Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-06-24

gave the time of his death as 2;15 this
morning Death resulted from an attack
of acute inflammation of the brain, the
result of complete nervous exhaustion
due to intense and continuous overwork,
the announcement said
The death of Mr.. Perkins was partcu-
larly unexpected, it was said. at his office,
on account of his having recently sur
vived n very serious attack. after which
his family and friends believed his con-
stitution sufficiently robust to throw off
the malady.
While details Of the funeral have not
been announced 1T was said it would take
place Sunday afternoon at the Riverdale
presbyterian Church in the Bronx. Tho
services will be private it was said
with Mr. Perkins at the time of his
death. were his son. George w. Jr.,
his daughter, Mrs. Howard Freeman and
his sister, Emily Perkins.
Distress over the loss of an old friend
was expressed by J. Pierpont Morgan,
when he was informed of Mr. Perkins
death He said:
II am deeply distressed at tho news of
Mr.. Perkins death. He was n friend
for more than twenty years and a very
active partner for ten years.
George Walbridgc Perkins. for ten
years member Of the firm Of j. =.
Morgan & Co.. was reputed to have first
suggested to and persuaded "big bust
ness to adopt profit-sharing, insurance,
service bonuses, sick benefits and old
age pensions
II was Perkins who was also said to
have inauEurated the plan which per-
mitted employees of the United states
Steel Corporation and the International
Harvester company. in both of which he
was at one time an executive, to pur-
chase stock on instruments and at less
| than market value on the assumption
that industrial justice is the most profit
able of Investment. that justice promotes
peace peace promotes prosperity and
that the workmans prosperity is neces-
sary to the prosperity of the business
man"
Mr.. Perkins was born in Chicago,
January 81, 1862 a descendant of Jacob
Perkins. an English ancestor who settled
in Boston in 1881. His father. George w.
Perkins, long engaged in the shipping in
dustry at Buffalo, was later pioneer in
the life insurance field. The son entered
| the insurance business in Chicago when
! IL as a clerk, became "A bookkeper. an
| agent and subsequently manager of a
! Cleveland office. He went to Denver and
! in 1892 was made vce-presdent of the
! New York Life Insurance company. HIS
achievements attracted the attention OF
! the elder Morgan and in 1900 he was in
vted to become a member of the Wall
| Street firm In this capacity he negotiated
number of big foreign loans. He re-
manned with j. T. Morgan & Co. until
1910. meanwhile becoming a director OF
| numerous large corporations including
| tho steel and harvester companies, a
| number of railroads and the lnternationa
Mercantile Marine company.
Retiring from business a few years
! later as he said, "to devote myself tc
| other work of a public and semi-publo
| nature" Mr.. Perkins wrote and spoke
| frequently on the subject of industrial
| Justice and when Colonel Roosevelt be-
| came Progressive candidate for the
| pre- sidency in 1912 he became chair
man of the national executive com
| mittee of the party. Previously he had
been a Republican. The year before
| he hal urged a revision of the fed
eral corporation laws and in testify
ing before a congressional committee
| investigating the United States Stee'
Corporation he advocated the fullest
publicity for all corporations Despite
the defeat of the Colonel, Mr.. Per
| of progressive principles.
Mr.. Perkins early in the World Wa
| interested himself in the matter OF
American preparedness. He was a
severe critic of President Wilson. Ir
| a speech in indianapolis in 1915 he de
| clared the United States was unpre
| pared for war and urgel immediate
action. After the United States enter
ed the struggle he endeavored to slim
ulate food production and by large
purchases of provisions at distant
points sought to avert a war time
| shortage in New York city. He was
also active in Red Cross, Liberty
Loan and other patriotic drives
After the war Mr.. Perkins went tc
| France to investigate charges q
waste and inefficiency against the
Young Mems Christian Association
workers abroad. He reported tina
while some mistakes had been ma /,
there was little ground for homes
criticism
a close friend of the late Mayor Pur
roy Mitchell. Mr.. Perkins at one tim,
was prominently mentioned for the May
loraity of New York. He was once quoted
as having said that New York city coulC
save $25, 100000 a year by "a proper Gu
in it's budget" He was a trustee of Vas
sar College and Berry School. Rome, Ga,
and a member of numerous civic, scion
tfc. sociological and philanthropc or
ganizatons, In 1911. Mr.. Perkins received
the honorary degree of l.. l.. y. from
the University Of Wooster and the Uni
versity of Vermont.
Mr.. Perkins married in 1889. Miss Eva
lima Ball, a daughter of Flamen Ball o
Cleveland. O., to whom two children
} were born, Dorothy and George W. Per
kns, Jr.. the latter of whom was a lieu
tenant in the American Expeditionar,
Forces.