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not unfrequently the vicissitudes of the years will be easily sufficient to upset the calculations of the shrewdest observers.

Powers of Attorney.-A power of attorney is an instrument which authorizes a person to act as agent (or attorney-in-fact, as distinguished from attorney-at-law or attorney-of-record) for the person who shall execute the power, either in a general manner (in which case the power of attorney is said to be a general one), or for some particular specified purpose (special power of attorney). The general object of powers of attorney is to enable agents to perform certain acts for their principals, which are beyond the ordinary authorities of agents (such as the execution of deeds), and which cannot be conveniently performed by the principals themselves.

Although powers of attorney are in general strictly construed by the law, the authority which is conferred by them will be construed to be ample for the purposes which are required. Unless specially limited by the powers, the authorities of attorneys-in-fact will be, for the purposes of the power, co-extensive with those of the principals themselves, although the making of powers of attorney will not deprive the principals of the authority to act for themselves.

The general principles of prudence and caution are, without doubt, against the advisability of executing powers of attorney, seeing that these principles strictly prohibit all unnecessary reliance upon others. Accordingly, the general rule will be to dispense entirely with all such delegations of authority.

But there are often occasions when, by reason of sickness, absence, or other disability, powers of attorney cannot be dispensed with. In all such cases care may well be taken that the authority which shall be conferred by powers of attorney shall be strictly limited to the desired purposes; in other words, whenever it shall be possible, only the strictest kinds of special powers of attorney should be executed.

For the same reasons of precaution, when powers of attorney have been granted, and the necessity for them shall have ceased to exist, they should be at once annulled by the filing

or recording of revocations, in the proper public offices of record. That revocations of powers of attorney shall be promptly placed on record in the proper offices is especially important, because of the fact that, although the powers may have been properly and legally revoked, as between principals and attorneys, the principals will still be bound to other parties, who shall have no knowledge of the revocations, by the unauthorized acts of the attorneys-in-fact, and the placing upon record of the revocations is declared by law to be constructive notice to all persons.

Lawyers.-The profession of the law is composed of many different branches, some of which are practically quite distinct from others. Thus, the first distinction may be between the criminal or penal law, which deals only with the punishment and the prevention of crimes, and the far more complex and extensive civil law, which may be said to comprehend all the innumerable rules of courts and legislatures which have been devised for the regulation of human conduct, except those of a penal nature.

Civil lawyers and criminal lawyers may, for all practical purposes, be regarded as being in entirely different professions, the latter being often comparatively ignorant of the criminal law, and the former being, far more frequently, quite ignorant of the civil law.

And so great are the profundities and refinements of the civil law that very many civil lawyers eventually become engaged in special branches (such as admiralty practice, patent law, mercantile or commercial law, litigations and the collection of debts, corporation law, and the laws relating to real property and investment) for which their faculties, tastes, and educations appear to make them especially competent.

From these remarks it will be evident that the best results are to be obtained by the employment of lawyers whose practices are mainly devoted to the branches of the law which comprehend the particular business for which their services shall be required. Investors may, therefore, wisely see to it that, for general purposes, they shall employ only

lawyers who are experienced and well qualified in all the branches of the law which relate particularly to real property, investments, and probate matters.

Investors and owners of property become accustomed to the frequent employment of lawyers for the purposes of consultation and advice in legal matters. For this reason, presumably, there often appears a tendency among investors to consult lawyers upon matters which are not strictly of a legal character, and which involve rather the exercise of judgment with regard to investments than legal ability. This tendency is obviously not to be encouraged; for it is not to be doubted that ability and experience in the practice of a highly technical profession and the lack of sound judgment and acuteness in the ordinary affairs of life are not necessarily incompatible in one and the same individual. With regard to all transactions and affairs which are to be considered apart from the legal aspects, no distinctions may safely be made in favor of advisers whom it may be necessary to consult because of their purely legal attainments.

