Iht RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
January 19, 1924 
I 14 
PUBLISHER’S DESK 
All letters to Publisher’s Desk depart¬ 
ment must be signed with writer’s full 
name and address given. Many inquiries 
are answered by mail instead of printing 
inquiry and answer, hence unsigned let¬ 
ters receive no consideration. 
The Federal Grand Jury returned an 
indictment yesterday charging the Stand¬ 
ard Food and Fur Association, Incor¬ 
porated, Nathan D. Heeht, James and 
Thomas Varvaro, Vincent Lumina and 
Thomas Laines, with using the mails to 
defraud purchasers of hares and rabbits. 
The indictment alleges the defendants 
falsely represented they would purchase 
all hares and rabbits produced from the 
parent stock sold by them at $7 or more 
r pair.—Daily Paper. 
Because of the record in the above 
case, we read with some surprise the fol¬ 
lowing comments in the columns of one 
of our contemporaries: 
“The case of the Standard Food and 
Fur Association has long been notorious. 
Other farm journals have printed state¬ 
ments warning their readers against this 
and similar concerns. But the Ameri¬ 
can Agriculturist has pledged itself to 
take on the farmers’ battle and with this 
pledge in mind, we felt we could not 
stop at mere warnings. We placed our 
files, the time and skill of our attorney 
and all our own resources at the disposal 
of the United States government author¬ 
ities, and the result of this co-operation 
“up to the hilt” is the indictment, on 
seven counts, of a firm which for years 
has mercilessly mulcted the public. 
“. . . Read how, while other farm 
journals merely warned its readers 
against it, American Agriculturist made 
good its pledge to present the case to 
the legal authorities.” 
The Rural New-Yobker can be the 
only other paper for which this sneer is 
written, and since it is publicly brought 
into comparison we have no choice but 
to present the facts: This particular 
fraud appeared in 1919. It had all the 
earmarks of a fake and a fraud on the 
face of it. The swindle scheme was 
started by Nathan D. Hecht who only 
stole the plans of George C. Booth who 
operated the same game under the name 
of United Food and Fur Association. 
Booth was prosecuted for fraudulent use 
of the mails in 1920, and the records 
were in our files. The concern’s adver¬ 
tising was accepted, however, by many, 
if not all the best farm papers, includ¬ 
ing American Agriculturist which printed 
it at least as late as August 19, 1922. 
About that time the case began to be 
worked out and advertising money was 
no longer available. 
The Rural New-Yorker refused the 
advertising in 1919, and since that time 
persistently refused to print the adver¬ 
tising and from the first denounced the 
scheme as a fake and fraud. All the 
time up to about a year ago this editor 
who is now so eloquent in praise of him¬ 
self as a champion of the public and who 
publicly scorns the “journals that 
merely warn” was himself helping the 
rogues swindle the public, not only by 
publishing the advertising but also by 
soothing his readers’ natural suspicions 
through his guarantee of the responsi¬ 
bility and character of the concern that 
he now loudly denounces as a notorious 
swindler of the public for years. If he 
knew the nature of them, he was a con¬ 
spirator with them. If he did hot know, 
he was negligent and careless of his obli¬ 
gations because he had our repeated 
“warnings” to arouse his suspicions. If 
lie did not recognize the swindle when 
displayed before his eyes, and published 
the advertising, believing it to be honest, 
his position now should be that of an 
humble repentent and not of a triumph¬ 
ant boaster. Under his guarantee he is 
morally and legally bound to at least 
make good the losses of subscribers whom 
he helped to swindle. 
Publisher’s Desk has no chip on its 
slmulder. Its one concern is the protec¬ 
tion of the public. It welcomes all the 
help available to that end. Its records 
for 30-odd years back are at the service 
of any editor who wishes to use them 
in the interest of the public. Many of 
them exist nowhere else. But the edi¬ 
tor who seeks to cover up his own vices 
and escape his moral and legal respon¬ 
sibilities by screeching at the shackled 
thieves, with a part of the plunder m 
his pocket, is advised to leave Publish¬ 
er’s Desk out of his camouflaged picture. 
