New-York tribune., 1908-01-21
SELLS BLAMES PR0BERS
TALKS TO ACCOUNTANT
Less Dishonesty an Corporations than
Public Offices, He Says.

Elijah w Sells. presid Mt of the American Asso-
ciation of Public Accountants. was the chiet
speaker night at the dinner OF tne society oA
Certified Public Accountants of the state OF Ne"
jersey held at De Jianne's, Newark he sdio'
referring to the recent panic, that II S the ui-
assailable truth that almost any one OF the iieh
who stand at the head of our great business III
stitutions is far mora competent to run the gov
ernment than any of those who are IN Iile ou9i-
ness of running governments" The speaker up
held the management of the big corporations anu
said there less incompetency ana dlshoheSty
than among public off1ceholders MT sens sPohe
of the interstate commerce act as tLdt e'ii eAdN1
ment" He continued:
Our country just now is passing through period
of great financial stringency. The securlues tsp tp+
resentng it's properties selling at prices tnt &
range, from 50 to 90 per cent lower than were 4o
tanned for them one year asG dne tn get to-day
than was any sum, however great, Tor the eNaen- @
sion and deyelopment oi business 5 How has
this come about? Who is responsible? are on
oTk snaIv tbsy involve grave reflections upon
CORPORATE nanagenent and usually they come from
A class of people who particularly GID viii
to have no other. Qualification for throwing light
II 1 am to judge BY what my eyes have seen. IL
is the unassaable truth that ALMOST any any one b2 9L
ness institutions is far competent to run Ire
government and would run II more & @ Of those
who in the business of running governments
Mr. Sells then made a comparison of the amount
of 'incompetency and dishonesty" in corporations
and public offices. saying:
For the purpose of this comparison i1corpe-
ting them toFethsr IL is my deliberate estimate
that judged by the highest standards prevalIlng ing
in the best conducted corporations, there Is leSS
than 10 per cent Of both among men In the ma n
per cent Of both among public oficeholders. and
base this estimate upon my experience as puohc
accountant.
Regarding government regulation OF great Dusi-
industries Mr.. Sells said
We ere not without information of the effects
upon great business Industries of being hampered
effect OF being let alone It is rare of course that
conditions common to great business are are uIe int ~
The two greatest business interests of the coun-
try represented by the raways and by agTt
culture and they are parc4aFy fTo1 i1
vestinE in railway enterprises, everything @ tnat
@ h@lds e PeGK and fn sTelned contrv Checks the set
ternent OF new farms and the production Of ne"
In addition TO vast amount Of state legisa, da,,
the time the interstate commerce act was passed
In 1871 that evil e9actment with IT'S seSeguent @
introduced the period Of railway persecution Dy
Prior to that tre railway construction had pro-
greSsed IN line with the development Of business
enormous us Increase Of capital resources the rail-
wAv industry has fallen far below other ines OF
cultural interests.
Then Mr. Sells gave figures to show how the
amount of railway construction fell of immedi-
atey following the passage of the interstate COM
nlerCe act He continued:
The prejudice that has been aroused against the
men who have written their names largest upon
the geography of their country by railway con con .
structon. or whose genius has built up sIcn cor
porae organizations exist in steel in oil. in the
telegraph in other lines Of industry the pretu
dice. that swept the West I'm the DAYS o.
Populisrn and that seems so far to dictate the
policies Of both the great political parties that
their oldtime controversies are forgotten and they
merged in attacks upon the business OF the
country. is prejudice that is based upon two
false assurnrtous first. that the men OF great af-
fairs lacking in integrity. and. second. that
the Of small affairs OveTSupplied with It
| shall not say that the reverse is more nearly
true. but do say that almost every instance or
great success in this country is an example OF
combination. in the who have accomplished IL.
of sc-uUuous honesty. great fruEaltty of personal
expenditure during the years of struggle and un-
bounded industry. while commentary upon
general good conduct Of the masses as such IL IL
q pertinent remark that II during the last few
years of largest street railway systems
could have gathered into its treasury all the fares
that YasscI up % It's conductors. together
with all the fares for which IL rides. but for
which the passenger had contrved To omit to pay,
Il would not now be I'm the hands Of receivers