The Irish standard., 1905-05-27
Mr.. cARNEGIE'S PENSION FUNC

Mr.. CARNEGlE'S PENSION FUND.
Considerable criticism has been di-
rected against Andrew Carnegie from
certain Catholic quarters because in
his gift of $10,0OO,000 to a fund to
provide annuities or pensions for dis
abled college professors he debarred
from the privileges of these pensions
all professors of religious or sectarian
schools. The Catholic Citizen of Mil
waukee in particular in a recent ed
ltorial criticised Mr.. Carnegie for
what it considered Il narroWness not
otherwise in keeping with Mr.. Car
negie's character. While we believe
that the Catholic Citizen was right in
the arguments which it advanced to
the effect that Mr.. Carnegie's condi-
lions excluded only Catholic and He
brew institutions yet we by no means
share in the criticism directed against
him. In the first place a man has Il
perfect right to be the sole judge of
the way in which his charities shall
be distributed, and in the second place
MIR. Carnegie by the distinct condi-
tions which he attached to his gift
shows that he does not consider many
colleges which have heretofore been
considered Baptist, or Presbyterian or
Methodist as anything but purely sec
ular institutions. Mr.. Carnegie no
doubt looks upon Princeton, which was
originally Il Presbyterian institution,
as now entirely secular, and the same
may be said of the University of Chi
cago and of most other institutions
which in their inception were institut-
ed by some Protestant sect. The
same, however, is not true of Catholic
institutions. For instance the Cath
olc University at Washington is a
religious institution in an entirely diff
ferent way from Princeton. We are
inclined to believe that the criticism
made on the Citizens position by the
New York Sun is fair. The Sun
says:
The point made by the Catholic
Citizen is that the distinction is false
which assumes that what is broadly
Protestant is non-sectarian because
there are sects in Professionalism, but
what is Catholic is sectarian because
there are no sects in Catholicism
Such distinction, in its view, sets up
religious test" Moreover, it ex.
cludes Jewish institutions, and accord
ingly Jews also are left unrepresent
| ed in the Carnegie board.
For example, Princeton University
is classed by the Roman Catholic
paper as Presbyterian, and Chicago
University as Baptist-at any rate, as
| distinctively Protestant in the sense
that their faculties are limited tc
{Protestants. The Catholic Univer
sity at Washington that paper de
scribes as no more sectarian thar
they. It is Roman Catholic because
ut is virtually limited in its board O.
trustees to Catholics" but it admit.
students of all creeds and not now o.
has had Protestants in its faculty, e
|g., Carol D. Wright as professor o
economics"
Undoubtedly, there is reason in thi'
criticism; the distinction made is arbi
trary; but probably Mr.. Carnegie's ex
clusion of the Roman Catholic an.
Jewish institutions was due to his re
Election of the theory that religion Il
the necessary and obligatory basis o
all education and this religion dog
matte and exclusive. He did not wan
to do anything for the encouragement
of religious education specifically
land he seems to have assumed tina
lRoman Catholic and Jewish college