Why Do So Many Bright Young Men Enter the Public-Utility Business - An Address to the Students of the University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill., May 7, 1925

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Asher

Samuel Insull’s address argues that the public-utility business strongly attracts talented young men by offering meaningful career satisfaction and direct participation in solving community, state, and national problems. He describes his own experience since the late 1800s in building telephone, electric light and power, gas, electric railways, and telephones, emphasizing how these services evolved from experimental work into indispensable industries. He supports his case with large-scale figures and statistics illustrating the sector’s economic and social reach.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Why Do So Many Bright Young Men Enter the Public-Utility Business?

The Utility Business as a Life Career

97-84064-21Insull,Samuel Why do so many brightyoung men enter... Chicago # COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIESPRESEBVATION DIVISIONBIBLIOGBAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET OBIGINAL MATERIAL AS FILMED-EXISTING BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD | 308
Z
Box 191Insull,Samuel,1859-1938。
Why do so many bright young men enter the public-
utility business?by Samuel Insull.An address to the
students of the University of Illinois,Urbana,Il,May 7,
1925.Chicago,1925.
20 p.23.
1.Public utilities.1.Title.
25-10459
HD2763.I6
Library of Congress
ONLY 6D
t21
Copyright A 855411 | | | --- | --- | | | | Reproductions may not be made without permission trom Columbia University Lbraries. ## RESTRICTIONS ON USE: TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA FILM SIZE: 35mREDUCTION RATIO: 10:/ IB I MAGE PLACEMENT:IA IIB DATE FILMED: 4-4-97INITIALS: B 23385 TRACKING\#: FILMED BY PRESERVATION RESOURCES,BETHLEHEM,PA. ## WHY DO SO MANY BRIGHTYOUNG MEN ENTERTHE PUBLIC-UTILITYBUSINESS? SAMUEL INSULL AN ADDRESS TO THE STUDENTS OF THEUNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS,URBANA,ILL.MAY 7,1925 WHY DO SO MANY BRIGHTYOUNG MEN ENTERTHE PUBLIC-UTILITYBUSINESS? BYSAMUEL INSULLAN ADDRESS TO THE STUDENTS OF THEUNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS,URBANA,ILL.,MAY 7,1925CHICAGO1925 WHY DO SO MANY BRIGHT YOUNGMEN ENTER THEPUBLIC-UTILITY BUSINESS? N ATTEMPTING to answer the question asked in mytheme,it may be helpful to point out some of the rea-sons why the public-utility business is so attractiveto me that,notwithstanding 46 years of service,I still workat it with the same enthusiasm as I did in the days of myyouth.No doubt the young men who are coming into ittoday—and they are coming in shoals—feel much of thesame lure that keeps me going.Let me try to picture it. I It was my privilege,as a youth,to be employed,asearly as 1879,first in the commercial development of thetelephone,and later as far back as 1881 in the develop-ment of electric light and power service.In the lattercase,except ior the stage of original research and experi-mentation,I may claim to have been present at the birthof the incandescent electric light and power industry.Ithas been my good fortune to be associated with it fromthe time the first experimental plant and distribution sys-tem was operated from the laboratory of Thomas A.Edi-son,at Menlo Park,New Jersey,down to the present. Copyright1926,by Samuel Inaull While my connection with the other branches of thelocal public-uility business has not been so intimate,yetthere has been close contact with them.Thus it has beenmy privilege to see at short range practically all stages inthe development of these four forms of public-utility serv-ice—electric light and power,gas,electric railways,andtelephones. My connection with electric light and power,now oneof the great indispensable industries of our country,datesfrom February,1881.At that time there was not in exist-ence a manufacturing establishment where any of the ap-paratus essential to the production and use of electricitycould be produced on a commercial basis.The same can YOUNG MEN AND THE PUBLIC-UTILITY BUSINESS be said of electric-railway transportation,and almost thesame of the telephone;even gas has come into its own,asa domestic and industrial fuel,since that date. ## THE UTILITY BuSINESS AS A LIFE CAREER All of us now depend upon these four utility servicesto a degree unrealized until one of them is temporarily in-terrupted.They are indispensable to commercial,indus-trial and social life as we now live it.As purveyors ofcomforts and conveniences to the human race they have norivals.As business enterprises,they are among the greatones of the earth. The development of these services,in most respects,from the status of laboratory experiments to proportionsof great industrial and financial importance,has come with-in my active working years,and wi

FAQs

What reasons does Samuel Insull give for why young men are drawn to the public-utility business?

He presents the business as attractive due to the personal satisfaction of solving major public problems and the enthusiasm he still feels despite decades of service. He frames utilities as indispensable services that benefit the community, the state, and the nation.

How does Insull connect his personal background to the public-utility industry?

He describes starting work in the telephone industry as early as 1879 and later joining the development of electric light and power service from 1881 onward. He claims involvement across multiple stages in the growth of several utility services.

What evidence does the address use to show the scale and importance of public utilities?

It cites figures on national cash investment, the number of individual investors, customer counts for electric and gas companies, the number of telephones in use, and passenger volumes and employment supporting utility operations.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Asher