The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-02-17
WHATS IN A NAME?
TWO Million Dollars for a Mary
land Insane Hos

Special to The St. Paul Globe.

Special to The st. Paul Globe
WASHINGTON. Feb. 16.-Tha gen
eraI assembly of Maryland is now
graphing with a problem arising out
OF the viii of EnOCh Pratt the PaItt
more millionaire who died Sent Il
1896. A bill has been introduced to an
thorlze the trustees of the Sheppard
asylum, an institution for the insane
rounded by the late Moses SHEPPARD
to change their corporate title to '|The
trustees OF the Sheppard and Enoch
Pfatt Hospital" and thereby becOma
qualified for the acceptance Of a he
quest of about $4,000 900 left to them
upon that condition by Mr.. Pratt In
case the legislature declines to author
lze this change Of title the bequest re-
FertS TO certain Of Mr.. Pratt's relatives
now living in Massachusetts. who ara
Sdld TO be maintaining an active IObb,,
at Annapolis. The hospital on the
other hand, is not allowing it's claim to
go by default, and the Baltimore news
papers are filled with the subject, and
are printing as an advertisement homo
arguments ON the legal controversy.
The main argument Of those who oh.
9ect to the change in the title of the
hospital is oStensibly reverence for
the dead-that is. for the late Mr.. Shen-
pard But public sentiment is natur-
any strongly in favor of the hospital,
NdSSdCnlISGttS
yves VIII have an uphill fight to save
the institution as an exclusive NOM
inenC 10 Mr.. Sheppard. 1t is alleged
mat the quality of the institution "a
conceived by Mr.. Sheppard, will dete-
r1orate If subjected to the charges
when the larger endowment will in
VolVe. 1t was clearly the plan of the
founder to establish a small institution
put he is quoted in a letter to BENJAMIN
r. Taylor as saying: In doing our
good works we should do what we can
and leave the coming age to manage
for itself So rapid are the changes in
the character of men, and also in the
state OF things. that a testatOr would
IN many instances, had he lived. have
made different disposition of his
property"
This utterance. combined with one
from Mr.. Pratt, 81 do not wish to alter
the operation and management in the
working of the said asylum as now car
rled on constitute an almost impreg-
nable argument in favor Of allowing
the trustees to accept the beuuest
Moses Sheppard seems to have been a
very modest man, and testimony in
mat line is doing much to overthrow
the reverence for the dead" argument
since it is clear that he would not have
cared for that kind of reverence A let
ter from him has been produced. saw
the use Of the female orphans | annex
a single condition to the gift that moth
ing shall be printed or published about
it. At another time he wrote of his
proposed institution for the insane: 'T
thought [ could proceed unnoticed
without law" 1t is true that he al
ways spoke Of the proposed asylum as
an Experimental institution. and
that he anticipated for it a smaller
scope than that which Mr. Pratt took
into view forty-three years afterward.
The original charter Of the Sheppard
asylum was granted in the January
session Of 1853, and is one of the oldest
institutions of its kind in the country.
Mr.. Pratt during his lifetime found
ed the celebrated free library in BaIti-
more that bears his name He was
born in North Middleboro. Plymouth
county, Massachusetts, Sept 10, 1903
At the age of fifteen he entered a store
in Boston, and served an apprentice
ship of six years. after which he went
to Baltimore and set up a commission
business from which he amassed n
great fortune. In selecting the Sheb-
pard asylum as an object of his benef-
cence. he showed excellent judgment
for few institutions are doing better
work or stand higher in the public es-