Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-11
F|NANCIERS Use
LOADED DICE
SAYS FORBES
Directors Called "Highwaymen'
Who Fleece Helpless Stock
holders From WInside."
By 3. c. FORBES.


II the transactions Of America s
millionaires. showing just how they
made their money. could be- publish
ed, what rush there would he for
sub-cellars and for outgoing steam
eIs'
The more I learn about the work T.
ings Of High Finance, the more in
clined am to divide our 100000, 900
population into only two classes,
namely. the insiders and outsiders.
The former have WaNed rich at the
expense Of the latter
] viii not conhBe myself 10 gener-
alities In revealing how easy IT has
been for financIers to rob the pub
lie / VIII cite concrete instances OF
film namming, of cases where the in-
sders had information enabling them
to roll up fortunes without the slight
est risk-save the risk Of losing their
eternal souls. and that Of course, is
not even a secondary nor tertiary
consideration with many Of these
sternly practical gentlemen.
Let me here nterpolatc however,
that | am convinced beyond shadow
of doubt that financial highWaymen
are TO have rougher and less prof
liable road to travel In future, that
the whole standard OF financial ethics
is to be raised, and that the country
will be lastingly benefited theretrom
The main source Of easy profits foi
insiders has been Specializing In Sc
curities on information withheld from
81. nd. tsgt 81 Ia.
tor all sorts Of deals.
Your Gateses. Reds. Moores and
Yoakums are prominent types of mil
llonaires who played the stock mar
ket with loaded dice, Certain pow
erful bankers have also made mil
lions by using information which
was kept back from the real owners
OF properties the stockholders. d.
rectors have lamentably failed to
realize that the ordinary stockhOd-
crs are their partners and there
fore entitled to the fullest possible in
formation. II has been the fashion TO
give out information only after the
insiders have had ample time TO act
upon ii stockmarketWise and to eN-
tract from it the last dollar
Take the most recent fragrant in
viii any grown-up person
deny for an instant that the Chesa-
peake and Ohio insiders did not know
that the extraordinary terms cNacted
by bankers for issuing the $33,000,OO
new notes would send the price of
the stock tumbling? Yet the outsid-
ers. the stockholders, had no warn
ing that breakers lay ahead.
Speaking OF this railroad. let me
relate another incident The dlrec-
tors had declared the regular ! per
cent dividend and had dropped not
one whisper or hint that an increase
in the rate was in sight Yet within "A
~ eek the definite statement was made
to favored individuals that a much
higher disbursement was coming
forthwith And it came, sending the
shares booming up more than twenty
points Why was not the informa-
ton given To outsiders at the time
il was passed around for the benefit
Of friends of the management
The Nickel Plate railroad, after
paying per cent per annum, raised
The rate to 4 per cent in 1913 And
then 1t suddenly and wholly uneN-
pectedly announced that NOTHING
would be paid this year To IN
CREASE a dividend one year and not
merely reduce il, hut STOP il. the
next is a species of hnancIering Calcu-
lated TO enrich insidcrs-and disgust
STANDARD on insiders have had
golden opportunities to pocket mill
lions upon millions OF dollars through
keeping stockholders and the public
in the dark ever since the farciCal
dissolution" and the formation OF
thirty -odd So-called separate con-
Germs Indeed. never in financial his
tory has there been such gigantic
play ing with fixed roulette wheel
The RockefeUels aud their uumer-
Gus troops of officials and followers
had all the inside facts and the pub
lie nothing but rumors The way the
STANDARD oil shares have alternately
scared heaveuward and dropped in
the other direction suggests that the
profits of those in the know have
reached staggering totals And the
poor public have handed over every
dollar Of them.
James ] Hin once astouishcd the
financial world by Distributing a
melon worth 30,0o0,Uoo, Yet the
Great Northcru's annual reports
contained no cleW to such a posses
sion refer. of course, To the
! 500 0U0 Great Northern ore ccrtif-
yates Here also the insiders had
knowledge withheld from the public.
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