[Volume XXI
THE CHICAGO BANKER
18
struggle, but the day of great material prosperity, when wealth and luxury sap the foundations of character, lull to sleep the better and more manly impulses of the people, and damn with faint praise the nobler aspirations of the human heart.
But America was not yet destined to go the way of the great nations of the ancient and mediaeval world. Xot for such an end were the heroic struggles of the brave souls in Europe and in America who for four centuries now have freely poured forth their life’s blood in the battle to establish in our modern civilization the principles of freedom, of justice and of righteousness. Not for this the hardships borne by the brave spirits of Plymouth and of Jamestown, the heroes of 1776, or in more recent years by the brave men in blue or in gray, who, whether proved right or wrong in the light of history, during our Civil War forsook the pursuits of wealth and freely faced death for themselves, and ruin for their families in the battle for what they believed the good of their nation or their state. Not yet has the mass of the American people so fat-forgotten the sacrifices and the ideals of then-forefathers.
And so when the passion for riches had reached the danger line, when in some quarters the homely integrity of our forefathers began to be openly despised as slow and out-of-date, when we had approached periously near the precipice of bankruptcy of national character, an over-seeing providence brought to the front —as it always does—the brave souls who were to lead this people out of the wilderness of business immorality and of contempt for law into the promised land of nobler and more sensible standards of honesty and of wholesome respect for the laws of the land.
Many were the prophets who lent their voices and their lives to this work. They came from all parts of the country, from all parties, and from all classes of the people, high and low, rich and poor; for character and appreciation of the better things of life are confined to no section, no party and no station in life. One of the hopeful signs of the times is the fact that both of the recent leading candidates for the presidency—Mr. Taft and Mr. Bryan— had a hand in the battle for reform in these matters. Most powerful among the workers, however, because of his position, his ability, and his fearless devotion to the right as he saw it, was a man whose honesty and sense of fairness was of the rugged, old-fashioned kind, a man who is the embodiment of his own pet phrase, “A square deal” — Theodore Roosevelt.
Under his matchless leadership, what changes have been wrought within the past five or six years! How has wickedness in high places been made to feel the anger of an aroused people! How have the mighty in ill-gotten gains fallen ! How has the nation suddenly awakened to an appreciation of those same homely, old-fashioned notions of honest}־ and integrity which but a few short years ago were in many quarters held in contempt!
With the details of recent events you are familiar. You know how the campaign against wickedness in high places, carried on by determined men and women in different parts of the country, has progressed step by step until to-day it is no longer, in any circle, considered safe and “respectable” to bid defiance to law and decency. Y'ou know how the revelations of "high finance” methods in insurance and in other lines startled and aroused the conscience of the people, and brought into the dust many a proud but whitewashed name. You know-great interests that stand convicted both by the law and by public opinion of criminal offenses against the laws of the land have met the proofs of their guilt, not by denial, not even by an attempt at excuse, but by brazenly ignor-
thought that we can give it ; there are the various plans suggested for the strengthening of our banking system ; the establishment of postal savings b: nks ; the responsibilities of directors ; the manner of examinations ; the relations between commercial and savings banks and the trust companies ; and other matters involving the evolution through which banking and Other lines of business are passing. In other lines of human activity the questions crowding for settlement are not less numerous, and deserve the careful study of every citizen.
Of all the pressing problems which confront us, however, there is one which stands out as preeminently the problem of the day. If it is not in itself the most important of our problems— and it may be that—it is at least the most important for our present consideration, because it is before us, and must be settled and settled rightly, now, by us, by the present generation. I refer of course to that question which has been constantly before us for several years past, the qustion of business morals in this country, with which is closely interwoven the question whether the laws of the country and of the several states are to be obeyed by all, or whether they must be obeyed by those too weak to resist them, but may be defied by those -who think they have the power to do so.
