New-York tribune., 1901-03-17

Mr.. CARNEGIE'S OFFER TO NEW-YORK.
The gift offered TO New-York City by Mr.. Car
negie in the letter TO DR.. Billings which was
made public in the newspapers Of yesterday
leaves a sufficiently deep impression when ex-
pressed in its baldest terms. The sum which
he places at Our disposal for the erection Of
sixty-fve branch library buildings amounts to
S520eO00. "Sixty-five libraries at one stroke
probably breaks the record says Mr.. Carnegie
himself 1t does more. Despite the many
princely benefactions made by American philan-
thropsts in the past it touches the imagination
with unique force. The first thought inspired
everywhere by this announcement, venture
to say. looked solely 10 the magnitude of the
gift But second thoughts put mere figures in
the background. and place the splendid offer
i'm different and far more interesting light.
The figures are large. but they stand for only
a portion of the great work upon which Mr..
Carnegie embarked some years ago, and TO
which. he has lately declared. he means to
devote the remaining years of his life. When
all his plans have been carried ont, vast as they
may he the statistican will have no difficulty
in making table of them. The deeper sgnifi-
canoe of those plans. however. has already got
beyond measurement. The share which have
had i'm the material development of our city,"
he wrote the other day 10 the people of Pitts
burg. may he considered only the foundation
ION which the things of the spirit are built. and
'in taking the proceeds of the material TO de-
'velop the things of the spiritual world l feel
''that / am pursuing the ideal path of life and
duty" The erection of Sixty-ive branch library
buildings in this city will mean the translation
of great mass of money into things of the spirit
ual world: the five million dollars and more are
iurn
circulation: they become a definite force in the
uplifting of mankind. This is the point on
which the serious observer must dwell. 1t is
obvious. no doubt. But the obvious thing is
sometimes the all important thing.
The value of a library seems at first sight
tOerably easy 10 state in plain terms. Get to-
gether collection of reports. tabulate the num-
Der of books taken from each library and caS-
sify the books according to subjects. 1t can he
proved without delay that this town is going in
for science or history that the other is sunk in
the absorption of fiction. The benefit accruing
from each library might possibly be settled, to
the statistician's satisfaction in the course of
an hour. But III so far one may divine Mr..
Camegies idea from the evidence accessible
these specific questions would seem TO be trOu-
bling him not at all. He imposes condi-
tions beyond the purely financial ones relating
I'D lle lTDNlslOn vi sites anu Oh
| fund He offers no suggestions as to the lines
on which the libraries should he governed
though il may be pointed out that i'm the present
instance he exercises constructive prescience in
proposing many branch libraries rather than
one central institution. He realizes the need in
n great city like New-York for springs of learn
ing everywhere. and therefore indicates a very
special disposition of his fund. But even here
he only recognizes the necessities of the case
he follows no whim. Rather. he says tactly:
II give You the seed. Cultivate II as you will
1T is the seed of the spirit and II cannot but
bear fruit"
From the same one of those sixty-five branch
libraries which might appear. from report 10
be overwhelming a neighborhood in fiction the
solitary book might be issued 10 some seeker
after truth and light which would prove a
source Of infinite good TO the world at large
How many great men have in boyhood been di-
rected by chance encounter with Il single book
10 the accomplishment of tasks which would
have been left undOne save for that early in
Spiration. II is perhaps no cXagscration to say
that the greatest good springing from such a
gift that which Mr. Carnegie offers to the
city is the good which il is impossible to est-
mate. A library contributes steadily to the
growth of the bulk of those who live within
reasonable distance of its walls: inevitably il |
leavens the community for which it is estab- |
lished. But in the last resort the value of it's |
ministratons is impOnderable. immeasurable |
All we know is that the influence of the spirit |
ual world issues necessarily from every place in |
which the thoughts Of great men are gathered |
together: of that are sure What we are |
chiefly conscious of in Mr. Carnegie's proposal |
is of a wise man doing mere than most wise |
mon are privileged TO do i'm opening new chan |
nels through which the forces of civilization |
may flow.