Evening journal., 1916-05-03

81 claim that the men in charge Of
our financial affairs are. and to be
successful, must be, every whit as
honorable, as patriotic. as right think
ing. as anxious for the good opinion Of
their fellow men as those in other
walks of life. In every time Of crisis
or difficulty in the nations history.
from the war Of Independence to the
present European war, fnanciers have
given striking proof OF their devotion
to the public veal. and they may be
depended upon to do so whenever and
howsOever called upon"
He discerns an exaggerated view Of
the power of finance, in the sense Of
accumulated wealth. As a fact there
are very few financial houses OF great
wealth. The greatest fortunes have
been made, not in finance, bur in
trades, industries and inventions. FL
nanciers in our generation, for ex-
ample the late J. p. Morgan and E..
H. Hartman, have exercised exceed
ingly great power; but their power
rested not in the fact that they were
financiers. but in the compelling froce
would have been acknowledged lead
ers and have exercised the powers Of
leadership in any other walk of life
The power of mere wealth has de-
creased. is decreasing, and ought to
be and will be further diminished. To
enjoy the indispensable respect and
confidence of the investing public, to
preserve for itself the status and re-
pute to which it is entitled, "high fl
nance must in the future do certain
things; and we summarize briefly Mr..
kalin's prescriptions.
L. It must carefully study and in
good faith conform to public opinion,
2. Instead of avoiding publicity in
all of its aspects, it should welcome
and seek il. Il must get more and
more out Of the seclusion of its count
ing rooms into the rough and tumble
of democracy; get to know the peo-
pie and get known by them.
3. 10 must beware of that insidious
tendency of wealth to chill and iso-
late: seek and welcome contact with
the worladay world, so as to remain
part and parcel Of it.
4. In the political field it must do
less kicking and more fighting. The
latent political power Of business is
enormous. Wisely organized for right
purposes it would be irresistible.
Mr.. Kahn observes. in conclusion.
that if this country is to take full
advantage of the unparalleled oppor-
tunities which the developments OF
the last two. years have opened to it.
, If in the severe competition coming
with peace it is to hold its own. it
must not only not be hampered by
unwise and antiquated laws, as it is
at present, but IL must be intelligently
! aided and fostered by the legislative
and administrative powers. 1t is only
in America that the exigencies Of pol
itics receive frequently, if not ha-
bitually, precedence over the exigen-
q cies of business. Let business men,
/ therefore. take their case directly to
the people. as the railroads have been
doing of late with encouraging re-
suits, "and inaugurate a campaign of
education in sound economics, sound
| finance and sound business princi-
pies"
We think 1t will strike most read
ers Of the foregoing that Mr.. Kahn's
speech to the newspaper publishers
affords an excellent illustration of
how such a campaign should be in
augurated. His moderate and reason
able attitude wins a hearing for his
sensible views, and the present period
OF comparative good feeling is favor
/ able for the establishment of better
relations between the people and what
is called high finance;" relations that
will be Indispensable in the years i'm
mediately ahead OF us all, during
which the country is sure to encounter
economic and financial problems of
far reaching importance.