Conservative *
.iect without making gracious mention
of them who , to this business , have
given the impress of their personalities :
the fearless men who have from earliest
time watched over this institution ,
bravely met and warmly welcomed its
exacting responsibilities , and were not
intimidated by its unforeseen and un
precedented growth.
No antiquated bones , no "dry-as-
dust" conservatism such as has dwarfed
so many laudable undertakings , were
permitted here , for these men knew
when to move aa well as when to pause ,
when to boldly strike out and forward
as well as when to retrench.
Seeking effective inspiration , shall we
not turn to their words replete with the
resolute manliness that encouraged their
ennobling thought ? What stirring dec
laration is this of the late President of
The Mutual Life , the honored Frederick
S. "Winston : "We have had this simple
watchword for our guide Equity ; no
man , woman or child can truthfully
charge this company with voluntarily
witholdiug that which was his or her
due , or with striving to avoid its just
obligations. " And where may be found
more earnestness of speech than in the
selected utterance of that fearless man ,
who , from a modest clerkship rose to
the presidency of the company which
unconsciously he founded as his own
imperishable monument ? I have in
mind the lamented Henry B. Hyde ,
founder of the Equitable Life Assur
ance Society of the United States , and
his never to be forgotten words ad
dressed to me in person , when Mr.
Hyde was in the fullness and vigor of
his splendid manhood : "I want those
who will enlist in the service of this
company to feel with me , that we are
going to make the Equitable the great
est life insurance company on the face
of the earth. As its president , I will
not forget to reward the workers who
help me to make it so. " The history of
his company shows how well Henry B.
Hyde kept this pledge.
Living words teeming with the same
ceaseless energy and righteous resolve
that have given rare character to his
public life , were those of acceptance of
fered by Richard A. McOurdy to the
board of trustees of the Mutual Life of
New York , when , sixteen years ago ,
they so conspicuously honored that
company and this man by placing him
in highest authority over the honorable
destinies of that institution. I quote :
"Gentlemen , I approach the assumption
of the burden which you have laid upon
me with considerable hesitancy , ' with
no over-weening self-confidence , and
with the full realization of a consecra
tion of mind and body and heart to the
service of the company which it in
volves ; I bear in mind that my late
predecessor bore mightily aloft the ban
ner of this company , and that it be
hooves his follower that it shall never
be sullied or trampled in the dust"- and
strikingly prophetic of the mighty work
that was to follow , as witnessed by the
achievement of this man , who , in the
last ten years of the fifty-eight , marking
the life time of this company , increased
its asssots from 158 millions to 825 mil
lions ! An increase of 100 per centum
an unparalleled record compelling the
admiration of the life insurance world.
Where is that right-minded young
man who may not find lasting inspira
tion in the crystalized thought of this
intrepid trinity , to whose language re
spectful reference has been made ? Sure
ly , fortified by so lofty a sentiment , the
business of life insurance should be as
eagerly sought by our worthy sons as
does this important department of
world-wide industry impatiently await
their approach , for here may be found ,
not alone a means of acquiring an hon
orable competency , but every oppor
tunity leading up to a successful career
an eminent name ; and firm am I in
the belief that there shall not be found
in all the history of manly effort any
thing larger than the growth of life in
surance as a business of universal sig
nificance , unless it shall be found in the
very characters of them who to this
business have given a life's devotion ;
that if there shall ever be any trade ,
business or profession , any walk in the
commercial life of a people , affording
greater opportunity for honorable ac
complishment , the same must be in re
lation to some department of activity
not yet by man conceived , some plan of
manly action that shall have directly to
do with the further uplifting of our
race and our institutions.
Chicago , 111. , August 1 , 1901.
E. D. KENNA.
First Vice-President and General Solicitor
Atchison , Topeka and Santa Fe Ry.
System.
Members of the legal profession are
accustomed to seek two kinds of suc
cess pecuniary gain and political hon
ors. In the past they have obtained
wealth frequently , and more frequently
gained public favors ; while it is doubt
ful if they have not shared equally
with our military heroes in the glories
of our history. Certainly , Lincoln , the
lawyer , is second only to Washington ,
the soldier in pop alar esteem ; and the
fame of Marshall , Jefferson and Hamil
ton may outlast that of Jackson , Grantor
*
or Dewey. In no other society has the
lawyer occupied so conspicuous a po
sition , and under no other form of gov
ernment could he have been so well re
warded. The greatest success possible
for any American citizen is to become
president of the United States , and a
majority of our presidents have been
lawyers. But it is well for the young
lawyer with an eye to the future , to en
quire why the lawyer has occupied so
honorable a position in the past , and to
remember that the most successful have
not always been the wealthiest lawyers.
Neither Marshall nor Webster would
have been rated high in Bradstreet , and
Benjamin Harrison , the most justly
celebrated lawyer of his day , left a
modest estate that would satisfy the am
bition of few , modest , business men.
The lawyer's opportunity for making
money was never so great as at present.
The magnitude of ordinary business
transactions has become such that the
favored lawyer often receives a single
fee , equal in amount to the earnings of
a lifetime of the lawyer of the past.
Yet the sums paid , enormous as they
may seem to some , are not exorbitant.
Proportioned to the amounts involved in
such matters , the legal charge is light.
Ten thousand dollars is often paid for
drafting a single document , such
as a mortgage to secure $100,000,000
and this is not unreasonable , for when
considered with reference to the value
of the transaction to those paying the
E. D. KENNA.
fee it is no greater than would be a fee
of two dollars for drafting a mortgage
to secure $20,000. Nor is a fee of $100-
000 in a $200,000,000 foreclosure proceed
ings so gresat a charge as would be a fee
of $10 on the foreclosure of a $10,000 ,
farm mortgage. The United States
Steel Company can more easily afford to
pay its , chief counsel $250,000 a year
than a national bank with a capital of
$100,000 can afford to pay its counsel
$250 a year. Nor are such opportunities
few. Given the proper qualifications ,
and every young lawyer possessing
them , is limited in his capacity to earn
money by his physical endurance only.
Naturally , the qualifications are un
usual , but they are not extraordinary
a thorough education , a practical mind ,
unusual energy , and temperate habits.
With all of these , any young lawyer can
find more work than he can do. Let
him lack a single one , and he must de-
