The Washington herald., 1910-03-20
Wall Street Banker
By JAMEs B. MORROW.


Plans for the campaign are now being
drawn by experts who have patiently
studied and successfully harried the devil
for years. The war chest is rapidly being
filled. Fighting win begin some time
next year. In each city there will be
separate battle. with new troops 10 make
the assault, but the same seasoned gen.
erals viii serve through the war. Mr..
Cannon is to be the commander-ln-chief
and fnancier of the operations as a
whole.
II the devil is Omnipresent, and his
energetic. continuous and simultaneous
performances seem TO establish the rea-
sonableness of that OrthodoxicaI opinion.
he is doubtless pretty busy in preparing
TO meet the vigorous onsets of Mr.. Can
non and his STAFF. Unseen. he sits at
the table Of the cOunselors and strate-
sists. With more than common appre-
hension must he perceive and reflect
upon the situation. For once. at least,
he Is TO confront the trained, skilled, and
combined intelligence of modern eiviliza-
ton. The last and most destructive
weapons Of attack are TO be employed
against him by Unconditional and saga
cious young men whose daily business is
scientific devil-fghting.
His View of wall Street.
Looking for Satan's active and mortal
enemy in Wall street, In the face OF
prejudice and accepted reputation, seemed
rather grotesque business. but I found
him-nOt only a noiseless evangelist with
mighty club In his hand, bur an alert
and aggressive man Of the world. an au-
thority on bank credits. and the author
of the best book that has ever been
written on clearing houses and their
functions. Wherever I touched him with
question there was a quick response
In harmony with the tides and roar of
his surroundings. Blacksmithing would
be better than Greek for boys at colleges.
Panics could be prevented if there were
sale emergency currency. American
homes, eenters of individual virtue and
good citizenship. are endangered by
money-making fathers and forgetful
mothers. And Wall street? A startling
answer that shall be set down in his
own language.
- go ffe.s - @t3is cannon - 4 taiEE man
large Of head, large of body. and large
in the interests which occupy his atten-
ton. Away from his own business he
gets intellectual exercise in dootoring all
ing factories. mills. and other estab-
lishments; he gets pleasure IN helping
70 administer hospitals and kindred char
tiles. and. II I dare to say it, he gets
sport Of the best kind in chasing the
devil up tree whenever he can. He has
gray eyes, a friendly smile. ana a man
ner that is simple. frank. and cordial
II the phrase We're not threadbare, he
might be called a live human wire He
never handles a letter twice. but reads
and answers it at once. No clutter OF
papers OF dragging documents is ever
on his desk His decisions are instan-
taneous; a hesitating answer persuades
the subordinate to believe that the mas
ter is incompetent. Ideas come so fast
that no man in the bank has eny more
time than he needs to turn around Get
ting at the springs of his success. I said:
you were not a millionaire's son?"
Becomes Bank Messenger.
mo. my father was the postmaster
at Delhi. an ancient village just beyond
the CatskiIl Mountains. However we
moved to New York when I was four
teen years old. From the grammar
school I went to Packard's Business
College. where I took a regular course
in bookkeeping, letter writing, and COM
mercial transactions In my eighteenth
year I obtained a messengers position
IN the Fifth Avenue Bank. and my paw
was $50 a month In those days kept
an expense account in a dog-eared book;
most boys from the country do. The
other evening I took It from among the
personal archives that I keep in my
library desk. BY the record, now rather
faint and yellow from old age. I saw
that I began work in March, 1876. and
that in the following August I paid IS
for a membership in the Twenty-third
Street Branch OF the Young Mems Chris
tan Association.
TN course Of time, was paying teller
OF the bank. When I was twenty-seven
years old I was elected to the directory
and appointed cashier. In 1890. not even
knowing there was vacancy I was
made vice president of the Fourth Ma
tional Bank. Since then I have lived
during business hours in the Wall street
district I am still a director in the Fifth
Avenue Bank, and am a trustee OF the
Franklin Savings Bank and the Bankers
Trust Company"
"And now" remarked, '1et me ask
you a pointed theological question
GO ahead" Mr.. Cannon said, looking
az me somewhat curiously
"As a money lender inquired. hay
ing intimate daily relations with the So
called wickedest financial region In the
country. If not on earth, do you believe
that an up-to-date business man can
really be a Christian
Plenty Are Christians.
Yes. SIR" Mr.. Cannon replied, with
meat-ax emphasis and seeming Joy in
the answer. IT have been around these
corners" ne went on to say. waving his
arm toward J. p Morgans and the Unit
ed States subtreasury, ''for twenty years
and know scores Of Christian men who
are doing the biggest kind OF business on
sound Christian principles they are
watchfuI. keen, and active with heads.
hearts. and pocketbools. If there Is a
great fire, or a famine, or an earthquake,
or a food. Wall street is the first to hear
and respond to the cry for help Why,
sir" Mr. Cannon continued 10 say, "the
business men Of the country are the
largest supporters of the churches, not
20 mention the splendid benevolences that
distinguish this century above all the
rest. America was never so dominated
by the religious spirit as it is to-day. and
never before have so many Christian men