What, then, can and should finance do on its own part in order to gain and preserve for itself that repute and status with the public to which it is entitled, and which in the interest of the country, as well as itself, it ought to have?
1. Conform to Public Opinion
It must not only do right, but it must also be particularly careful concerning the appearance of its actions.
Finance should "omit no word or deed" to place itself in the right light before the people.
It must carefully study and in good faith conform to public opinion.
2. Publicity
One of the characteristics of finance heretofore has been the cult of silence, some of its rites have been almost those of an occult science.
To meet attacks with dignified silence, to maintain an austere demeanor, to cultivate an etiquette of reticence, has been one of its traditions.
Nothing could have been more calculated to irritate democracy, which dislikes and suspects secrecy and resents aloofness.
And the instinct of democracy is right.
Men occupying conspicuous and leading places in finance as in every other calling touching the people's interests, are legitimate objects for public scrutiny in the exercise of their functions.
If opportunity for such scrutiny is denied, if the people's legitimate desire for information is met with silence, secrecy, impatience and resentment, the public mind very naturally becomes infected with suspicion and lends a willing ear to all sorts of gossip and rumors.
The people properly and justly insist that the same "fierce light that beats upon a throne" should also beat upon the high places of finance and commerce.
It is for those occupying such places to show cause why they should be considered fit persons to be entrusted with them, the test being not merely ability, but just as much, if not more, character, self-restraint, fair-mindedness and due sense of duty towards the public.
Finance, instead of avoiding publicity in all of its aspects, should welcome it and seek it. Publicity won't hurt its dignity. A dignity which can be preserved only by seclusion, which cannot hold its own in the market place, is neither merited nor worth having.
We must more and more get out of the seclusion of our offices, out into the rough and tumble of democracy, out—to get to know the people and get known by them.
Not to know one another means but too frequently to misunderstand one another, and there is no more fruitful source of trouble than to misunderstand one another's kind and ways and motives.
3. Service
Every man who by eminent success in commerce or finance raises himself beyond his peers is in the nature of things more or less of an "irritant" (I use the word in its technical meaning) to the community.
It behooves him, therefore, to make his position as little jarring as possible upon that immense majority whose existence is spent in the lowlands of life so far as material circumstances are concerned.
It behooves him to exercise self-restraint and to make ample allowance for the point of view and the feelings of others, to be patient, helpful, conciliatory.
It behooves him to remember that many other men are working, and have worked all their lives, with probably as much effort and assiduous application, as much self-abnegation as he, but have not succeeded in raising themselves above mediocre stations in life, because to them has not been granted the possession of those peculiar gifts which beget conspicuous success, and to which, because they are very rare and because they are needed for the world's work, is given the incentive of liberal reward.
He should beware of that insidious tendency of wealth to chill and isolate; he should be careful not to let his feelings, aspirations and sympathies become hardened or narrowed; lest he become estranged from his fellow men; and with this in view he should not only be approachable but should seek and welcome contact with the work-a-day world so as to remain part and parcel of it, to maintain and prove his homogeneity with his fellow men.
And he should never forget that the advantages and powers which he enjoys are his on suffrance, so to speak, during good behavior, the basis of their conferment being the consideration that the community wants his talents and his work, and grants him generous compensation—including the privilege of passing it on to his children—in order to stimulate him to the effort of using his capacities, since it is in the public interest that they should be used to their fullest extent.
He should never forget that the social edifice in which he occupies so desirable quarters, has been erected by human hands, the result of infinite effort, of sacrifice and compromise, the aim being the greatest good of society; and that if that aim is clearly shown to be no longer served by the present structure, if the successful man arrogates to himself too large or too choice a part, if, selfishly, he crowds out others, then, what human hands have built up by the patient work of many centuries, human hands can pull down in one hour of passion.
The undisturbed possession of the material rewards now given to success, because success presupposes service, can be perpetuated only if its beneficiaries exercise moderation, self-restraint, and consideration for others in the use of their opportunities, and if their ability is exerted, not merely for their own advantage, but also for the public good and the weal of their fellow men.
4. Stand up for Convictions and Organize
In the political field, the ways not only of finance but of business in general have been often unfortunate and still more often ineffective.
It is in conformity with the nature of things that the average man of business, responsible not only for his own affairs, but often trustee for the welfare of others, should lean towards that which has withstood the acid test of experience and should be somewhat diffident towards experiment and novel theory.
But, making full allowance for this natural and proper disposition, it must, I believe, be admitted that business, and especially the representatives of large business, including high finance, have too often failed to recognize in time the need and to heed the call for changes from methods and conceptions which had become unsuitable to the time and out of keeping with rationally, progressive development; that they have too often permitted themselves to be guided by a tendency toward unyielding or at any rate apparently unyielding Bourbonism instead of giving timely aid in a constructive way toward realizing just and wise modifications of the existing order of things.
Apart from these considerations and leaving aside practices formerly not uncommon, but which modern laws and modern standards of morality have made impossible, it may be said generally that business is doing too much kicking and not enough fighting.
In fact, almost the only instance which I can remember of business asserting itself effectively on a large scale and by a genuine effort for its rights, its legitimate interests and its convictions was during the McKinley-Bryan campaign, in saying which I do not mean to endorse some of the methods used in that campaign.
And yet, the latent political power of business is enormous. Wisely organized for proper and right purposes it would be irresistible. No political party could succeed against it.
If this country is to take full advantage of the unparalleled opportunities which the developments of the last two years have opened up to it, if, in the severe competition which sooner or later after the close of the war is bound to set in for the world's trade, it is to hold its own, it must not only not be hampered by unwise and antiquated laws, as it now is, in certain respects, but it must be intelligently aided and fostered by the legislative and administrative powers.
Business in the leading European countries has been backed up by the respective governments in the past and will be backed up, more than ever, in the post-bellum period.
Everywhere else through the civilized world in matters of national policies as they affect business, the representatives of business are consulted and listened to with the respect which is due to expert knowledge.
It is only in America that the views of business men in general (as distinct from the agitation of particular business men or organizations having a special object to serve, such as on the occasion of tariff making in former days) are ignored, their advice brushed aside or even resented, their representatives treated as interlopers.
It is only in America that the exigencies of politics not infrequently, I might almost say habitually, are given precedence over the exigencies of business.
Objectionable methods and practices sometimes resorted to in the past by corporate interests in endeavoring to influence legislation and public opinion have been abandoned beyond resurrection.
It is only fair that with them should be abandoned the habit of politicians, sometimes politicians in very high places, to denounce as "lobbying" every organized effort of large business to oppose tendencies and propositions of legislation deemed by it inimical to the best interests of business and of the country.
It is only fair that there should be abandoned the habit of sneering at and suspecting organized efforts by business men to educate public opinion on questions affecting business and finance as improper attempts to "manufacture" or "accelerate" public opinion.