, it has been the policy of the post l office department to utilize what Is known as the fraud order, directing the postmasters 10 refuse to deliver mall ad- | dressed to these illegltimate concerns. l The order must be applicable to some special organization or individual. lm- medately upon the issuance of the or der, the enterprising schemer reorgan- izes the same scheme under a new name,
 uses with a slight change prae ticaly the same literature, retains the old mall ing list and in many cases is doing busi- ness at the same old stand.
 The crusade conducted by the depart
 ment against these operators has been vigorously pursued and has resulted in scattering a large number of the smaller operators, who usually become frightened at the attitude of the postoffice depart ment. These smaller people have been 1 driven out of business entirely. These promoters can hardly be esti- mated. Some two thousand complaints have been received at the postoffce de | partment. but the limited corps of off
 
 these criminals enables the department | to reach only some five hundred of them | DOT annum. 1t may be estimated within reason that these frauds exceed $150,000 l 000 annually This enormous amount of money is taken from that class of p"o-
 pie who can i'll afford 10 lose it; people i who work on a salary basis widows. or phans, school teachers, ministers and in many instances. persons connected with
 the army, enjoying positions of life ten | ure.
 one of the most peculiar features of the fraud business Is the disinclinaton on the part of the public to make com plaints. The average person would rather forget the investment of the
 money than to have his nelghbor know that he had been caught in the meshes of the promoter or had been the sucker
 at the end of the bait"
 Mir Hitchcock gives the public press great deal of credit in running the
 "fakirs" to earth The publicity of the
 methods employed by the shrewd schem- CTS he says has opened the eyes of the American people to such an extent that | the officers of the postoffice department report that hundreds of the promoters | have voluntarily closed their places of | business and departed for places un- known.
 By stamping out the Mabry gang dur ing the past year the postal officers felt | that one of the most gigantic and best organized organizations of swindlers have been broken up. This band of thieves and gamblers made a business of organizing and promoting fake horse races. wrestling, boxing and other athletic tournaments all over the country It is believed that they got no less than s50'0,00o from the American people through their operations during the past few years.
 Medical schemers and fakirs have re- ported to have secured somewhere in the neIghborhood of S25.O00 coo. Land dealers, reclamation projects. fruit farms. onion
 farms and numerous other projects. such as strawberry farms in Porto Rico and | like schemes. are estimated to have pro- duced revenue of from $S00O0,oo0 to s5o- 0000o0 to the promoters.