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THERN is R A E L I T_E
Mortimer L. Schiff Passes
Son Of Jacob Schiff Believed In Non-Sectarian Charity
By JULIUS MAYER
Mortimer L. SchifTs passing will be
lamented especially by the friends of the
good-will movement. To those who knew
him well he personified the perfect Ameri
can citizen whose interests were in no way
limited to any particular race or creed and
who joyfully supported all deserving causes
in his community and his country. Because
of this strictly non-sectarian interest he
was sometimes made the target of attacks
by specific elements who felt that his sup
port should have been theirs exclusively.
Gradually, however, he conquered these an
tagonists. At the time of his death he had
attained a universally respected position as
a communal leader and discerning philan
thropist.
Mortimer Schiff w r as born with a tre
mendous handicap. He was the son of Jacob
Schiff, American Jewry’s acknowledged
leader, and because of this people based
his claim to recognition on his parentage.
Having inherited his place in the financial
world and, to a certain extent, in the social
world, he was classified as Schiff’s son al
most until his father’s death a number of
years ago. His retiring nature and his re
luctance to mount platforms fitted him per
fectly for the position of Jacob Schiff’s son.
But those who had watched him develop
and were familiar with his work in the
financial and banking worlds knew that he
had attained a distinct personality of his
own.
The scion of the German Jewish finance
aristocracy, he was of course raised and
educated in the tradition of the Roths
childs, Oppenheims, Seligmans and Schiffs.
This means that he was looked upon as the
Crown Prince of the Schiff dynasty and
from early youth was trained for his fu
ture responsibilities. In line with this
Schiff tradition he was given a solid edu
cation, first in private schools and later at
Amherst College, graduating at the early
age of nineteen. His father being associated
with the American railroad king Harriman
at that time, the youth was directed to
study the practical business side of rail
roads, and did so with the New York, On
tario and Western Railroad and the Great
Northern Railroad. After this period of
practical apprenticeship Mortimer L. Schiff
went to Europe for two years, to familar-
ize himself, in Hamburg and London, with
European banking methods. At the age of
twenty-two he joined his father’s firm,
Kuhn, Loeb and Company, becoming a sen
ior member of this internationally famous
banking house before he reached the com
paratively early age of forty.
One is apt to regard the career of Morti
mer L. Schiff as the normal and uneventful
course of a rich man’s son. Such a view
would be superficial. In these days, when
the life-paths of father and son usually di
verge into opposite directions, it is rather
exceptional to find a “Crown Prince” who
at the death of the king fits so perfectly
The sudden death of Mortimer L. Schiff
on the very eve of his 54th birthday was a
severe shock to thousands of hn contem
poraries, who admired him as a worthy
son of a distinguished father. In this arti
cle are sketched the highlights of his
career, and a close-up is presented of
Mortimer Schiff the business man, the phi
lanthropist and the nutn.
MORTIMER L. SCHIFF
Distinguished son of a distinguish
ed father, eminent financier and
philanthropist, whose death re
moves an outstanding good-will
propagandist and active worker,
and one of the founders of Jewish
and non-Jewish youth movements.
mmiiiniimmiiiiiiiimiiiiimim
into the shoes of his predecessor. In Jew
ish life, perhaps more than in other
spheres, one could enumerate plenty of sons
on whom the mantles of their distinguish
ed fathers did not fall so graciously.
What about the tragedy of the Herzl
family? What of the frequent orientation
of rich men’s son to pseudo-artistic spheres
and then inclination toward amateurism
and dilettantism—witness the fami es of
the Kahns and Warburgs and so on and
so forth. True, this may be the reaction of
individuals who want to free themselves of
their materialistic surroundings. It may be
due to some other reasons; but the fact
remains that the rule is not a continuous
line of Jewish financial leaders in succes
sive generations.
Mortimer L. Schiff, however, found his
niche in communal, philanthropic and fi
nancial circles as behooved the son of so
distinguished a father. It should not be
overlooked that the life of the sons of
wealthy men is strewn with many obstacles
and snares. Mortimer Schiff’s financial ac
tivities fell in a period of frenzied finan
cial manipulations, of wild schemes and
spectacular stunting. At no time did he
fall a victim to any such temptation to
deviate from the Schiff’s tradition of solid,
ethical business in all its widely interna
tional ramifications.
In his philanthropic work he w 7 as drawn
primarily toward youth movements. He
was a pioneer in the Boy Scouts organiza
tion. In his social welfare work this was
probably his main interest. He was one
of the founders of this organization in the
United States, and only last month, in
recognition of his long service, he was
elected President of the Boy Scouts of
America. Tw r o years ago he contributed
fifty thousand dollars, as a gift to Lord
Baden-Powell, to be used for the extension
of international friendship through scout
ing. During his life he contributed hun
dreds of thousands of dollars to the devel
opment of the Boy Scouts, a movement
w r hich he saw as the most constructive or
ganized effort to prepare our youth for a
mentally and phsically healthy manhood.
To Jewish charity he brought the same
sober discernment as his distinguished
father. He w r as a generous contributor to
the New r York Federation of Jewish chari
ties, the Baron de Hirsch Fund, the Jew
ish Board of Guardians, of wdiich he was
President, and many other institutions ot
that character. He managed to steer clear
of all political affiliations, Jewish or non-
Jewish, satisfied to see his brother-in-law.
Felix M. Warburg, carry on the Schifi tra
dition in Jewish leadership. To the \oung
Men’s Hebrew 7 Association and the ’Uninj?
Men’s Christian Association he devoted
much of his time and means, as part o' n>
never-tiring interest in all worthy y<ni
movements.
During the World War Mortimer L.
Schiff performed many valuable sen es,
both in co-operation with the Govern
and in relief and social service. He - l>
equipped for this, having stood at his n ‘
er’s side for many years as an efh ■
adjutant in extense relief and ch >
work.
One can hardly enumerate all the n
sided philanthro- (Continued on Page '