THE RURAL NEW -YORKER 
PUBLISHER’S DESK 
Ten months ago I bought a 10-acre 
farm subject to two mortgages; one of 
$700, the other $1,700. Although the 
agents in the deal were aware of my 
financial circumstances they failed to in¬ 
form me that an annual payment of $250 
was to be made on the mortgage of 
$1,750. Can I hold them for this bit of 
trickery? J. G. 
New Jersey. 
There is nothing revealed in this let¬ 
ter that would hold the agent or seller 
responsible for any damages due to the 
requirement of annual payments on the 
mortgage. If any false promises or mis¬ 
representations were made by either of 
them he would be responsible; but even 
then it may cost more to enforce the 
claim than to make the best of it as it 
is. The best thing now is to make terms 
with the holder of the mortgage if pos¬ 
sible. The buyer in this case was at 
fault in not looking up the terms of the 
mortgage. We again advise the services 
of a lawyer in taking title to real estate. 
Few if any laymen lire competent to han¬ 
dle such matters for themselves, and those 
most competent invariably employ an at¬ 
torney to look after details. 
Several years ago, before I was a sub¬ 
scriber to The R. N.-Y., I purchased 
some stock in the Oxford Linen Mills, 
and we went without necessaries to make 
payments. I thought it would be better 
than insurance, as it would be increas¬ 
ing in value all the time. I asked the 
cashier of my bank if he considered it 
all right, and he said he did, and that 
he was personally acquainted with a 
member of the Sterling Debenture. Cor¬ 
poration, and although some of their ex¬ 
ploiting he did not like the Oxford Linen 
Mills he thought was O. K. Later he 
spoke as if there might be danger of loss, 
and finally sent me Dun’s notice of mort¬ 
gage sale. I settled down to a complete 
loss, but I have received the enclosed. 
Would you advise me to take up this 
offer to try to save a total loss, or is it 
sending good money after bad? A. E. I’. 
Vineland, N. J. 
The circular referred to is a call for 
10 per cent of the face value of the shares 
held in the Oxford Linen Mills, 10 cents 
per $10 share to be paid down and the 
balance later. The. members of the com¬ 
mittee making the proposition seem to 
be the victims of the original scheme. 
Whether any of the original promoters 
are interested directly or indirectly we 
know not. We do know that we never 
had any confidence in the scheme or its 
promoters, and we cautioned our friends 
against it from the first. As far as the 
stockholders of this concern are concerned 
we believe the investment is a total fail¬ 
ure. The money is lost now, and to put 
up any more would surely be to send 
“good money after bad.” The invest¬ 
ment may have value as a lesson to those 
who take it. We see no other chance 
of a dividend. 
Walt. C. Cunningham, National Ad¬ 
vertising Agency, Mail Order School of 
Denver, Marjorie Hamilton Co., all of 
Denver, Colorado, and Texas Guinan, Los 
Angeles, Cal., are all believed to be un¬ 
der the control of Mr. Cunningham, who 
served eight months in jail at Minne¬ 
apolis in 1906, on a conviction for fraud¬ 
ulent use of the mails, lie was recently 
tried on an indictment alleging fraudu¬ 
lent use of the mails in connection with 
the Marjorie Hamilton Obesity Cure busi¬ 
ness. The jury disagreed, and the case is 
likely to be tried again. Readers of 
papers which carry fraudulent advertis¬ 
ing would exercise a wholesome influence 
if fhey would write such papers and pro¬ 
test against objectionable advertising. 
The Minnesota Butter Company was 
organized under the laws of South 
Dakota, July 3, 1912, capital stock 
$2,000,000, divided equally as preferred 
and common, par value $50 per share. 
The creditors now allege that the com¬ 
pany is insolvent; and that subscribers 
to the stock have not paid for it in full, 
much of the common stock having been 
issued as bonus; and suit is brought by 
the creditors to recover from such stock¬ 
holders. It is claimed that the South 
Dakota law holds each stockholder of a 
corporation individually and personally 
liable for the debt of a corporation to 
the extent of the amount that is unpaid 
upon the stock held by him. In the list 
of stockholders, Clifford Willis, the edi¬ 
tor of Herbert Myrick’s Northwest Farm¬ 
stead, is down for 400 shares par value 
$20,000; and Wm. II. Castner, who was 
in the advertising department of that 
paper, is down for 3,900, par value $195,- 
000. Two other promoters are down for 
similar amounts and the complaint al¬ 
leges that these holders did not pay any¬ 
thing for their stock. We would he sorry 
to learn that any of the innocent pur¬ 
chasers of this stock, whether farmers 
or others, would now be obliged to pay 
par for the bonus stock to meet the debts 
of the company; but it is time something 
was done to stop this wholesale issue 
of worthless stock. Aside from the im¬ 
mediate loss to the individual purchasers, 
the custom discredits stock securities 
generally, and makes the public suspicious 
of them. This is one of the influences 
that separate capital and labor. It keeps 
the savings of labor out of partnership 
with the employer of labor and out of 
cooperation with him. When we make 
it safe for the laborer and the farmer to 
invest their savings in productive enter¬ 
prises we shall have solved one of the 
most difficult of our social and economi¬ 
cal problems. 
