The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1905-04-29
THE SOLICITATION ORA GIFT

tlce of the peace. ~
THE SOLICITATION ORA GIFT. }
While further discussion of the |
Rockefeller gift to the American Board |
would apparently be proftIess at this i
time. one should not consider final |
the judgement on the Questions in
volved without giving attention to the
Rev. DR.. James 4. Barton s remark
able article in the current Independ-
ent, in which is given a complete and
circumstantial account of how this
very substantial addition to the
Boards funds was secured. This in
/ formation il necessary to. a'full under
standing Of the boards position in the
matter. and especially requires at
tention now because entirely different
from that at first given out, on which,
in some part, opinions may have been
based. &~ 5@
When the gift was first publicly
announced the Rev. DR.. Barton, who
( is the Secretary Of the Board, in an
interview with an Associated Press
representative on the tWenty-seyenth
of March. declared that the gift was
unsolicited and spontaneous, orig
mating in an impulse of Mr.. Rookie
teller to further missionary work so
said, mo person sought an interview
/ with Mr.. Rockefeller or any member
of his family, or any member Of his
staff of secretaries, and no letters
! We're written to bring influence to bear
upon him in these matters we believe
| that the gift was a spontaneous one.
given from his own Impulse. And On
1 the strength OF this statement there
| We're those who held that the respon-
sibility Of the Board was different
from what it would have been il the
gift had been solicited.
But it now appears from Mr.. Bar
,, tons signed account in the Independ-
emit that the gift was solicited and.
moreover, that is was Mr.. Barton
himself who did the soliciting Acting
on a hint from Mr.. RockefelIer's son
/ that he would like to learn something
I about the board s work. Mr., Barton for
three years pursued the Standard Oil
magnate with persistence and, it must
/ be admitted, no little tact in quest Of
pecuniary aid for his Organization.
! He tells the tale himself, with liberal
quotations from the torlg correspon-
/ dence. When the first talk with Mr..
Rockefeller in April, 1902, was not
/ followed by a check Mr. Barton wrote
requesting another opportunity to state
his case, to which the reply was that
the elder Mr., Rockefeller was not pre-
pared to consider a contribution"
Not discouraged by this refusal, this
1 indefatigable solicitor of contributions,
having meanwhile established pleasant
1 relations with one of Mr.. Rockefeller's
I confidential agents, wrote to the latter
\ to ask if there would be an opportuni-
ty of bringing these institutions toIthe
attention of Mr.. Rockefeller with
/ view to securing from him funds for
i endowment. )" &Ss \,
/ Through this channel active nego-
! tiations were opened, that resulted
4 finally, after much earnest effort on
/ Mr.. Bartons part, several trips to
I New York and long conferences with
secretaries and agents, in securing the
/ solicited money. It is needless here to
ffffioW these negotiations in detail.
Enough has been cited from the
correspondence to show that there was
solicitation = deliberate, persistent,
| prolonged. Indeed Mr.. Barton him
self now says in his Independent arti-
Gle: Il never had any question what
ever regarding the propriety and even
duty of soliciting help for the needy
\ institutions and work 5of the Board
from Mr.. Rockefeller" How he recon-
Giles the story he now tells with the
statement he made a month ago is a
/ question that perhaps concerns nobody
but himself. He can hardly complain
however, If some persons, comparing
4 the two statements, feel that he has
not displayed quite the degree of cam
dor and raightforWardnes which
/ is expected Of a religious leader,
though forced to admit that he has
been diligent in earning his salary.
That the gift was being solicited
was known, Mr.. Barton says, to some
members of the prudential COMMITTEE
at the time: and that it had been OBJ
tanned by solicitation was known, of
course, to all when the announcement
of it's receipt was made. The plea
therefore, that it is neither customary
nor necessary to inquire closely into
the sourse of voluntary gifts cannot
be made in the committees defence
Its acceptance Of. the money in the
circumstances commits it to the open
ly avoWed belief that not only is there
no harm in taking for moral uses
money that has been made by meth
DDS that are widely believed BY others
to be immoral, but there. is no sacri-
flee of moral dignity or ethical stand
ards in deliberately soliciting such
money. The opposing opinions now held
on this point are. not likely to be
changed by further discussion at this