Evening star., 1898-02-10
ENOCH PRATT'S WILL
One Provision Causing Excitement in the
Maryland Legislature.
Conditions of the Bequest to the
Trustees of the Sheppard
Asylum.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star

ter OIL leg1Slatlon that has been fought be-
fore the Maryland general assembly for
many day is now being wageG before
the judiciary committee of the house Of
delegates on the bill passed by the senate
to authorize the trustees of the Sheppard
Asylum to change it's corporate title to
the trustees of the Sheppard and Enoch
Pratt Hospital and thereby qualify for
the acceptance of the bequest of s., 900. 900
left them upon that condition by the late
Enoch Pratt. In case the legislature de-
clnes to authorize the change of title the
bequest, by the terms of Mr.. Pratt's will,
reverts to certain Of his nephews and
nieces living in Massachusetts, and the
trustees of the asylum, Who have expressed
their readiness to accept the trust, will be
relieved of the increased responsibility
imposed them by the management of
such literally extended resources.
The question is one that has aroused
the most intense interest throughout the
state. and is being followed with the clos
est scrutiny by the general public. The
widely known eccentricities Of the late Mr.
Pratt the size of the bequest the alternative
which makes distant relatives the bene-
fciaries in the event of the failure Of the
assembly to allow the coupling of his name
with Moses Sheppards. the activity of the
lobby and the appearance of "philan-
thropic" objectors. who declare that their
protests are based upon their reverence
for the dead'-that is, for the late Mr.
Sheppard-combiae to keep public Interest
at the highest tension, and the matter
is the subject of more argument, corre-
spondence and publication than any ques-
ton that has demanded the attention of
Maryland legislators for a number of years.
Bills Introduced.
Bill; to enable the trustees to accept the
bequest were introduced simultaneously in
the state senate and the house of delegates.
The senate bill was speedily reported IA
vorably by the judiciary committee of the
body, and was passed. The house bill is
still in the hands of the judiciary commit
tee, where the senate bill also lies which
committee granted hearing to the repre-
sentatives of those favoring and objectinG
to the acceptance of the bequest on Tues
day, and will hear further argument Fri
day.
The matter has inspired a vast variety of
speculation and comment and even in the
thick of the senatorial fight occasional ru-
mors of what the Pratt heirs were prepared
20 put up to defeat the bill. and to what
length the trustees were prepared to 30 to
secure the bequest, relieved the acrimony
OF the contest. In fact in these rumors the
alleged Inducements to be offered occa-
sionally reached such proportions that any
one accepting the reports at their face value
would have been justified in the supposition
that the heirs and the trustees were at an
auction, and the vote of the assembly
would go to the highest bidder
While many of the reports of this charac-
Ter were so extravagant as to manifest at
once their absurdity, the belief has become
very general throughout the state, that
each side will exert all the influence in its
power to gain its point, and any member Of
the assembly who votes against the bill
must expect to have his action subjected to
an abundance of gratuitous ANALYSIS and
comment.
Public Sentiment,
That public sentiment is strongly in
1aVor Of accepting the bequest is unmis-
taxable and many Of the legislators, who,
under ordinary conditions would vote as
they chose, acknowledge that they could
never satisfactorily explain a negative
vote to their constituents. They appre-
ciate that those who vote against the bill
Will be objects Of suspicion however un-
JIsD, and that If the measure is defeated,
that great popular indignation will be
manifested.
While the popular judgment is decidedly
In favor Of the passage of the bill, there
is marked tendency to criticise the con-
ditions upon which the acceptance of the
Request DEFENDS. The late Mr.. Pratts
reputation for aggressive prudence, and
his invariable habit of getting an eQuiva-
lent for all his services, does not tend to
to insure the official perpetuation of his
name by hyphenating it to the title of the
II stitution founded by Moses Sheppard,
has been roundIy criticised. and infuses
additional life in the protests that have
appeared from time to time since the con-
troverSy became general.
The contending parties have enlisted
some OF the best legal talent in the state
On their respective sides. The interests of
the heirs are looked after by Col. Charles
Marshall, Mr.. w. Irvine Cross, law part
ner of Mr. John K. Cowen, and ex-Attor-
noy General John p. Poe. In addition sew
a rGflI ff1x bod frAA L.
esroused their cause, and are setting forth
reasons why the offer should be rejected
in paid advertisements, at % cents a line.
The trustees have engaged ex-Gov. Will
liam Pinkney Whyte and Mr.. Francis Z.
Homer, and City Solicitor Thomas l. Ell
liott of Baltimore appeared before the COM
Elittee Tuesday to present resolutions
passed by the mayor and city council on
urging the passage of the bill.
Arguments of the Opposition.
The chief arguments of the opposition,
apart from their declarations that respect
for the memory of Moses Sheppard should
not permit the engrafting Of another name
in the title of the institution he founded,
is that observance of the conditions i'm
posed by Mr.. Pratt-"the erection of such
other buildings or building as will accom-
modate not less than two hundred addi-
tional inmates" who are to be received
at very low charges or absolutely Free
design of Moses Sheppard. who wished to
found a small and expensive" asylum. 1t
Is claimed that the curative and expert
mental institution, conceived by Mr..
Sheppard. will deteriorate into a mere
mad house." second Bay View" and
that the object Of the original founder-to
restore to sanity the mentally deranged-
Will be absorbed into an additional place
of retention for the hopelessly insane.
The trustees, on the other hand, contend
that the spirit of Moses Sheppard's wishes
will be strictly observed, and that respect
for and obedience to the minor conditions
imposed by Mr.. Pratt will not invaiidate
the methods that have been followed in
accordance with Mr.. Sheppards instruc-
tions.
They declare that it was never the wish
of the founder that the asylum should re-
main for all time small institution, and
that his reason for establishing It as such
was because Of the limitations of his
means. He is quoted In letter to Mr..
Benjamin F. Taylor as saying: I'm 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 in