Cornell University Library 
 
 HD 8073.E6L98 
 
 Henry B. Endicott; a brief memoir of his 
 
 niiiiiiiiniiiHiiiiiiiiiiii 
 
 3 1924 002 301 228 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NEW YORK STATE SCHOOL 
 
 OF 
 
 INDUSTRIAL AND LABOR 
 
 RELATIONS 
 
 AT 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
The original of tiiis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924002301228 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
tAff^ (%icUcisiU: 
 
M.^ 
 
 -*-q'-JU n 
 
 HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 A BRIEF MEMOIR 
 
 OF HIS LIFE AND HIS SERVICES 
 
 TO THE 
 
 STATE AND NATION 
 
 BOSTON 
 TRIVATELT PRINTED 
 
 MCMXXI 
 
Ciffright 1921 
 •B) WENDELL ENDICOTT 
 
HE WAS THE BEST FRIEND 
 I EVER HAD 
 
 OUCH was the feeling expressed by many thou- 
 ^^ sands, old and young, plutocrat, and wage-earner, 
 with whom Henry Endicott had been closely associ- 
 ated in public and private life, and to each of whom 
 his death constitutes an irreparable loss; a man whose 
 struggles to final triumphant success went ever hand 
 in hand with a loyal citizenship, a human sympathy, 
 and that rare thoughtful consideration of others which 
 so endeared him to all. What nobler monument, what 
 more uplifting memorial of the respect and affection 
 of one^ s fellow man! 
 
 George H. Lyman 
 
 i- 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 EARLY EDUCATION AND BUSINESS CAREER . . . i 
 
 DURING THE WORLD WAR 17 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 42 
 
 PLATES 
 
 HENRY B. ENDICOTT Frontispiece 
 
 AS CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC 
 
 SAFETY Z4 
 
 THE LAWN AT DEDHAM, MASS 40 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
EARLY EDUCATION AND 
 BUSINESS CAREER 
 
 HENRY BRADFORD ENDICOTT was 
 descended in direct line from Gilbert Endi- 
 cott, — or, Gilburt Indicott, as it was first writ- 
 ten, — yeoman, who, born in Dorchester, England, 
 emigrated to America and settled in Canton, Mas- 
 sachusetts, in 1658. Here he died in 171 6, as 
 shown by the tablet marking his grave now in the 
 cemetery of that town. 
 
 On the maternal side Endicott was the lineal 
 descendant of Johnathan Fairbanks, who came 
 from the West Riding of Yorkshire in the year 
 1633, and erected a home at Dedham, Massachu- 
 setts, of so substantial and durable a character that 
 the huge middle section of the house is now stand- 
 ing and in excellent preservation. 
 
 This building was occupied by different mem- 
 bers of the family until within a few years ; Re- 
 becca Fairbanks, spinster, being the last, when it 
 went temporarily into the possession of the Daugh- 
 ters of the American Revolution, and then shortly 
 thereafter to the Fairbanks Family Association, 
 in whose custody it now remains ; a valuable and 
 interesting relic, typical of the best of the old 
 New England homesteads. 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 An historical background of such noteworthy 
 New England stock, if unaccompanied by any im- 
 mediate means of livelihood or future material 
 promise, was Endicott's enviable, if only, heritage. 
 It was a legacy of courage, of force of character, 
 of high and patriotic purpose, — qualities inborn 
 and always with him. 
 
 With this birthright for his patrimony, thrown 
 at an early age on his own resources but possess- 
 ing great abilities and ceaseless energy, he founded 
 and finally brought to the pinnacle of success a 
 great commercial enterprise. 
 
 Henry Endicottwas born September ii, 1853, 
 on East Street, Dedham, in the old homestead 
 on whose site now stands the residence occupied 
 by him for many years past. His father, Augus- 
 tus Bradford Endicott, was a carpenter by trade, 
 a well-known and highly respected Democrat, 
 Sheriff of Norfolk County and President of the 
 Dedham National Bank, an office he retained to 
 the advanced age of ninety-three years. He was 
 also a farmer, but of very moderate means, so 
 that young Henry during his early boyhood was 
 called upon to do a great deal of work on the 
 place. In addition he assisted his mother to run a 
 milk farm, the profits from which were divided 
 between them. 
 
BUSINESS CAREER 
 
 His first schooling was at the East Street School, 
 Dedham, a small preparatory school, which he 
 entered in the kindergarten class. Later he at- 
 tended the Dedham High School, where he took 
 the full course to graduation. 
 
 On leaving the high school, at the age of eight- 
 een, he went to Boston in quest of work. He car- 
 ried no credentials; he had no acquaintances to 
 whom he might apply for help. Arriving at the 
 business section of the city, and beginning with 
 the first street he came to, he proceeded from 
 door to door inquiring if a boy were wanted, and 
 eventually obtained work in a plumber's shop. He 
 had not been there very long when he was some- 
 what drastically awakened to the fact that no one 
 is independent of his environment and the rules of 
 his employment. Later on he learned to appreci- 
 ate and admit the value of the lesson then taught 
 as of lasting advantage to him, though humor- 
 ously inclined to sidetrack any allusion to the in- 
 cident and with a fine irony to maintain that all 
 he ever knew about the plumbing business was 
 the extortionate prices one had to pay. 
 
 He had sought work in Boston to help out the 
 family exchequer, as well as to get started in life, 
 but had not as yet fully divorced himself from the 
 associations and call of his boyhood. So it came to 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 pass, shortly after his hiring, that a Massachusetts 
 State Fair was held at Readville, to which Henry 
 made up his mind to go and therewith informed 
 his employer to that effect ; and still further that 
 he proposed to take a day oif for the purpose. 
 This was peremptorily denied him, coupled with 
 the assurance that if he carried out his intent it 
 meant the immediate loss of his job. Nothing 
 daunted he went to the fair just the same, and 
 his appearance at the shop the following morning 
 was the signal for his being promptly fired. For 
 this escapade he was most severely reprimanded 
 by his father, who at the same time assured him 
 that he was already a failure, a mere rolling stone 
 and would never amount to anything. It is more 
 than likely, however, that the parent already recog- 
 nized in his son the seeds of that determined charac- 
 ter and will which in manhood, at every crisis of 
 his interesting life, was most effective in the face 
 of opposition, criticism, or threat in any form. 
 
 However, Henry was nothing dismayed, and the 
 very next morning found him again applying from 
 door to door till he finally obtained work in a hard- 
 ware concern at a wage of thirty-three and one- 
 third cents per day. This place he held for about 
 ten days when, not liking the way the employees 
 were treated, and to use his own words, " I went to 
 
BUSINESS CAREER 
 
 the head of the concern and told him I was going 
 to leave. He wished to know my reason. I told 
 him I did n't like the business, whereat he sug- 
 gested that the sooner I got out the better." 
 
 He then took a position in a wholesale woolen 
 store at the same salary of thirty-three and one- 
 third cents a day, and still later became a porter 
 and errand boy. These changes covered about a 
 year's time. Then he obtained work in the leather 
 district, the first stepping-stone to his ultimate 
 business success, and where he gained an educa- 
 tion and experience that was the foundation on 
 which he finally built up the greatest shoe man- 
 ufacturing concern in the world. 
 
 It is interesting in this connection to read a let- 
 ter of Endicott's, written some thirty years later 
 by the then successful and matured business man 
 to his son, at that time about twenty years of age 
 and in the employ of Endicott-Johnson — now 
 vice-president of the company — and to whom 
 a raise in salary from ten to twenty dollars a week 
 had been awarded. 
 
 Lestershire, N. Y., Nov. 2, 1903. 
 Dear Wendell : There are many things for 
 you to think about in connection with the last ac- 
 count of stock. You are getting in position, so that 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 your interest pays you a handsome income. Now 
 is the time for you to show what you are made of. 
 
 If you are foolish, you will increase your expen- 
 ses, and say to yourself, " This is more of an in- 
 come than I expected, and I can afford this and 
 that, and therefore I will have it." If you are wise, 
 you will say to yourself, " Now is the chance for 
 me to save money, and get a little ahead, so that 
 it can be earning interest, and so that I can have 
 some weight and something invested in the best 
 shoe business in the world." 
 
 In this business, you are bound to be thrown en- 
 tirely on your own resources. The fact that you 
 are my son will not help you at all. You will have 
 to be judged by your ability. Everyone connected 
 with this business has got to be put on the same 
 platform, and those that are found wanting will 
 have to "go by the wayside," no matter whose 
 feelings are hurt. 
 
 Now, I do not mean by writing you this letter 
 that I advise you to be mean and niggardly in any 
 way, but I advise you to have one set of rules. 
 That is, pay every dollar that you owe immedi- 
 ately ; never have a bill out of any kind ; never 
 borrow money from anybody ; pay cash for every- 
 thing ; and don't increase your expenses over what 
 they have been the last year. 
 
BUSINESS CAREER 
 
 This letter is not written lightly, and I hope you 
 will not throw it aside carelessly after reading it ; 
 for I believe that I have mentioned some things 
 in this letter that are absolutely necessary for you 
 to live up to, in order to make yourself any kind 
 of a success as a business man. 
 
 Father. 
 
 In 1 875, at the age of twenty-two years, Endicott 
 went into business for himself under the firm name 
 of H. B. Endicott & Company, opening an office 
 at 27 High Street, only a few doors from the pres- 
 ent Boston offices of Endicott-Johnson Corpora- 
 tion. He had at this time a meagre capital, 
 accumulated in the main from his savings. This 
 included a small amount left to him by his grand- 
 father, together with a loan from his father, all 
 totalling about $2,900. Yet back of this lay a great 
 courage and determination, supported by excep- 
 tionally sound judgment, a keen appreciation of 
 human nature, and an intuitive respect for the 
 square deal — assets which never failed him dur- 
 ing a long and remarkable career. 
 
 During his apprenticeship he had gained the con- 
 fidence of several influential tanners who learned 
 to have faith in his character and abilities, and 
 who, now that he was set up for himself, gave him 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 their lines to sell, backed by good will and sub- 
 stantial credit. 
 
