When Kindness is a Core Value

I learned many years ago that my great grandfather, Festus J Wade, was a Gilded Age banker in St. Louis, Missouri. Born in Limerick, Ireland in 1859, he was brought to the United States in 1861 by his family, where he was youngest of 6 children. When he died in 1927, he was president of the largest US bank west of the Mississippi and former presidents sent letters and telegrams to the family upon his passing.

I admit that I had some trepidation about digging in to his life - nothing screams Robber Baron like “Bank President”, after all (except maybe “Railroad Tycoon”). But when I found an article in the family scrapbook titled ‘What Sort of a Man is Festus Wade?”, my fears were laid to rest.

I had already learned that great-grandpa had an entrepreneurial bent - gathering apples outside of town and bringing them into St. Louis to sell them, creating the first visitor’s guide to the St. Louis Zoo and selling advertising in it so he could give it away for free, and working plenty of odd jobs from age 11 onwards to help support his family. And yes, he did go on to found the St. Louis Mercantile Trust Co., helped found the Federal Reserve (and made sure one office was in St. Louis), and was the go-to advisor on finance for Presidents Taft and Wilson. He was smart, ambitious and successful.

Interestingly, it turns out that great-grandpa, for all his influence and ambition, was not actually focused on amassing the largest fortune that he could. From what I can tell, he believed that his purpose was to help others. In his role as bank president, his ‘greatest wish’ was for all of his employees to amass equity in the bank with an aim towards outright employee ownership. By all accounts, he was generous without judgment and was quick to lend or give money to friends in need. He carried that same spirit over in larger matters. In 1920, he argued strenuously before Congress and in the press that the US should forgive the debts of our European allies in World War 1. I’m personally not an expert historian but it is widely believed that one of the root causes of Hitler’s ascension was the massive global recession of the 1930s, caused in part by a failure to stabilize the European economy after the Great War - a scenario which debt forgiveness would have avoided.

The root of his character, alongside boundless generosity, seems to have been optimism and fearlessness. He believed in America, he believed in his fellow humans, he believed in his own ability to bring others together. He never hid in an office - when he spent time at the bank, it was at an old desk on the main floor right near the entrance. Where he could watch the comings and goings, where he could be seen, where he could spend time talking to one and all.

In 1920, estimates were that his fortune was “only” $250k, which translates to about $3.9 million in today’s dollars. So it’s not like he denied himself basic comforts. But for the president of a major bank living at the end of the Gilded Age, it was a relatively modest figure. He seemed to value his family, his friends, and his country more than he valued his bank account. He felt a responsibility to the city and the country that had provided him with so much opportunity.

It’s hard to imagine in today’s world, when so many of the ultra wealthy think only of amassing more wealth. They seek to advise presidents’ not on policies that would ensure general prosperity but rather on policies that line their pockets further at the expense of their own workers. Great grandpa would be horrified at the lack of civic mindedness, at the short sightedness, the greed, and, above all, the senseless cruelty.

It’s hard to imagine a greater measure of success than a man who was mourned in his passing not only by the rich and powerful, but also by the people he employed. Upon my great grandfather’s death, a reporter went to the bank to talk to people there. He asked the doorman about Festus and the man cried “for several minutes” before he could collect himself enough to answer questions. I do no know of a single CEO today who’s employees would react that way. And we are all the poorer because of it.

*****************************************************

What Sort of a Man Is Festus J Wade?

“Considerable of a Man,” Say Those Who Know Him

St. Louis Saturday Night, Sept 1920

By “An Irishman”

Festus J Wade, president of the Mercantile Trust Company, has loomed large in the public eye for many years. For the past 10 years, he has been the biggest banker west of the Mississippi. Since he proposed that the United States forgive the debts of the Entente nations, Mr. Wade has been much criticized. The question has been asked, particularly among Mr. Wade's fellow citizens of Irish birth: “What sort of man is Festus J Wade?

Considerable of a man. A man of unimpeachable courage. A man of the utmost personal honesty. A man of the most complete confidence in himself. A man with the Celtic vision that, when as a boy, he drove a dump wagon, he could see himself what he is today, the biggest and greatest banker west of the Mississippi river. A man of vision who had practical sense enough to give affect to that vision and to make a reality of his boyhood dreams. Most of us are good enough dreamers. Few of us have the power, the patience, the energy, the skill, the will to translate our dreams into realities.

His fellow born Irish have criticized Wade bitterly because he suggested that the United States should forgive the debts of the allies, including Great Britain. The Irish look upon this financial manner as what it is not, a political matter. Wade is not a politician. He has a financier. He looks upon the proposition to forgive the debts of the allies with the cold eye of a banker.

The Irish do not greatly mind forgiving the debts of France and of other allies. But to forgive England anything hurts them. No one blames them for that. But the Irish seem to forget one very important point which they will do well to bear in mind. It is this: that Wade was discussing a purely American and business question question and that Ireland and politics have nothing whatsoever to do with it.

