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Show FAMILY STOCKS IN AMERICA. ' Bow the Place of rteetdtmoe Afrecto tba Dignity ant Wevthvof the Name. What thn an the. means of perpetuating perpetu-ating good family fey;kin akraoctacyf' Tboftrat iuntry lite. In Una regard domocnKaos-iijfcre much to learn from th European arietocracite which have) proved to-ba durable. Ail the vigorous urifrtocracfoe-of rjast-acentories lived in the coaatrv;,a large part of the year. The mcti worn soldiers and sportsmen for themiof.t part and lived, on- detached estates sparsely peopled by an agricultural agricult-ural and martial tenantry. They were often tx in camp than in the town oroity. Their women lived in castles, halls or chateaux in the open-conntry almost the whole year, and theirchildron were bom aud brought up there. The aristocratic and noble families of modern Europe still have their principal seats in the country, and go to town only for a fuW months of the year. Next, a permanent family should have a permanent dwelling place, dotnicilo, or home town. Iu older societies this has always been, the case. Indeed, a place often lent its name to a family. In American cities and largo towns there are as yet no such things as permanent family houses. Even lnitho-oldest cities 1 of the east hardly any family lives in a single bouse through the whole of one generation, and it is very-rare that two successive generations are born in the same house. Rapid changes of residence are the rule for almost everybody, so that a city directory which is more than one year old is untrustworthy for home addresses. It is almost impossible for the human mind to attribute dignity and social consideration con-sideration to a family whkh lives in a hotel or which moves into a new flat every 1st of May. In the country, however, things are much better. In the older states there ore plonty of families fami-lies which have inhabited theamo town for several generations; there are a few families which have inhabited the same house for three generations. The next means of promoting family permanence is the transmission of a family fam-ily business or occupation from father to sons. In all old countries this inheritance inherit-ance of a trado, shop or profession is a ! matter of course. Under right conditions, condi-tions, a transmitted bnsinoss tends to make a sound family more secure and permanent, and a permanent family tends to hold and perfect a valuable business. This principlo, which is securely se-curely founded on biological law, applies ap-plies best in the trades aud professions, in ordinary commerce, and in the in , dustries which do not require immense , capital; but in Europe many vast indus- i tries and many great financial and mer- ' cantile concerns are family properties, and there is in our own country already a distinct tendency to this family management man-agement of largo .businesses as being more economical and vigilant than corporate cor-porate management, and more discerning discern-ing and prompter in picking out and advancing ad-vancing capable men of all grades. President C. W. Eliot in Forum. I |