Newark post., 1913-01-15
The Value Of The Trust Co.

The time-honored proverb that - truth
is stranger than fiction is perhaps no.
where illustrated in so forcible way as
in the cold, dry records of probate courts
of this or any other section of the coun-
try. The pathetic and ofttmcs tragic
circumstances with their inseparable
proof of the frailty and uncertainty of
human life, which these court files con
tain. rarely come to the knowledge OF the
public. There are stories of the loot
ing of estates, of mismanagement of es-
tates. ruinous speculation with the be-
longings of widows and helpless child
rem. Almost invariably such records
point moral. They show that when
man dies and leaves all his property to
be managed by some trusted adviser
or family counsellor without provid-
ing any other safe agency, that very fire.
quently such confidence has been Ill
placed and that such trusts have been be-
trayed. It is possible that the maker of
the will could not have foreseen such
happenings.
In former days, before the arrival of
the so-called ''modern trust company,
the dying man had no other alternative
than to call in his most trusted friend to
preserve his estate in behalf of surviv-
/ ing members of his family. But the mo-
dern institution, known as the trust
company, has changed all this because of
the fact that as a corporation 1T lives
on forever because it is the most re-
sponsible agency and because 1T is es-
pecially equipped to handle the affairs of
estates most economically and wisely.
Although trust companies have ''come
into their own only with the last ten
or fifteen years, there is much food for
thought when it is stated that the trust
companies of the United States now man.
age estates and handle trust for the liv-
ing and the dead, amounting in value to
seven billion two hundred millions of dol
lars. This does not begin to include the
amount of trusts which they have in their
custody. If one should include the
$5.490, 0,000,0 600 banking resources report
ed by $50 trust companies on June Both
last, the 81 200, 100000 individual trusts
and the $25 900, 100000 given as the face
value of mortgages executed by corpor
atons as security for bonds and stocks
and conveyed to trust companies in ad
dition to securities deposited as pledge
for the redemption of collateral trus
bonds the grand total reaches the stag
gering figure of thirty-seven billions Of
dollars. How vast is this responsibility
carried by trust companies, can be un
derstood when it is stated that the en-
tire estimated wealth of the United
States is $4,000, 100000.
In their work as executor or truste,
under will and as administrator of es
tates, the trust company has come to b.
generally known as the corporation
. with a SOUL Eminent economists AM
students have also styled it 'the mos
: modern mechanism of American finance.
: Still others, with some degree of aptness
have called the trust company the lie
partment store of finance - But it
remarkable fact that comparativel
few people, including business men an
those who are concerned with seriou
thoughts as to how they shall make du
y provision for their families after thei
q demise, understand the workings of tn
q modern trust company. To many peopl
n it means simply the same as ''bank.
y The facts, however, are that the trus
\ company owes its success and great IL
I fluence mostly to the valuable service
9 which it able to render the living and
" behalf Of the dead AS executor an
trustee under wills it faithfully carrie
n out the wishes of the dead in way thu
c no individual stewardship is able t
a perform. 1t is because these institu