Dodge Uncle Sam and Conspiracy Laws.
Take it in the incident above related: Had these men been prosecuted for falsely using the name of the trust company or for obtaining money by misrepresentation (the claim that the trust company was acting as trustee for the Brite & Fair securities), an able lawyer could have made out of the "trust" to transfer a package of unknown contents a very plausible defense. Again, the mining company was able to make valuable use of the trust company's receipt for the package by having fac similes of the receipt printed and distributed among solicitors for the stock who were canvassing persons not at all familiar with legal documents—and who, under the statements and arguments of the agent, would see in the receipt an acknowledgment that this great trust company and its millions were behind the securities of the Brite & Fair Company.
This brings us straight to the practical point in the matter. Never go into an investment until you first find out for yourself, by direct and first-hand investigation, what the "references" named in the literature or advertising matter of the company have to say about it, and how much the references themselves amount to.