Evening star., 1926-10-16
MEN AND MONEY
BY NJ. S. Rukeyser
Copyright. 1920

of being ciided as to why they do not
| pay large supertaxes. In this Worka
dav world of ours students Of wealth.
getting are asked how much they
have acquired. On the other hand
eve specialists are not asked whether
| they have sore eyes, or cancer eX'
| perts uueried as to whether they have
| had cancer Nevertheless, economists
are wearying Of pointing out the dis
! tinctionS between theory and prac
| tice.
Accordingly, many of them have re
Gently definitely gone on the make.
! testing the dollar-and-cents value OF
| their academic conclusions.
Prof. David Friday, economist, who
| has Just returned from Europe. has
amassed a profit of 100000 in the
stock market In the recent bull cycles,
according to reports. When this news
gets around, trustees of various col
| legeS are likely to hasten to bid TOT
his services. Prof. Fridays good for
tune, it is understood, sprang from
action based on careful statistical re-
search His chief profit, according to
those who believe they are In the
know, came from Atlantic Coast Line,
General Motors and E. l. du Pont de
NemOurS.
Now Is Unaffiliated.
DR.. Friday, who was formerly presl-
dent of the Michigan Agricultural COL
lege and later staff lecturer at the
New School for Social Research, is at
present without academic aff1llatlons.
In spite Of his reported financial sue
cess, his tastes are still primarily
academic. He intends to convert
profits into leisure for writing and Is
elal economies and one ON business
agriculture.
Incidentally, large business corpo'
rations and banks have Of late been
clamoring for the services of compe-
tent economists for consultant pur-
poses. for present-day trade ana
finance is 100 complex and compllcateo
for practical man to solve unaided by
experts. Among the men VINO nave
stepped from the clOistered classroom
to the realm Of give and take In wan
Street are Walter Stewart, who used
to teach economics at Amherst COL
lege and who is now vice president OF
the banking house Of Case, Pomeroy
& Co.; DR.. B. NJ Anderson, jr., who
gave up the chair of economics at
Harvard University to become econo-
mist for the National Bank of Com
merce and who later switched to the
Chase National Bank to assume the
same role; DR.. H. A. E. Chandler, VINO
resigned from the teaching staff at
Columbia University to succeed DIR.
Anderson as economist of the Ma
tional Bank Of Commerce., and j. T..
Meeker, formerly of Yale University,
who is now economist Of the New
York Stock Exchange.
Fame Is Far Reaching.
The fame of the American econo-
mist is reaching around the world.
When foreign governments wish to
switch from the jazz methods OF In
f1ationary finance to a sound currency
basis, the new fashion is to import an
American financial expert to direct
the job. E. w. Kemmerer Of the
economics faculty of Princeton Uni
versity has successfully performed
more mission of this charac-
ter than any other individual.
He recently returned from Poland and
reported that the country was on the
mend. Soon after his return Prof.
Kemmerer set out again as the head
Of a party of experts for Peru and
Bolivia, which are the ninth and
tenth nations, respectively, to invite
him to reform their finances. He has
acted as financial adviser to eight ma
tions, including Mexico. Guatemala,
Columbia, Pretoria (South Africa);
Singapore, Egypt and Chile. In 1924
he was chief American expert to the
Dawes committee which worked un-
der the direction of the Preparations
Commission. During the academic
year DR.. Kemmerer lectures to col
1ege students and during vacations be.
comes healer Of ailing treasures"
jeremiah Smith, jr, a graduate OF
Harvard and practicing lawyer in
Boston, after two years in Hungary,
retired as financial dictator this
Summer, and, though not a wealthy
man, refused to accept a salary.
s. Parker Gilbert, who turned "a
this week, and who was one of Sec
retary Melons bright young men in
the Treasury, is watching out for the
allies interests in Germany as agent
general of reparation under the
Dawes plan, having succeeded Owen
ID. Young.
Turning to Americans.
The stereotyped comedian on the
European vaudeville stage finds at
temps to belittle Americans sure fire
material, but, when a really tangled
situation develops the Old World
governments in increasing numbers
turn to Americans, because they have
found that they know how.
incidentally, the affluent DIR. FRI
day went to Europe. too. on private
banking mission to study the status
Of the French franc. He found q
wealth of propaganda and sentiment
In Paris, but a dearth of statistical
data Accordingly, he went to Berlin
to study the franc, aided by the re-
searches Of Mr.. Gilbert's staff.
Europe lags far behind the United
States in the gathering of unbiased
statistical information regarding pub
lie and private finance. This matter
is of great public significance, for
the new stability in this country is
to a large extent based on the fact
that business men have better in
formation than ever before concern
ing current conditions. The substitu-
ion of knowledge for guesswork takes
1 large element Of gamble out of busi-
ness.
The value of business statistics lies
in their being regularly published,
irrespective of whether they happen
at any particular time to tell an
ODtimiStfc story or not.