1122 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 23, 1924 
Publisher’s Desk 
Fred W. Alter doing business as New York State Farm Sales Co., Utica, N. Y., 
has been ordered by the State Tax Department to list no farms for sale under the 
advance fee scheme until given permission to do so by the department. Thus the 
latest real estate pirate who attempted to resurrect the old Ostrander “advance fee” 
scheme has been thwarted. The It. N.-Y. has denounced Alter and the New York 
State Farm Sales Co. as perpetrating a petty swindle for the past six months, and 
presented the evidence of the fraud to the State Department. Two hundred and 
twenty-five farms have been listed and on which the owners have paid Alter and 
his agents fees—but not one farm has been sold by the alleged real estate agency. 
The record proves our contentions that the agents seeking an advance fee on any 
pretext never make any honest attempt to sell the property. There are a number 
of pirates in other States working the same game. The following is the full text 
of the order of the State Tax Department: 
It appearing from the testimony of 
Fred W. Alter taken at the hearing be¬ 
fore Commissioner Graves in the above 
entitled matter held in the office of the 
State Tax Commission at the Capitol, 
Albany, N. Y., on the 22d day of Novem¬ 
ber, 1923, that the said Fred W. Alter 
is engaged in the business of listing farms 
for sale under the assumed name of the 
New York State Farm Sales Company ; 
that in each case before a farm is listed 
for sale an initial payment is required by 
the said company ; and that although 
farms have been listed since April, 1923 
with an aggregate number of listings at 
the present time of about two hundred 
and twenty-five farms, no sales have been 
made to date. 
Now, therefore, pursuant to authority 
vested in this Commission under Article 
12-A of the Real Property Law, it is 
ORDERED that the real estate brok¬ 
ers license issued to the New York State 
Farm Sales Company for the year Oc¬ 
tober 1, 1922-September 30, 1923, be re¬ 
newed for the year October 1, 1923-Sep- 
tember 30, 1924. but upon the following 
terms and conditions: 
First: That on the first day of each 
month the said New York State Farm 
Sales Company or Fred W. Alter shall 
make a report to the Tax Commission 
showing what measures have been taken 
or efforts made during the previous 
month to sell the farms listed by the 
said company. The first report shall be 
due January 1, 1924, for the month of 
December, 1923. Such report shall also 
contain a statement of sales, if any, con¬ 
summated during such period. 
Second: That on and after December 
15, 1923, farms shall not be listed for 
sale by or for Fred W. Alter or the New 
York State Farm Sales Company until 
such time as proper proof shall be made 
before the Tax Commission that such a 
percentage of the farms now listed have 
been sold as would, in the opinion of the 
Tax Commission, justify an increase in 
farm listings and assure to the clients of 
the said company a proper concentration 
of effort on this branch of the business. 
Third : That farms shall not be listed 
for sale by the said Fred W. Alter or the 
said New York State Farm Sales Com¬ 
pany between the date of this order and 
December 15, 1923, except in cases where 
negotiations for listings have been com¬ 
menced prior to December 4, 1923. 
Fourth: That unless it shall be made 
to appear to the Tax Commission on or 
before June 1. 1924, that proper efforts 
have been made by the said company to 
sell the farms listed, pursuant to its 
agreement, the Commission may revoke 
the license issued to the New York State 
Farm Sales Company or take such other 
action as may be necessary to prevent 
loss of payments made on listings by the 
clients of the said company. 
STATE TAX COMMISSION. 
John F. Gilchrist, president; John J. 
Merrill; Mart Grover, commissioners. 
Dated, Albany, N. Y., December 6, 1923. 
The above order was issued against 
Fred W. Alter and the New York Stare 
Farm Sales Company, Utica, N. Y., last 
Fall. We withheld publishing it in order 
to give Alter an opportunity to make 
good his pretenses. The State Tax De¬ 
partment has now revoked the li¬ 
cense of tfie concern as of August 
7, 1924. But the 225 farm owners who 
paid Alter an advance fee of 1 per cent of 
the value of their farms have been clearly 
swindled out of that amount. Similar 
swindles are being operated by other real 
estate 'pirates in other States that can¬ 
not be reached by the laws of this State. 
Knowing that you desire to protect 
your subscribers from swindlers and per¬ 
sons misrepresenting what they have to 
sell, I desire to call your attention to a 
concern calling themselves National Au- 
tomobilist Service Association, of 714 
Victory Building, Tenth and Chestnut 
Sts., Philadelphia, Pa. June 23, 1924, a 
man representing himself to be an agent 
or representative of this concern called 
at my home and said he was selling in¬ 
demnity insurance on automobiles. Not 
having any such insurance, and knowing 
that everyone ought to have in these days 
of heavy traffic, I agreed to take such a 
policy of insurance, liability from $5,000 
to $i0,000, on my Buiek automobile, and 
gave him check for such insurance, but 
when I received my contract I simply re¬ 
ceived a contract called service contract, 
and for which I have no use. I wrote to 
this company, but have received no reply. 
