The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-03-05
THE CHOICE Of
A WISE WOMAN
Realizing the Magnitude of Task
Bcqueathed BY Her Husband She
Made the Best Possible Solution
OF Her ProbIenl-A Trust
Company TO the Rescue.


The tendency of tina times is toward
n greater realization of the respon-
sbility of the State in It's relation to
the individual Public service COM
missions. direct primaries, greater
sense of the obligation OF the stronger
toward the weaker and in general an
Amelioration OF the conditions of
living are an outcome OF the awaken
ed public conscience within the last
few years. And this renewed sense
of brotherhood has not alone taken
the form OF more solicitude for the
weaker in our human relationship s,
but the States and society's obliga-
tion TO protect property with every
safeguard has been recognized as
never before. We see Legislatures en-
acting laws TO assure honest manage
ment OF banks and trust com panies,
cnactments not prompted by breaches
Of trust on the part Of the officials
OF such institutions, but rather
brought about through desire to
make assurance doubly sure. and with
3 view to keeping step with the
awakened public interest In all that
pertains to the conserving OF the pro-
With this greater sense OF the
States duty toward the individual
has come a corresponding confidence
on the part OF the individual toward
the corporations which serve him in
the more intimate things OF life. OF
these none so concerns the man OF
large or small wealth as the manner
in which his estate Is to be admins
tered 1t Ia every mans duty to pro-
vide for his family. During his life
time the average man succeeds in
doing this in way more or less sat
isfactory, and IL there be blame he
alone must bear the consequences
Seeking an executor Ia task from
which most men shrink. Although 1t
is inevitable that his property shall
pass to the care OF others. it Is ma
tural for mankind to postpone the
making Of that document when event.
ually finds it's LAY to the probate
court. A son, brother, friend
quite naturally suggest themselves to
the prospective testator and not in
frequently the burden falls to wife.
Not long ago in New England city
a gentleman who had won a large
fortune-nearIy a llion-bequeath
his entire estate to his wife and made
her sole executrix There we're a son
and a daughter whose interests the
tastator trusted entirely to the mother.
Now this woman was wise. She re-
spected her husbands desire to pay
her this last mpliment-perhaps the
most convincing she ever received
but she also realized that the care OF
An estate. valued at a million dollars,
was task she could hardly he ex-
pected to perform safely and salts
factorily to all concerned. According
ly. she did the wisest thing possible
by turning the management of the
entire estate over TO trust company.
took therefrom whatever ~ income
she required for her needs. gave
literally to her son and daughter and
then wisest OF the things she did
she permitted the remainder OF the
income 70 accumulate. thereby add
ing materially to the value OF the
estate.
Back OF this decision OF the wise
woman was the confidence horn OF
knowledge OF what a trust company
can do and the realization that men
experienced in the investing OF
money, to whom not private gain but
public good is the main thing were
to have charge of the money her hus-
band had accumulated. How much OF
this confidence Is a result OF the
States we'll conceived IDEAS OF
Hi2ahclai. SUPERVISION II IL ufiUEuft 10
determine but this woman did know
the men who had risen TO places of
responsibility in the particular trust
company she selected and knew that
they were men OF character and
ability. Such are the men who direct
the destinies OF the trust companies
in all the important cities Of the
country. Add TO the personal in
tegrity OF these men the rigid laws,
which a benefcent state enacts. and
the systematic supervision that re-
suits from such laws and the safe
guarding Of decedents' estates seems
nearly perfect both in the extent and
the scope OF its regulating power II
means that estates will he administer
ed by men who have been trained IN
special fields; 1t means that when
knotty problems arise the best legal
advice obtainable will be provided
and that not only one mind will be
brought to bear upon the problem but
the collective knowledge of many
WHO have had years OF experience in
this particular work.
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