Personally, I am against forgiving the British or other allied debts. They have money enough to squander, trying to subject the world to their policies. They have squandered billions since the war, trying to subject, Asia, Africa, and Europe to their rule. I believe that Wade is wrong in his project forgive the allied debt to the United States just now. When England and France get governments that really represent the British and French people, not a few imperialists, land, grabbers, and trade grabbers, we can talk about forgiving the allied debts. But this has nothing to do with the soundness of the financial idea of Festus J. Wade. His idea is intrinsically sound. It would make better trade and equalize the rate of exchange and the only way it can be equalized. But we can't afford to finance England and France to beat us out of trade. So while Mr. Wade's plan is good, we think that it would be better withheld until we can deal with the right people in England and in France. The present governments in Europe are untrustworthy and unfair.

This, however, is apart from the question we started to discuss, which is the character of the man, Festus J. Wade. We have spoken of his courage. Both physically and morally it is superb. Physical courage is common. Almost all men have it. Moral courage is the rarest virtues. Wade has got moral courage in a high degree. He knew that the proposal to forgive the debts of the allies would meet with wild opposition, particularly from his own, special, Irish fellow citizens. Nonetheless, he did not dodge the issue, but courted it. That is real courage. Wade never is, never was afraid. He has always had the full courage of his convictions. Courage is an especially rare thing in a banker who, of all men, is most timid in the face of hostile criticism. Courage is one of the greatest of human virtues. Most of us are governed by fear, by the fear of being afraid. The brave man never worries. He dies no deaths, but one. Wade has always been courageous. He was and is courageous in business as well as in social life. He has always had the most supreme confidence in himself and in the United States.  Which means in the people of the United States. Like Jim Hill, Wade has always bet upon the United States. That is why he has always won. In time of financial tension, when panic loomed ahead, Wade has always been courageous. Always he has been willing to bet on the United States. Never has he been bluffed. Whenever they talk gloomily of bad times ahead, of panics that may come, shake their heads forbodingly, Wade comes cheerily into the conference room and cries: “greatest country in the world, greatest people in the world. Come on, let us do business. Lend money to the men who are making the United States.”

In addition to his courage and confidence, Wade is a man of keen intuition. He is not like many men, a book banker. He does not learn his banking from books. He reads but little. He acts and thinks a whole lot. His intuition is Celtic, Irish. He is one of the best judges of men in the world. He instinctively feels a man, feels whether he is real and sound or a fake or a fraud or weak or vacillating. No man can strike a false note in Wade's presence without its instantly being detected.

Wade is a banker. Many men look upon bankers as ogres. Wade is not only honest. He is violently honest. He believes that honesty is the best policy. He has rigid principles and adheres to them religiously. He fears no man under or upon the ground or in the sky over it. He is one of the most truly religious of men. No need to talk about that. Sounds like can't.

But after all, the best test of any man are the men about him. Show me your company and I will tell you who you are, it's an old adage all right. Let us look at Wade's company.

Lorenzo Anderson was his boyhood and business friend. Any better or finer man than Lorenzo Anderson? They have been friends for 40 years. Then take up the personnel of the Mercantile Trust. Who are the men of the Mercantile trust? All old employees of Wade, men who were with him when he was a struggling real estate dealer. Jere Moberly, George Wilson, Cliff, McMillan, William Duggan, and the rest, Wade glories in his “boys,” as he calls them. They were with him when he was poor. Wade is not a rich man now, but he is richer than he once was. Has he forgot any old employee, any old friend? Not that the old employees or anyone else knows of. From his special favorite, his Negro messenger Dave Smith, to George Wilson, his vice president, Wade’s employees and officers adore him. He has never ceased to work for them. His dearest ambition is that they shall own the Mercantile Trust. Almost every employee of the Trust company owns stock in it. They can buy on deferred payments or at a preferred price. When Wade goes, he wants his boys to own the Mercantile trust company. The best good name a man can have is a good name among his employees. If you want to know just what sort of a man Festus J Wade is, ask any of his employees.

Wade is a big man outside of St. Louis. He is a big man in St. Louis. But some of his own Irish railed him because he wants to put business on a sound basis. Absurd. I differ with Mr. Wade's ideas of forgiving the British or French or any of the other debt until such time as these countries play the game on the square. I don't know Wade very well. But I love to see an Irish go in and play the game among the big bankers of America and win. Years ago, Wade took me to task for playing baseball and loving the horse races and advised me to get hold of something tangible. He was right. He may have his faults. I don't care about them. He did say that it would be best for America to forgive the allied obligations. That is the worst the Irish can say about him. And that he does not get out and holler for Ireland with them. Are there not enough of us hollering for Irish freedom? Why not let a few of us become successful bankers.

Ireland needs capable financiers more than she needs patriots and men to die for her. She has got a few of the former, plenty of the latter. I believe that Wade is sensitive to the criticism, that he really feels badly about the way the Irish of criticized him. In that he is foolish. But all Irishman are sensitive to criticism. Wade is Irish of the Irish. No man should care what another man says of him. As Cromwell said "they will attend your marriage or your funeral with equal pleasure." The only thing that a man should dread is his own opinion of himself. Self criticism is the only sort of criticism that should hurt. When Wade looks about him at the Mercantile, I think that he is at peace with his own conscience. That is all that counts. As for the Irish, they are the warmest hearted, most forgiving, but the lightest thinking and sharpest tongue to people in the world. The Irish should be very proud of Wade. He is one of them who made good in the great American game. They were proud of John L Sullivan, of Mike Kelly and of 100 more who are Irish champions at American sports. Wade is an Irish champion at the greatest of American sports, finance. Why not be proud of him?

