Morris tribune., 1902-01-11
DONOROFC HINEsECHA!R.
General H. w. Carpenters Idea
For Helping China.
WISHES MORE sooIABLE RELATIONS

0ficer who Gave 100000 to Co1u1n-
bin University to Endow Professor
About a BETTER Understanding Be
tween China and the United States.
It is now known that General Horace
w. Carpenter is the donor of the $780,
600 recently given to Columbia uniyer-
sity for the founding of a chair Of Chi
nese language, literature, religion and
law. The gift is intended as a nucleus
for fund which is expected to reach
something like 81, 100000.
| 1t is the idea of the donor that the
chair shall be the means of bringing
about a better understanding between
the Chinese nation and the people Of
the United States. The professorship
will bear the name of Dean Lung, a
cultured Chinaman, who is friend of
General Carpenter. When asked by a
reporter of the New York Herald con-
corning the gift, the general made no
denial that he was the donor. .-.,.~.....
''It would be mere affectation in me-"
said he, 'Fto try to conceal or to make a
mystery Of what has in some way be-
come known to everybody who cares
to know about it. If | gave the money
to Columbia university, my private
reasons We're simply that l wished to
give it and that could give it. The
public reason has been so much dis
cussed that | think it is obvious" ~
What the general meant by the pub
lie reason which actu9ted him may be
Aearned from a document which is now
part Of the records Of Columbia univer-
sity. It is a note which was Enclosed
with a check for 100000 sent to Presi-
stood that the name Of the donor was
not to be made public. 1t was only re
Gently that the identity Of the donor
became generally known.
In this note the reasons for making
the gift are set forth as follows:
am told that doubts have been ex-
pressed whether such an appropriation
would be wise or practically useful Pos.
sibly not. It is not always easy to foresee
results or to measure their value, especial
ly when the means are largely tentative.
1t is said that the Chinese have no reli-
gion. If this means only that our religion
is not their religion, it need not be denied,
If religion may be well defined as "eIno-
ton concerned about obligation and duty
then the Chinese are q. religious people.
And when it is considered that they are
made up or several hundred millions. Of
like origin, race and charaGtGr, earth born
and firmly rooted in the soil, bound to-
gether by the common usage and" tTadi-
lions Of incalcUIabla generations and weld
ed into one nation by many cooperative
causes and especially by the unifying
force of & written literary language; that,
with their unriVaIed endurance, temper (
ance and industry, their devotion to fam |
lily and almost SupcrStiti0uS love OF home /
holding to their purpose with the con- .
servatisalr OF EngliShmen and the tenacity
Of IsTael-they are possessed by a. patient !
patriotism that never changes or forgets;
that, with a common, though variant
speech, full and expressive and older prob
ably than any other living tongue now
spoken elsewhere, they are also a scholar
~ people, with an abundant literature no
less venerable than those we call classical .
and that have done so much to soften and ;
reform our institutions and manners; that
they have inherited civilization reaching
back into the forgotten past as far as any
IF those that grew up around the Mediter-
'anean but less sensual and superStitiOus:
hat they have a complete system of an
2ient and customary law well fitted to
heir needs and condition, regulating ali
he varied relations of civilized life-Of
amily, society and governmental system
hat had grown up through infinite trials
Ind failures until habit acquired the force
md sanction Of moral law, long before
he makers of our common law had come
ut from their inmenorial savagery,
Without arts, agriculture or letters and
lothed, if at all, with the skins Of Beasts;
hat, be it for good or i'll and whether we
Ike it or not, by a manifest destiny no
onger unrevealed but now in course Of
wifi fulfllment, we are brought together
n close neighborhood, facing each other
nd separated only by quick ferry across
Pacific sea hereafter to become in large
Measure a Characterization sea, with in
ustrial and trade relations already Of no
mean proportions and which must soon
row to billions annually, and. finally, !
hat we claim to have a higher gospel,
Thch, in it's own spirit of peace, fairness
nd good will we would impart to other
ass favored peoples. Considering these
mong other things, would it not be a re-
roach to this NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. of HUI
lanities"-not to have taken first step
this direction to promote a better I'M
a larger comfy and more I
ospitable relations?
No one has been chosen as yet to fill !
he chair which General Carpenter has {
FUNDED. The name of WI Ting Fang
as been suggested. The general
fought that it was unlikely that WI
ing Fang would accept such a posi- !,
on, as his genius and ability fitted :
i'm for the broader field Of statesman !
Zip. $
General Carpenter is an alumnus Of il
olumbia university. He IS now sew j
lty-seven' years old. He lives at 1OS
asst Thirty-seventh street. He has
ade his home in New York for the t
st twenty years, making frequent $
urneys to San Francisco to look after q
8 interests there.