Wrong Without Remedy: a Legal Satire. expensive to conduct litigation two thousand males away from home. He suggested the sale of their stock. This they tried to do, but the property was now encumbered with a mortgage on which the interest was delin quent, the mine was shut down and they could give no assurance as to when opera tions would be resumed and dividends paid. They met with no success. Huston expressed much indignation at what he believed to be a cold-blooded attempt to freeze his clients out of the corporation, and he reproached himself for having interested Anderson in the property. But his ingenuity could not devise any practicable remedy. Several months later Anderson sent an emissary into the country, who picked up this minority stock for ten thousand dollars. Anderson was now the owner of all the stock, and he immediately -started up the mine and the mill. In three months' time the mort gage was paid off and the mine was pro ducing at a rate sufficient to pay five thou sand dollars a month in dividends, besides an additional sum for development work and maintenance. Anderson concluded he would visit the mine. His arrival in Grant's Pass was noted , in the paper, and a few days later the story of the manner in which he had secured the mine was published. Parsons met him one day near the property and gave him such a tirade of abuse as he had never had before in his life. The company was sued by a miner, whose leg had been blown off in a blast, as he charged, through the company's negligence. On his return to St. Louis An derson learned that a Josephine County jury had given a verdict against the company in the personal injury case in the sum of eleven thousand dollars. While in Portland Huston and two or three of his other acquaintances declined to speak to him. Anderson soliloquized thus: "My schemes in St. Louis, Seattle and Minneapolis have been successful and have cost me nothing in
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standing; but this Oregon trouble is public property and the story is likely to be told on me anywhere and any time. That mine is worth ten times its cost; it makes me a rich man; but I'm rather sorry I went into it. Corporate frauds perpetrated by majorities become public property, and fasten odium on the perpetrators; blackmail levied by minor ities is kept quiet, and those successful in its levy lose nothing thereby. My operations in the future will be directed to the use of minority stock only." Anderson had long been of the opinion that it was unprofitable and unnecessary for capital to have the ill will of the community in which its operations were carried on, and he accordingly set to work to gain the good will of the public in the neighborhood of the mine. He directed the expenditure of some thou sands of dollars in the improvement of the country roads in the vicinity. He constructed a church and guaranteed half the preacher's salary for the first five years. He spent sev eral thousand dollars in improving the quar ters of his employés at the mine and directed liberality in the purchase of supplies for the mess house. It was soon remarked that An derson's employés were better housed and fed than any other miners in the district. He next provided them with a small library, billiard and pool tables and card rooms. Once a month Anderson provided the men with a smoker at his expense, and they were privi leged to invite their friends. Men soon began to say that Anderson was not a bad fellow after all. They found it convenient to forget the manner in which he had acquired the property, and with a considerable party at any rate Anderson could no longer be said to be unpopular. It is true that two or three months' income was consumed in this man ner, but Anderson concluded that the money was well invested. His property was more secure and he was in a position where he had an even chance in the courts.
