The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-08-11
PONz| EXPLAINS POSTAL ALCHEMY
 0F GETTING GOLD
Address Boston Kiwanis. International Reply Cou- pons, He Says, Based
 on Foreign Exchange
By Assoeiated prem

Boston. August 10.-Charles PonIi. who claims to have jumped from conn rarative poverty to a multimillionaire's estate in few months, through deal ings in international postal coupons, told members of the Kiwanis Club to- day some of the steps in the process by which he claims to have amassed his fortune.
 Ponzi, making his first appearance as an after dinner speaker since he be- came one of the most talk ed of men in the country, was a luncheon guest of the club. He was invited some time ago before he was compelled to cease payment In his "5o per cent in forty five days" proposition because of the orders issued by the state bankers commission to the Hanover State bank. to pay no more of Ponzis checks.
 In opening his remarks Ponzi reit- erated his claim that he was solvent and expressed confidence that this would be substantiated by the federal and state investigations now in prog icSss anu lildt Iit WOuiQ DS dDlG to re- sume business in a few days.
 He related how he had hired a small office, used his small capital in vari- ous business schemes. and then, with an international reply coupon always in front of him on his desk, began to do some thinking.- He finally obtained financial assistance. he said. to develop his idea, and spent thousands of dol lars in foreign correspondence.
 T found out" he said, that the pos tai coupons were being sold in foreign countries for the equivalent of $ cents and could be converted into postage stamps Then all had to do was fig ure how many nickels make a million
 T got in touch with men-that's as far as I'll go-who were able to secure for me large amounts of coupons in different countries. They bought them with our money and used them as col lateral to be redeemed later.
 When conditions were right I of- fered to borrow money from the pub- lie. l offered 50 per cent in ninety days and would not promise to redeem notes In forty-five, though I thought that three weeks was about the right time to bank the money here, send if abroad get the stamps and convert them into cashs
 T started the Securities Exchange Company. I was everything from. pres- dent to office boy.
 The second day after I opened a gentleman from the Chamber of Com merce came to my office to investigate. He was convinced that my scheme was possible. Ninety per cent of the peo- pie didn't know about the interna tional reply coupons
 Then postoffice inspector came. I asked him if it was legal to buy an in- ternational reply coupon abroad and change 1t to stamps. He said Yes asked if it was legal to redeem mil lions of the coupons, and he said No He would have to decide whether they were stolen or where they came from
 However 1 decided that if redeem the stamps in the United States the federal government might decide that 1t came within it's Jurisdiction, though there was no federal or state law against 1t, But the exchange rate was the same in Switzerland and Norway and some other countries. So I decided to redeem there"
 Some one in the audience asked why
 
 to find any evidence of such large deal ings in reply coupons Ponzi relied that foreign governments realized a profit on the issue of these postal cer- tificates and are not going to disclose to other governments how many cou- pons they have issued"
 And the international postal union is not going to do it." he added.
 Asked if foreign governments had not stopped this. he replied;
 Yes, they are stopping--they have stopped the sale of coupons for public use But that does not stop my busi- ness. My money in Europe is working today even if it is not here.'
 In the transactions in coupons. he insisted. nobody suffers loss
 T buy" he said. "a dollars worth of Italian exchange. At the present rate I get IS lire. would get five under normal exchange With the IS lire buy 50 international reply coupons These coupons can be sold for g in American money"
 He maintained that no government need lose, because transactions between governments may be delayed until ex- change is normal and pointed out that there has been delay in the payment of interest on American loans to the allies.
 T haven't found anybody who has to make it good" he asserted, when somebody wanted to know who would have to stand the loss.
 
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