The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-02-11
u,sp1REcTED MuN1E1cENcE.

MIsDIRECTED MUNIFICENCE.
| The beouests made by the late Dorman
| B. Eaton in favor of Harvard and Co.
| lumbia universities, "to gather municlpai
! wisdom from the most enlightened Cities
| have been effective In directing attention
to the vast sums of money which are be-
ing lavished on educational institutions
by wealthy men whose aim, no DOUBT
usually Is the Improvement of not only
! economic but social conditions.
The bequests of Mr.. Eaton are not re-
garded as likely to result In any ma
| terial gain in the direction which he had
at heart, and the wisdom Of the huge
! endowments which are being made to
| educational institutions with view to
| the direct advantage of the masses is not
| being at all generally recognized.
| Is it too much to say that the col
| Ieges and universities of the country are
not in touch with the common people, or
! that the influence of those who receive
| their education in them on the currents
! Of popular opinion Is not at all In pro-
/ portion to the vast extent of wealth,
both public and private, which is being
| expended on them? Each observer will
answer this inquiry according to his point
of view, and the college graduate may be
| depended on, generally at least, to in
/ sist on the affirmative answer. But,
| whatever the truth may be in this direc-
| ton, 1t is not open to dispute that the
masses of the people take very little
/ interest In and are not at all profoundly
| impressed by the announcements made
from time to-time that this millionaire or
that has bestowed millions on the work
of endowing or sustaining some institu-
| ton Of higher education. This is so be-
cause the masses regard these institu.
lions as such to be beyond their reach.
! They are nominally free; but not one
| young man or woman in 100000 of the
| children of the poor ever thinks of seeing
chance open door may enable them to
do, as they pass them dr. their daily
movements.
| OF what concern Is it. for instance, to
a man who, laboring week after week ct
hard work and having q big family to
sustain, finds himself unable to buy ss
much fresh meat for his children as he
would like to purchase, that Phil al.
mour has been good enough to give a
| number of millions to the Chicago uni
versity? 1t will not reduce the price Of
| his family's meat, nor bring him one
step nearer to giving any child of his a
university education. 1t will not make
him any more content with the social OIL
| economic conditions which operate to eX-
| clude his children from all the bene-
| fits of such munifcence. He knows
| that all the men of his rank in life, 10
matter how industrious they may be, ot
however prudent or economical, are
| placed Just as he is. If Mr.. Armour's
millions had been bestowed in establish
| ing cheap homes,S or cheap bread, or
| cheap meat or in any other way the
| tangible good of which reached the poor,
| that, even If he or his reaped no adj
| vantage, some other good man fixed as he
| is was made the happier for the benef-
cence.
| There is a strong suspicion that the
business of scholastic education is utter,
| fy overdone in the United States. That
| suspicion may be well or Ill founded
| There Is no doubt whatever that such
requests as that Of Mr.. Eaton are simply
| valueless. We are advancing slowly
toward better conceptions of rational mu-
nicipal government; but in that advance
/ college professors and college graduates
and their learning cut no appreciable Ag-
ure. The people themselves are solving
/ those problems. They are doing it
through their ballots. Undertakings like
| that of the establishment of the Austral-
ian balloting system have done more In
this direction than has been done by all
| the school learning in economics and the
| rest of 1t since our first college was
founded. The people are learning by BIT
Tier experience that their substance is be-
/ ing eaten in many directions by public
rnonopolies which are being maintained
! through public agencies. They will find
| remedy for them some day, and the rem
| edy will not come TO them through the
colleges or the college men. Indeed col