The L'Anse sentinel., 1923-06-08

Is not dependent at all upon the finding
Of oil. He usually holds some leases
somewhere. He values them high and
turns them into the company for stock.
He sells the stock and gets the money.
He may donate little to the company
for the sake of appearances as long as
the suckers are at the nibbling stage.
When they swallow the hook, the COM
pany for which he Is trustee Is taken
Off his list Of charities.
About the first thing that q fraud-fos-
tering trustee seeks to acquire is list
Of prospects. Practically every man
and every woman in the United States
who has shown disposition to follow
the lure of seductive advertisements Is
on one or more sucker lists" A par.
ticular company or a particular pro
moter frequently buys names from
other companies and other promoters
1t also happens, when a company goes
out Of business, that its only salable
asset Is this list.
In the oil fields there are a number
of newspapers devoted to the oil In.
terests. A lot Of honest oil men ad-
vertise in them, but so do lot Of the
other kind. They are filed with
streamers such as these, only the
names are different:
| april 10Th Dividend Day-Lucky
Lankford Pays Off Again"
1.-TWO More Shark Gushers Crash
Four Giant Wells in Ten Days"
'The Viking Flood of Gusher Gold
Has Turned to Tidal Wave and
Those Who Share 1t Must Act Now"
again l Pay-My Next Pay on
May Be 1000 Per Cent"
Midway Between the Two Mightiest
Gushers on Earth (But 1t does not
say how far "between.")
Another Screaming, Howling, Roar
ing, Liquid Mass of Golden Fortunes
for All Who Join Now"
walker Won't Wait-I've Set a
Time Limit for Gushers."
zone Hundred Per Cent Cash Is My
First Dividend Announcement and You
Can Get 1t If You Act at once"
How the Plan Works.
There, in that last line, is the key
note. Most oil men, even the honest
ones, act on hurry-up schedule. The
honest ones, however, usually are In no
great hurry about dividends and the
| fraudulent ones are. The schemes for
making an appearance of paying divi-
dends are as numerous as those for
getting names on the list. Frequently
dividends are paid to a few stockhold-
ers only, those who live in the neigh
borhood where a stock salesman Is op-
Grating. Sometimes, when dividend
appears absolutely necessary, part Of
the money received from stock sales
Is diverted to the dividend fund and
paid out where 1t will do the most
good.
The man who sees the jubilant ad-
vertisements and hears that his neigh
Dor has received a fat dividend also Is
helped In various other ways to make
up his mind. Probably he receives a
letter from some apparently dlsinter-
ested person-who however, has been
seen by the promoter--advising him to
buy stock. He even may be led to be
lieve that the government has under
written the stock.
Probably he receives the report Of
famous geologist," containing as
surance that oil will be struck In great
quantities. One Of these geologista,
the commission found, has spent all Of
his active life behind barber's chair.
On the other hand, everything that Is
said for property may be absolutely
true, and yet the company represent
ing itself as the owner may own no
more than 1 per cent interest. II
oil is struck in paying quantities some
body else gets 90 per cent Of the pro
ceeds and the numerous stockholders
have a 1 per cent dividend among
them. Usually It Is not worth divid-
ing.-New York Times.