Evening star., 1923-12-16
WARNS SMALL-PAY MEN
OUT OF STOCK MARKET
Exchange President Says Persons Of
Limited Means Should Put e,
| Money in Banks.

about the proposal to license them?
Sounds plausible, but wouldn't
work Any kind OF state license Is
| too easy to get. The crook with a
| known record might be kept out, but
| he is easy to handle. anyway. II is
| the shady operator who manages to
| keep just outside the laws clutches
| that does most of the damage. and he
would laugh at any kind of licensing
| system. That kind of fellow can al
ways scrape acquaintance with promi-
nent men, whose names he uses and
upon whom he often imposes. Just
| what that means can illustrate by
recent experience of my own.
Some time ago the directors OF the
| exchange decided that a firm Of brok-
ers who got our service were engaged
| in questionable practices. We order
| ed the stock exchange tickers taken
| out of their office Within twenty
! four hours regular barrage was laid
down upon us to have them put back.
Prominent men fiocked to see US. You
| may appr eciate the pressure we were
under when I tell you that among
our callers were men holding political
| offices high enough to make them ma.
tionally known. Another advocate
was one of our biggest bankers.
Declares Men Misled.
| 1--WE knew that these men did not
really understand the situation, but
had been misled, and we refused to
yield. Within a few months the firm
in question had failed. with nominal
assets available for its creditors. No
state licensing bureau could ever have
| resisted the pressure we were under,
| and that is not an unusual case, but
| a typical one"
That brought me to the third of my
! three questions, the query as TO
Luz, hat he
! tion which would help to put stock
| swindlers out of commission. When
! 1 repeated it, Mr.. Cromwell smiled
| ruefuliy.
/ Laws. laws and always more
| laws" he said. whenever anything
goes wrong the invariable demand
! Is for the passage OF some law about
! il. Lack Of laws Is not our trouble,
but lack Of officials who will en-
force them. If the laws which have
been on our statute books for years
were honestly and strictly applied
they would be ample to deal with
any form of fraud that was ever
| committed. But they are not en-
forced, and the public does not know
in most cases that they even exist.
So one idle law Is piled on another
until even lawyers are unable to
keep track Of them"
Recommends One Law.
Then is it useless to look to the
legislatures for help?" I persisted.
Il would not go quite that far"
said Mr. Cromwell. There is one
law which should be enacted. This
would require a sworn statement
with the issuance of securities Civ
ing adequate Information about the
fotation and the financial position
of the issuing companies or parties.
This statement would also give de-
tails regarding the issuing com
panies' operations and earnings and
would have to be filed semi-annualIy.
Such a law would strike a vital blow
against fake brokers, as it would
get the jump on them at the start" |
Can you suggest any remedy in
addition to legal action?" I asked.
Better business bureaus" replied !
Mr.. Cromwell promptly. There /
should be a bureau of this kind in |
every city Of the country. AS you |
know, this movement was started by |
with the initial purpose of cleaning
up the advertising field. The stock |
exchange saw it's value on much !
broader lines and voted 100000 to |
hHhiiee II. II tne business men OF
every community would organize a |
better business bureau. every man
would have ready at hand a place |.
where he could get Information and !
sound advice about any investment, |
and there would be no excuse for |
him being duped by fakirs.
"Of course" continued Mr.. Crom-
well, as long as men persist in |
gam bling they will get stunR, and |
as long as men go hunting for an
easy road to wealth there will be
swindlers offering to build it for