 From this time on, by hard work and thrift, he 
 progressed step by step, until in the early nine- 
 ties he acquired an interest in the Lester Brothers 
 Shoe Company of Binghamton, New York. His 
 early association with this company, and how it 
 led finally to the formation of the Endicott-John- 
 son Corporation, may, in part, be given in his 
 own words : 
 
 " When I was conducting the leather business, 
 I sold a concern in Binghamton called the Lester 
 Brothers Shoe Company. The elder members of 
 the firm died or were incapacitated, and the busi- 
 ness was left to a son of one of the Lesters. He 
 was a bright fellow, but got into quite a number 
 of land speculations, etc., outside of his business, 
 so much so that he fo4nd it necessary to put his 
 business into a stock company, with 1150,000 
 capital, of which I subscribed $10,000 and was 
 made treasurer. This concern had started a fact- 
 ory about five miles from Binghamton in a place 
 which is now known as Johnson City. When I 
 became interested, I immediately satisfied myself 
 that it was a good place to manufacture boots and 
 shoes. The labor situation was desirable, and the 
 transportation facilities were fine. I soon found 
 
BUSINESS CAREER 
 
 that 1150,000 capital was insufficient to carry on 
 the business, and as I was treasurer I was obliged 
 to loan the company. Realizing that I was really 
 taking about all the risk there was in the business, 
 I deemed it wise to buy out the other stockhold- 
 ers, which I did. 
 
 " The concern was then known as the Lester- 
 shire Manufacturing Company. We did a business 
 the first year of about $600,000 and made some 
 money. I wasn't satisfied with the manager of 
 the factory, and a young man, who was foreman 
 of one of the departments, applied for the posi- 
 tion, agreeing to work one year for nothing if he 
 did not show results. That man was George F. 
 Johnson, who afterward became my partner. 
 
 " The business developed rapidly and in a few 
 years had doubled. We then thought it wise to 
 start a factory in the country about six miles from 
 Johnson City, and accordingly built a factory and 
 started the town of Endicott. I put the responsi- 
 bilities of handling the help and the manufactur- 
 ing of the shoes entirely in the hands of my 
 partner. I took charge of the selling and financial 
 end of the business. We were then selling to the 
 wholesale trade. Shortly after that it was our 
 judgment that we ought to sell to the retail trade 
 direct, and we accordingly started to do this. 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 having the headquarters for that department at 
 Endicott, New York, and a small branch in New 
 York city. Rather to our surprise, we not only 
 sold the retail trade direct, but our wholesale 
 trade stayed with us also. 
 
 " Believing that we should sell to the customer 
 more directly, we started, in a modest way, a few 
 retail stores, and from that time on our trade has 
 increased with the wholesalers, with the retailers, 
 and through our retail stores. In order to elimi- 
 nate outside parties, we decided that we should 
 tan and finish our own sole leather and our own 
 upper leather. We accordingly built tanneries 
 at Endicott. 
 
 "As I stated above, our first year's turnover was 
 about $600,000 ; our turnover today (October, 
 1 9 1 9), including shoes and leather, will probably 
 amount to $80,000,000 or $90,000,000 per year. 
 As you know, today we are a corporation with 
 $36,000,000 capital." 
 
 Henry Endicott was twice married. First to Miss 
 Caroline Williams Russell, who bore him two 
 children, both now living, — Henry Wendell, his 
 partner for many years in Endicott-Johnson Cor- 
 poration, and Gertrude. His second wife, who 
 survives him, was Mrs. Louisa Clapp Colburn, 
 
BUSINESS CAREER 
 
 whose two children by a previous marriage, Sam 
 and Katherine, bear his name. 
 
 Endicott was a splendid example of a true hu- 
 manitarian, but always disclaimed philanthropy 
 as the motive for any of his actions, and wher- 
 ever possible shifted the burden of a good deed 
 to the credit of his partners and to utility. In the 
 management of their affairs and the extreme so- 
 licitude they took for the welfare of their employ- 
 ees, he maintained that they were influenced solely 
 by the business efficiency assured through keeping 
 the workman happy. On this principle they saw 
 to it that their employees were well nourished and 
 housed, and also provided with adequate oppor- 
 tunity for diversion and pleasure. To this end free 
 medical aid was given to the help, and more than 
 ten thousand people were fed three times a day 
 at a charge per meal of fifteen cents for each per- 
 son. This, though showing a direct loss, Endicott 
 claimed to be more than repaid by the gain in 
 morale and the health of the employee ; but 
 through it all and with it all prevailed an im- 
 mutable kindliness and the underlying principle 
 of the square deal. Whether he was prompted by 
 humanity or counseled by business acumen or by 
 both, this maxim was ever a prime factor through- 
 out his life. 
 
 13 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 The same rule of conduct governed his private 
 charities, which were as quiet and unobtrusive as 
 they were generous and painstaking. He never 
 gave them publicity, nor on the other hand at- 
 tempted any concealment ; but there are many 
 who could bear witness to his prompt, unosten- 
 tatious assistance, to his ready advice and sympa- 
 thy, and how much this all meant to them in 
 their discouragement and distress. 
 
 He was tied down by no political ambitions or 
 affiliations, though by birth, if not by choice, a 
 Democrat. The world saw in him a captain of in- 
 dustry ; that was his recognized place in the pub- 
 lic eye. He was prominent and wealthy, with 
 an enviable reputation for business sagacity and 
 achievement, serving on the board of some dozen 
 leading banks and institutions as director, trustee, 
 vice-president and president, his name and influ- 
 ence universally respected. 
 
 One example may be sufficient to illustrate the 
 magnitude of his private business. In 19 19, so 
 great was the demand for their product that al- 
 though employing 15,000 men and turning out 
 75,000 pairs of shoes a day, the Endicott- Johnson 
 Corporation was forced to refuse over $50,000,- 
 000 worth of new business, and to meet this de- 
 mand immediately began to erect such additional 
 
BUSINESS CAREER 
 
 factories and tanneries as would insure a daily out- 
 put of over 1 00,000 pairs. 
 
 Such, succinctly told, were some of the more 
 pertinent features of Endicott's business career. 
 Yet he in no wise escaped the innumerable set- 
 backs of wrecked hopes, discouragement and 
 failure incident to the life of every self-made man 
 who from a narrow foothold has climbed to the 
 top. These were all Endicott's and to no small 
 degree. He once facetiously remarked that he 
 fattened on them. 
 
 And so, from a stripling, his mother's helper on 
 the ancestral farm, and from the plumber's boy 
 with scanty wage, he had made his mark and 
 fought his way to affluence and highly respected 
 citizenship. His work, as he had anticipated it, 
 was finished. He had reached his appointed 
 goal. At sixty-four years of age it would seem 
 as if the time had at last arrived to shift from 
 his own shoulders the major burdens of his stren- 
 uous life and to take the rest so well earned 
 and needed. 
 
 Now was the accepted opportunity for longer 
 trips to his ducking club in the south. Shooting 
 was a passion with him and he was a remarkably 
 good shot. Here was the chance for leisure, for 
 reading, for travel, for unlimited golf, and the 
 
 >5 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 many games and sports for whose full enjoyment he 
 had heretofore been unable to spare the time. 
 
 The way seemed open for a longer, broader as- 
 sociation with the world at large, and the joyful 
 freer companionship of his fellows — peculiarly 
 dear to him and necessary to his full content. 
 But the riper harvest of his character was not yet 
 garnered. The time was at hand when the fibre 
 of truest manhood in him was to prove his un- 
 selfish patriotism, his larger citizenship, his love 
 for country and his fellow man. 
 
 i6 
 
DURING THE WORLD WAR 
 
 In the early part of January, 1 91 7, the great con- 
 flict raging in Europe became daily more threat- 
 ening to the safety, and pressed closer on the 
 conscience of our countrymen. They awoke at 
 last to the fact that they might at any moment 
 be directly involved in the struggle tovv^ard which 
 we had been slowly drifting, and for which we 
 were cruelly unprepared. 
 
 At this juncture Massachusetts was the first of 
 the states to prove by overt act a full appreciation 
 of the danger ; as she was later — largely through 
 Endicott's efforts — the first to equip and put a 
 National Guard Division in the field ; which again 
 was the first to cross the seas and the first to go 
 over the top. 
 
 On February 9th, Governor McCall appointed 
 one hundred citizens of the Commonwealth as a 
 Committee on Public Safety. The allotment was 
 widely distributed throughout the state, and sub- 
 sequently other names were added, including En- 
 dicott's oddly enough not on the original list. 
 
 It was quickly recognized that the committee 
 in addition to its chairman must have a chief ex- 
 ecutive who should carry on the practical work- 
 ing of its policies. For this purpose Endicott was 
 
 17 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 appointed chairman of the Executive Committee 
 and given a wide control. The story of his choos- 
 ing as well as the manner of his acceptance was a 
 striking example of extraordinary promptness of 
 decision and unswerving patriotism. The chair- 
 man of the Committee on Public Safety meeting 
 Endicott at lunch on a business matter told him 
 of his embarrassment, of the plans of the commit- 
 tee as already laid out, of the tremendous amount 
 of work involved and how a man of affairs with 
 administrative experience was needed, but that he 
 was completely at a loss as to where he could lay 
 his finger on any one of such calibre who would 
 be willing to devote his whole time and energies 
 uninterruptedly to the cause. Almost instantly 
 Endicott replied, " How would a man of about 
 my size do? I am ready — now." In this way he 
 became the brilliant leader of the Executive Com- 
 mittee, and at once gave himself heart and soul to 
 the task. 
 
 From that date, February 15, 191 7, until the 
 signing of the armistice, November 11, 19 18, a 
 period of twenty-one months, Endicott became 
 completely absorbed in his newly acquired duties, 
 laying aside all other personal interests and work- 
 ing day and night and more than once into the 
 dawn of the morrow. 
 
DURING THE WORLD WAR 
 
 During this entire period he never entered his 
 New York offices nor engaged in the manage- 
 ment of the Endicott-Johnson affairs, although 
 president of that company ; nor meanwhile did he 
 even once visit the new offices opened in the in- 
 terim on High Street, Boston. 
 
 Immediately following his assumption of office 
 came the threat of a coal famine, and the chair- 
 man of the Committee on Public Safety was 
 placed by special state and federal appointment 
 in supreme control of an organization looking to 
 the protection of New England's fuel supply. This 
 proved to be all that any one man could attend to, 
 so that thereafter practically the entire direction 
 of the Committee on Public Safety and the re- 
 sponsibility for its activities devolved upon Endi- 
 cott's shoulders in addition to his chairmanship 
 of the Executive Committee. To those who knew 
 him best, and especially to those who worked in 
 closest partnership in the active and trying season 
 that followed, it would seem as if this disposition 
 and concentration of authority proved distinctly 
 for the best. 
 
