THE WORK OF THE PROMOTER 241 



they would have great difficulty in securing a financial con- 

 nection. They would have to provide for expert reports on 

 the property, and then to open negotiations with some finan- 

 cial interest with whom none of their members would probably 

 be personally acquainted. After securing an introduction, 

 they would present their proposition, probably in a lame and 

 halting manner, which would not show that they possessed 

 a comprehensive knowledge of the importance of the property 

 in question to the general coal market. If the banker to 

 whom they would naturally apply for funds, since they would 

 have no connection with the investing public, was sufficiently 

 interested to examine the proposition and to determine its 

 value, he might take one of two ways to further his own ad- 

 vantage. He could either prolong the negotiations until the 

 local contingent lost heart and withdrew, trusting to his own 

 ability to obtain the options for himself, or he could compel 

 the representatives of the owners co-operating to accept a 

 price not greatly exceeding the face of their options, in which 

 event, the financier would be the promoter one stage removed, 

 and acting by deputy. It is evident, therefore, that the pro- 

 moter's profits on such propositions cannot be saved for the 

 original owners of the coal. It is the same with any other 

 proposition. The proprietor of undeveloped opportunity is 

 seldom in position to bargain to advantage for its sale. His 

 best course is to put his property in the control of some pro- 

 moter at a fixed price and for a definite time, contenting him- 

 self with effecting a sale not at a price which he thinks the 

 property is worth, but the price which will represent a fair 

 return on his investment of brains or money. Any attempt 

 on his part to promote his own scheme will probably end in 

 failure. The failure of inventors to make more out of the 

 sale of their patents is probably due more than to any other 

 cause, to the fact that they insist upon an excessive interest 

 for themselves and are unwilling to offer sufficient induce- 

 ments to those who might otherwise be disposed to promote 

 their schemes. 



As for the investor participating in the promoter's profits, 

 this, in the nature of the case, is impossible. The investor is 

 looking for a security which will produce as large an income 



Vol. 3-16 



