The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-03-30
FINAL ACTION ON GIFT
 IS STILL DEFERRED
oIL KING's s1oo. .ooo, HOWEVER,
 PRACTICALLY ACcEP1ED.
American Board Announces That Its Prudential Committee Has Accepted Report of sub-Committee Rccom- mending Acceptanee-Po.tponement of Final Action Made in peference to Request of Protestants.


 Boston. March 2s.-The American
 Board of Commissioners for Foreign
 Missions announced to-day that it's
 prudential committee had accepted a report of the subcommittee, recom-
 mending the acceptance of the gift of $10o,00O by John D. Rockefeller, but that final action on the matter has been
 postponed for two weeks. The report
 of the subcommittee. in the language of a statement issued to-day, was re-
 ceived and accepted as expressing the
 unanimous Judgment of the prudential
 committee and the executive officers,' and was to the effect that the commit
 tee could not accede to the protest of those who objected to the acceptance of the gift.
 was offered by MT. Rockefeller and
 unanimously accepted by the pruden-
 tial committee on February IA last. It says that in accepting the gift the
 committee followed the universal cus- tom of the church in the past, in re- ceiVing upon it's altars the gifts of all who were moved to lay them thereon The report holds that the s'accept-
 ance of the gift involves no expression
 of opinion on the part of the commit- tee as to the character os the giyers, and to intercept gift made to others in order to express an opinion seems unWarrantable.'. <.
 The reason for deferring final action is given as follows:
 Tnasmuch as the protestants have requested delay, the committee will hold final action in abeyance for two weeks.
 sub-Committee's Report.
 An abstract of the report of the sub- committee, as adopted, follows:
 For almost a century the board has received gifts from every quarter m l America, Christian and non Christian alike. Tn receiving gifts from these varied sources the board has in no de-
 gree and in no way passed Judgment on the business, religion, character or life of the donors
 l In this policy we have followed the I universal custom of the past, for the 1 church, in all ages, has received upon!
 its altarE the gifts of all who were
 moved to lay them thereon. The same principle has been followed, not only by philanthropic and educational insti- stutions, but by other missionary bodiesS The principle on which this policy
 rests is the belief that our responsi- l bility begins with the receipt of gift; it then becomes our trust for which we are to be held responsible. We are now
 asked to make an exception, and to i single out this recent voluntary gift l for refusal It should be stated that
 this gift of s1000OO was offered to the board and unanimously accepted by tie 1 prudential committee on February IA. l It is a building and equipment fund, and is available only for the purposes | named. Of this s91,000 have been ap- propriated and s41.500 have already ] been forwarded.
 Your committee sees no reason why we should have departed from the GUS tom of the board and made our conn mittee practically a tribunal to decide l whether gifts are to be received. It 1 would be manifestly unjust and Il- thinkable to reject gifts without thor ough scrutiny. and it is equally clear I that no committee could possibly lin- | dertake the task of such scrutiny.
 It seems to us that 1t would have been an assumption and usurpation if we had tried to stop the money of any
 man who wished to give 1t for n1ission- l ary work. The reason assigned for re- < jecting the recent gift Is that gifts con- stitute a relation of honor between the recipient and the donor. This gift l I 1.OntinI1ed on Eighth Page.)