The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-07-09
FRIDAY, JULY o, 1859.
THE BOARD or TRUSTS.

Rorp branches of City Councils yesterday
ado,,,od resolutions authorizing the employ
-. 90 oounsel TO test the validity of the
49,, hill creating the Board of Trusts, and
d;roctino the officials who have city trusts
pnder their control to refuse to surrender
hooks records, or real estate to unauthorized
persons.
The whole question WILL therefore, we pre-
euna he thrown into the courts; and as 1t is
desirable that it should be examined In all It's
bearings, the contemplated legal investigation
cannot result in any serious harm, ana may
40 much rood. The donor of the principal
trust tbe Girard estate, manifestly desired to
rlace the control of that valuable property
exclusively in the hands Of 1.-THE Mayor, AL
dermen, and citizens of Philadelphia, their
successors and assigns and in referring to
the organization of the college, he said, in his
will, that he hoped that the nature and bene-
fits of his bequests, coupled with the fact
that they would be subject to the manage
ment of the municipal government, would
induce the citizens of Philadelphia to 'ob-
serve and evince especial care and anxiety in
selecting members for their City Councils,
and other agents.
The newlaw provides for an entirely differ
ent system of management. The Mayor and
Councils will have but three votes out of fif-
teen in the proposed Board of Directors. The
remaining twelve directors are to be ap-
pointed in part by the Judges of the Supreme
Court, some of whom are not citizens of Phi
ladelphia They are to serve during good
behavior, being subject to removal only by
the concurrent vote of two-thirds of the mem
bers of the Board Of Appointment; and they
will necessarily possess, for an Indefinite
period, controlling power, which cannot be
seriously affected by the views or wishes of
the Mayor, Councils, or citizens of Phila-
delphia. The courts, instead of the citizens,
will, in the first instance, designate who are
to control the trust; but after the new board
is once appointed, it will be so far beyond the
reach of public opinion that its authority will
be well-nigh perpetual and absolute.
1t is quite possible, and not improbable,
that the proposed Board of Appointment
would select men of superior character, and
that their administration would be eminently
skilful and honest, but if by any mischance
q serious mistake should be made in their
selection, it would be difficult and almost i'm
possible to correct it.
The main questions however, will relate
rather to the legality of the proposed change
than to the influence it will exert on the
management of the Girard estate and other
trusts. Has the Legislature right to transfer
to the courts the control of property left, in
trust, to the Mayor, Aldermen, and citizens !?
and, if it has such right, will not the sur
viving relations of Stephen Girard be fur
nished with new ammunition for the eternal
war they are disposed to wage against the
orphans whom he selected as his principal
heirs? A legal investigation may speedily
decide the first of these questions in the affir-
NATIVE, and the second in the negative, but
Councils have acted prudently and properly
in resolving to have the validity of the new
bill thoroughly tested