 Endicott was a born leader of men, resourceful 
 and possessing consummate tact. He had proved 
 his title to leadership again and again. Moreover, 
 for years he had been accustomed to have that 
 
 19 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 position, as of right, accorded him by his fellows. 
 Looking back, it would appear that only an unfet- 
 tered hand could have enabled him to carry out 
 the splendid administration he gave to the com- 
 mittee and to the Commonwealth. 
 
 We have already seen how his previous career 
 was built around one absorbing interest — the per- 
 fecting of the great commercial enterprise which 
 bore his name and of which he was the head. 
 But now he was venturing on an unexplored field 
 of activity, indeterminate in itself and with an en- 
 tirely dissimilar environment. In behalf of his state, 
 and at a time of great anxiety and patriotic fervor, 
 he was called to the management of a popular 
 effort towards winning the war and minimizing 
 as far as possible its attendant sufferings. The com- 
 mittee's line of procedure was still in embryo. The 
 full scope of its effort was, at the time, admittedly 
 unknown, while its striking future was scarcely 
 even a dream. It was a great conception, demand- 
 ing prompt and decisive action, and at once drafted 
 our best citizenship. 
 
 To no one did the summons appeal with greater 
 force than to Endicott himself. Yet he recognized 
 the inevitable pitfalls ahead, and, at first, more 
 than once expressed his anxiety that due to his 
 methodical business life he might be hampered 
 
 20 
 
DURING THE WORLD WAR 
 
 in his new task. He certainly had also a great 
 ambition to make good in the new venture which 
 quickly absorbed as well as profoundly interested 
 him. The possibility of failure never entered his 
 mind ; he was not accustomed to that. Results as 
 affecting himself were relegated to the back- 
 ground. Throughout the war his life was made 
 submissive to his ideals and the duties they evolved, 
 no matter what the cost to him personally. 
 
 His precept from the beginning never changed : 
 " Win the war ! " He ascribed very little credit 
 to his own account, and it is doubtful if at any 
 time he at all appreciated how his brain, his influ- 
 ence and his personality everywhere prevailed 
 and won. 
 
 From early boyhood Endicott was genuinely 
 susceptible to patriotic impulse. The Civil War 
 was over when he was scarcely twelve years of 
 age; but it had been a grievous disappointment 
 to the lad that he was not allowed to serve as 
 drummer-boy or in any other capacity, and he 
 took this very much to heart. 
 
 Again, early in 1917, he offered his fifty-five- 
 foot power yacht of the express cruiser class to 
 the government for patrol purposes, agreeing to 
 put it in commission with full crew,— himself if 
 wanted to be included, — and in addition to pay 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 the expense of equipping, manning, and running 
 it under government orders. 
 
 On becoming, however, the executive of the 
 Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety, he 
 tentatively w^ithdrew this offer, not accepted as 
 yet, until he could ascertain whether the use of 
 the boat would be valuable to the committee in 
 its work. This proved not to be the case. 
 
 Later, the government having decided that it 
 had no further use for vessels of that size, Endicott 
 offered the boat to Admiral Wood, who was most 
 anxious to use it in connection with the service at 
 the Boston Navy Yard ; but once more the offer 
 was turned down by the Department at Washing- 
 ton, and for the same reason as before. 
 
 Of his associates at the State House there were 
 five, one woman and four men, whom he desig- 
 nated as his " war partners." The latter had their 
 appointed tasks, either as chairmen of subcom- 
 mittees or in carrying out the policies of the Ex- 
 ecutive in accordance with Endicott's direction 
 wherever their services were needed. These, with 
 a few others, lunched regularly together every 
 day at a preempted room at the Exchange Club, 
 where each had his certain seat, with Endicott at 
 the head of the table, while chance decided who 
 should be host. This hour, offering as it did a 
 
DURING THE WORLD WAR 
 
 definite measure of rest, and where all shop talk 
 was decried, if not fully avoided, was to each the 
 one bright spot in the long day. Here was no 
 restraint, no obligation to committee duties — a 
 mutual comradeship prevailing, but with Endicott 
 still the appointed leader in all things as well as 
 the particular bon camarade of every one present. 
 This was not deference to his position, but in re- 
 sponse to a rare personal charm, generally acknowl- 
 edged and which won and bound men to him. 
 
 Endicott had at once appreciated the very great 
 value of woman's cooperation and the necessity of 
 a full coordination between all parties in war 
 work. He therefore brought together all the 
 Massachusetts women's organizations throughout 
 the state and installed them as a branch of the 
 Committee on Public Safety with offices at the 
 State House ; and his fifth partner. Miss Thayer, 
 administered thereafter practically all the import- 
 ant woman's war functions throughout the Com- 
 monwealth. He once remarked, and most ingen- 
 uously, that he thought it astonishing, except as 
 proving what earnestness of purpose a great cause 
 could effect, that these partners, all of whom were 
 or had been leaders in their respective callings, 
 settled down regularly day in and day out, the 
 men rubbing elbows in the stuffy crowded inner 
 
 23 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 office, and all keeping steadily at their work with- 
 out break or complaint like the good soldiers they 
 were. Yet the only truly astonishing thing about 
 it all was his innate modesty and lack of self-con- 
 sciousness, and that he should have honestly had 
 so limited an appreciation of the true strength of 
 his leadership. However, he became immensely 
 proud of what the committee, as such, accom- 
 plished ; also that it was the first organization of 
 its kind in the United States, and that the example 
 of Massachusetts was directly followed and on the 
 same lines by other states and still later by federal 
 agencies, until finally every state in the Union was 
 covered, and the great " home army, " as he 
 himself baptized it, was recruited and mustered 
 into service. 
 About this time he remarked to a friend : 
 " I am not a politician. I do not want any public 
 office in this state or in the nation. My sole object 
 in doing the work I am engaged in is to render 
 the public such service as I am capable of — a duty 
 I feel incumbent on every citizen of this country 
 in this crisis. I am enlisted for the war. All my 
 energies, all my time, my business experience and 
 knowledge of affairs I willingly and gladly give to 
 the state and to the nation. I shall feel amply re- 
 paid if I can convince myself that I have been 
 
 24 
 
A GREAT PLAGE. 
 
 RESERVE the right of thy place, hut stir not 
 questions of jurisdiction ; and rather assume thy 
 'fight in silence, and '■'■ de facto " than voice it with 
 claims and challenges. Preserve likewise the rights of 
 inferior places; and think it more honor to direct in 
 chief than to be busy at all. Embrace and invite helps 
 and advices touching the execution of thy place ; and 
 do not drive away such as bring thee information, as 
 meddlers, but accept of them iji good part. 
 
 Bacon 
 
 
 4 
 
DURING THE WORLD WAR 
 
 able to contribute something in behalf of the 
 common cause in which the United States is en- 
 gaged — the defeat of Prussianism and autocracy 
 and the triumph of democracy as we understand 
 it in this country." 
 
 Such was the high plane of vantage, the soldier's 
 spirit with which he undertook to direct a cam- 
 paign against every discordant element in the 
 Commonwealth, amalgamating its mighty possi- 
 bilities into one forceful unit of strength. And 
 yet, on the very threshold, he was confronted 
 by a tangle of hidebound laws confused in their 
 meaning, inelastic, and enveloped in a cordon 
 of red tape. 
 
 Our country had entered upon a perilous cru- 
 sade — not of its own creating — and at no time 
 did the majesty of the law demand greater respect 
 and obedience. It was a fearsome thing to repu- 
 tation as well as to personal safety for the individ- 
 ual to dare interpret the administration of the law 
 otherwise than in accordance with the written 
 word and established precedent, no matter how 
 obvious and pressing the necessity. But this never 
 seemed to cause Endicott the least anxiety. Not 
 once, if his unqualified judgment and common 
 sense so prompted, did he hesitate to cut openly 
 and ruthlessly any and all red tape if by so doing 
 
 25 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 he might enhance efficiency and bring about a 
 speedier and more satisfactory result. And this 
 happened very many times, and oddly enough 
 Washington never called him to account, but on 
 the contrary ratified his acts. More often than not 
 the government directly endorsed the very prin- 
 ciple he had evolved, making it its own rule of 
 procedure for future and similar cases. Moreover, 
 he knew that under the Commonwealth Defence 
 Act, as a servant of this Commonwealth he had a 
 latitude that made him in a measure independent 
 of federal control, and, to quote his own words at 
 one time : " This is the way that private business 
 is run. No private business could be run the way 
 the government conducts its business. It would be 
 in the hands of a receiver in no time." 
 
 It may easily be understood how at a period of 
 crisis, when all officialdom was groaning under the 
 weight of absurd technicalities, Endicott's virile 
 independence, manly and efficient courage, did 
 not lessen his popularity with the committee or 
 impair the respect which was his throughout the 
 Commonwealth. In fact, the national govern- 
 ment itself was not slow to appreciate this, and 
 to a certain degree he was the means of stimulat- 
 ing that august body to broader lines of action and 
 greater efficiency. 
 
 z6 
 
DURING THE WORLD WAR 
 
 It is unnecessary to dwell here on the multiple 
 functions of the Committee on Public Safety, or 
 to point out how every angle of its work imbibed 
 life and vigor under the magic touch of the man 
 who directed its functions. The story of the com- 
 mittee was related long since. Its service remains 
 an integral part of the history of the Common- 
 wealth, But a few specific instances might well be 
 touched upon, not only in happy illustration of 
 Endicott's work as administrator, but likewise as 
 showing how the appeal of human suffering met 
 his eager and ever sympathetic response. 
 
 On Thursday, December 6, 1 9 1 7, at 1 1 .20 a. m., 
 the Board of Food Administration being at the 
 moment in session at the State House, word came 
 of the terrible holocaust at Halifax, a foreign city 
 to be sure, but an allied port. 
 