Let me briefly trace the events which have led up to our present situation. Shortly after the close of the Civil War—some forty-odd years ago—there began in this country a period of the most remarkable material development. The combination of an intelligent and energetic people, working in a rapidly growing country which nature has endowed with exceptional natural resources, resulted in an accumulation of wealth which for amount and rapidity of increase has rarely if ever been equalled in the history of thé world. But the most striking thing about it was not the increase of the wealth of the country as a whole, great as that was, but the immense fortunes piled up within a few years by individual men. Single individuals and single families rose in a generation from poverty to an opulence compared with which the wealth of the noted rich men of history sinks into significance. From these conditions sprang consequences of the most vital importance to our country. Gradually but surely the whole tone of our American life and character was being altered. The knowledge that many men were within short periods acquiring riches that outrivaled that of "Ormuz and of Ind” created in the breast of many a spirit of impatience with the slow and old-fashioned method of acquiring a competence for old age by a life time of industry and economy. The get-rich-quick impulse was implanted like a germ of contagion in the popular mind. Examplë proved contagious. The rush for the “Almighty Dollar” grew apace. The nation was “money-mad.” The ambitious man must make his fortune, make it quickly, make it honestlv if possible, perhaps, but—make it. There even grew up in some quarters the illogical and absurd notion of a double standard of honesty—one for week days and for business, another for Sundays and for the other relations of life. Many a man became Mr. Hyde in business, while he strove to remain Dr. Jekyll in his other activities. All this came not without protest and resistance on the part of many who took part in it—but it came. Fashion had blunted the conscience. Men of weak character entrenched in positions of responsibility and influence attempted to override the authorities and to bid defiance to all law, civil, and moral, except such as it suited their convenience to observe.
To the student of history the outlook was anything but encouraging, for America showed the same symptoms that have preceded the death-throes of many a mighty nation. The period of danger for a nation, as for an individual, is not the time of adversity and of
trinities which do not come to others to study the good and bad points of our system of banking and of general business. We, if anybody, have the best natural opportunities to understand the problems. Added to this is the fact that the institute is giving us special training, not only in the study of the facts and principles underlying these subjects, but also in the art of writing and speaking our views in a clear and forceful manner.
But there is another and specially important respect in which our opportunities for service are peculiar. Many of the problems that confront us are concerned with the distribution of wealth among the people; with the relations between the poor and the rich, the laborer and the capitalist, the wage earner and the employer. Now we happen to be so placed in our daily work that we come into close contact with both parties to the controversy, and with all classes of people. Most bank clerks come from families which are neither very rich nor very poor. In our daily lives in the bank and out, most of us have occasion to converse with men of small means and with men of large means. Hence we are in position to know something of the point of view of both parties—to understand how the man of wealth looks at it, and how it appears from the standpoint of the poor man or of the man of moderate means. This is a tremendous advantage. Xo one can know much of human nature or of the progress of civilization without appreciating the importance of a thorough understanding of the points of viewi from which people look at things. There is an old story current in the far East about some blind men who were taken to see the elephant. They were led up to the huge beast, and not being able to see, were left to get what impressions they could by feeling with their hands. One man got hold of the elephant’s ear, and declared that the elephant was much like a fan. Another felt of the creature’s broad side, and thought that it was much like a wall. One who felt the tusk thought it like a large toothpick ; while one putting his arms around the leg-thought that the beast was like the trunk of a tree. One got hold of the tail, and asserted that the elephant is much like a rope.
The story illustrates very well how and why honest and well-meaning men differ so radically about various questions. They see only one part of the elephant, and cannot understand how the others look at it as they do. The man who is so situated that he can see the whole elephant, from all sides, is in position to understand how the others reach their conclusions, he works at great advantage if he seeks to reconcile the varying opinions and get at the exact truth in the matter. We have opportunities to examine the whole elephant, and promote a clearer understanding of the questions that divide our people.
We are fortunate, too, in living in an exceed-ingly interesting age—an age when far-reaching chang־es are taking place in our manner of life and of thought. Sometimes we are prone to imagine that our forefathers had the advantage of us in this respect. On the contrary there never was a time when the American public had for solution problems more numerous, or of greater importance than they have to-day. Stirring times there have been, times when great questions were in process of settlement, times that tried men's souls. But it is as true of our age as of any other that,
“We are living, we are dwelling In a grand and awful time;
In an age on ages telling—
To be living is sublime.”
This is true not merely in the poetic and general sense, but in a very special and very practical sense. One has but to read the daily-papers with discernment to see how true this is. In the realm of the banking world alone, how many matters of vital moment are being agitated to-day! First of all, there is the reform of the currency, which deserves and must have the best