The New York herald., 1922-02-19
WARNS REALTORS
AGAINST APATHY
Judge Crane Says Indifference
on Matters Of Public Concern
Is Too Widespread.

Judge FREDERICK IL. crane OF the court
OF Appeals was one of the principal
speakers at the annual dinner OF the
Teal Estate Board of New York. The
full text of his speech follows:
Mr.. president and gentlemen OF the
Peal Estate Board: Let me assure you
ut the outset that nothing Is further
from my thoughts than to discuss with
Ills audience the extent of police power.
In fact, why l am here outside of feel
ing and yielding to the demands Of
friendship. do not know. What a judge
can say of interest or of profit to you
men have not been able to fathoin. All
tho things you are interested In | am
.oreclosed from because Of my position.
You arc all interested in the things
that are going to be done, evidenced by
lcur applause to what the Governor has
said. I. as a Judge. am dealing simply
with the things that have been done, and
whatever hesitancy / have because OF
my position is added to because Of my
twenty-one years experience upon the
bench with the men in the real estate
profession.
What can say when l have to meet
these experiences with you men / am
almost speechless. In fact, ] am re-
minded Of an incident which occurred
when was holding the criminal court
in this city some eighteen or twenty
years ago, q case In which young
real estate man was involved. He was
accused OF and tried for forgery. IIe
wasn't a. member of the board, as
understand It. He had the device or
scheme for forging satisfaction pieces
to mortgages and then going around to
the title companies or elsewhere and
getting 40 per cent. loan on the
property which they all bid for. He
got away with some 100000 before he
was caught. So Young Brennan was
put on trial before me and he had a
very astute lawyer that we knew, tho
Governor and Mr.. Littleton and the
rest of US. Mr.. James Ridgeway, very
courteous and pompous man with
very deep voice, whose whisper you
could hear all over the courtroom. AS
the evidence went In against this young
man I was sitting at that time IN the
county court. he turned to Mr.. Ridge
way and said: How do you think 1t is
going?" and Mr.. Ridgeway said In a
deep whisper that We could all hear:
b. II you know that little hymn Lead,
Kindly Light sing 1t now"
satirixes Experts on Values.
i All of us familiar with progress are
reminded that in the last four decades
the philosophers have been dealing with
the first original or procuring cause.
Even such novels as "If Winter Comes"
seems futile to find out the original
motive for the ransaction-whatever II
was, while you. when you come into
court must prove always, as you always
DO that you arc the procuring cause.
What a field for the philosopher? Fif-
teen hundred procuring causes. Such
powcr. such potentiality Then you
also say, the law tells me from my ex-
perience, that you have somebody al
ways ready and willing. Now / am not
in that fortunate position. 1t is very
lard for me to find my associates ready
and willing to follow me, but all the
Governor asks for is sufficient num-
her ready and willing TO follow him.
And how easily that readiness and will
ingness is offered tonight is due to your
training in your profession. And then YOU
have that ability to procure. We judges
and lawyers have frequently told the jury
that you must have the ability to procure
the meeting of the minds" Isn't that
fine phrase? How readily the jury un-
derstand II. Why. the worlds at sea
now because SO few minds have met.
And all we are having these confer
cnces, conclaves or leagues or whatever
, else you may call them at Washington
and elsewhere for, Is simply that few
minds may get together and meet
And then there is your expert on
values" Expert on values" I have
learned that on the bench How many
million dollars do you suppose in the
year in the City OF New York changes
pockets by reason OF that word? Hardly
a man will let the public take lot for
n public Improvement without having
some expert paint for the judge and
jury possibilities never dreamed OF. l
have seen dirty tramp of lot become
perfect Fifth avenue aristocrat after
q real estate expert got through with II.
Goldsmith said. "The truth is made as
breath can make IT," And then you are
poets of the first class. 1 have seen
pictures OF landed improvements which
would begger the terms OF any poet and
Shelley and Wadsworth never painted
the word pictures that I have read in
the prospectuses OF some real estate
specuiators.
Ambition ~ Applied to Brokers.
Now. ambition is the very breath OF
life and when a man loses II he is
dead--he is done for. II is the tonic OF
American life, and the difficulty is we
haven't enough ambition. Those were
wonderful words OF Gladstone, when in
writing n letter he said IL am 50 years
OF age and growing blind, but i have
much prospective work ahead of me-"
The trouble II that ambition so frc-
auently reaches It's limits long before 1t
should and when a man makes n for
tune at real estate. as you all have. or
something else he thinks he has achieved
his ambition, instead of realizing that
his opportunity has come. his ideals are
In front Of him and that his ambition
is still to be achieved. Apply this to
your own work. You are dealing in
values. The Governor said in his open
ing remarks that much depends upon
environment and surroundings which
you, as experts. take into consideration
In valuing a piece OF property. There
was an old clause we used to call the
nuisance clause. the clause against tan
neries. distilleries, &C.. which took
into consideration everything. And you
men must take everything into con-
.sideration and there is one thing you
must always remember--that the best
support for ownership and possession Is
that support which comes from good
government regulated and controlled by
wise laws.
Suppose we were to make laws
amending the constitution in some way
becoming the means whereby prop
erty could be destroyed or spirited away
In order to accomplish the sociaiisms
,of society7 What would become of your