, 1878-06-07
Dr. Franklin's Investment.

W. fauhlih INV tNAlutUls
Franklin held ycry firmly 10 the con
victioa that IN a democratic State there
ought to i've no ofice of profit; and &C
cordingly he had devoted salary as Pfesi-
dent of the State ol Pnnsy lvania to the
assistance Of churches, colleges, ,chools,
and IN similar directions; when be came
To make his will, a portion of this salary,
amounting 10 something over two thou
sand pounds, was still due, and he direct
ed that il should be expended upon a
plan for making the river Schuylkill nav
igable. But year later he had pleased
himself with fine scheme for the pub
| lie benefit, SO he revoked this bequest, es-
pecially as be found it would he some
| time before it could be used, and direct
ed two thousand pounds % be paid over,
in equal portions, to Boston and TO Phila-
delphia, to be used by each town in the
same way, and for the same purpose
The thousand pounds in each case was
to constitute fund from which loans
were constantly to be made at an ordi-
nary rate of interest to young married
mechanics, who had been apprentices in
the town, and could produce two respect
able securities. Franklin's first inten-
tion in his investment was defeated, not
SD much by the inherent defect of pro-
viding aid for those who could not help
themselves, but by the gradual disappear
ance OF the class that came within the
terms of the provision. AT the outset,
when the fund was only about $4,000,
nearly the whole amount was loaned TO
twenty-seven persons. From 1901 to
| 1911 the number of loans was 1874; in the
twenty-five years following, it was 91; in
1886 there were thirteen bonds out; in
1866, when Boston had increased i'm
mensely in population and the fund was
twenty times as large as at first, there
was but one bond out, for $50. The
number has indeed increased little since
that. Last year seven persons received
assistance, this year nine. 1t is not i'm
possible that ingorance of the fund pre-
vents some from applying, but it is also
true that, with the rapid increase of pop
ulation there has yet been decrease in
the number of young married artiticers,
who have been apprenticed in Boston,
and can produce two respectable securi.
ties, if they would borrow the sum of two
or three hundred dollars with which to
set up in business. The apprentice sys
TEN has been dying out, partly through
wider social distance between master and
| pupil, forbidding the old.fashioned mode
of having the apprentice live with his
master; partly through the breaking up
of the trades by the introduction of ma
chinery into subdivisions OF trade; part
ly through trade unions which disCour.
age apprenticeship; partly through dis
inclination to enter mechanic life, since
it offers less chance apparently for rapid
fortune, and partly through what some
one has called "a constitutional aversion
of the race to being bound to anybody to
do anything"
1t is interesting to calculate what the
chances is of the fund reaching in 1902
the amount which DR.. Franklin ciphered
out hundred years or so before. A
writer in the Boston Aduertiser in 1856
made calculation that at the then rate
of increase, the amount would fall short
Of Franklin's estimate by Sl51 200, which
| AOOhSu AothNA SOil ~ eha hS Pi'pOoSN
that higher interest should be procured,
and also that some public spirited per-
son other than himself should add do
nation of $3,726 which would saffice
with its interest, to bring the amount to
the desired point. But it has turned out
better than the writer then feared, for
there was rapid increase in the princi
pal Investment at the close of the war
and now, if the present rate of interest
continues, and there is no loss Of princi
pal, the year 1899 will see the total about
$525,O0O or say $4,000 less than the
amount calculated hundred years be-
fore. There is little doubt that this de-
ficiency would not have existed, but that
the sum would have exceeded Franklin's s
calculation, if the managers had given
prior to 1916 the care which was be-
slowed ON the investment after that date.
Still, considering the chances that the
whole fund would be frittered away early
in the century, the present showing is
not unfovorable.-H. 10. Scudder,in s. s.
| Timer