ages in length and contained the minutest description
of the company's board of directors, rolling stock, capitalization,
bond issues, interests in other railroads, government grants of
land, and the like. They were embellished with beautiful photographs
of deep cuts, suspension-bridges, snow-sheds, railroad-yards, and
round-houses. The promoter did a mail-order business and sold the
stock by the bagful to elevator men, trained nurses, policemen,
porters, clerks, and servant girls.

After he had salted away about forty thousand dollars some of the
purchasers began to get anxious about their dividends. None were
forthcoming, and as the promoter was inclined to be indefinite as
to future prospects he was presently arrested. But when the case
came to trial I pointed out a fact that, strange as it may seem,
practically no one of the multitude of stockholders had previously
noticed, namely, that the circulars made no actual statement _as
to where the railroad was located_. By inference it might well
have been supposed to be somewhere in Canada, but there was no such
fact clearly alleged. Of course it was impossible for the prosecutor
to prove that my client did not own a railroad _somewhere_ in the
world and the indictment had to be dismissed. Negations are
extremely hard to establish, and therein lies the promoter's safety.
If he sticks to generalizations, no matter how they glitter, he is
immune. Had my railroad promoter inserted a single word descriptive
of the location of his franchise or his terminals he would now be
in Sing Sing instead of owning a steam yacht and spending his
winters in Florida.

From the foregoing the reader will observe that the first-class
criminal lawyer by no means devotes his time to defending mere
burglars and "strong-arm" men. The elite of the profession do as
gilt-edged an office practice as the most dignified corporation
attorneys. Indeed, in many respects their work is strictly
identical.

CHAPTER V

The firm of Gottlieb & Quibble had not been long established before
--quite by chance--a new vista of opportunity opened before us.
My partner had a wretched client who, not unlike many others, would
go to more pains and trouble to steal a dollar than it would have
taken him to earn twenty. This, I have noticed, is a general
peculiarity of lawbreakers. The man's name was McDuff and my
partner had defended him on several occasions and had got him off,
with the result that he