Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1905-07-03
DILL SPEAKS AT ORER-
LIN COMMENCEMENT.
FRAUDS IN INSURANCE
Some Great Companies Merely Con-
Quits Through Which Savings of
Policy-holders are Steered into o.
erations for Speculative Purposes
Educated Men Sidetracked bv
AVERAGE.

York, in the course of a noteworthy
address to the graduating class of
Oborlin college yesterday, delivered q
scathing rebuke to men who misuse
positions of honor AMI trust for pur-
poses Of personal gain. In urging his
. hearers to go back to beginnings, .
Mr. Dill contended that grating. !"
which was foreign to the true Ameri-
can character, had been developed by
our mad rush for wealth AMI the
recognition of false standards by elll-
Gated men in the competitive struggle
for business power and social promi
hence.
Without mentioning names, Mr.. Dill
referred specifically to the Equitable
disclosures and the connection of re-
spectacle financial institutions with in
dustrial promotions that are calculated
to deceive the public.
He said
"a large part Of our molern pros
perity consists of an over-production
Of fraud and sham The crisis is acute
A feeling of distrust is growing
Throughout the country Many branches
OF financial business have been in one
way or another taken possession of by
the INSCRIPTIONS for the purpose of
qecelVlng the unwary. Trust com
panies have been made the me iiums Of
tie f1otation Of specious fraudulent
promotions.
Some life insurance companies
the highest and what should be the
most sacred form of investment. are,
as We all know now. conduits through
which TIE savings of the policy-holI
ers are steered into operations for
speculative purposes.
Credit and good faith, not money,
are the basis of business. Good or
bad, our mo1ern prosperity is founded
on public confidence. Take that away
and the whole fabric falls.
"The fact is that the unprecedented
material growth Of the country. the re-
sulting creation OF immense private
fortunes, the bringing together Of great
a98regations OF corporate capital, in
dustrlal combinations and railroad
mergers, all have tended to center the
attention of the people upon great
financial leeds and to rank men ac-
cordinsly, causing the people to forget
elementary virtues OF private indi-
yiduai life"
Continuing, Mr.. Dill said that the
desire TO secure unearnad wealth was
sidetracking educated men and women
from their real careers, saying that the
essential clement Of graft was
breach of trust
Mr. Dill added: "Graft is the adj
yanced stage Of the craze fer I'M
earned money. It is not only the Ie-
sire to get something for nothing, but
It is an attempt to get something for
the CRATER i'll consideration of his
parting with something that does not
belong to him. It is a wrong greater
than that of the counterfeiter, who
merely makes and passes counterfeit
coin. The CRATER is a man who robs
the countcrfeiter, VINO male the coin:
the CRATER then passes the spurious
coin to the public as genuine.
Another graft is that of the bank
official, uho is influenced in the use
or his institutions funds by any reason
other than the good of the institution.
Such a man is dangerous to the com.
nluuity. His position is so bigh and
his form of graft is so insidious that
It's existence ofttimes is not suspected
until the explosion resulting from his
grating has injured the community
AMI made the man and his practices
notorious; but too late.
"'lhe director Of a corporation who
directs the affairs of a company from
the viewpoint Of his own pocket rather
| than from the standpoint OF the. stock
holders interest, although he NAV not
be indicted by grand jury, is none
the less a social hig1wayman.'
AS, to the much-talked-of abuse
dummy directors" Mr.. Dill said:
The dummy director OF a great com
pany who dummyizes himself fol. pay,
whether by tle year or by the job, who
uses his position to control the use and
| disposition OF other peoples money for
| personal gain, is in no position to
criticise the clerk who falsifies his ac-
. counts, or the employees who embezzles.
| Yet we all know of Instances where
men VINO have stolen a million have
sent to Jail employees who took only
hundreds or thousands of dollars
Nov whose fault is this? 1t is
ours. 1t is the fault OF public opinion,
and public opinion is our opinion,
yours and mine-yours OF me, mine OF
you, ours Of all the rest. We have to
learn to recognize graft and the graft
er, however respectable their disguise,
and to punish them, not alone by i'm,
prisOnment and fine, but with all the
might of the terrible scorn of society.
We have to recognize that the seeds OF
socialism, anarchy and revolution are
sown by the man of our own class ana
kind who pretends to be what he is
not; these seeds are cultivated by the