Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-01-25
PRAISES WILSON'S
TRUST MESSAGE
William c. Van Antwerp Also
Lauds New Banking and
Currency Law.
CRITICISES ATTACKS
ON STOCK EXCHANGE
Defends Wall Street Business Meth
DDS at District Bankers Asso-
citation Banquet.

Enthusiastic praise Of President Will
sons recent trust message and of the
banking and currency law, criticism of
attacks on the New York Stock Exchange
and an attack on some of the findings of
the Pujo money trust investigating COM
mittee were voiced by William C. Van
Antwerp. q governor of the exchange
and writer on economic subjects, last
night at the annual banquet of the
Bankers Association of the District Of
Columbia.
Chairman Antwerp took as his sub
ject The Popular Damnation Of the
Stock Exchange" but he spoke Of bust-
ness conditions generally. His address
was warmly received by the large gath
ering Of bankers and business men
present William A. Mearns acted as
POSTMASTER at the dinner, and other
speakers were Senator Hollis of New
Hampshire. Senator Shafroth of Colora-
do, both members Of the Senate banking
and currency committee, and Carter b.
Keene, director of the postal savings
system.
Mandate of Fair Play.
when the President of this grand
country" said Mr.. Van Antwerp, dis
cussing the future Of business In the
United States. speaks OF the 'atmos-
phere of accommodation and mutual
nderstandtng'-when he dwells In
loving kindness upon terms of honor
able surrender; when he tells us the
antagonism between business and gov
eminent is over'-when he speaks OF
heartening the young man coming on;
when he tells US that the constitution
Of peace Is honor, freedom and pros
perity'-when. I say. the head of this
government, whom we once thougnt
to be speaking in the plattudes OF his
predecessors, but whom we now know
to be speaking in words burning with
vitality-when he says these thlngs-1s
he not voicing a mandate of falrplay,
for altruism and for righteousness!
"Will Earn Admiration"
"Heresies and schisms come and go;
man-made laws appear and disappear
but the human heart does not change.
and in the last analysis We come to
know that only righteousness exalteth
a nation. We Of the stock exchange
know this today better than we ever
knew it before, and we intend to live
by it through the years. We shall make
many mistakes, no doubt, but we shall
stick to our standards and rejoice in
them. and some day-mark my words
this great market place will earn the ad-
miration and respect of the whole peo-
pie
1--WE are determined to show our critics
by our deeds that the stock exchange
means something vital and vitalizing in
America, that it is an important adjunct
of the new Wall street-a broad highway
from ocean to ocean. doing its utmost to
insect the needs of a happy and prosper
oNs land 4 ~:
+. Attacks Committees Stand.
Mr.. Van Antwerp contrasted what he
called 1.-The Wall street Of Mother Goose
and Baron Munchausen" with 1.-The real
Wall street." He said the legitimate
business of the stock exchange was often
popularity condemned for the sins of pro-
moters. bucket shops and Inflated VEN
lures. He attacked the money trust
committees Interpretation of figures
showing loans of New York banks on
stock exchange collateral. and declared
that actually the amounts of New York
money loaned to the country at large far
exceeded loans on stock
THE harm done by these random and
m1SledQlnG 1fnpllCdIIOIlS Is
and good bu. unimaginative business
men who accept such statements as au-
thoritative should be told plainly tho
facts" said he THE New York stock
Exchange today is conducted on a high
er plane of ethical business standards
than any business in America or any
profession in America, bar none.
Ready to Condemn.
There are men in New York, and
have no doubt in Washington also, who
whenever a new proposition comes out
of the south or west, condemn 1t as ir-
rational and visionary without giving
thought to the emergency which gave
1t birth. We are provincial and narrow,
and in hugging our chains with SNUG.
Pharisaic Indifference to the problems
Of the country at large we fail utterly
in the fundamentals of good conduct.
Can we of New York and the east
obstinately refuse to adapt our course
to new and ever-changinS country
wide conditions? Before we appeal to
our critics in the west and south for
sanity and clear thinking in our own
affairs, we must emancipate ourselves
from whatever is local. provincial and
selfish. We must put away the isolat-
ed, detached and narrow view when &C.