Evening star., 1923-07-20

BY II. X. TREVOR.

The reader has now seen how the
bucket shop system of fifteen years
ago was put out of business.
Yet within tep years after that
huge system of swindling had been
placed hors de combat there sprung
into existence chain of bucket shops
more extensive and effecting a far
mightier haul of loot than the old buck
cteerS had ever dreamed OF.
Also. one old system of promotions
put out of business in that last big re-
form wave had been succeeded by an
other system of similar ilk. OF the
fraudulent promotions more will be
said in later articles of this series. AS
10 the bucket shops and this startling
rebirth of systems of wholesale bucket
ing:
What does the whole thing mean?
Does it simply mean that following
the present hue and cry against the
last crop of bucket shops and all the
present Investigations. and all the
talk of establishing safeguards. the
public is simply to see some other
huge new bucket shop system come
into existence that will be gathering
in it's stolen millions ten years from
today?
Depends on Vigilance.
The vigor with which today's cru
hereafter maintained will give the
answer.
To prevent a reconstruction of
wholesale bucketing system the pub
change authorities and the news
papers-all of which organizations
really had death grapple on the
financial underworld in the reform
wave of twelve to fifteen years ago,
but failed to press their advantage
sufficiently-muSt guard the avenues
at which the crooked fraternity may
seek to re-enter the stock market
fold
The great danger point is the mar
kets for lowpriced securities. The
greatest market for low-priced Sc
curitieS for years has been the New
York Curb, popularity known as the
Poor Mans Market" and that insti-
tuition continues to hold that position
today. 1t is on curb trading that
crusading attention should be CEN
tered.
Growth of Curb.
Recital of the conditions surround
ing development of the system of curb
bucketing of recent years will show
the reader the basis for this conclu-
sion. Before considering the subject
of what the curb market officials and
others are doing to prevent a re-
establishing of the curb bucket shop
growth of that system.
1t is in curb market securities, as
already noted, that the modern-d day
bucket shops made their greatest haul
and grew to enormous power before
entering the business of soliciting,
on a huge scale, orders for securities
that are listed on the New York Stock
Exchange.
The men who were the pioneers in
the wholesale bucketing of curb
stocks had their training. as already
noted, in bucketing under the old
masters of the bucket shop game-the
gentlemen who had specialized in
New York Stock Exchange securities
and were so effectively put out of
business by the raids conducted by
the United States Department of JUS
tice several years ago. Even before
the latter bucket shops were put out
of business some of their former en-
ployes had begun soliciting business
in curb market securities. Naturally
they adapted in so far as they could.
to their new line of work the sort of
systems which had prevailed in the
older bucket shops in which they had
been trained.
Used Old Methods.
few years later, as they grew in
power, they began to use with marked
success the methods which had been
used by the older bucket shops in the
IdlullS OI securities. IN Inelr case,
however. it was stocks sponsored by a
much weaker lot of interests that
were to be raided rather than the stocks
on the New York Stock Exchange, spon-
sored as are the latter, by the most
powerful interests in the country
In those days mining stocks were
the big popular features on the curb.
Not only was there comparatively
small capital behind the markets for
these stocks, but the pitfalls of the
mining business redounded further to
the benefit of the bucket shops For in
stance, the stock of a company would
go to amazingly high prices on buy
ing created by speculative enthusiasm
on reports of what would seem an
almost certain strike of remarkably
rich ore ahead. Then word would
come of some of those many sudden