alt in amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars, not more than
a few thousand shares of real stock changed hands. The rest was barefaced
fraud for the purpose of deceiving the millions of investors and
speculators throughout the country who are dependent upon the daily press
and "market letters" for information in regard to investments for their
savings.

[22] Arthur McEwen and James Creelman are among the strongest and ablest of
American newspaper writers. Their names are not as familiar to the readers
of magazines as some others, but they are, perhaps, the most highly paid
men in journalism to-day, and they have a well-earned reputation for
independence and personal integrity. Mr. McEwen, who is now one of the
editors of the New York _American_, is known throughout the country as a
fearless exponent of corporate villainies. Mr. Creelman is a distinguished
member of the New York _World's_ editorial staff, and has interviewed more
of the world's great men than any other journalist living. From their
standing in their profession, their well-known hatred of hypocrisies and
shams, their wide experience in estimating men of all degrees--the verdict
of Mr. Creelman and Mr. McEwen, as set forth in their papers, should be
conclusive.

III

EXPLANATIONS

The revelations I delivered to the public in my story of "Frenzied
Finance," together with the accompanying expositions of insurance and
other rottenness in the "Critics" department, were not accepted without
protest from my correspondents. Though the majority of the letters that
came to me in shoals from all parts of the country have been generous in
their appreciation of my work, many have seriously taken my methods to
task and dubiously questioned my motives. The most salient and
satisfactory expression of these doubters was a letter that came to me
from a New York banker, to which I replied at length, for it afforded me
the opportunity to get before my readers in general many matters about
which explanations seemed due them. The letter was as follows:

NEW YORK.

_Dear Sir_: I have read all that you have written in
_Everybody's Magazine_, and have been unusually interested.
If you will consult the Amalgamated subscription list you
will see my house is down for quite a large amount. For this
reason and others, and as an old member of our Stock
Exchange, I naturally follow such writings as yours. At the
beginning I ag