I would like to suggest that you have 
a black list of persons who have adver¬ 
tised in The R. N.-Y. but whose adver¬ 
tisements you would not again take, and 
print the names once in a while. G. r. 
New’ York. 
This suggestion would no douht be 
helpful; but it is not practical. In the 
first place the list would be very small. 
With our present system and care in 
looking up concerns, we seldom take an 
order that we are obliged later to refuse. 
It sometimes happens, but seldom. Then 
again if we included all the concerns that 
we refused we might at times do an in¬ 
justice to responsible and reliable houses 
on ethical grounds. Sometimes we are 
accused of being squeamish on the sub¬ 
ject. We have been told that The R. 
N.-Y. was so straight that it leaned 
backward. Some of these critics may be 
right. Tobacco houses and cigar manu¬ 
facturers are responsible. Few other 
papers refuse these advertising. We do. 
It is purely ethical. Some publishers 
say it is sentimental. Maybe so. Hon¬ 
est men and good men use tobacco and 
smoke cigars. But The R. N.-Y. is held 
in much esteem in many rural homes. 
If the parents in these homes wish to 
persuade the boys not to use tobacco, we 
would not have the boys point to this 
paper as tncouraging the practice of 
cigarette smoking by the advertisements 
it printed in its columns. The same may 
be said of wines, beers and whiskies. 
There are other lines that we refuse for 
business reasons. Sometimes false or 
extravagant claims are made for good ar- 
ti les by good houses. The advertisements 
show’ exaggeration. They are not en¬ 
tirely believable. Perhaps no reader 
would lose anything by buying them. 
The exaggeration would probably prevent 
some discriminating readers from buying 
them. Thus the paper would suffer in¬ 
directly in some degree in the estimation 
and confidence of such readers. We can¬ 
not hope to attain the ideal in these 
matters. We are only human, and cus¬ 
tom and enthusiasm lead to exaggeration. 
We do not all see things at the same 
angle. We naturally think well of our 
own products and our own possessions. 
We must make some allowance for in¬ 
dividual preference and personal enthusi¬ 
asm. But we must draw the line at wil¬ 
ful misrepresentation. The margin be¬ 
tween is narrow, and one may easily get 
on the' wrong side. I would rather a 
thousand rogues go untouched than that 
The R. N.-Y. should cast a breath of sus¬ 
picion on one honest man, even though 
he inadvertently left himself open to 
criticism. You see then that it w’ould 
not be practical to publish such a list; 
but with reasonable caution we think no 
reader of The R. N.-Y'. need fear the 
allurements of schemers or rogues. 
The report of the twenty-sixth annual 
convention of the New York State League 
of Saving and Loan Associations has 
just been issued. This convention was 
held at Newburgh, N. Y. on June 5th and 
6th last. The report is of interest to 
farmers because of its somew’hat ex¬ 
haustive discussion of Land Banks as an 
aid to financing mortgages on farms and 
homes. Mr. A. W. McEwan, 2161 Bath¬ 
gate Avenue, New York City, is secre¬ 
tary and those interested in the subject 
will probably be able to get a copy of the 
report through him, j. j. n. 
November S, 
■nHHnHMHHHnaMnaaHHi 
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Made of Specially Prepared Duck of tlie Finest 
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RUBBER CO. 
Woonsocket, R. I. 
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The materials in the “Elephant Head” 
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ER BOOTS 
When it rains 
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This No. 6 triple geared, double act- 
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TO DOLLARS 
Avoid waste, and make 
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Send for free catalog. 
THE BAUER BROS. CO., Box S13 Springfield. Ohio 
Dry Ground Fish 
for 
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Fertilizers 
WILCOX FERTILIZER CO. 
Manufacturers of Wilcox Fertilizer 
“Fertilizers that Fertilize” 
MYSTIC CONNECTICUT 
Costs halt — does better work. Automatic —no 
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55.45 complete. Order, or send for 
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3 AFFILIATED MFRS. CO. 
405 Caswell Bldg. Milwaukee, Wis. 
B0WSHER MILLS 1 
(Sold with or without Elevator.) 
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Have conical shaped grinders. Different Mi 
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COW BOY 
WATER TINg 
225 
. .irea, .... POUNDS 
.SHP'AK.lEy CAST IRON 
I - I SELF SINKING 
— 
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for STOCK TANKS 
DON’T BURN CORN 
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OUR DISC JOINTERS 5, r 
manure, etc., deep in the furrow where it will make fertilizer 
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THE WILLS MANUFACTURING CO. 
42 Seventh St. Mendotn. IIL. 
E. C. Culbreath, Johnston. S. C., does it. Thousands of 
others doing it. Why not you! Pull an aero of 
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Will Interostyou. Write now Address 
,Hercules Mfg. Co., |30*22d St. 
Centerville, Iowa 
Biggest Stumps Pulled 
For 4c Each-ln.5 Minutes! 
