10                              David C. Hamtnack

It would be wrong to conclude that Veiller was only de Forest's
agent. De Forest and his associates did not seek weak yes-men for
executive positions. They valued Veiller's frankness and indepen¬
dence of mind—though they did not like to lose arguments with
him. Yet even when they did lose an argument they insisted that
they, as members of his Board of Trustees or Council, must have
the last word. Expert social work specialists like Veiller played
key roles in the Progressive Era mo\'ement for social reform, but
volunteer managers and financial contributors give the most de¬
tailed attention to the mo\-ement and retained the last, if not the
first, word in "organizing New York for social betterment."