 Neither its welfare nor its succor came immedi- 
 ately within the accredited purposes for which the 
 Committee on Public Safety was created, and at 
 the time of the explosion the committee was hav- 
 ing its full share of worries besides being over- 
 weighted with work. The governor, in behalf of 
 the state, at once offered aid, and all eyes turned 
 directly towards the committee. Without hesita- 
 tion Endicott accepted in its behalf this by no 
 
 27 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 means slight and additional burden and at once 
 organized the memorable relief expedition, which 
 was en route to the scene of disaster by ten o'clock 
 that Thursday evening, carrying to the stricken 
 city, besides doctors and nurses, a large and varied 
 assortment of medical supplies together with food 
 and clothing. On the same day the governor ap- 
 pointed from the membership of the Committee 
 on Public Safety the permanent Halifax Relief 
 Committee, with Endicott as chairman, who the 
 next day, December 7, instituted a general appeal 
 for financial aid. This brought an immediate and 
 most generous response from all over the state. 
 On December 8, under Endicott's direction, a 
 Halifax Relief Bureau was installed at the State 
 House. On Sunday, the 9th, but three days after 
 the explosion, a great cargo of supplies and food 
 of every conceivable kind left the port of Boston 
 bound for Halifax. 
 
 For quick and incisive conception, combined 
 with extraordinary administrative despatch, all 
 framed with rare dramatic interest, this achieve- 
 ment probably stands without parallel in the an- 
 nals of the Commonwealth. 
 
 Nor did Endicott let the matter drop here. His 
 interest never flagged. He found time to visit the 
 city, and then persistently, after the Committee on 
 
 28 
 
DURING THE WORLD WAR 
 
 Public Safety had wound up its affairs and until 
 the time of his death, he showed a keen personal 
 concern in the problem of resuscitation. His name 
 and memory will ever be writ large on the his- 
 toric journal of Halifax town, and it is understood 
 to be the present intention that one of the more 
 important streets in the rebuilt district shall bear 
 his name. 
 
 On February 13, 1920, the members of the 
 City Council of Halifax, in a letter to Governor 
 Coolidge, expressed a profound sense of their great 
 personal loss, and how Endicott's memory* would 
 always be cherished by the citizens of Halifax. 
 Alluding to his service in their behalf, the mess- 
 age reads : 
 
 " With grateful heart we accepted these services, 
 and with open arms we received him when he 
 came here personally to see what further help our 
 necessities required. The citizens of Halifax fully 
 appreciate his noble work and untiring energy in 
 our behalf and trust you will inform the members 
 of his family and the people of Massachusetts, who 
 also did so much for us during that ordeal, of the 
 genuine sorrow we feel at his demise." 
 
 Let us now turn to that other devastation that 
 came upon our own people when the influenza 
 
 29 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 scourge, beginning early in September, 191 8, 
 swept through our New England homes, leaving 
 thousands upon thousands to perish in its trail. 
 
 On September 25, Governor McCall appointed 
 the Emergency Health Committee, its member- 
 ship again drawn from the Committee of One 
 Hundred and with Endicott as chairman. 
 
 Here again we have an example of the more 
 important of those many activities which, unher- 
 alded, were constantly springing up in varied 
 form, but which came more directly within the 
 prescribed purposes of the Committee on Public 
 Safety. The plague was sapping the strength of 
 our people and thereby directly menaced the effic- 
 iency of our army and navy, both at home and 
 abroad. The gravest feature immediately present- 
 ing itself was the scarcity of doctors and nurses. 
 The necessities of the war had already summoned 
 them in large numbers to the camps and the seat 
 of conflict, and for some time past serious com- 
 plaints had been heard that not enough medicos 
 were left to safeguard the normal conditions of 
 everyday life at home. 
 
 Futhermore, a surprising lack of emergency ac- 
 commodations developed, and a like deficiency in 
 hospital outfits and medical supplies. The sudden 
 visitation was appalling, and its curse hung over 
 
 30 
 
DURING THE WORLD WAR 
 
 us like a nightmare, handicapped as we were by 
 the ruthless grasp of the war and with no ade- 
 quate reservoir of supplies to meet so grave a crisis. 
 
 But to all this Endicott was fully equal, although 
 at first the gravity of the situation alarmed and 
 worried him more than any other he had been 
 forced to face. At once, by message and spoken 
 word, by wire and telephone, he began a system- 
 atic combing of the Commonwealth in search 
 of help, carrying his plan also into many other 
 states. The result was immediate and stimulating. 
 From every quarter distinguished practitioners, 
 side by side with students and lay volunteers, 
 answered to the summons. He did not hesitate to 
 enter the family circle and in the name of country 
 and humanity demand help — and he got it. 
 Whether he claimed the robust boy who might 
 be detailed to general work, or the more delicate 
 girl whose only known qualification for a nurse 
 was her diploma of courage and unselfishness, his 
 prayer was nobly answered. 
 
 Fortunately the state, without any delay, sup- 
 plied the committee with extra and adequate funds 
 for the special purpose of fighting the epidemic. 
 If, however, in any instance additional expense 
 was deemed advisable, while at the same time it 
 was questionable whether the outlay would be rati- 
 
 31 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 fied under the state's appropriation, here, as in all 
 branches of the general work, Endicott would 
 personally guarantee the cost of what in his judg- 
 ment was required to be done. As sometimes hap- 
 pened, he was compelled eventually to pay the bill 
 out of his own pocket. Nothing, that human en- 
 ergy or material assistance could possibly avoid, 
 was allowed to obstruct the committee's work. 
 
 As an example, at one time in the vicinity of 
 Boston, a gruesome spectacle presented itself. The 
 toll of death had multiplied so rapidly that there 
 were no caskets of any kind to be had, nor graves 
 dug to receive the bodies waiting for burial. Very 
 many dead were consequently denied their final 
 resting-place. In response to Endicott's personal 
 appeal a large cabinetmaker lent fifteen of his 
 workmen to meet the difficulty, while graves 
 were also selected and properly prepared. 
 
 Again, through personal appeal, he enlisted the 
 clergy of every denomination throughout the state 
 to argue the committee's propaganda from the 
 pulpit. He obtained quarters and housing free in 
 all sections of the Commonwealth ; and in many 
 instances it was primarily due to him and his com- 
 mittee that shacks for emergency hospitals were 
 planned and erected in less than forty-eight hours. 
 He strenuously inveighed against all unnecessary 
 
 32 
 
DURING THE WORLD WAR 
 
 gatherings, including schools, theatres, motion 
 picture shows, churches wherever possible, out- 
 of-door meetings, parades, shopping, and every- 
 thing that helped to crowd buildings or stores, as 
 conducive to the spread of the disease. All this 
 naturally gave rise to immediate protest and alarm. 
 But this was short-lived, for the patriotic and wise 
 example of those in control of the Liberty Loan 
 drive was very generally followed all along the 
 line. In relation to this Endicott said : 
 
 " When I speak of carrying on the war, the ac- 
 tion of the Liberty Loan Committee points out 
 to us all the way our duty lies. The Liberty Loan 
 Committee realizes the seriousness of the situa- 
 tion ; they had laid out their entire plans for the 
 coming campaign for months, and all these plans 
 they have changed to save the people of Massa- 
 chusetts, believing that by so doing they are con- 
 tributing to the success of the war. They have 
 sacrificed more in making this change than any 
 other organization, public or private, could possi- 
 bly do. 
 
 "The cancellation of all Liberty Loan meetings 
 places upon the people of Massachusetts a respon- 
 sibility for individual effort far greater than that 
 which the citizens of any other state are called 
 upon to bear. It is comparatively easy to subscribe 
 
 33 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 generously when the emotions are stirred by the 
 appeal of a soldier fresh from overseas, or by the 
 thrill of patriotic music, or by the sight of a 
 neighbor's response. Massachusetts will have the 
 benefit of none of these rallying forces to arouse 
 the generosity of her subscribers. The very ab- 
 sence of parades and oratory, however, makes the 
 duty of each man and woman clearer than ever 
 before. Subscriptions which have heretofore been 
 made in the excitement of public gatherings must 
 be offset by the appeal to each man's conscience. 
 It will never be said of Massachusetts that she was 
 so immersed in her own private troubles that for 
 one moment she failed to heed the nation's call 
 to practical service. Massachusetts must and will 
 do her part." 
 
 His labors throughout the epidemic were heroic. 
 He was discouraged by no obstacle ; he was dis- 
 mayed by no repulse; he consistently refused to 
 take " no " for an answer. He toiled day and night 
 to the utmost of his strength and beyond. This 
 he did despite every appeal and warning from 
 family, physician, associate and friend. He com- 
 pletely sank his own individuality in fighting the 
 horror that was upon us — and he won. 
 
 Not many weeks later and after the armistice, 
 when the Committee on Public Safety had dis- 
 
 34 
 
DURING THE WORLD WAR 
 
 banded, and the secondary epidemic of influenza 
 occurred, both state and city were found to be 
 ready and fully equipped to cope with the disease. 
 There is surely no more thrilling incident in 
 Endicott's life than his untiring devotion and self- 
 sacrifice at this time. Indeed the feeling prevails 
 today amongst those closest and dearest to Mm, 
 that it was here he finally and irretrievably under- 
 mined that nervous, sinewT" strength and reserve 
 force which had proved him capable of such 
 superb effort ; which had stood by him and the 
 Commonwealth so many months only to give 
 way at last to the ravages of that very disease from 
 whose grasp he had rescued so many others. 
 
 On July II, 1 9 1 7, Endicott was appointed by 
 Governor McCall State Food Administrator for 
 Massachusetts, and at the same time Mr. Hoover 
 asked him to act as his personal representative in 
 Massachusetts. This latter was followed by direct 
 federal appointment on the passage of the Federal 
 Control Act, August 10, 19 17. 
 
 He was thus vested with an immense authority, 
 by virtue of the Massachusetts Commonwealth 
 Defence Act and the Federal Control Act com- 
 bined. He was the only man in the Union that had 
 this dual trust conferred upon him. His authority 
 
 35 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 in Massachusetts was greater and more far-reach- 
 ing than any ever before entrusted to one of her 
 citizens. The combination, moreover, w^as exceed- 
 ingly useful in enabling him to forestall or neu- 
 tralize many annoying differences betw^een the 
 state and the government, sure to arise where 
 there was a division of control. It was also ample 
 to meet every contingency. But what was equally 
 important and helpful, and vital to one of his 
 antecedents and temperament if he was to obtain 
 the best results, it gave him practically a free hand 
 and caused his policies to be generally endorsed 
 and their carrying-out respected. 
 
