Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-10

Written for The Evening Star by William Thorp.
If communication could be established
with Mars and a big bundle of American
newspapers and magazines sent up there,
the intelligent Martians, reading them,
might we'll exclaim:
why, these people must be rotten to the
corev'
| The harsh judgment would be pardon
] able, for the Martians would come across
| graft stories by the dozen and the score
stories of graft in politics, graft in
| business, graft in industry, graft every
where. No doubt the searchlight of pub
LEFTY is desirable and necessary, but a
searchlight blinds the eye to everything
except the object upon which it is directed.
And there is a great deal In America be-
sides graft" Why not look, for once,
upon the bright side of the shield?
"A materialistic and corrupt nation.
That was how America was summed up the
other day by writer in the Saturday Re-
view, most anti-American of all English
periodicals.
more, or stand ready to do more, for good
works that are not material Let a man
bring forward any scheme for the uplifting
of his kind and demonstrate its claim to
public support and he will get the money
and help he needs more readily In America
than anywhere else. No people on earth
spend anything like much money as the
Americans do for charities education, hos
pitfalls, parks, libraries, churches and other
good works.
A Striking Protest
Materialstic? The most striking protest
against materialism in the world today is
being made in America. 1t is the erection
of the Cathedral of ST. John the Divine in
New York city-"the largest religious edi-
flee to be started since the middle ages
when thousands of zealots worked their
lives away rearing Europe's famous cathe-
drals."
No other modern people has had the
splendid audacity to plan and start work
that In time will bear comparison with the
mighty fanes of Rouen, Ely and Cologne
So-called cathedrals are being run up all
over the world, but they are merely glori-
fled churches. This is to be real cathe-
dral of the old kind. 1t will probably take
two or three generations to build, at cost
of anywhere from fifty to seventy-five
millions; but after every other building in
New York has been replaced, 1t will stand
for centuries.
The American millionaire may make his
money in materialistic ways, but he spends
it nobly. During 1908 eighteen Americans
gave a total of more than s63 S60,oO0 for
educational, benevolent and religious pur-
poses. Andrew Carnegie and John d. Rookie
Teller gave the most, the former $15 ,SIS,50O
and the latter 1880. 661. The biggest single
gift was Mr.. Rockefellers s1,oOo,oo0 for a
in Chicago. The total of the gifts and be-
quests of Sums above $1,000 during last year
exceeded $50, coo. They were for an in
finite variety of educational and benevolent
institutions throughout the country, and
with few exceptions, the donors bestowed
the money wisely and found out some new
thing that needed doing. In most cases the
charity was confined to America; but, be-
sides Mr.. Carnegie's foreign gifts John D.
Rockefeller gave 100000 for archaeological
research in Egypt and Babylonia, and Henry
Phipps of New York gave large sums for
the benefit of the teeming millions of Brit
ish India.
For Great and Good Works.
The vast sums given by the multi-million-
aires are, however only drop in the bucket
of money that America spends for great
and good works. The states and the cities
pour out hundreds of millions for schools,
parks Fairgrounds, hospitals and other
beneficent institutions Since it became
Greater New York the metropolis has
spent the round total of $15S ,OO0,0 900 on edu-
cation, the Identification of the city, philan-
thropy and public health. Park property