The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-05-23
GREEKS BEARING GIFTS.

sand years Old, and as r now as It
was when written: Beware Of the
Greeks, especially when thew bear
gifts"-Timeo DqnaO8 ct dOnG ferenteS,
as the old r 1mans quoted it from VIr
gil, but in plain English, Beware the
enemy bearing gifts" This ancient
proverb finds modern application in
recent donations by the representa-
tives of the great trusts and other az
gregations of capital, secured by the
psuperization of the people, ostensibly
for the education OK the nations outh
There are some who have deemed this
merely an instance of vanity on the
part Of men who, having more money
than they knew what to do with, think
to immortalize themselves and earn
fame by returning 20 public use a small
part Of the sums they have distracted
from the common stock, by syndicates
and trusts. There was a greater
mistake. These men are not devoid Of
vanity, but they r not wooed by it
to confer benefits upon those whom
they have injured. There is a deep,
we'll laid design at the bottom Of this
giving, and its motive is self interest.
I have before me a pamphlet, issued
by that eminently respectable associa-
ton, the American Bankers Ass0cia.
tion. 1t is a pamphlet which is not
- ,-o-- 1-n. IN 4n1E 70 q Rnfhnn
private and exclusive affair. It's cover,
like it's contents, is gold tinted. At
the session of that association, as far
back as 1889. it passed this resolution:
Resolved, That the Executive Coun
Gil is hereby directed to carefully con
slider, and, il possible, devise some
feasible plan whereby this Association
may encourage or promote the organi.
cation of school, or schools, Of Finance
among our institutions of learning,
and report upon the same to the next
Convention.
At the next convention, in 1890, in
the address of Professor James, deliv
cred by request and approved by vote
of the association, he said it was a
pleasure to discuss the subject Of estsb
fishing these schools before q body of
men who have unusual means of in,
huencing public opinion in regard to
it, and added, that it was ! o sible Ito
revolutionize every college in the
country" He reported that Mr.. Whar
ton had already secured the establish
ment Of one such school" at the Uni.
versity of Pennsylvania, by the gift of
one hundred thousand dollars to the
University. He went On to say that
beyond all GIestion, in this country,
the great merchant prince, the rail.
road president, the great msnufac-
turer and banker, have succeeded to
the place of power once held by the
great orator, statesman, lawyer, or
clergyman. The professional class is
ground, the business world gain.
ing it. Whether for veal or woe, the
control of government, Of society, of
education, OF the press, yes, even of
the church, is slipping more and more
into the hands of the business
classes, and it is this class, which, to
an ever increasing extent, will domi
our political and social life"
DOWN with manhood, up with the
The proposition is at least
stated. Further along in his
address, Professor James speaks of the
existence of wealth for several genera
tions in a family, as the great means
of bringing out the finer sides of life,
and improving the strain of the stock"
who do not understand the ne
cessity that the monied classes should
stand together for such purposes are
characterized as having the narrow
ness and selishness of the meanest
hayseed of them all"
This address was endorsed by a vote
Of the association, afterWard printed
and discreetlY distributed at it's ex-
pense. An argument that seems to
have carried weight, was, that the
students in the propcs d schools of
finance would become journalists, law
yers, and college professors, and, by
their influence on public sentiment,
would well justify the arguments sug
In the plan Of these schools adopted
by the convention, the necessity of
preserving great estates' is promi
nently brought for ward, and it is OBJ
served that the students of institu
tions thus aided" become free from
''delusions," and instructed as to 1.-THE
necessity Of permanent uniformity or
integrity Of the coin unit" IL is easy
to understand what "deIusions' the