The Washington herald., 1913-05-31
THE LOST LEGACY.
tcop-rirht s,, BY c. N. k.s. N-~ Yr.J

tCoFright N5 By c. u. kev. Nsv fosfD
Nearly thirty years ago Walter Mead.
New York lawyer. received in trust
fund of $4,000 left to him as trustee by
the Countess de Ferussac. The fund was
for the benefit of 4 daughter of this
countess. who lives in London, England.
Mr. Mead died on January last. at the
age Of eighty years. Before he died he
wrote this statement:
THE entire principal of the trust fund
was invested from time to time In stocks
and bonds The precise details Of these
investments, the dates of the losses, / am
unable TO state. I am now In my eighti-
eth year Of life. Two strokes Of paralysis
have incapacitated me and impaired my
mental faculties The gentlemen with
whom I transacted the business of this
estate all seem to be dead and gone.
The records which kept were destroyed
by fire.
THE principal of the fund was swept
away more than fifteen years ago. Up
to a short time before this proceeding
was instituted kept up payments of 800
a month to the four children out of my
own means, and in the hope that might
some day be able to earn the entire prin-
cipal of the fund. That / have been un-
successful is unfortunate, but it can be
described to nothing else. at, most. than
errors of judgment"
There is something pitiful about this
record. II does not appear that the loss
of the fund has brought any serious want
to the people dependent on II, and per-
haps the trustee himself deserves more
sympathy than anybody else involved In
this little financial tragedy
The story is told here to illustrate the
tremendous responsibility of a trustee.
Here was a man who was successful IN
his own profession and who had gained
the confluence of his clients apparently
to a very remarkable extent. From his
own statement II seems a fair presump-
ton that whik he was well versed in
the law. he undertook to carry on the
difficult and scientific practice OF invest
ment without knowing very much about
it, The result was the usual catastrophe.
trustee, or any one else, who as
sumes the responsibility of investing
money for other people. must recognize
that he is going into a business demand
ing the most special kind OF training OF
very dificult sort. and at the same
time entafling incessant watch and care
II he has any idea of getting a reason
able income from the investment and
continuity of both principal and inter-
est.
II one leave a fund in trust IN the
hands of a competent trust company,
or an experienced trustee OF any class,
a large income will not be guaranteed.
The trustee will take the ground that
the maximum income from such rust
is the income that can be obtained by
buying bonds and mortgages that are
legal for saving banks and trustees IN
his State. less the expense OF carrying
on the estate. In most cases that means
that the fund will probably not pay more
than per cent net to the owner. Every
time that trustee OF other trusted per-
son makes a determined effort to get
much over that income from the trust
fund, he runs a great risk OF finding
himself ultimately obliged to do as Mr..
Mead did: or to admit his loss and take
the consequences.
1t is not, however, to the trustee alone
that a story like this carries a warn
ing. The majority OF men. when they
come to dispose Of their property by
will or bequest, utterly fail to safeguard
the funds Tor the future. They trust
in large part on the judgment OF some
individual or frm with which they have
done business, and merely hope that as
years go by this confidence will be justi- |
fed. Experience has clearly shown that
this method of disposing OF property Is
neither safe nor scientific, but yet 1t con- |
tinues to be by long odds the most
common form OF provision for the future. |