s, that
it has not at times yielded to temptation--and the temptations which
beset its path are indeed many--that there have not been some
occurrences which every right thinking man must deplore and condemn.

But I do say and claim that practically all such instances have occurred
during what may be termed the country's industrial and economic pioneer
period, a period of vast and unparalleled concentration of national
energy and effort upon material achievement, of tremendous and turbulent
surging towards tangible accomplishment, of sheer individualism, a
period of lax enforcement of the laws by those in authority, of
uncertainty regarding the meaning of the statutes relating to business
and, consequently, of impatience at restraint and a weakened sense of
the fear, respect and obedience due to the law.

In the mighty and blinding rush of that whirlwind of enterprise and
achievement things were done--generally without any attempt at
concealment, in the open light of day for everyone to behold--which
would not accord with our present ethical and legal standards, and
public opinion permitted them to be done.

To quote one instance out of many: Campaign contributions by
corporations were a recognized and almost universal practice. The
acceptance of such contributions did not shock the most tender political
conscience. Now they are rightly forbidden, and what up to a few short
years ago was not only not prohibited but sanctioned by the custom of a
generation and more, is now made and considered a crime.

Then suddenly a mirror was held up by influences sufficiently powerful
to cause the mad race to halt for a moment and to compel the
concentrated attention of all the people. And that mirror clearly
showed, perhaps it even magnified, the blemishes on that which it
reflected.

With their recognition came stern insistence upon change, and very
quickly the realization of that demand. That is the normal process of
civilization in its march forward and upward.

And I claim that Finance has been as quick and willing as any other
element in the community to discern the moral obligations of the new era
brought about within the last ten years and to align itself on their
side.

As soon as the meaning of the laws under which business was to be
conducted had come to be reasonably defined, as soon as it became
apparent that the latitude tacitly permitted during the pioneer period
must end, finance fell into line with the new sp