The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-12-28
SATURDAY, DECEMBER IS. 1911
RUE SKY

It seems almost certain tina. ."'s
w,nter there will be something VI a'e
,.+,re If "blue sky legislation al
p,.m.,ck. The need is very appar-
ont Yor some sort Of legislation when
w,n e1ve some protection to persons
,,re.rniliar with the value ana the
method Of handling such seeur't.es'
The Grand Forks Commercial oiuo
has. through one Of Its committees
Nan A. work for some time on q Dill
Tor this purpose. and It is seaseo ena'
..vernl bills Of this character are IN
conrse Of preparation by SaF'ous
memherz.Aect Of the state hous OK
senats. -.
ma experlence Of the Grand Fork
stub along this line should ~ t01
someshine In the preparation OK
suitable bill. For several years .ns
club has been doing a little "olue
49,. preventive work on It's own &C.
.,,,nt. There has grown Up IN tne
citv an understanding that any com
mercial or financial proposition whose
n,ornoters seek to invite the subscrip-
ZION. or support Of the general puoHe
ou.ht' to receive the endorsement OF
+hs e,ub before being 90 of1ered'
The-e. In no law on the subject ano
nothinr compulsory about It, but tine
nract,ce has grown up Of referring al
these matters to the club for 'nSesa'
e.&,on. and pending such invest'ga'
tton there IL generally very little DO
"a. IN tho way Of selling stock 10Y
.hout the frst question that the pros
nect asks 10 whether or not the cauu
hs. Investigated the proposition. II
Il has not the proceedings senerails
stop right there.
How much money has been saved
"a the people Of the city BY this prae'
hce will never be Known, because N
=. ,mnosstble to make any estimate
n the amounts that would have been
gathered in by this. that and the other
fak. enterprises had the faeld oeen
lear. Three or four railroad enter
pr,ses which were quite pretsnsious
an naper we're introduced here. The
cluh investigated and found no v
dence Of solidity in n OF them. Inc
nromoter. made an effort to dispose
-, stock. but had poor success ano
want elsewhere where nobody was do
ing n investigating. Their @oeA
wa. sold literally, and ultimately
soma Of the promoters got into 1aii
INT the subscribers never saw any rail-
road. built or received any dividends
A couple Of "w1reless" enterprise:
r,Rared q like fate. Innumerabie
smaller projects have made efforts tt
get into tho city. but have not sue
ceeded. and Of late fake promoters
have shown q disposition to give tne
,itv a wide berth. as they find the
picking very poor here. This mean'
that Thousands upon thousands o.
dollars that would otherwise havt
been .ouandered and lost have re
NAMED in the city to aid IN the pro
motion Of legitimate enterprises
Tho state Of Kansas has had some
e~xperience with laws governing thu
sale Of stock within the state. Before
stock can De OllSIco "
state tho persons desiring to engage
IN tha business must demonstrate te
the %satisfaction Of the proper omcia
that their concern Is actually solvent
ana that it is a legitimate business
enterprise. That seems fair and rea'
sonablA. OF cours care must be tax
on In tho drafting Of q law that II
does not interfere with the rights OF
persous who are acting in good faith
and who are engaged in legitimate
business. Tho state cannot guaran'
tee dividends on any stock. 1t mus
not attempt to do 30. 1t can and
should require the presentation OF v
dsnee Of solvency and honest man
asement, and Of the fact that the PRO
posed enterprise Is no commercially
and financially an obvious impossible
aty.