The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-08-14

monetary standard Just now, while
 we are not exactly engaged in a
 campaign for double standard of con- duct in business (since no one, perhaps , not even hired attorney, would dare uphold dishonesty as the proper policyO we are witnessing some remarkable ex- hibitions of the differing views men
 take of their duties when acting as in-
 dividuals and when acting as trustees
 or officers of corporations.
 The man who in his private capacity would scrupulously regard not only the
 rules of common honesty, but the high
 CT ethical principles, as the director of 1 a corporation has been shown to be capable of a total disregard of such
 rules and principles.
 While it has been generally believed that those who are naturally disposed to be dishonest were restrained by fear of the law, the supposition has not
 been uncommon that most men are either honest from principle or that at least they have sufficient intelligence to perceive that in the long run there is nothing to be gained by dishonest prac- tices. Recent revelations in the financial word, however, would seem to indicate that there are circles where none of these considerations have much weight, so long as the danger of dis covery is avoided. With an effective corporation cloak to hide his ap-
 propriation of others property to his personal use, the ufaithful trustee avs but litle attention to any moral or legal hlndrances to take the execution of his plans. Moral restraints may be easily brushed aside by process of reasoning something like the following:
 "This is the twentieth century, and old-fashioned way of doing things must give way to make room for new ideas; the style of living to which have been accustomed cannot be changed but con- stantly makes new demands on my purse-automobiles European trips. the opera, entertainments, city and country houses-all these and countless other forms of pleasure or dissipation call for increasing expenditures; true, the income I am unjustly receiving may be in part derived from poor people or those in moderate circumstances, who are struggling to accumulate sufficient means to provide for their dependents. but really I cannot stop to consider such people as these. They are not used to luxurious living away, and so long as I leave something for them they should not complain"
 But little heed seems to be paid to legal obstacles by these modern ex- ponents of high finance. A trustee or director can plead ignorance. Further more, he is too busy with his yachts, automobiles, etc., to attend to such trifling details as the management of property instructed to his care. If an officer, directions may be given to subordinates, and if these orders are not obeyed, the delinquency may be as- cribed to Ca misplaced switch" for which officers, of course, are not re- sponsible.
 No doubt the fnancier whose for tunes have been accumulated by such methods as these actually considers himself, and is considered by others ignorait of his methods, as a very fine type of American. He lives well-even if at the expense of unwilling con- tributors-liberally supports religious and benevolent enterprises, is a patron of art and literature, and is regarded everywhere as an all-round good fellow.
 There is, however, another side to transactions of this sort, and it was well described by Grover Cleland in his letter accepting appointment as trustee of the Equitable Life Assurance Society. MT. Cleveland, in writing to MT. Ryan, said:
 While thehope that I might aid in improving the plight of the Equitable Society has led me to accept the trusteeship you tender, I cannot rid myself of the belief that what has over- taken this company is liable to happen to other insurance companies and fidu- ciary organizations as long as lax ideas of responsibility of trust are tolerated by our people. The high pressure of speculation, the madness of inordinate