Arizona daily citizen., 1901-07-12
LOOKING TO AN EDUCATIONAL TRUST.

Thespectaco of Rockefeller posing as disinter
ested phanthropist and receiving theloud laudations
of the young men of Chicago University is calculated
to shake the faith of the public in higher education
One of tho most dangerous tendencies of modern pa-
tocracy is to puschase the souls of universities
with their proviso endowments The creed of early
time was that colleges should be untrammeled in
their legitimate mission of inculcang truth; and it
the endowed college of the future is to cater to the
whims of putocracy had better return to the good
old days when colleges struggled with poverty and
adyersity, but never deviated from the truth. One
can scarcely find more degrading situation than
that of college whose portals, above the sigma
ture of an endower is inscribed Thou shalt" and
Thou shalt not" Imagine the average self poised
millionaire deciding upon the plausibility OF an econ
omic theory, abrogating established fact in his
tory!
Only the other day President William DeWitte
Hyde of Bowdon College, gentleman OF scholarly
attanmens and of intellectual integrity, sounded q
note of warning against tho present plutocrac ten
dency in an address at Boston University. There is
something very refreshing and almost unique in the
spectacle of college president speaking out upon
matter which closely concerns educational institu
tions when by diplomatic fawning he might Sc
rich endowment for his college. 1t shows
that the thinking classes beginning to penetrate
the hidden purposes of the Rockefeller phianthrop-
lists
During the past decade the college has become
something more than place where the young are
taught to humble in dead or foreign tongue-more
than mere meeting place for idealists and dream
The growing Importance of the social and eco
nomic departments where problems that affect the
people investigated augurs we'll for the future
good of the whole people That which best serves
the interest of the masses has directly opposite eff
feet upon the welfare Of the plutocratic element,
Hence il is essential to this latter class to meet the
danger that confronts its future supremacy and
control it. Whether this is the real purpose OF the
Rockefeller generosity we do not know. But we do
know that the tendency of our educational phian-
hropsts to call halt upon genuine and sincere in
vestigations along social and economic lines points
that way
There is no possible excuse for such interference
Almost without exception the victims of this policy
have been men who occupied prominent positions ir
their professions men who advocated or explained
favorably economic theories that the general public
has begun to look upon worthy OF consideration
men of true nobility, whose search for truth has et
to certain convictions and who had the courage o
their convictions OF course should some profession
al fool overstep the limits of decency b,
should be deprived of his positon-but in eucl
case the school trustees and not the philanthrops
should meet the case President Hyde states tn
case strongly:
A donor may give or he may not, but when b
has given his money it should be completely be
yond his individual control isat thrown stone al
ter it has left the hand. The attempt OF
donor to dictate the views which professor shal
teach is TO arrogate to himself the attributes of om
niscience, omnipotence and Immortality.
1t would be happy thing for public educatio
it every college in the land subject to the con
troll of president conservative, just and coul
ageons as President Hyde, of Bowdoin.