National Colonial Jumping Association, (UNLIMITED LIE-ABILITY.)

Thames Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 8603, 6 March 1897, Page 3

National Colonial Jumping Association, (UNLIMITED LIE-ABILITY.)

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(Continued from Yesterday.) The idea caught on like wild fire among the select coterie to whom it was communicated. The middlemen cf the 'Change, well versed in the iniquities of mining and the "secure" tenure which mining titles enjoy, raw how easily the thin end of the wedge could be inserted, and, catching a hasty "limpse of untold millions, rushed for syndicate shares thrice over. And this all in that quiet demeanor incarnate of the Stock Exchange—-that obtrusive quietude which tells of deep and mysterious currents underneath, but which leaves the-cteual observer in a state of mental chaos as to what the outcomewill b«:' * " Jobj^James Rte-Jobber, boss directof^md life and sonl of the whole concern, threw all bis energies into it with a zeal which, had it been devoted to philanthropy, would have brought the millennium almost within arm's reach. But John James had no thoughts of the millennium; he lived for the golden present. "Without using any exaggeration, his administrative ability and finesse were worthy of a successful party leader or a South African empire-builder; and he acted in secret with a cold unscrupuloiuinefes which was a living commentary on the exceedingly plausible exterior and polished courtesy of the man; \lt is handed down to us as a. proverb that the biggest rogues always have the best oiled tongues, and here was a. carnate illustration of the fact. : ! The first , masterly stroke was j amoiigst the lawyers. The divinely. , inspired director of the Jumpers' , Association "retained" all the talent • available, almost, indeed, buying < up the cream of the legal market, and , the other parties had to content them- j i selves with the—well—scum! That was move No. 1, and in the ensuing > events was almost half the battle^ v The complications of the mining ; laws reudered a strict adherence to" the . regulations impossible, and on every pretext the holders of ground were proceeded against, and where the letter of the law allowed it, were ruthlessly robbed of their properties, which came into thepossession of the complainant syndicate. The Association, in turn, be- ; ' came a parent institution to^ numberless smaller companies which were" floated to work the captured arejasjrand' after the jobbers had exacted their middlemen's commission, these lesser concerns were cut adrift and left to their own resoures. The fate pi their predecessors was too powerful an object lesson to allow tjiem to fall into the same errors, but if they did they received no quarter. : The Jumpers' Association becaisej * : in fact, the hawk of the mining woildrAt first its hand was against everyone, and everyone's hand against it; but by-and-bye its sheer strength and strategical advantage gave it almost a monopoly of the jumping business, and forced a compromise, so that the. Association begun to be universally recognised and to have recognised customers who came and took the captured ■■ properties off its hands. So the result was that men saw the futility of pulling against the stream, and thereupon reversed their oars and pulled with it as customers and cooperators. They recognised that no | one could individually escape the j pitfalls of the mining Jaws and the i force of a moneyed monopoly. The j freeholds were in a mess on account .of j ponding legislation, even the ]P^rlui- j mentaiy world was in a condition <rf doubt as to what form the resumption proposals of the Government wotted eventually take; and security of tenure was a thing of the past. There was, in fact, no escape. Men without means found themselves saddled with areas of ground, the relics of the pegging out boom, and were forced to sit and wait for foreign capital. But if tho negotiations took any longer than the regulation six months, then the holders ! found themselves compelled to assume protection on the sly, and thus fell an easy prey to the ever-watchful jumpers. By this means the large and influential Association bo marvellously managed by Mr John James FitzJobber wrought incalculable damage amongst the smaller fry and the mining world in general. * • • *

In this manner was a new and formidable element brought into the mining world—a sort of counter-part of the Stock Exchange; but where the 'Change trafficked in registered companies and company shares, the Jumpers' Association dealt in " new grants," "virgin ground," etc. In fact, it was an elaborate scheme for taxing the life blood of the industry at both ends. The ghouls who composed the Associated Jumpers exacted their commission directly on the ground itself, through technicalities of law; ■while their brethren of the Stock Exchange drew their pound of flesh by taxing the gambliug spirit of the share investing public. And thus for the space of a whole year did the National Colonial Jumpers Association (Unlimited Lie-ability) dominate the mining world, and all through the wonderful personality aud potent genius oi John James Fit/jobber. # # * * The reader will have long ago come to the conclusion that this historical hero of ours was a truly wonderful man ; and such indeed he was. It is possible that he still persuaded his conscience into the firnx belief that the jumping operations of his syndicate would bring unlimited benefits to the mining community. He plundered vested interests with one hand "for the good of tho workers," and ho recouped himself with the other hand by further plunging in the field of capital, and j estoring the balance to vested interests, also " for the welfare of the worker?..' For instance, whenhe secured eomebody else's ground througha legal technicality, it was a triumph for the miner and a righteous judgment ov, tho perjured arts of the shepherder who locks up the land; and when he again transferred the property to somebody else, it was again a victory for legitimate development and another boon to the miner. Thus was his conscience soothed over both ways, and a generous fconimisgipn oa the double transaction satisfied the scruples of John James Fitz-Jobber and filled tho hearts of his shareholders with thanksgiving aud their pockets with divs, * * * # JJut the end was not far off. Men rose up in rebellion against the new legal tyi&nny. Independent legal talent sprang up, rival jumping syntli. cates commenced to flourish, and the very enormity of the crimes perpetrated under the mining law, which had completely demoralised the industry, brought about opposition and agitation in every form—from popular riots to Act of Parliament. The result was a waning of power, then a rapid decline of the Association, and finally v kuock-dowu blow in the shape ot a codification oi the mining laws, in common with all th« other intricate and uniat«Uigibl« lesi»Utioa of this countiy. A. n«w Ju»tmi«l epocfc \rw

inaugurated, inrolved and unworkaVle mining enactments wore conj drnsed and simplified, and the result I was such a simplification of thb law ) that the ground of the jumpers was

i cut from under thorn. The law could j now be obeyed, it was obeyed, and b ; the. Association had no means of t existence. In fact, co much was the i I whole law of the land simplified, that i the legal fraternity itself threatens to ' shortly die a natural death for want of r employment, and the land sharks of i ; the last century will be no more. A r simplified law, every man his own r.:lawyer, and justice to all. Those are | the watchwords of our age—truly a I I j big step--towards the millennium of > I Socialism. I 1 * * • «

I And what of the great moving sprit j himself ? Rumor has it that, driven from his old haunts, John James Fitzjobber fled the country, or died, or •was transformed into a Mahatma. At I any rate, he has drifted away like " Eobert Lowe " to a bourne Unknown; and if his destination be heaven, the chances are that he has already shocked the celestial cherubs by laying plaints against their golden tenements. A law suit in Heaven; just fancy it!