Baker's Speech

It was time for the Bond Club of Manhattan to give another luncheon. To George F. Baker, "the grand old man of Wall Street," said to be 10 times as rich as the original J. P. Morgan, went an invitation. He accepted. More than that, he said he would make a speech-- the first of his life. Persuasive as a dinner horn that news blared; great men rallied to the luncheon. From 23 Wall Street came Thomas W. Lament, Dwight W. Morrow, Junius S. Morgan Jr., George Whitney of J. P. Morgan & Co.; from 52 William Street came Mortimer Schiff, Otto H. Kahn, Jerome J. Hanauer of Kuhn, Loeb & Co.; from counting houses and director's rooms came other notables : Charles H. Sabin, Chairman of the Guarantee Trust Co.; E. T. Stotesbury of Drexel & Co.; H. B. Thayer, President of the American Telephone & Telegraph Co.

Banker Baker got up. "The hardest shell," people say of him, "the softest heart, in the U.S." Addressing him, strong voices often shake. At his whisper, people say, the 20th Century Limited-- would stop in its tracks. Yet, as he stood before the boys in the Bond Club, it was Baker's voice that trembled. His speech, reported in full (146 words) was as follows:

"Yesterday morning when one of my family read to me that I had promised to make the first speech of my life here today I really fell down. I was never educated in after-dinner or after- luncheon talking, and I cannot do it. I cannot put words together to express my feelings for your kindness, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

"There is no organization that I know of in this country that stands higher for character and ability than this one ; and if you continue to conduct your business and live your lives as you have been doing, to gain the respect and love of your fellows, you will accomplish the best in life, and, withal most important, if you maintain that integrity for which you are all so noted, it will bring you greater happiness and joy than great wealth."

Pressmen, editors, bakermen all found profound this utterance. Said The New York Sun (owned by Millionaire Munsey):

"Mr. Baker, waiting 84 years to make one speech, says something which none who heard him will forget."

*Some indication of Mr. Baker's power was given last spring (TiME, Apr. 14) when the New York Central R.R. waited for him to return from the South before it dared to elect a new president. Born in Troy, N. Y., in 1840, he dominates half a dozen railroads, several banks, scores of industrial concerns.