 Endicott was not long in selecting his Board of 
 Food Administration, recruited largely from the 
 ranks of the Committee on Public Safety but in 
 every particular with a view of embracing as 
 extensive a range as possible of all interests in 
 any way connected with the production and con- 
 servation of food. It was in this special branch 
 of service that his long business training may 
 have been of greatest assistance to his country 
 and in carrying out his public work. 
 
 It must always be borne in mind that, as head 
 of the Committee on Public Safety, Endicott was 
 directing innumerable activities with their organi- 
 zations not yet, in many instances, completed, 
 
 36 
 
DURING THE WORLD WAR 
 
 nor the full scope of their functions approved and 
 tested. It would have been well nigh impossible 
 for any one except the most highly trained and 
 efficient business man to dare to hope for success 
 in the task he had now constantly before him. 
 
 But no doubt whatever of his ability to make 
 good seemed to disturb him. The bent of his 
 mind was innately otherwise. This was not con- 
 ceit nor allied to vanity — characteristics of which 
 he had not a particle in his composition. To his 
 mind there was something that had to be done 
 and that quickly, which he was appointed to do 
 and therefore it must and should be done. His in- 
 clinations, his experience, and his successes en- 
 couraged this attitude in every fresh branch of the 
 committee's work. If ever a man lived whose 
 dictionary eliminated the word " cannot " the 
 Massachusetts Food Administrator was that man. 
 
 As soon as he had formed the skeleton of his 
 Food Board, which later had no superior if any 
 equal in the country, he directed a general in- 
 ventory to be taken of the actual and possible food 
 resources of the state, together with all industries 
 directly or indirectly engaged in the use', supply, 
 production, and conservation of food. Far-sighted 
 plans — for no man could approximate the dura- 
 tion of the war — offensive and defensive, Endi- 
 
 37 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 cott carefully considered and as far as possible put 
 into immediate operation. The past history of food 
 stringency, of scarcity and famine, wherever re- 
 lated to war or sudden emergency, he carefully 
 studied and tabulated. 
 
 He conceived a unique plan of food conservation 
 and regulation by means of county committees, 
 which became generally adopted throughout the 
 country. New and grave economic questions in- 
 volving supply and demand, price and distribu- 
 tion, exportation and reserve, hotel and restaurant, 
 would arise overnight and had to be met justly 
 and promptly. 
 
 Endicott invariably sought to obtain, as far as 
 humanly possible, voluntary cooperation, and was 
 opposed to all forceful measures except as a last 
 resort. He therefore only too gladly supported 
 Hoover — for whom he had a profound admira- 
 tion — in his stand against compulsory rationing. 
 All bureaucracy was abhorrent to his principles 
 and his democratic instincts, and he scrupulously 
 avoided any approach thereto. He appointed as 
 associates not only those he considered most cap- 
 able for the work, but who likewise were willing 
 to give their undivided time. He sought to attain 
 his ends by publicity and personal entreaty, rather 
 than by the exercise of the tremendous power 
 
 38 
 
DURING THE WORLD WAR 
 
 with which he was vested. It was, as always, the 
 ultimate goal that he had at heart, to be won if 
 possible by persuasion and appeal to patriotism 
 rather than by the iron hand of authority. 
 
 Endicott always endeavored to practice what he 
 preached, and ordered his daily life in full accord- 
 ance with what he asked of others as demanded 
 by the economic situation. His hospitality was 
 never checked, but his accustomed lavishness as 
 host, as well as the entire menage of his house- 
 hold, was brought to a strict observance of the 
 prescribed rules and requests. Many suggestions 
 offered by the Board of Food Administration were 
 of a nature incapable of direct enforcement, and 
 in these he was the first to meet the situation by 
 personal example. 
 
 One instance of this was in relation to the urgent 
 prayer that every citizen owning a piece of arable 
 land should plant at least a portion of the same 
 with vegetables or some other food supply. 
 
 Sloping southerly from his homestead at Dedham 
 he owned one of the finest lawns in the state, 
 brought to perfection as the result of many years 
 of painstaking care, and Endicott prized its posses- 
 sion very highly, and above all else on the estate. 
 Its beauty was a matter of pride to the entire 
 community ; but one morning, directly after the 
 
 39 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 general propaganda sent out by the Food Board, 
 the neighbors were shocked to witness a plough 
 tearing up the sod; but despite their urgent appeals 
 the entire lawn was soon turned into a potato field. 
 His regulations, the same for all, and especially 
 his dietary restrictions, were often not very popu- 
 lar — generally in consequence of ignorance of 
 the issues involved. These sometimes touched the 
 pride, even to testing the loyalty of the citizen. 
 His advices and requests — which might equally 
 as well have been enforcible commands — quite 
 often invoked the wrath and ridicule of the house- 
 holder, who asserted that as his house was his own 
 it was no one's else business what character or 
 amount of food was served on his table. At first 
 this feeling was inclined to be somewhat more 
 general than one would have supposed. But stead- 
 ily and surely, with infinite tact he succeeded in 
 bringing to his support whole groups of luxury- 
 loving people. Despite the open and covert sneers 
 of a scattered few, he made his ideas popular and 
 later even fashionable, and those contrary-minded 
 came to be considered as neither patriotic nor as 
 acting in good form or taste. In a delicate way, 
 and rigidly setting the example himself, he put 
 others on their honor — and society very generally 
 applauded and fell into line. 
 
 40 
 
#■ 
 
 if 
 
 t 
 
 LAWN AT DEDHAM HOMESTEAD 
 
 1 
 
 ■'1 
 
 
DURING THE WORLD WAR 
 
 The drastic power given to the Food Adminis- 
 tration was justifiable only as a war measure. It 
 would have been without warrant and distinctly 
 un-American in time of peace. But a master hand 
 was needed to interpret and exercise this authority, 
 lest the patriotic fervor of our citizens be swayed 
 and their highest standards of duty lowered. No 
 one could do this better than Endicott. Political 
 considerations, racial claims, sectarian appeals 
 were as nothing to him. He demanded sturdy, 
 straight Americanism, nothing more nor less. He 
 never begrudged any one connected with the 
 work his hire, or thought a whit the less of him 
 if payment was necessary for his own or his fam- 
 ily's support. But he strove hard to have all war 
 work, in Massachusetts at least, remain as free as 
 possible from the deadening mechanical influences 
 of hired service. 
 
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 
 
 We are now approaching a period fraught with 
 exceptional danger to the public welfare. The 
 wearisome misunderstandings and contention be- 
 tween capital and labor were brought vividly for- 
 ward by the conditions arising out of the war. An 
 increasing demand for less hours and higher pay 
 spread more and more rapidly day by day, and a 
 spirit of ominous unrest was everywhere preval- 
 ent. The exigencies in which we found ourselves 
 offered new bases on which to manufacture com- 
 plaints. On the other hand, the loyal impulses of 
 the American laborer — always stirred by patriotic 
 call to arms — responded as never before. Endi- 
 cott thoroughly understood both the strength and 
 weakness of this danger threatening to cripple if 
 not to shame us. He felt it to be of crucial import- 
 ance that our true and, in a sense, perilous situation 
 should be made perfectly clear, so that every mal- 
 content might rightly appraise the demands made 
 on his personal loyalty and how his own eventual 
 well-being was likewise at stake. He knew cap- 
 ital, as such, to be indispensable in consolidating 
 the resources of the country and exploiting them. 
 He was equally positive that capital by itself was 
 helpless, requiring the active, loyal cooperation of 
 
 42 
 
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 
 
 labor in order to accomplish results. He therefore 
 greatly deplored any agitation or schism in our 
 body politic, maintaining that capital and labor, 
 education, experience, and good-will must strive 
 with single and just intent to mobilize and perfect 
 the mighty army of industrial auxiliaries which 
 alone insured victory and safety. He preached that 
 a divided house was pernicious and signaled de- 
 feat. He was convinced, moreover, that in no state 
 of the Union was coordination more vital to the 
 great cause than in Massachusetts. To contem- 
 plate her industries as in any respect paralyzed 
 was a nightmare. Yet discontent was teeming in 
 very many sections of the state. Given a seaboard 
 state, the center of vast industries whose factories 
 dotted the landscape in every direction, the Com- 
 monwealth was held to be one of the most de- 
 pendable sources for war supply. 
 
 Endicott felt, too, that the moral effect of Mas- 
 sachusetts' traditional loyalty and resourcefulness, 
 dating from Pilgrim times through every emer- 
 gency the country was forced to meet, had been 
 of prodigious influence in the birth and preserva- 
 tion of the Union. He constantly alluded to this, 
 asserting that it was a bad omen and one which 
 we could least afford, should the old Common- 
 wealth appear lukewarm or be tempted to deviate 
 
 43 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 from its traditional place in the forefront of the 
 fight ; nor would it interpret at all fairly that 
 true American spirit, that royal legacy from our 
 forbears which the community as a whole relig- 
 iously maintained. 
 
 To Endicott it was an invidious position to be 
 in, and to be at once grappled with wherever it 
 cropped up. The vast majority of our citizens re- 
 mained steadfast, untainted with any skepticism 
 or doubt ; but with a small minority there was 
 a marked atmosphere of pessimism, coupled with 
 unalloyed selfishness, ready with hungry jaws to 
 grab at anything and everything in the way of 
 personal gain. In addition, both self-assumed and 
 paid leadership contributed to throttle the better 
 impulses of the ignorant and those more easily led 
 astray. All this was an open book to one of Endi- 
 cott's antecedents. 
 
 Any man big enough to be chosen and compe- 
 tent for the task, who could be induced to arbi- 
 trate between these factions ever opposed to each 
 other by custom and supposed antagonistic inter- 
 ests, had to do so with the full knowledge that 
 he imperilled his business reputation and risked 
 the maledictions of the disappointed and unreas- 
 onable of both parties. 
 
