SWINDLING ROYALTY.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 31 July 1901, Page 4

SWINDLING ROYALTY.

The Kaiser Furioua

Bbelin, May 26. Almost the entire private fortunes of Emperor William, the Empress, and other members of the Royal family of Germany have been swept away in the swindles perpetrated by the Commerical Counsellor Sanden. Tno operations of Sandon suggest the 520 per cent a year scheme. He is under arrest, and while the Emperor’s legal advisers are endeav. curing to determine the extent of his majesty’s losses, Court circles and cafes ring with expressions of admiration at the audacity of the man who duped the Emperor by the flimsiest sort of chicancery.

As nearly as can be learned Sanden secured £1,700,000 belonging to members at the Court. His liabilities, including claims of the Royal family, will easily foot up that amount. His visible assets in money do not exceed £20,000. His houses, yachts, and stable will probably readse £20,000. So that the Royal personages who have been mulcted of their private fortunes stand very little show of getting even as much as 1 per cont of their losses.

The Emperor, who is heavily in debt, has already abandoned some of his projects for spending money, at which he is an adept. His solo private fortune now amounts to about £BOO,OOO a year. A largo part of this, however, will be devoted for some years to come to replacing the family trust fund swept away by the Sanden failure.

His brother-in-law, the Duke of Schles-wig-Holstein, has been irretrievably rained, and unless he can raise a great deal of money, which now seems improbable, the Duke will bo compelled to confess bankruptcy. In Germany bankruptcy carries with it disgrace. MINISTRY SAVES FURTHER LOSSES. If it had not been for the protest of the Ministry the losses of the Royal family might have amounted to 20 times as much, According to the gossips in Comt circles, the Emperor, who was a great admirer of the brilliant Sanden, wanted to turn over the entire “iron stock” fund, amounting to £5, 000,000, to Sanden in the hope of increasing it twentyfold. The “iron stock,” which is the family fund of the Royal family is now invested in gilt-edged securities and in London and New York real estate. If Sanden had secured control of this fund he would undoubtedly have been able to carry on liis operations for years without discovery. The collapse of his fly by night scheme of enriching the nobility by promising to pay preposterous rates of interest on money entrusted to him for investment was duo to his speculation in American securities. He was caught in the Northern Pacific corner along with a lot of other German capitalists, and his collapse followed. An examination into his affairs by some of the Cabinet Ministers a day or two ago disclosed the nature and extent of his operation. Ho was arrested in his palace at Potsdam by Colonel von Moltke the Governor at Potsdam, while ho was entertaining some guests at an elaborate dinner. The Governor of Potsdam took the broker to his library, and for two houas questioned him regarding his affairs. BANKRUPTCY IS ADMITTED. He first declared that he was entirely solvent and able to return to his clients, including the Royal family, all the money entrusted to him, with the exorbitant interest earned by their money. At the end of two hours Sanden confessed that he was bankrupt and that the Royal funds had gone with the money entrusted to him by the common people. “Did you dare to speculate with the savings of my august mistress?” shouted the Governor. “How could I help it,” protested Sanden, “ when she wanted from 10 to 20 per cent on her money ?” “ But his majesty said he never empowered you to put the Royal funds to any but legitimate uses,” thundered the Governor. “Well,” said Sanden, “if the Kaiser was satisfied with 3 per cent why did he not buy Prussian consols ?” “ I suppose he thought the 3 per cent consols were good enough for Americans, while his money was to be loaned to the highest bidders." KAISER IN A FRENZY. While this sensational interview was in progress the telephone-bell rang, and the Emperor himself summoned Colonel von Moltke. After hearing the confession of Sanden, who cowed in the corner of the room, the Emperor, who is represented to have been in a frenzy of anger, demanded that Sanden be arrested at once.

“ Treat him like the lowest criminal,” shrieked the Emperor, “and do not consider the question of bail. Send him to the Mowbait (the Berlin tombs). Lot him be brought to the Mowbait in the common prison carriage. The public administrator shall take hold of his household, his villa, and his stables at once, and he shall bo publicly disgraced.” In accordance with the Emperor’s commands Sanden was taken from his banquet hall and thrown into prison. The nows of his arrest soon spread among the notables of the Court, and found its way into the cafes and into the financial district. The amount of the Royal losses was rumoured to be ton times as great as ;hey really were, but the rumours were sufficient to start a panic among the surveyors of the Court, servants, builders and contractors employed by the Emperor or associated with the charities conducted under the patronage of the Empress. The career of Sanden, as banker in Berlin, entrusted with Royal funds and enjoying Royal favours, has long dazzled more conservative financiers throughout Europe. Sanders conducted the business of private banker with indifferent success for many years. He finally succeeded in marrying the sister of Baron von Mirbach, grand master of the Empress. It was Mirbach who introduced Sanden to her Majesty. The Empress, who was very much attached to her grand master, received Sanden kindly on Von Mirbach’s account. This introduction paved a way for Sanden to tell the Empress of great fortunes to be made in industrial undertakings and in the peculiar form of investment which he has created.

The Royal ministers have not yet decided upon what charge Sauden shall be tried. The Emperor is said to be intensely angry at the manner in which he was duped, and it is not improbable that he will instruct his Ministers to make an example of the daring swindler.