SENTENCE QUASHED

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 290, 7 December 1937, Page 10

SENTENCE QUASHED

COLONEL QUITS GAOL.

"CRIMINAL ELITE" COMPANY.

"MUST BE RUTHLESS TO MAKE MONET." (Special—By Air Mall.) LOXDOX, November 13. Sentenced nine weeke ago for sharepuahinj.', Lieiit.-Colonel James Harvey Brown, D.5.0., 0.8. E., was freed this week when his appeal for the 18 months' sentence to be quashed wae upheld in the (Joint of Criminal Appeal, London. While at Wormwood Scrubs he worked in the coui|)eny of a strange group of "The Criminal Elite" —city bueinest men, financiers and share-pushers. Hβ said: "There were enough of them there to run a little Stock Exchange. It would probably be a very successful Stock Exchange, because many of my fellow prisoners were brilliant >nen. L;iKt Friday I epoke at the prison debate. They drew my name out of one hat end the eubjeet 'Empty Salmon Tins'—out of another. Everybody laughed, thinking I would be etumped to talk impromptu about such a. subject. But I've done most things, «o I wasn't. Incidentally I told them how I made my first fortune.

"I told them about the salmon fishing industry in Canada, how I made £200,000 out of it when I we* only 20. I went with a party of fellow graudates of the University of Virginia to stake claims in Alaeka for a promoter who wanted to open up a platinum mine there. I changed my mind and dropped off at S.IJI Franc ieco.

"At that time practically all the work in the ealnion canning industry was done by Chinese. I chartered a vessel and advertised for passengers at £10 a head and guaranteed them a month's work. My expenses weren't very high, because all I fed them on wae. salmon. That's wore 'Empty Salmon Tine' came in. The £200,000 I made in salmon just disappeared overnight when I entered the sugar market.

"I tried to corner the Philippines harvest in the teeth of tHe late Jim Spreckles, the multi-millionaire sugar king. I got the eugar all right, but it just stayed and rotted on the epot, because I couldn't get it shipped to the market. Old Jim Spreckles owned all the transport. I held no grudge against him, because he beat me fairly and squarely, but I was sore about losing the money.

"All I had left, including -what was in my wallet, wae £195. Regarding my ehare dealings- my conscience ie clear. My clients were business men —not widowe and orphans—and nobody ha* proved, or can prove, that they got a bad bargain. You have got to be ruthless to make big money."