Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/494

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484 Providence Meeting of the proceeded so smoothly. An especial advantage for such sessions was offered b_v the rooms of the Brown Union, abounding in oppor- tunities for meeting and conversation, and supplemented by those afforded by the University Club. The larger gatherings were held in Sayles Hall and Manning Hall of Brown University. Receptions or luncheons were offered by the university, by the committee of management of the John Carter Brown Library, by the Rhode Island Historical Society, and by Mr. William B. Weeden, chairman of the committee of local arrangements, and Mrs. Weeden. The Rhode Island School of Design made all the societies free of its buildings and collections ; and there was the usual " smoker ". The first evening, that of Wednesday, December 26, was occu- pied with a felicitous address of welcome by President Faunce of Brown University, and with the inaugural addresses of Professor J. W. Jenks of Cornell University, president of the American Economic Association, and of Judge Simeon E. Baldwin of New Haven, president of the American Historical Association, heard in joint session of the two bodies. Judge Baldwin's address, entitled " Religion Still the Key to History ", has already been printed, in . the January number of this journal. The subject of that of Pro- fessor Jenks was, " The Modern Standard of Business Honor ". He first adverted to the new conditions under which modern business is conducted : the scale on which it is carried on, vastly larger than ever before ; the want of personal contact between the business man and his workingmen or his customers ; the heightened extent to which directors of corporations are trustees for numerous stock- holders ; and the increased profits from monopolies that are tech- nically legal, but economically and socially unjustifiable. He showed how the rapid development of these conditions had often prevented the evil of unjust courses from being fully and clearly seen. He urged that, while the state should go farther in forbidding unscrupu- lous practices and in enforcing publicity in the management of great business enterprises, yet it was plain from human nature and the experience of the ages that we must after all look to individual morals and the efforts of individuals as the chief sources of im- provement, and must place the responsibility upon ourselves as indi- viduals. The subsequent sessions of the Association were divided, as usual, between those which were occupied with formal papers or prepared addresses and those which bore the character of free conferences on special topics. The session of Thursday morning was of the former sort, and was given to papers in European history. Professor