New-York tribune., 1920-04-11
BY Arnold Prince

T..
IL ering the stir he caused
while there, and the scope of
tho operations in which he engaged,
his departure is looked upon as
something of an event, taking on the
sentimental significance almost of
the passing of landmark.
Of course, Baruch quit trading in
the market when he entered war
service, but now he is moving out of
the district, bag and baggage. He
Is opening an Office. in Forty-ninth
Street, which, so far as he will make
his plans known, will be an editorial
sanctum more than anything else,
and where he may write a book on
the economic aspects of the peace
treaty. Having been chairman of
'the War Industries Board. which
had extraordinary powers in the in
dustrial field, and having helped to
frame the economic and reparaton
clauses Of the pact at Versailles, he
is in position to contribute much
valuable information on this highly
important subject.
Exit Baruch, Stockbroker
But as for his career in Wall
Street. that is definitely over.
Henceforth he may be Baruch the
author, or Baruch the private citi-
zen, or Baruch the-well, who can
tell what man of his energy may
not attempt? But Baruch the stock
broker-he is no more. That part
of his life is closed chapter.
A man is many-sided creature,
after all. l had gone to talk to the
former chairman of the War Indus
tries Board about his retirement
from the financial district, and about
the prediction he was supposed to
have made that the cost of living
soon was to come down." and we
wound up by discussing-the prize
lighters with whom he had boxed;
The accident of fortune which had
made him a financier instead of a
lawyer or physician, either of
which callings he mi G h have
adopted in his youth had not fate
stepped in at the last moment to pre-
vent him, and his admiration for
David Ricardo, the British econo-
mist, who, after retiring as a banker
and stockbroker, became a famous
author on finance and one of the
cayliest advocates of the theory that
lie value Of all commodities de-
termined in all states of society by
The quantity of labor required for
heir production.
The interview, and especially
Raruch's eytravagant veneration for
the late British author and specu-
.ator, developed a side of his char
;cter which to most people at least
VIII appear novel.
Baruch as al independent opera
tor who kept Wall Street in a condi-
ton of apprehension by his daring
operations; Baruch as a "stormy
petrol of finance" who was constant
y cutting picturesque trails across
the gold belt in lower Manhattan, is
picture that is familiar to those
whose knowledge of him is based on
their reading Of the newspapers.
The Unknown Baruch
But Baruch as devotee Of the
most intricate phases of finance, who
never risked a penny until he felt
he had sound business reason for
doing so; Baruch as an economist
whose moves were founded in al
most painful conservatism, and GER
tainly Baruch as man who could
step into the Squared circle" and in
a friendly contest give a good &C
count OF himself against SO willy an
antagonist as Bob Fitzsimmons HIM
self, will strike many people as a
new vision, indeed. in popular con-
oeption of who's Who" among the
celebrities.
Doubtless there are a great many
persons with limited incomes who