Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-09
A QUARTER BILLION
Estimated as the Aggregate Wealth
of Four New Cork Estates.
TWENTY MILLIONS MORE YEARLY
Trinity Church, Columbia College and Sim
liar Corporations.
LEGAL INVESTIGATION THREATENED

corporations which guard the secrets Of
their wealth almost as iealously as they do
the wealth itself-whlch are SO rich that
they feaf 10 divalge the figures. Silently
and steadily they put away million aftel
million in their swollen Golfers, making nc
report-pf the fact beyond the returns they
are compelled by law to make to the Staoe
officials, and rendering these in such am
liguous language and such preposterous
bookkeeping as to hide most effectually the
truths they are supposed to be telling.
OF these, four great estates in this city are
especially worthy of notice, for the reason
that none of them is engaged in commercial
business ostensibly, while the aggre-
gate value of the property they
own is probably more than 5000, 900
Startling as this statement is, a little con-
sideration will occasion more surprise. In
vested as the most of the money is in real
estate, the growth of the value Cncluding
the unexpended surplus of rentals) is prob
ably twenty millions year-certainly not
less than ten millions What, then, in
another halt century will be the extent of
the holdings of Trinity Church, Columbia
College, the Sailors Snug Harbor, and the
New York Hospital?
OF the origin of the great estates owned
and controlled by the four corporations
much has been said from time to time-of
Trinity Church, especially. Claimants by
scores have applied to the courts for their
shares Of the inheritance which they think
should be theirs, but the courts have been
unkind Decisions have invariably been
favorable to the vestry of Trinity, .and the
title which is vested in them is now as we'll
established as any in New York. Few
things are more definitely settled than that
''the heirs of Anneke JAMS will never get
dollar of the estate.
A Hundred Millions in Trinity's Treasury.
How great the estate is nobody outside
the Board of Control knows, and it is not
likely that anybody will know, excepting
N one contingency, TO be mentioned pres
,ntly. The late DR.. Dix, when, some years
go, he was at the head of this board, ac-
lnowledged that there were more than
S50,000,000 in the treasury, and it is we'll
understood that this was an entirely in
dequate statement at that time. There is
doubt that at the present time the vestry
WINS much more than S100,000,00 000
Probably half that sum is a reasonable
timate of the wealth of the Sailors Snug
farbor. The story of this estate is less
widely known, but it is fully as interesting
as that OF Trinity. 1t is owing to the legal
acumen of Alexander Hamilton that this
estate has been held intact for 80 years. In
June, 1901, he drew up vii: for Captain
Robert Richard Randall The Cap
tsin desired to do something
which the laws recognize as distinct
Il opposed to public policy, namely,
to tie up his money forever for the purpose
of maintaining home for disabled sailors
the famous Sailors Sung Harbor-and
Hamilton advised leaving it TO eight per-
sons who should be trustees by virtue of
their holding certain public offices These
eight were the Mayor and Recorder of this
city, the Chancellor of the State, the Presi-
dent and Vice President of the Marine So
cietv, the President of the Chamber of Com
merce, the rector of Trinity Church and the
senior minister of the PRESBYTERIAN denomi-
latlou in the city CONSTRUED to mean the
minister 0f the senior church,. There is no
longer any Chancellor OF New York State,
no there are only seven trustees, but until
the succession shall fail in some of the
other offices this number will not be de-
creased Moreover, the eight, following
the instructions of the will, incor-
porated themselves in 1881, so that they
SOW form a self-perpetuating body which is
practically responsible to no one for its
management of the property. As a matter
of course the individuals die, but bv the
terms of the will and of the articles of in
corporation, the incumbents of these Offices
succeed TO the trusteeship 1t is true that
the treasurer is obliged to render a state
ment every wear to the State Government
and the law is technically obeyed, but these
r;o1l c1v
to conceal the facts, and no Information is
to be had by the public excepting the in
complete and misleading figures in the
statements, so that nobody outside knows
how great the estate now is.
Wealth of Columbia College.
In regard to the other two estates men,
toned, there is even less to say, by author
ity. Columbia College, rich as it is, un-
doubtedly devotes the entire income to the
purposes for which it was established, and
no reasonable person has ever questioned
that its affairs are honestly and wisely ad-
mnistered. The estate of the New York
Hospital, III tie other hand, is conducted
Sith such defiant secrecy as to give rise to
the opinion generally held that it, like the
two first mentioned. is managed with an ex-
travagance that amounts to dishonesty, in
that enormous sums are diverted from legit-
innate use, and pal0 to favored individuals
In the shape of unearned salaries or fees 1t
is not known positively, as it is in the
cases of Trinity and the Snug Harbor, that
this is the case, but it is yehemently sus-
pected.
Not exactly pertinent to the consideration
of these four estates, but interesting in the
same connection, is the story of the Man.
haitian Company. This is a corporation
nearly as old as the present century, and
exists bv virtue of a charter obtained by
garon Burr when he was practising law in
is State. This charter authorized the
npany to supply the city with water
I'D to perform such other acts as should
be inconsistent with" that business.
was a clever trick, and somebody discov-
ed soon that it was not Inconsistent"
O carry on a banking business Accord
lgIv the company is now bank and per-
rms the water su }ply act by maintaining
tank in its costly building at 40 Wall
eet. from which tank any citizen is en-
led to free drink of water. 1t is not
,rded that citizens flock thither in great
bers for the water supply now that the
G aoueducts have been constructed.
ompany is rich-very rich, but it dis
,its surplus in dividends.
Likely to Be an = estigation.
egard to the four great estates men,
.,oned (perhaps excepting Columbia Col
lege), there is growing feeling on the part
Of the public that something should be
lone, 1t is argued that the rapid aggrega-
ion of money in such enormous amounts is
. ;,;,,r,- IN fha State. that since all the