The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1923-11-21


honoring their business.
First and foremost, the crooked
promoter who greatly outnumbered
his honest competitors in the big
Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma fields,
was out for himself
Knew No Geology
In q majority of cases, as substan-
tiated by Government investigation,
when he first became a promoter he
knew nothing about oil whatever nor
the manner and means by which it is
obtained.
In other words, he was q green
horn-an inexperienced yokel-who
foisted himself of upon the public by
subsidized news accounts in pro-
moter-owned publications. as bona
fds oil expert
His primary and sole interest was
TO sell stock-and do nothing else but
sell stock-in company Of his own
creation with never the thought of
actually producing oil
By hook and crook, lying state
ments and overdrawn promises the
crooked promoter advertised and cir
cularized his sucker lists stating
any and all manner Of roseate induce
ments to part the prospect from his
investment contribution.
Doesn't Want OH
Bearing in mind, all the while,
that the crooked promoter is not out
to get oil at all you next find him
out on undeveloped, unproven ter
ritory-or wild cat acreage, as 1t
is called.
Perhaps from his stock sale cam
paign he has sold S1,000.000 worth
of shares. certificates. titles or what
ever else he calls them.
He wants to keep within the law.
And at the same time he wants to
stay crooked.
Hence you find him sinking a we'll
On the wild cat" land, down to what
ever depth he vaguely promised he
would sink it.
But having made virtually certain
before operations were begun that the
''hole would come in dry" he pays
the driIler a few thousand dollars
for his work and then uses the
balance of the million for his own
purposes.
Such tactics were the rule and not
the exception during the peak OF the
oil boom days.
They were permitted under the
State law of Texas where no blue sky
statute was in effect at the time.
Use Legal Kinks
Promoters operated under what was
known as a declaration Of trust
This legal instrument gave them alb
solute power over the money OF their
investors They could drill for oil
under its terms, or go hunting for eIe-
plants if they so choose. under it's
broad and DRASTIC powers.
ANY show the crooked promoter
made Of trying to produce oil was one
OF pretense entirely.
Drilling a well on land which he
knew was non-oil-bearing constituted
in his mind discharge of obligation to
his stockholders. He kidded himself
into believing that he was playing a
game. and that if the public was big
enough fool to play with him, it would
continue to be stung.
If he drilled wells, as he said he
would when advertising, the Govern
ment couldn't read his mind and see
that he planned his wells on territory
which he knew beforehand would
come In dry.
Instances are on record in cases
still to be investigated where wells,
which actually did start to produce.
were squelched by being pushed down
to salt water levels.
Had they "nursed" them along. as
the saying down here goSs in the oil
fields, they might have become pay
ing propositions.
Fake promoters promised dividends
in their companies ranging upward
from 100 per cent.
Paying Dividends"
Hence their reason for snuffing out
small wells that accidentally were
struck.
Profits received from such a well
when distributed over a list of 5000
suckers" might probably be a few
cents each.
That would quickly knock out the
promoters chances. But sometimes
he did pay big dividends, for the pur.
pose of batting on additional victims.
Money for the dividends distributed
by crooked promoters was not received
from oil sale profits, but from sources
as faxed as the promoter himself
Yes. he promised rivers of oil. But
instead came rivers Of tears and tea
cups of oil.
Copyright, 1928, NEA Service, IncD
Further trickeries practiced by fake
oil stock promoters and brokers are