Pecuniary Reputations.-The reputation of having a fortune much larger than is actually possessed, or of having an income greatly in excess of one's real income, is surely to be considered as a misfortune; for, in such a case, the only escape from the general reputation of niggardliness and cupidity will be by means of a ruinous extravagance.

Conversely, it may be stated that the reputation of having a smaller property or a smaller income than the actual one is to be regarded as a piece of good fortune; for, in such a case, there will be no necessity to choose between the evils which have been mentioned.

The former reputation is, therefore, beyond question, to be avoided, as the latter is equally to be encouraged.

It may be remarked that the accomplishment of these objects will not always prove to be a simple task, especially in cases where persons are possessed of large fortunes. Nevertheless, there are suggestions, with regard to a general deportment, with a view to the accomplishment of the desired objects, which may well be given here.

In the first place, then, wise persons of wealth will seek always to avoid extravagance and ostentation, especially in directions which will be most plainly manifest to the public, since it cannot be denied that the public tends constantly toward the vulgarities of talkativeness and of exaggeration. For similar reasons, the appearance of frugality, and hesitation concerning large expenditures may be judiciously cultivated, and the real or assumed general indifference to the value of money, which marks the upstart, may be studiously avoided. For these purposes, no more valuable practices can be suggested than the quick detection of overcharges and mistakes in bills, and prompt and energetic protests against such occurrences. The appearance of having some occupation, or a means or a partial means of livelihood, though in many case it may be difficult to maintain, will go far towards the acquirement of the much-to-be-desired reputations.

Ordinary delicacy and common sense ought to suggest that owners of property shall keep their affairs to themselves, declining always to converse unnecessarily concerning their own means, and generally abstaining from all ordinary conversations upon the subjects of money and property.

It may be that, to persons whose consciences are far more sensitive than are consciences in the majority of cases, the suggestions which have been offered will seem to be objectionable, because they appear to involve a certain amount of dissimulation.

The common casuistic principles, that we are not bound to impart information to those who have no right to interrogate, and that for just cause we may permit our neighbors to deceive themselves, if accepted, will be able to overcome the objection; for, surely, the undertaking on the part of the public to ascertain, or to estimate, for purposes of curiosity only, the conditions of private personal affairs is an impertinence which is without a semblance of right, and which is deserving only of rebuff; moreover, the purposes of the conduct which has been suggested are, beyond question, just and blameless.

It is probably safe to say that the large majority of

honorable and conscientious persons will consent to regard the objection in question as an unnecessary and a squeamish refinement; or, at least will agree that it may be satisfactorily disposed of in the manner which has been mentioned. But, be this as it may, the matter is one which must be left for the determination of individuals, and the objection, and its supposed counterpoise having been stated, further consideration of the subject in these pages may be dispensed with.

Precautions against Theft and Petty Frauds.-Persons who are possessed of wealth, and especially those who maintain elegant residences, are necessarily more or less in danger of robbery; though it has been said, and not without reason, that carelessness will offer better inducements to the robber than will riches.

The first principle to be observed for the prevention of house robbery will be to allow and encourage the general opinion that residences are well guarded, and that very few valuables, such as money, bonds, jewelry, etc., are to be found in the residences, these being not mere pretensions, but actual facts, to the full knowledge of which the public should be welcome.

The ordinary precautions of having good substanial fastenings for doors, windows, and scuttles, and of carefully attending to the locking up of houses at night, need not be enlarged upon. Standard burglar alarms and wide-awake dogs may pass, with little comment, as excellent safeguards. Indeed, few things may be more safely calculated upon for the sudden disarrangement of buglarious plans than the energetic action of a well-regulated burglar alarm, or the equally energetic and penetrating barking of even the most insignificant of dogs.

In suburban neighborhoods, the general public knowledge that there are in certain residences husbands and sons, or even ladies who are accomplished in, and fond of, the use of firearms, may be a sufficient explanation for the fact that such residences are often quite free from the visits of burglars. No residence should be without its proper supply of approved revolvers, carefully placed out of the reach of children and

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