 Yet Endicott did not hesitate to respond to the 
 
 44 
 
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 
 
 general appeals made to him by capital and labor 
 as well as by the administration at Washington. 
 He was again peculiarly fitted for this task also, 
 for no one knew better than he the needs, am- 
 bitions, demands and perplexities of either side. 
 He had been through it all himself, as laborer and 
 capitalist. He had, moreover, proved his inherent 
 business sagacity as well as his sympathy with 
 the needs of those laborers whose life was one con- 
 tinued struggle to make the ends meet and keep 
 the wolf from the door. But what made him more 
 acceptable still was his proved reputation as a 
 knight errant of the square deal. So again he was 
 drafted by common consent and undertook the 
 new burden. 
 
 Beginning with the Gloucester fishermen's dis- 
 pute, April 19, 19 1 7, Endicott adjusted about one 
 hundred and fifty strikes involving large numbers 
 of employees and very vital interests, and also 
 about the same number of less important ones, 
 some of them active long after the dissolution of 
 the Committee on Public Safety. 
 
 And here a very clear distinction should be drawn 
 between the two types of arbitration in which En- 
 dicott took part. 
 
 The great majority of the labor difficulties which 
 he decided took place during the war, where the 
 
 45 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 decision in each case was, by mutual consent of 
 both parties, left to him alone. This made his pow- 
 er absolute, and he always dealt with the parties 
 themselves or their representatives directly. He 
 was wont, also, to have sitting with him a trusted 
 labor leader, an able and broad-minded lawyer, 
 another manufacturer, or some friend ; he did 
 not necessarily need them, but he found their 
 judgment helpful. 
 
 The ultimate decision, however, and the entire 
 responsibility for it rested with him, and with him 
 only. He could give all or he could give nothing. 
 His decision was reached only after he had gotten 
 all the light available from every source. This 
 did not represent his authority alone, but rather 
 the composite judgment of all. 
 
 This situation, however, changed materially at 
 the close of the war and a number of labor differ- 
 ences on which he sat as arbitrator after the armis- 
 tice were settled under totally different conditions. 
 
 In these last he sat as but one of a board of three. 
 The other two arbitrators were special pleaders, 
 each representing, and that ably, one side. Sitting 
 as the third member, his authority was to all in- 
 tents and purposes rigidly limited to a decision 
 somewhere between the points at which the other 
 two men's minds rested. Here in no sense did he 
 
 46 
 
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 
 
 have either the same power or the same fullness 
 of responsibility which accompanies power, as 
 in his war settlements of labor controversies. 
 
 The continually multiplying demand for his ser- 
 vices as arbitrator was the best evidence of the 
 deep respect entertained for his fairness. Most of 
 the cases adjudicated appear to have come to 
 him primarily at the instance of the employer. 
 Many a strike was adjusted or nipped in the bud 
 by Endicott's bringing the parties together with- 
 out any formal arbitration being attempted, and 
 thereby a quick settlement effected. He further 
 made it an initial condition that, where arbitration 
 was agreed to and the men had already gone out, 
 they should return to work immediately pend- 
 ing the arbitrator's findings, by the terms of which 
 they pledged themselves in advance to abide, 
 whether proving adverse to their claims or not. 
 In but two cases was any attempt made to over- 
 ride his decisions, both of these coming from the 
 employees ; and both of them failed. 
 
 The fuller story of Endicott's arbitrations in labor 
 controversies has been told elsewhere. The floods 
 of letters he received from both sides, independ- 
 ent of whether his decrees supported the writer's 
 claim or not, constitute in themselves a striking 
 record of the fairness and disinterestedness ac- 
 
 47 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 credited to him. Man is apt to forget as time 
 passes, but there were well-known episodes in 
 this connection unique in the history of the 
 war. The resultant effect of specific decrees often 
 proved to be of vital importance in avoiding seri- 
 ous impairment to our efficiency. For instance, 
 the immediate consequences of the decree ren- 
 dered by him in the Fore River Shipbuilding plant, 
 November 17, 19 17, where nine thousand men 
 returned to work, was that the building of our 
 sorely needed destroyers was continued uninter- 
 ruptedly till the end of the war, and the threat of 
 indefinite and perchance fatal delay avoided. 
 
 Again, in the Coal Teamsters' Strike, October, 
 1 9 1 7, the issues were very far-reaching and por- 
 tentous in their threat of disaster. Given the se- 
 verest winter in the history of the nation, with 
 the pressing demands of the navy and the require- 
 ments of the ammunition plants and factories en- 
 gaged in war work, a few days' delay from lack of 
 fuel might well have paralyzed our watch in the 
 North Sea and the protection of our coast line. 
 
 It is, too, vastly to the credit of our Massachu- 
 setts workmen, to Endicott, and to the dealers as 
 well, that in the transportation of coal during the 
 whole period of the war emergency, not one day's 
 time was lost on account of labor troubles. 
 
 48 
 
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 
 
 Endicott maintained that at least seventy-five per 
 cent of the difficulties between labor and capital 
 which came under his arbitration, would easily 
 have been avoided if both sides could have had 
 that confidence in each other that is necessary 
 between employer and employee to ensure unin- 
 terrupted work and steady production. It was his 
 earnest endeavor to eradicate all existing distrust 
 as far as possible, believing that by so doing the 
 danger of interruption of business would be very 
 much minimized. He had always in his own busi- 
 ness been governed by the principle that the dif- 
 ference in quality and amount produced by satis- 
 fied labor over that produced by dissatisfied labor 
 would yield all the profit needed. 
 
 Computed conservatively, the amount of sav- 
 ing to Massachusetts and the nation by avoiding 
 an interruption of work through these arbitra- 
 ments was said to have reached a sum between 
 forty and fifty millions of dollars, at least. At the 
 same time, nearly half a million men and wom- 
 en — during a period of great labor unrest and of 
 national emergency and excitement, and when 
 the cost of living was unprecedented — were fairly 
 paid for their labor and, working under a mutual 
 agreement between themselves and their employ- 
 ers, remained contented, cheerful, and efficient. 
 
 49 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 It was always somewhat ludicrous, to express it 
 mildly, to hear occasionally some one supposedly 
 intelligent — but invariably a capitalist — affirm 
 that anyone could settle a difference between cap- 
 ital and labor if the employer was bound in ad- 
 vance to accept the award rendered, and labor was 
 then granted all that it asked ! It would be well 
 here to bear in mind that, as far as relates to En- 
 dicott's decisions at least, in no single case did the 
 employees receive all that was asked for or ex- 
 pected by them. He was wont to say that, in 
 every case coming before him he was surprised to 
 find that those representing the employers never 
 showed any intent to be unreasonable, and that 
 this was likewise the attitude of both organized 
 and unorganized labor. 
 
 On November 20, nine days after the armistice, 
 the Committee on Public Safety — on Endicott's 
 initiative — was dissolved. He was thus free to re- 
 tire to private life and resume active relations with 
 Endicott-Johnson. This action was in keeping 
 with a well-defined conviction on his part that 
 people generally, the country over, had gone 
 "committee mad," and that far too many so-called 
 war organizations, good, bad, and indifferent, had 
 been formed on any and every excuse. Yet, as he ex- 
 pressed it, there were "births daily, but no deaths." 
 
 50 
 
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 
 
 Inasmuch as the Massachusetts Committee on 
 Public Safety was the first organization of its kind, 
 he thought now that the emergency calling for 
 it no longer existed, and since its real usefulness 
 had passed, it should, if only for example's sake, 
 be discontinued at once. 
 
 There were several matters of considerable im- 
 portance in themselves, and of peculiar interest to 
 him, involved in the final winding up of the com- 
 mittee's affairs, and to which he still continued to 
 give his attention besides accepting constant calls 
 on his time and strength to act as arbitrator in 
 labor disputes. 
 
 In October, 1919, President Wilson appointed 
 him a member of the First Industrial Conference, 
 and he attended its initial gathering held at Wash- 
 ington October 6 to 23, 1919. Here he became 
 once more prominent, and concisely propounded 
 his philosophy in regard to labor conditions. He 
 sustained . the claims of the so-called " Public 
 Group " in behalf of whom he made an earnest 
 appeal, especially in defense of collective bargain- 
 ing as establishing better relations between capital 
 and labor. The result of this conference was not 
 very decisive either way, but acted rather as a 
 tentative step in getting the parties together and 
 airing the differences between them. 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 At this time he said to a representative of the 
 New York Times that profit-sharing did not appeal 
 to him, that there was something fundamentally 
 wrong with it, and that it was really based on the 
 hope of getting the same work for less money ; 
 being very often " a bait to catch the eye of the 
 unthinking." Again, in discussing the value of 
 Workmen's Councils, he gave as his opinion: "I 
 do not see wherein they are of any good. The 
 point of the matter is that there should be no need 
 for them ;" and the fact that the manager of a 
 plant has to resort to the organization of a work- 
 man's council tends to show that the conditions 
 at his plant are not good, and that he is offering 
 his employees " the shell for the substance ;" and 
 further, " The ideal relationship, as I see it, is to 
 have the employee know that he can come into 
 direct contact with his employer whenever he feels 
 that he has a personal grievance to make." 
 
 In regard to the use of force, he argued that as 
 soon as this became necessary things were bound 
 to have a fall ; that mutual confidence was the key 
 to the situation, and without it nothing would be 
 of the slightest avail. 
 
 Endicott's attitude towards labor was unique, and 
 frequently undervalued and misunderstood by 
 many ignorant of the premises on which his con- 
 
 52 
 
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 
 
 elusions were founded. He was not swayed in his 
 matured judgment by any impulse or predispo- 
 sition. Personal advantage, whether public or 
 social, failed to move him and in fact did not come 
 within his consideration. He rejected every op- 
 portunity for political advancement by a courtesy 
 equalled only by the amusement it afforded him. 
 Although professedly a Democrat he was by no 
 means a regular, but would vote independently of 
 party for whatever candidate suited him the best, 
 — as he did for both McCall and Coolidge for 
 governor. Time and again, influential men, con- 
 trolling, as it were, potential political bodies, were 
 ready and anxious to accept his leadership and 
 sought his consent thereto orally and in writing. 
 But he was impervious to all such appeals. To 
 quote his own words : " I am not a politician. I 
 do not want any public office in this state or in 
 the nation. My sole object in doing the work I 
 am engaged in is to render the public such service 
 as I am capable of — a duty I feel incumbent on 
 every citizen of this country in this crisis. I am 
 enlisted for the war." 
 
