The San Francisco call., 1904-07-27
Destinations Charity.
Special cO-respondenOs.

HEADQUARTERS OF THE CALL,
3 HENRIETTA STREET. COVENT
GARDEN, LONDON. July 1s.-Al-
though the following statements reach
me from a source usually to be relied
on. they are given with all reserve. 1
am told that the present scheme to en-
dow the hospitals OF England from the
public funds, instead OF allowing them
10 depend for support on public sub
Ecriptions. as heretofore. is to be fought
tooth and nail by several influential
American women CT title over here, who
viii have the support Of many folk
prominent in London society circles, as
well as that Of others who would like
10 be. This on the ground that the
scheme would put an end to a means
Of OstentatiOus giving. which at pres
ent is regarded as one of the surest
passports TO royal favor. 1t is common
knowledge, Of course, that Sir Thomas
Upton gained his present title in this
way and the same is true Of the King s
friend, Sir Ernest Cassel, and others
TOO numerous TO mention. Upon her ar
Itval in this country the Duchess Of
Marlborough was astOnished TO find
that the hospitals of England practical
ly depended for their existence upon
the generosity Of the rich, but since
then her contributions to these institu-
tions have been surpassed by no one,
and / understand that she is one Of the
most vigorous workers against state aid
for them. She is said TO have the ac-
tive support Of the Countess Of Craven
and Mrs Arthur Paget. both Of whom
also have given largely TO the hospitals.
on the other hand. among the women
Who are advocating the scheme Of state
sid are the Countess of Warwick, Lady
Henry Somerset, Lady Winborne and
he Narchioness Of Ormonde. The "op-
position party. however, includes it is
said the Rothschilds, the Cassels and
the Neumanns, all of whom fire.
ouently have the Prince of Wales as
their guest. and his Royal Highness' re-
cent pronouncement cOndemning the
idea OF state-aided hospitals is sup
posed to have been dictated by desire
TO please the company in which he so
frequently finds himself.
Despite the generous contributions
made to the London hospitals by those
who find it affords the easiest method
Of gaining admission to court circles,
the sums realized are totally inadequate
TO meet the growing requirements Of
these institutions, which, like Oliver
Twist, are continually clamoring for
more. The present outlook for their
maintenance by means Of the volun-
tary system on q scale commensurate
with the increasing demands made
upon them is black one. Between
them they are at present asking the
public for something like S13, $50, 900 in
addition TO the annual $780, which is
needed merely to keep their wards
open. By far the greater proportion of
this vast sum is wanted for building
purposes.
These institutions, big and little,
number about a hundred, and every
week sees a fresh one in the field beg
ging for charity. So keen has become
the competition between them that
these appeals are wearying the public
and breeding contempt and indiffer-
ence One of the most eloquent signs
Of this has been the failure OF the
charity concert" This season has
provided an unprecedented number OF
them, and in many cases the results
nave been worse than disappointing.
At one concert where royalty was pres
ent and famous artists appeared the
net profits were less than 345. Several
others did not realize sufficient to pay
expenses. The charity concert as q
money raiser" for hospitals is prac-
tically dead. and there are not enough
rich Americans, South African mag
mates and others ambitious for social
distinction and willing TO pay well for
il 10 ali the empty hospital exchequers