“It is common habit to estimate Wade as a rich man. He is anything but rich, as we count men rich nowadays. He may be worth $250,000 which is less than many of his employees are worth. Wade does not care for wealth. Had he cared for it, he could be worth millions. He likes to do things. He is proud of his Mercantile trust, proud that a poor Irish boy, a poor drawer of water, should be able to build up the biggest bank west of the Mississippi. He is intensely proud of his officers and employees.”

Many of his Irish fellow citizens of Irish blood rail because Wade does not become a rabid Sinn Feiner. Many Irish men are not rabid Sinn Feiners. Wade is president of a great bank. Presidents of great banks cannot be radical or rabid in any way. They must be “regular.” They must be disciplined. They must play ball according to set rules and regulations. Let a bank president get "off the reservation "be at ever so little. Let him become for an instant irregular, out of line, vary a hair from the rules, written and unwritten, which govern finance, and what becomes of his bank? Let the word go out at such and such a banker is “unsound" in anyway. The first people to run in and draw out their money will be the radicals of all sorts. Whatever else the banker may be, he must be sound regular, well balanced, cool, deliberate. Wade is all of these things. And then some

But he has a heart and a soul, and warm blood in his veins. The Irish cry that he is for England. Absurd. Festus J Wade stood up for Ireland in Lombard Street, London. Where standing up for Ireland means more than it means in Ireland or in the United States. Lombard Street is the headquarters of British finance, the headquarters of world finance. The Irish question came up at a bankers conference in which Wade sat. He declared himself in measured, temperate terms for Ireland. Wade is a good Irishman and a much better American. I know this: 15 years ago when Wade first came into possession of some money the first thing he wanted to do was to purchase Tara, the seat of Irish kings. That was before he and Lorenzo Anderson bought number one Wall Street. I know that Wade was Irish enough, sentimental enough to want to buy the seat of the high kings of Ireland, to preserve it as a stimulant to Irish patriotism and to Irish nationality. Has Wade changed since? I do not think so. He will not shoot off his mouth and ramp up and down the country. That is not his nature. It would not be fitting in a banker. Wade's first duty is to America. He knows it.

I think the Irish should be proud of Wade. He is one of them. He worked like a regular Irishman, water boy, car driver and up. He is a democrat with a small d. He has the finest private office in St. Louis and rarely goes there. He is always at a small cheap desk where the world can see him, speak to him and touch him. Wade broke up the banking aristocracy, which did so much to hurt St. Louis. Once I asked Alvin McCauley, president of the Packard Motor Car company, what held back St. Louis. Macauley said "Aristocratic bankers! When you want to see a banker in St. Louis, you must have a letter from JP Morgan, or social introduction from Mr. Vanderbilt." The St. Louis bankers were all aristocrats. Cold as ice, distant has the poles. You had to belong to a certain social set to see them. Wade broke all that up. The "Irish car driver" sat out in the front office. You did not have to send in an embossed card by five lackeys to see him - maybe. All you had to do is to walk up and say, “Hello Mr. Wade!”. Or if you knew him well enough, “Hello Festus!”

All his old-time associates on the dump in the Fair Grounds, on the auction lot, come in and talk with Wade. Those of them them who are in hard luck can have anything they want. The charitable workers do not have to have a letter from the Chamber of Commerce to see Wade or to get his money. Whatever the Irish may think of Wade - most of them speak without thinking at all - Americans respect and like him. I doubt for all the Irish say, that he got $400,000,000 in British gold to be for England.

The Irish should like Wade. He is so courageous, which of all gifts, is Irish. So sensitive and proud. So imaginative, so intuitive, so keen, so quick to think, such a lover of and keen judge of men. And as I have good cause to know, so truly fond of Ireland. With the first real money he ever got he wanted to buy Tara so that it might be consecrated to Irish freedom and Irish nationality. Such a good banker, for he has made a truly great bank. Best of all such a good American. For, after all the great claim of the Irish upon the American people is not that they are good Irishman, but that they have always been first, last, and all the time good Americans. The more the Irish and America remember, that it is as good Americans, not as good or bad Irish that they are loved in America, the better it will be for Ireland and for America.

As for Wade, he should worry. He is 60 years old. He has attained success as Americans estimated success. A few years more, 10 or 12 or 15, Festus J Wade will be a memory. He will never want while he lives. But it is rather a pity to see the Irish criticize a man who is invaluable to them to Ireland, and next to America loves Ireland with his whole heart and soul. Yet what does it all amount in the end? Hard words don’t  break the bones. After all the Irish do not mean it when they speak hardly. They are merely talking without thinking, without considering. It’s a habit they have. It means nothing. The Irish lose more by criticizing Wade than he ever will lose by being criticized by them. The pity of it is that the Irish should fail to take credit to themselves, to Ireland for producing Wade. There all the pity lies.