 That this aloofness would have held if he had 
 lived — and a great issue, growing out of the war, 
 economic or for country or humanity, had arisen, 
 and where he felt he would have been of real 
 
 53 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 service to state or nation — is not so likely. Every 
 latent spark of ambition that was in him vrould 
 surely have ignited in response to such a call, that 
 he might again play the game for all it was worth 
 and make good and triumph for the issue's sake, 
 yet independent of any glorification that might or 
 might not accrue to himself. 
 
 Taking his business career as a background, a very 
 wealthy manufacturer with many thousands of 
 men in his employ, one would easily imagine that 
 his possessing great wealth, supposedly accom- 
 panied in its winning by many clashes with labor, 
 and the value of which every strike in the coun- 
 try directly or indirectly still imperilled, would 
 have immutably predisposed him against all com- 
 promise with labor except so far as capital saw a 
 dollar in it. 
 
 But the doctrine of meum et tuum was a vital, 
 lasting principle in Endicott's character, and he 
 was equipped with a much worthier, nobler back- 
 ground to lean upon. The struggles from a mere 
 ill-considered boy with little in his pocket, 
 through many trying years to affluence and com- 
 mand ; the experiences which had taught him 
 how fellow sympathy and consideration for the 
 workman inevitably redounded in the last analy- 
 sis to the well being of all; fortified his heart to a 
 
 54 
 
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 
 
 finer, truer conception of what was due to either 
 side. It all came back again to the square deal, 
 the principle that was ever uppermost in his 
 thought. He was not to be turned from that 
 which he considered justice and humanity de- 
 manded by any carping criticism or the fear of 
 his motives being misunderstood. Nevertheless, 
 it was peculiarly hard either to be or to appear 
 consistent in every case. It was most difficult to 
 rightly dovetail the doctrine of the "square deal" 
 with the motto of " winning the war " and yet do 
 full justice to both. What would be only equitable 
 and fair in time of peace might well be dangerous 
 and impossible with the foe at the door. Claims, 
 just in themselves, often became no longer just 
 when conflicting with the needs and efficiency of 
 the soldier at the front — as when the Depart- 
 ment of War or of the Navy, for example, cried 
 despairingly for supplies held up by a strike and 
 when immediate relief from the same was cruci- 
 ally imperative. 
 
 It was in such cases as these that Endicott's 
 personality and leadership were so skillful and far- 
 reaching. A composite picture of his labor arbi- 
 trations would reveal a singular amalgamation of 
 kindly sympathy, shrewd practical reasoning, 
 common sense and a profound knowledge of 
 
 55 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 human nature, all centering in the consumma- 
 tion of a great patriotic impulse. With forceful 
 simplicity he would challenge their manhood, 
 appealing directly to the loyal instincts of either 
 side, in order to bring about a mutual cooperation 
 in the cause of efficiency and patriotism. Rarely, 
 if ever, did his plea fail. 
 
 In thirty-five years of the Endicott-Johnson bus- 
 iness, no strike ever occurred. None of their shops 
 v^ere unionized. Unionism was not prohibited, 
 for the simple reason there was no need or de- 
 mand for it. As Endicott said : " I can stake my 
 word on it that any radical-minded labor agitator 
 who would come to the towns where our men 
 are employed and try to impress our workmen 
 with how gravely mistreated they were, would be 
 booted out of the city — booted out by the so-called 
 down-trodden, if you please, and not by any of- 
 ficial of the company." 
 
 In discussing the question of how far capital and 
 labor should relatively go, in order to come to an 
 understanding, he said in part : " It should n't be 
 a matter of capital acceding to the demands of 
 labor or of labor making demands on capital. Cap- 
 ital and labor are arbitrary terms for human groups 
 who have human relationships with each other. 
 The crux of the matter lies in establishing a re- 
 
 S6 
 
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 
 
 lationship of understanding and confidence be- 
 tween the two human factors in industry. There 
 will be no happiness or rest in industry until the 
 workers cease to look upon the employer as their 
 enemy, and until the employer considers his em- 
 ployees as allies. Treat a man as a man, whether 
 he deserves that treatment or not, if you want to 
 get any lasting value .... Just as soon as the 
 demands made by the unions are unjust and un- 
 reasonable they are going to fail." 
 
 This was one of the vital principles of Endicott's 
 attitude towards capital and labor ; a doctrine 
 which if honestly carried through may well blaze 
 the road to the final elimination of industrial un- 
 rest. Therein lies perhaps a brighter, worthier 
 philosophy, the lofty vision of a future federation 
 of mind, sympathies, and ideals that shall unify in 
 one great concert of purpose the vast utilities ol 
 modern civilization and assure the economic wel- 
 fare of mankind. 
 
 The manner in which he conducted his arbitra- 
 tions was peculiar to himself, and is well outlined 
 in the following extract from a letter written by a 
 lawyer of distinction, who had devoted his whole 
 time as legal advisor to the committee : 
 
 " My daily association with him [Endicott] in 
 his labor cases was not only a pleasure but also 
 
 57 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 taught me a professional lesson which I shall 
 never forget. To one who had been used to the 
 routine of the courtroom, his State House arbitra- 
 tions were a true inspiration. I often tried to deter- 
 mine the secret of his success, and I finally deter- 
 mined that it was due primarily to three causes : 
 
 " First : Absolute attention to the case. No mat- 
 ter how unimportant, prolix, or tiresome the evi- 
 dence, he never took his eye off a witness. Every 
 man felt that what he had said had made its effect. 
 
 " Second : The humor by which he used to lift 
 the whole hearing from the danger of a wrangle 
 to a true discussion of the merits of the issue. An 
 anecdote, even a word at the right moment, 
 sometimes made agreement possible. 
 
 " Third : Absolute fairness — each side was con- 
 fident that it was getting a square deal." 
 
 Another letter written by a large employer of 
 labor, a close friend, and one who sat with him 
 in very many of his arbitrations, says : 
 
 " Nothing is more elusive than personality, and 
 no war work which Mr. Endicott did was more 
 completely the expression of his personality than 
 what he accomplished in labor matters. This was 
 based on fundamentals always with us, and Mr. 
 Endicott's methods may well serve as a light to 
 guide others in difficult times. 
 
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 
 
 " Sometimes an employer would come to him 
 asking that he arbitrate a labor difference ; some- 
 times it would be the men who came ; sometimes 
 the government would ask him to adjust some dif- 
 ficult labor matter. In every case his first effort 
 was to establish such relations with the man or 
 men who approached him that they would come 
 to trust him and his fairness. He would then, 
 whenever it was possible, let the other party to the 
 difference approach him voluntarily, and with him 
 or them would establish a feeling of confidence 
 that whatever was done by him would be in the 
 spirit of fairness. 
 
 " This naturally led to a willingness on both sides 
 to allow him to adjust their differences. Having 
 definitely undertaken to adjust a difference, he in- 
 variably tried, and almost always with success, to 
 keep the wheels turning while the actual arbitra- 
 tion was being conducted. The hearings in every 
 case were carried on with the utmost speed con- 
 sistent with a thorough knowledge of the facts. 
 
 " His next step was, usually, to have each party 
 state the case fully to him, and separately, so that 
 he himself became familiar with the technical as 
 well as the broader aspects of the questiou. His 
 further effort was then directed to establishing the 
 same relation of mutual confidence between the 
 
 59 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 employer and the workers that they already had 
 toward him — which meant sitting around a table 
 together. This always had its effect, and a splen- 
 did one. 
 
 " During these various meetings and negotia- 
 tions, Mr. Endicott made every man who came 
 in contact with him feel that he trusted his pa- 
 triotism and believed he honestly desired to do his 
 part in winning the war and would make real 
 sacrifices to that end. His appeals along this line 
 when negotiations seemed at the breaking point, 
 will never be forgotten by those who heard them. 
 
 " Gradually as his vivid and human personality 
 played upon the situation, what with humor, 
 logic, and every form of effort that the human 
 heart or the human intellect could bring to bear, 
 the minds and the wills of both sides would come 
 nearer together, till finally — almost invariably — 
 his award when given simply gave expression to 
 the united will of both parties. 
 
 " In one sense he was not an arbitrator at all, 
 but rather a great conciliator. His labor work has 
 left a lasting impression on Massachusetts. 
 
 " The efforts of Henry Endicott did more than 
 those of any other man in Massachusetts to keep 
 production during the war at the highest possible 
 point. But they did much more than this. He left 
 
 60 
 
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 
 
 those men who submitted their differences to him, 
 those who worked with him and those many 
 others who saw the results, without their realiz- 
 ing the marvelous ability through which these 
 results had been secured. He left them all with a 
 greater confidence in human nature, with the 
 abiding sense that they had come in contact with 
 a man who was above all class ; he left them with 
 a better knowledge that the solution of any in- 
 dustrial difficulty is made much easier through 
 human contact than by an attitude of suspicion." 
 
 Endicott's cheerfulness under every vicissitude — 
 and there were many — was a constant inspiration 
 to his fellows. His joyous "good morning" and 
 "good night" were a daily tonic, inspiring his co- 
 workers, from the "partners" as he termed them, 
 to the latest errand boy, holding them, one and 
 all, enthusiastic and loyal to the cause and to his 
 leadership. And this feeling of personal fealty, 
 divorced as it was from any patriotism, was by no 
 means confined to the force at the State House, 
 but percolated deep into the very heart and mar- 
 row of the Commonwealth, wherever the organ- 
 ization had a foothold — to more than thirty 
 thousand people. 
 
 It would often appear as if he were too indiffer- 
 ent to the danger arising from opposition, even to 
 
 6i 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 the extent of challenging it. When one line of 
 action failed to prevail he would shift with great 
 rapidity, and by thus cleverly changing front at- 
 tain what he desired. This characteristic was his 
 at an early age, as will be seen by an experience 
 he was wont to relate of his boyhood, and while 
 at work on the paternal farm. One day he was 
 told to bring a calf home from a distant pasture. 
 After some effort he succeeded in attaching a rope 
 around the animal's neck and started to pull it 
 along. But the harder he tugged in the desired 
 direction by so much the more did the calf strain 
 to back the other way. For a space no progress 
 was made by either contestant, till the boy, sud- 
 denly reversing the argument, started to pull away 
 from the barn, whereat the calf gradually backed 
 itself into its stall. 
 
