It must be said, however, that many companies
formed from trading concerns have become well
established and profitable, and if permanency
could be relied upon, they furnish a field for
lucrative investments. Those adventures which
are unduly pressed upon the notice of the public
should be regarded with suspicion. If a thing
is really good in itself, it will not require much
persuasion to commend itself; and if bad, no
purchased laudation will make it better. A
subtle mode of advertising is just now coming
into vogue, which, though expensive, will for a
time be successful. There need be no reflection
on the companies which adopt it, though calcu-
lated to beguile the innocent and confiding in-
vestor. A leaf or two introduced in some of
our illustrated papers, in no wise differing in
the printing from the remainder of the publica-
tion, and appearing as though it formed part
of the regular pabulum offered to the public.
This leaf or leaves contain well-executed pic-
tures of the works and machinery and other
interesting objects connected with the industry
of a company to which it is desired to call
attention, and a descriptive account is given of
its magnitude and success. To the casual reader
all this would appear to be a matter of public
interest, offered to the public as part of the
regular business of the paper, but it is only an
ingenious form of advertisement and has to be