New-York tribune., 1920-04-11
Head Of the War Industries Board
Long a Landmark in the
Financial District

little money in Wall Street, but if
'nev are to. benefit by the Baruch
method as it would appear actually
70 nave been practiced, they will
nave to learn, first Of all. one or two
OF the cardinal principles.
One of these seems to be that YOU
cant make money with any degree
q certainty by taking up Wall Street
as 'side line"
And the other is that YOU must
nave surprising amount of infor-
nation about matters apparently un-
related to stock transactions if YOU
are to succeed as a trader.
Baruch "played a system" GER.
tainly in making money in Wall
Street, but his SYSTEM" it would
appear, was the system of knowl
edge rather than the haphazard ven
lures of the gambler who takes a
chance and then goes into retire
ment and prays that his choice comes
out all right.
Avoid speculation of all kinds. and
certainly avoid it unless you are
prepared to take it up as a busi
ness, is the Baruch creed, so far as
was able to fathom it. The trouble
with great many people is that
they think they can grasp all the
intricacies of Wall Street, taking an
occasional flyer or so in a "good
thing" while they are going ahead
with their regular business. That
kind of thing may turn out we'll, or
again it may not, but it is not the
method recommended for those who
want to be reasonably certain of
making money.
Necessary Related Information
To be successful speculator in
the real sense, one can't be "specu-
lator" in the popular sense at all.
One has got to have an intimate
knowledge, for example, of manu-
featuring. One should know costs
Of production, costs Of selling, and
something about the general supply
of the commodities dealt in by the
corporations whose securities are
traded in on the market.
One must be judge of the facts
connected with particular transac-
tons, but keep an eye at the same
time OH the world situation.
One must watch new sources of
supply and new processes of produc-
sion affecting the standing of cor
poratIons listed on the Stock Ex-
change, or, for that matter, figuring
on the Curb; one must know of new
methods Of transportation and dis
tribution influencing the business Of
these corporations; one should have
an insight, too, into political condi-
tions, watch problems bearing on the
relation between workers and en-
ployers, and have a mind which,
while trained to getting at facts in
any given situation, will not become
too much enmeshed in details.
A fairly large order, any one will
say, but in considering to what ex~
tent Baruch himself lived up to these
requirements it may be recalled that
the late James r. Keene publicly re-
ferred to him as one who even in
his youth was lone of the best
posted" persons in the financial dis
trict, and that President Wilson Sc
lected him from among all other
1inanciers as the man to head the
War Industries Board, an organiza-
ton which in some respects was
more powerful and embracing than
the body headed by Herbert Hoover.
Admitted to Sec Wilson
Baruch not only won the Presi-
dent after remarkably brief ac-
quaintance, but succeeded in i'm
pressing him SO strongly as to his
general sagacity and ability to size
up general situation that he is one
of the few men whose advice Mr..
Wilson still seeks, and whose judg-
ment he still respects.
1t is common knowledge that dur
ing the Presidents recent illness