Will you find whether the company or 
their agent does this misrepresenting to 
secure business, which I do not believe he 
would secure if he told the truth about 
the contract which was sent to me? I 
asked for return of my premium, but have 
no answer from them. h. m. g. 
New Jersey. 
We have been warning our readers 
against these “service contracts” for the 
past two years or more. Whether the 
company authorizes the agent to sell these 
contracts as automobile insurance or not, 
it is responsible for the agent’s acts. The 
concern seems willing to benefit by the 
misrepresentation, at least, as the pre¬ 
mium has not been returned. These “ser¬ 
vice contracts” we regard as of little 
practical value, and when sold as auto¬ 
mobile insurance are a deliberate fraud 
on the purchaser. 
I have received a check for the chicks I 
sent for and didn’t get, from Glen Rock 
Nursery and Stock Farm, H. W. Cobb, 
manager, Ridgewood, N. J. I thank you 
very much for helping me in this affair. 
Connecticut. N. I. s. 
The above letter will serve to give H. 
W. Cobb credit for returning the custom¬ 
er’s remittance covering the price of 400 
chicks, after holding the money more 
than two months. No explanation is 
made by Mr. Coob for his failure to fill 
the order. 
The Texas-American Syndicate, Dal¬ 
las, Texas, of which II. II. Tucker, Jr, 
signs himself as trustee, is appealing to 
the dupes of the old Uncle Sam Oil JCo. 
for more money. This is what is known 
in the parlance of get-rich-quick promo¬ 
ters as the “reloading game.” If the old 
investors will only come forward with 
more money, success and wealth for the 
investors is in sight. This is the role 
always played by professional promo¬ 
ters after the original investment is lost. 
E. G. Lewis invariably capitalizes his 
failures to get more money out of his 
victims and plays some of them for 
“suckers” the second and sometimes the 
third time. Tucker would appear to be 
an apt pupil of Lewis. 
As an aftermath of the I. R. Hough 
Fur Company, Meriden, Conn., swindling 
raw fur shippers, comes an alleged affi¬ 
davit by Hough to the effect that his law¬ 
yer, Morris M. Wilder, coached him in 
the swindling of shippers. Hough claims 
he was advised by Wilder that his plan 
to quote high prices and make meager 
returns was “law-proof.” Hough is serv¬ 
ing time in Atlanta, and the County Bar 
Association is reported to 'be investigat¬ 
ing Wilder’s professional standing. 
Crooked lawyers are a menace to the 
profession and the community; but the 
responsibility for the crooked scheme 
rests with Hough at any rate. An hon¬ 
est man does not employ a lawyer to 
guide him in conducting the ordinary 
business affairs. 
I have a claim for $100 for apples 
against Artee Fruit Company, Florence, 
S. C., which were shipped Sept. 1, 1923. 
What can you do for me in collecting 
this? G. L. s. 
Virginia. 
It has been impossible to collect the ac¬ 
count from the Artee Fruit Company. 
Attorneys report as follows: 
“The Artee Fruit Company has a bad 
reputation for paying its debts. Several 
suits have been filed against them lately 
which are disputed for one reason or 
other. Many small accounts are returned 
uncollectible.” 
We publish this so that other shippers 
will be safe from experience similar to the 
above. 
Questions of general interest to inves¬ 
tors will be answered in this column, in 
which case only initials will be used. 
Others will be answered by mail. All 
letters must contain full name and ad¬ 
dress. 
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Organized Co-operation 
By JOHN J. DILLON 
A NEW BOOK 
This book is written in three 
parts. 
PART ONE.—The Develop¬ 
ment of the Agricultural Indus¬ 
try. In five chapters. 
PART TWO. — Fundamental 
Principles and Adaptable Forms 
of Co-operative Organization. In 
ten chapters. 
PART THREE. — Application 
of Co-operation to Efficient and 
Economic Distribution of Farm 
Products. In seven chapters. 
This is a new treatment of the 
co-operative subject. Heretofore 
writers of bcoks have contented 
themselves with accounts of co¬ 
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It has been mostly propaganda 
and exhortation. This was all 
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grown beyond it. Farmers are 
now committed to co-operation. 
Once shy of it, they are at last a 
unit for it. What they want now 
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that have proved successful. This 
book is the first real attempt to 
supply this want. Other, and it 
is to be hop-d better, books will 
follow on this line; but for the 
present there is no other book 
seriously treating the subject of 
organized co-operation. 
Bound i n Cloth _Price $1.00 
The Rural New-Yorker, 333 Wes! 30th St., New York 
