Scouting, Volume 19, Number 6, June 1931 Page: 3
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JUNE, 1931
Vol. XIX, No. 6
A Magazine of Information for Scout Leaders
Copyright, 1931
by Boy Scouts
of America
MORTIMER L. SCHIFF, PRESIDENT
MR. MORTIMER L. SCHIFF was unanimously
elected President of the Boy Scouts of America at
the 21st Annual Meeting of the National Council.
He had previously served as Vice President for many years,
and is a Charter Member of the National Executive Board.
He was re-elected International Scout Commissioner. Mr.
Schiff is also Chairman of the Divisional Committee of Oper-
ations and a member of the Finance Com-
mittee. He was for a number of year, Vice
President of the Nassau County Council, in
which position he has recently been succeeded
by his son.
W1
rHEN the results of the election were
announced, Mr. Head spoke as follows:
"Mr. Schiff, by unanimous action of this
body you have been elected to the presidency
of the National Council of Executives of the
Boy Scouts of America.
"There is no man in the Council or out of
the Council to whom I would rather hand
the gavel of this organization than Mortimer
L. Schiff. There is no man in America, or
out of America, better qualified, possessing
greater qualifications for performing the du-
ties of this office than Mr. Schiff.
"I am speaking, now, as a former President
of the National Council of the Boy Scouts
of America and as Mr. Schiff's personal
friend; and, also I want to pledge to him both
as President of the Council and as a member
of the National Executive Board and all the
offices he holds in Scouting, my whole and
undivided support, and I authorize him to
call upon me at any time I can be of assis-
tance to him and the National Council in
any way." The applause was long and con-
tinued, the members rising.
Mr. Schiff then said: "Fellow Scouters,
you have conferred upon me a great honor
and one of which I am deeply appreciative; but, you have
charged me, also, with a great responsibility, and one which I
assure you I do not take lightly. Irrespective of anything else,
it is not an easy task to succeed Colin H. Livingstone, James
J. Storrow, Milton McRae, and Walter W. Head, as Presi-
dent of this organization.
"I do not expect, I am not presumptous enough to hope,
that I can equal the record of those men, but what heartens
me to undertake this task,*and to accept its responsibility, is
the unanimity with which you have asked me to do so; this
unanimity which I take not in any feeling of personal vanity,
but as an evidence of the support and cooperation on which I
can count from the members of the Executive Board and
members of the National Council; and, without which the
task which you have given me would be impossible.
"This is not a time for speeches. Acts, not words, are what
count in life. In the words of the Scout, all I can say is
'On my honor, I promise to do my best'."
MR. SCHIFF'S service to Scouting has been a disting-
uished one, and no small part of the progress of the
Movement i§ attributable to his earnest and generous support
expressed not only in gifts of money, but in
terms of service contributed from a busy life.
Through his interest, the extension of Coun-
cil service has been made possible to practic-
ally every community in the United States.
To his efforts in no small degree, is due the
advancement of Scouting in a number of
foreign countries. One of his most recent
contributions was a gift of $50,000 presented
to Lord Baden-Powell at the World Jam-
boree in 1929, to be used for the extension
of international friendship through Scouting.
In 1926 Mr. Schiff received the Silver Buf-
falo for Distinguished Service to Boyhood
with the following citation:
"Mortimer L. Schiff, banker, philanthro-
pist, charter member of the Executive Board,
International Scout Commissioner, Vice
President, member of the National Finance
Committee, Chairman of the Committee on
Foreign Relations, and the Committee on
Organization and Field Work, whose keen
foresight, devoted interest and generous sup-
port have proved of immeasurable value to
the Movement."
M
MORTIMER L. SCHIFF
President, Boy Scouts of America
R. SCHIFF is a banker, one of the
senior members of the famous interna-
tional banking firm of Kuhn, Loeb and Co.
of New York City, of which his father was
the head for many years. He was born in
New York June 5, 1877, the only son of the
late Jacob Henry and Therese (Loeb) Schiff.
He was educated in private schools, and attended Amherst
College in the class of 1896, receiving an honorary degree of
A.M. in 1906. He also studied abroad and spent a number
of years learning railroad methods by active work on two
railway lines, followed by two years at Hamburg and London
in the study of European banking processes. He joined his
father's firm in 1900.
His business affiliations include, in addition, to his own firm,
directorships in the Chemical Bank and Trust Company of
New York and in the Western Union Telegraph Company.
Besides his degree from Amherst College, Mr. Schiff was a
recipient of a degree of Master of Humanics from the Spring-
field Y.M.C.A. College awarded to him, as the citation indi-
cated, because of his breadth and sympathy with and his loyal
devotion to the spiritual interest (Continued on Page 26)
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 19, Number 6, June 1931, periodical, June 1931; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth312963/m1/3/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.