The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-04-09

on the situation. he Is OUHtU9'
Uuterntper, 1Uho IVns counsel m
the money trust Investigation o.
ten Years ago which resulted IN
establishment of the Federal ne
serve system. More recently inter
inner sons counsel for the Lock
U0od committee Of Net0 Z ofS
State, pOhich u'snIGsked cri1tsfade
combinations posing as trade as
sociations, preyitg upon the nous
ina shortage. Herewith is the first
irstolment of the interview.
Nv WILLIAM RANDORF.
copyright. 1928. by Cosmopolitan
News Service.)
NEW YORK, April "a billion
dollars a year!
Surplus funds of the American
business man and hard-earned saw.
ings of the small investor--a billion
dollars or more-finds its way year.
" into the NAV of swindlers ana
stock jugglers and gamblers, Sam
uel Untermyer, noted lawyer and
publicist, told The Times today.
And the stock swindlers are inn
fetteredi There is no comeback in
most instances for the man who is
defrauded.
Hold Vast Political Power.
These staggering losses are suf-
Tered through fake oil, mining and
other promotions, through purchase
OF manipulated securities, and
through being trimmed by pools or
cliques or syndicates who operaIeu
through stock exchanges.
The gambling operators have vast
political and financial power to pro-
tect themselves. Untermyer pointed
out.
And the only way the billion dol
lar annual vietimization of a gull
nble public can be stopped, he said,
was through Governmental regula-
ton of the stock exchanges anu
through punitive and repressive
laws which will safeguard the pub
lie from such exploitation as is
going on today in sugar gambling
and as occurred in the Piggly.Wig-
ely corner
Asked to tell to what extent the
public is cheated annually by
frauds IN the sale OF worthless Sc
cuT1tles. Untermyer said:
IL is impossible to know or even
to estimate the extent to which the
innocent small investors are victim.
lied by these cruel swindIers." he
said. Il have heard the amount esti.
mated at over billion dollars a year.
not including losses by purchases of
manipulated securities on the stock
exchange that are sold through pools.
syndicates and like methods at fic-
utious or exorhitant prices that are
made by manipulation. No one
could guess at that total.
Public Can Stop SwindIe.
The extent to which the New
York stock brokers (some of them
members of the New York Stock Elk
change. but most Of them members
of the Consolidated Exchange), have
defrauded their own customers since
the war, has been stated by the dis
trict attorney of New York as over
SSO0.OOO,000 and at over 500, 900 900
during the past fourteen months
put these sums are a mere drop in
the bucket as compared with the
total losses through stock frauds and
manipulation. No one could even
guess at that total,
This colossal orgy of swindling
can be stopped, and almost instantly,
whenevers the public is sufficiently
tired of being robbed to assert itself
and to see to it that il elects to leg.
islatures only representatives who
are pledged to do their duty in this
respect. Judging from the blind, cal
lous way in which these practices are
permitted to go unchallenged and un.
punished, one would almost imagine
that the victims enjoy the sensation.
The pastime of parting these
investors from their money is the
only criminal activity that is prac.
tically immune from punishment.
The responsibility for that shame
ful condition lies with the legisla-
ture. One hears the same tragic
story day after day and yet moth.
ing is done to stop it, easy as IL
would be to exterminate this form
of crime.
Crooks Are Protected.
1T is the vast political and finan.
cial power of great bankers. bank.
ing houses and prominent, respected
members of the stock exchange
whose mistaken conception of the
ultimate effect of restrictive leeis.
lation upon their own legitimate &C.
tivities is responsible for the present
intolerable situation. They seem TO
regard 1t as necessary to throw
their powerful protection behind the
crooks who have brought unde
served distrust and reproach upon
their useful and honorable calling
in order to protect themselves
against wholesome, constructive re
forms, which. If inaugurated. would
do away with that suspicion and
reproach and would add to th'
prestige and dignity Of the highly
necessary work in which they arr
engaged.
1T is their baneful influence ovel
legislation and that alone, which il
responsible for the defeat year afte
year q wholesome, regulatory legis
lation that would end such cor
ruption in the marketing of securi
ties and their methods of lobbyin,
against this legislation are non
TOO tastidious at that. 1t the,
would but release their grip upol
legislative bodies, we could, almos
overnight. write upon our statut
books laws that would protect tn
public as they are protected in ofhe
countries, and would at the sam
time lift business standards to tn
point at which absolute safety to tn
investor would be assured.
But these gentlemen must frs
radically revise their own code {
ethics.
There is nothing startling or e,
oeptional about Piggy Wiggly.