“That,” said Mr. Brock quietly, “is a harsh but not unwarranted way of putting it. However, a man who is willing to buy a pig in a bag does not require to leave home to find those willing to accommodate him. I am prompted at once to say two things: in the first place, the practices to which I refer are confined to a small minority of a large and honourable class of men; and, secondly, those who act in this way are actuated by a belief that, where the wits of one man are pitted against those of another, the keener party is entitled to any advantage he can secure. These men are, you must remember, born gamblers; and they lay themselves out to win, not so much for the sake of the material profit (they are mostly men of substance) as for the sport of the thing.” “Fraud for fraud’s sake,” I interjected. “Please understand,” Mr. Brock again reminded me, “that I am explaining, not exculpating, their conduct. And, as a matter of fact, no resentment that you can express at these miscarriages of capital can equal the regret they excite among responsible people in this country. For British capital is an important factor in Canada’s development; and it is therefore greatly to the interests of Canada that British capital should, in all cases, be invested in mines that will pay well, and thereby serve as a magnet for further British capital.” “Will you,” I asked, “make the position clearer by indicating the sort of meshes in which my unsuspecting countrymen get entangled?” “Well,” said Mr. Brock, “occasionally they are represented by a man who pays too much attention to what he is told. Such a man may travel over a good deal of territory, meet a number of mining folk, and hear a great deal about the exceptional merits of, let us say, the M. Tee property, until he places an undue valuation upon it, and is consumed by a desire to become its possessor.” “And so,” I exclaimed, “that most treacherous form of conspiracy is considered by the guilty parties as sport?” “Call it what you will,” Mr. Brock replied, “but the interests of Canada, as well as of the English investor, demand that a different type of representative should be engaged.