 This anecdote, apart from its humor, shows the 
 lad's quick, intelligent perception and ready in- 
 genuity in overcoming obstacles, which he gen- 
 erally did without his adversary suspecting who 
 was really leading him on. This remained a dis- 
 tinctive trait in his more mature years. 
 
 Endicott's business career had entirely opposite 
 aims and a very different objective from that de- 
 manded by his position as executive officer of the 
 committee. The first was professedly self-centered; 
 
 62 
 
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 
 
 the other was in behalf of country and humanity, 
 broader in its aim and ideals and looking solely to 
 the accomplishment of a lofty purpose. He was 
 naturally very highstrung, but with a temper un- 
 der complete control. When this did flash out it 
 was merely in the pan, of short duration and in- 
 suring a clearer atmosphere and a brighter sky. 
 With strong intuitions, which spurred him often 
 to quicker action, they prompted rather than con- 
 trolled him; and with a perspective wide-reach- 
 ing and clear, he was as free from indifi^erentism 
 as he was intolerant of all spectacular devices. With 
 a mind readily open to argument and grateful for 
 advice when honestly proffered, he was to an ex- 
 traordinary degree sure of himself, shirking no 
 issue and swayed by no fear when duty summoned. 
 His aim was to keep the committee on the high- 
 est plane of endeavor ; his object the exaltation 
 of an ideal and the credit of his state. He called 
 on his co-workers for a full compliance with this 
 standard, not always easy to live up to, but engen- 
 dering a morale that was uplifting to all. Cour- 
 teous to everybody, and always a gentleman, he was 
 controlled by no group, personal or corporate. 
 
 Notwithstanding the multiplicity of Endicott's 
 duties which called for every atom of his strength, 
 
 63 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 there is no doubt that except for the depressing 
 influences of the war he thoroughly enjoyed the 
 committee work as a game in itself, and that his 
 nearly two years' service would have been among 
 the happiest days of his life but for the gravity of 
 the issues involved. Nevertheless, soul and mind 
 and body were all coordinated to the better ac- 
 complishment of one determinate end, and the 
 tax upon his mental and physical resistance was 
 so enormous that on several occasions his associ- 
 ates were greatly disturbed. 
 
 Time and again came short periods when he ap- 
 peared to be unmistakably tired out. But the in- 
 domitable will, cheeriness, and fighting spirit 
 were never shaken, and, to the wonderment of 
 physicians and friends, persistently asserted the 
 mastery where a breakdown seemed inevitable 
 and imminent. 
 
 The wear had been excessive, however, and he 
 never recovered from the strain, but found him- 
 self more and more susceptible to every little set- 
 back which, if trifling in itself, was more signifi- 
 cant in one of his years and after what he had 
 been through. His condition for a long time was 
 similar to that of a soldier — which he was — 
 wounded and exhausted, but steadfast at his post 
 till the battle was over and won, to recover or not 
 
 6+ 
 
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 
 
 as fate might decree when duty no longer held 
 him at the front. 
 
 Late in December, 1 9 1 9, he determined to take 
 a two months' continuous rest, with a complete 
 change of atmosphere and environment, and to- 
 gether with some friends went to their shooting 
 club at Swan Island, North Carolina. Here, for 
 part of his stay, he suffered with a mild attack of 
 influenza, accompanied, however, with very pain- 
 ful headaches which increased in severity up to 
 the time he returned north. After a few days spent 
 in New York, devoted to his family, he came with 
 them to Boston, Saturday, February 6, making his 
 stay at the Hotel Touraine rather than going to 
 his home in Dedham, on account of the inclem- 
 ency of the weather and more easily to consult 
 his physician. On the Tuesday following, an op- 
 eration, slight in itself, was performed on the sinus 
 in hope that the headaches might thereby be re- 
 lieved. But at once symptoms of cerebro-spinal 
 meningitis developed ; he became delirious and re- 
 mained unconscious and without pain to the end. 
 
 And thus, on Thursday night, February 1 2, passed 
 a great soldier of the home army who, as surely as 
 any warrior killed on the field of battle, offered 
 his life in behalf of his country and its ideals. 
 
 The truly loyal and constructive work of the 
 
 65 
 
HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 oiEcers and members, individually and collec- 
 tively, of the Committee on Public Safety, is not to 
 be underestimated. The story of their labors and 
 success will never be forgotten in the annals of 
 the Commonwealth. And it was of this body that 
 Endicott was the beloved leader and the master 
 mind. It was he that planned the committee's 
 line of action, that systematized its functions, 
 that directed its activities. While the carrying 
 out of his plans was in a measure largely intrusted 
 to subordinates, he held these strictly responsible 
 for procedure and results. His daily presence at 
 headquarters cheered and stimulated the worker 
 at his desk. His kindly word, his liberal, clear 
 judgment, his virile unselfish patriotism, ready un- 
 der every stress of circumstance to contend to the 
 uttermost for what he deemed best and right, 
 became more and more a supporting inspiration 
 and incentive. 
 
 He had unusual perceptive qualities and a keen 
 insight into human nature and character ; sympa- 
 thetic with those in trouble, but despising little 
 meannesses ; openly rebuking the complainants 
 and slackers unwilling to bear their share of the 
 general burden. His sense of humor, too, was de- 
 licious and irresistible, making him the best of 
 hosts and companions. It also relieved many a 
 
 66 
 
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 
 
 tense situation ; while it is remarkably true that 
 the joke he always liked best to repeat was the 
 one on himself. 
 
 And rising superior to all else one was impressed 
 with the wondrous modesty and simplicity of na- 
 ture that strove not for effect, gave every man his 
 due and cherished no enmities in his heart. Yet 
 the more vitally intensive secret of his influence 
 and of the affection accorded him, was that rare 
 human touch, that honest, generous personal in- 
 terest in others' happiness and welfare which 
 never left him and so often solved the spiritual 
 equation between man and man. Herein lay the 
 true measure of his triumph. This gained him, 
 living, the love, the honor and respect of associ- 
 ates and friends, who now with unclouded joy in 
 their hearts continue to cherish the recollection 
 of those many grievously anxious and never-to- 
 be-forgotten days in lasting grateful tribute to 
 his memory. 
 
 The bounds of greatness are not so readily de- 
 fined, but the honest love for one's fellow man, 
 and the nature that draws the same from others, 
 is surely the highest fulfillment of the law in the 
 brotherhood of man. 
 
Following an appropriation by the Massachu- 
 setts Legislature, a tablet will be placed in the 
 State House with the following inscription : 
 
 HENRY BRADFORD ENDICOTT 
 
 PATRIOT HUMANITARIAN 
 
 LOYAL CITIZEN 
 
 STATE AND FEDERAL FOOD ADMINISTRATOR 
 
 EXECUTIVE OF THE 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS COMMITTE ON 
 
 PUBLIC SAFETY. 
 
 In a time of great National Emergency and Civic Stress, a 
 leader of the Home Army, he placed his eminent abilities, 
 his energies, his life, at the service of the State and Nation, 
 inspiring his fellow men to supreme effort in behalf of 
 Country, of Principle, of Right. 
 
 In grateful and loving tribute to his memory this tablet is 
 dedicated by the citizens of the Commonwealth. 
 
 BORN SEPTEMBER ii, 1853 
 DIED FEBRUARY 12, 1920 
 
 69 
 
Tablet dedicated by members of the Dedham 
 Post 1 8, of the American Legion and installed in 
 their new headquarters at Dedham, 
 
 In grateful appreciation of his unfailing interest in the 
 service men of this community, Dedham Post i8, the Ameri- 
 can Legion, dedicates this tablet to the memory of 
 
 HENRY B. ENDICOTT 
 
 IN WHOSE NAME THE EQUIPMENT OF THIS 
 
 BUILDING WAS GIVEN. 
 
 Extract Jrom a letter written by Governor McCall 
 
 at the time the Committee on Public Safety was 
 
 dissolved. 
 
 I know that you have devoted yourself wholly 
 
 to the patriotic work of rendering service to your 
 
 country. Nothing could exceed the patriotism 
 
 and efficiency of the service you have rendered. 
 
 Telegram from President Wilson. 
 
 The White House, Washington, D. C. 
 February 13, 1920. 
 
 Mrs. Henry B, Endicott 
 
 Permit me to express our heartfelt sympathy 
 with you in your bereavement. Mr. Endicott's dis- 
 interested and public-spirited services have made 
 the country his debtor. His loss is a real one. 
 
 WooDRow Wilson. 
 70 
 
Governor Coolidge paid Mr. Endicott's memory the 
 following very graceful tribute immediately on hear- 
 ing of his deathi 
 He was a man of rare judgment and of great 
 humanity, a true representative of all that was 
 best in Massachusetts life. He was eager to be of 
 service to his fellow men, of very broad sympathy 
 and a fine understanding. He was a business man 
 of great talent, but always put public service above 
 his own interests. The Commonwealth will great- 
 ly mourn its great loss. 
 
 Telegram from Herbert Hoover. 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 February 14, 1920. 
 
 Mrs. Henry B. Endicott 
 
 I wish to be able to convey to you the great 
 sympathy I feel and the great loss your husband's 
 death is to me and all his associates here. My long 
 association with him and unbounded admiration 
 which I have held for him make his death a great 
 shock. I do hope you will bear up under the 
 greatest trial. 
 
 Herbert Hoover. 
 
Extract from a letter written by Senator Weeks. 
 .... While my acquaintance with Mr. Endicott 
 was not of such an intimate character, I had a 
 great admiration for him as a business and public 
 man. One of the most satisfactory things in life 
 is to find a man who through his own energy 
 and business judgment has created a great indus- 
 try, giving employment to large numbers of our 
 citizens, and who, as in this particular instance, 
 reduced the cost of the product to the public. 
 Such a man is entitled to the gratitude of the en- 
 tire community. But that is not the final call 
 which should be made on him. He should be 
 ready to lend his experience, ability, and judg- 
 ment to his state and nation in case of need. 
 Henry B. Endicott filled these requirements with 
 the greatest success, and his passing is a distinct 
 loss to the citizens of our state. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 John W. Weeks. 
 
 72 
 
McGKATH-SHEKRILL PRESS 
 BOSTON, MASS. 
 
DATE DUE 
 
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 HD 8073.E6L98 
 
 Henry B. Endicott; a brief memoir of liis 
 
 3 1924 002 301 228