The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-05-26
PRIVATE WEALTH FOR PUBLIC USE

Several weeks ago there was a very interest
ing discussion in the English reviews of what
was very aptly and felicitously designated as
the gospel OF wealth that Is, the. employment
of wealth not for the single purpose Of graft
fying the elegant tastes and idle caprices Of
the individual possessing it, or Of exalting the
social importance Of his family, but in addi-
ton to these more or less legitimate.uses, for
the purpose of promoting the general pros
perity of the community.
Much can be said in condemnation of the
special methods by which many of the great
estates of the North have been accumulated,
but at the same time it is not open to ques-
ton that in instances practically without
number these estates have in very large part
been held by their owners as it were in trust
for the general Advancement of the interests
of the people among whom these great capt.
talists reside. Go TO what Northern city we
may. and there will be seen on every hand the
monuments of private benefactons. Libra
ries, universities. schools. hospitals, museums.
parks, statues, fountains, music halls; these
are some of the inestimable advantages for
which so many Of the cities in the Northern
States are indebted to the hberality of private
individuals
Before the late war between the sections,
there was not observed in the South any
striking manifestation of this spirit Of making
donations for public uses; first, because the
wealth of the Southern States was concen-
trated in the hands Of planters, causing the
isolated plantation and not the city to be the
local social and economic unit; and. secondly.
because the importance of mere family was
more carefully considered in the South than
in the North, and therefore there was
stronger disposition in the Southern men of
fortune to restrict the enjoyment of their
wealth to descendants of their own blood in
order to sustain and prolong the family
prestige.
Since the close Of the war there has not
been in this section a sufficient accumulation
of wealth in the hands of enough individuals
to lead 10 the exhibition of the spirit which
is so fully illustrated in the lives of so many
Northern public bsnefactors. And no doubt.
too, the surviving influence of the former idea
of the importance of family still fingers in the
minds of Southerners.who are in a position
TO give very large amounts for distinctively
public purposes. 1t will be some time yet
before we can expect in such a community as
Richmond. for instance, men Ike Bates of
Boston, Girard of Philadelphia. Cooper of
New York, Hopkins and Pratt Of Baltimore.
Corcoran of Washington, men whose names
will always be identified with great public
benesactions.
The day viii certainly come in this com.
munity however, when men of this stamp
will appear. Accumulated wealth in the pos
session of individuals is not yet ample enough
TO justify the anticipation. of their early ad-
vent. but the new spirit abroad in Richmond
and the other cities of the Southern States
will inevitably create the conditions by which
such men are rendered possible
Richmond can with natural pride boast at
the present day of the possession of number
of citizens of fortune who while they may not
make large donations TO public uses, yet en-
ploy their wealth in way that has a pro-
foundry beneficial influence upon the pros
perityof all our people Such citizens are