The credit for the indictment against 
these rascals belongs to Post Office In¬ 
spector J. J. Gibney, who gathered the 
evidence and presented it to the grand 
jury through the offices of the District 
Attorney. 
In regard to M. G. Babcock, the same 
firm was working the same scheme some 
15 years ago. At that time they had 
some land at Islip, L. I. One of their 
representatives claimed that I had won a 
lot, but as one lot was too small for a 
country place, asked me to buy an ad¬ 
joining lot and pay for that one. I told 
him to call a^ain, as I wished to think 
the matter over, but he did not make a 
second call, as I did not give him any 
payment. I ’phoned to the firm, but they 
said they did not know about the case. 
New Jersey. e. s. 
This subscriber refers to J. W. Bab¬ 
cock Company, who were promoting Lake 
Ronkonkoma Estates, Long Island, and 
it is very evident that the old Long Island 
proposition has brought in a nice income 
for the promoters. We have referred to 
it many times in this column, and refer¬ 
ence was made also in the book, “Hind¬ 
sights,” which we published some time 
back. The first lot that is won is never 
large enough, and they always suggest, if 
not insist, that a second lot must be pur¬ 
chased. We understand some of the mov¬ 
ing picture houses have given free tickets 
for these lots, but the winner must buy 
another lot, and the price asked for the 
second lot is high for both lots together. 
Will you give me your opinion of the 
inclosed literature? l. r. m. 
New York. 
The inclosed circulars of the National 
Service Company, Binghamton, N. Y., 
reveal a new real estate scheme. The 
concern disclaims being a real estate 
agent—it only “brings buyer and seller 
together,” which we have always regard¬ 
ed as the function of a real estate agent. 
Prospective farm buyers are invited io 
register at the office of the company, stat¬ 
ing just what kind of property you want 
to buy, and where located. And for this 
privilege you pay a fee of $10. And if 
you have property to sell you are asked 
also to register with this company, giving 
a description of your property, price, etc-., 
for which a fee of $10 is also charged. 
The National Service Company will in¬ 
troduce the farm owner to the prospective 
buyer, but the owner is to make the sale 
himself.' Perhaps this plan is devised to 
avoid the necessity of taking out a license 
with the New York State Tax Depart¬ 
ment, as all real estate agents are re¬ 
quired to do. This would seem to be an 
improvement on the New York State 
Farm Sales Company, Utica, N. Y., 
scheme. This scheme catches both buyer 
and seller. But it is essentially the old 
Ostrander scheme to swindle farm own¬ 
ers. 
A member of my household wrote you 
to inquire the standing of a firm adver¬ 
tising in a leading farm journal. The 
letter was stamped, sealed and addressed, 
when it occurred to him to look for the 
advertisement in your paper. lie found 
it in the current number. He destroyed 
the letter immediately. To me, that is 
a fine example of absolute trust in the 
reliability of firms doing business 
through the medium of The R. N.-Y. 
Your paper is sterling! We would not 
be without it. w. A. B. 
Maine. 
This is a very nice tribute to The R. 
N.-Y.’s reputation in farm communities 
in accepting only honest advertising. Ad¬ 
vertisements seen in other paper may 
be all right, but if in The R. N.-Y. that 
fact is accepted by farmers everywhere 
as a guarantee of purit-y, and well it 
might—$100,000 annually would not 
cover advertising rejected by The R. 
N.-Y.. and which is carried by farm pa¬ 
pers generally. 
With my dollar go the wishes for the 
best of success for the New Year. I 
never have had any claims collected by 
The R. N.-Y. simply because I have 
been forewarned through Publisher’s 
Desk. I wish every farmer in the United 
States was a subscriber. It is a dollar 
well invested. Hope Farm Notes and 
Publisher’s Desk alone are worth the 
price. h. a. b. 
Maine. 
This letter well illustrates the old 
adage. “An ounce of prevention is worth 
a pound of cure.” Publisher’s Desk 
cannot expose all the frauds, but our 
services are always at the command of 
subscribers to investigate and give advice 
on any doubtful proposition. 
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