The San Francisco call., 1906-11-23
EMBARRASSED BY
BIG SURPLUS
Relief Corporation Holds
Secret Sessions to Plan
a Way to Spend Funds
HOSPITAL SUGGESTED

with 100000 still on hand to be
devoted in the cause of the refugees
the relief committee is holding ses-
sons trying TO hit upon a plan to Ju-
diciously spend the money. Allan Pol
lok proposed the endowment Of State
hospital Herbert e. Law would turn
ii over TO the regular charity organ
izations. Almost every member of the
committee has some suggestion, but
they are all agreed that the acute need
for which the fund was donated has
been met and that further Sits under
The guise Of rehabilitation do more
harm than good.
When only half OF the sS.OOO,O 900 fund
has been expended the directors of the
work find that the need for relief has
passed An attempt IS being made to
conceal this state OF affairs until the
board has devised an acceptable scheme
for the spending of the S4,00O,oOO. To
this end they have had two executive
sessions. in which the matter has been
discussed. AT the first there were pres
ent Allan Pollok. NJ. H. de Young.
James ID. Phelan. Thomas Magee and
Horace Davis.
Polioks plan to spend $4,000. 900 for
2 hospital was discussed. A governing
board was suggested, to consist Of the
Governor OF the State, the presidents OF
the two universities. the presidents OF
the Chamber of Commerce and the Mer
chants Association and the Chief JUS
tice Of the Supreme Court. These, it
was suggested, should appoint the
board which should have direct control
Of the affairs Of the projected hospital.
10 consist of a banker, a lawyer and
merchant. IT was also suggested that
the several cities in the State might
ioin in the enterprise by contributing
money which would endow beds.
Against the hospital plan for spend
iHg the money il was urged by Horace
Davis that the contributors TO the fund
might object TO its being used for
purpose even slightly different from
that in the minds OF the donors. 1t
was also urged that public hospitals re-
quire careful management or they be-
come open 10 abuses.
AT the second secret session Herbert
2. Law proposed that the entire ball
ance should be handed over TO the
regular charitable organizations of the
city saving a sufficient amount TO
maintain the camps in the public
squares for the balance of the year
which is allowed by the Park Com
10 ission- Against this also there We're
objections. The extreme care with
which the eKpeditures. or some of them.
at least. were made has left the COM
mittee with $4,000 900 to spend and
the object of its charity practically
exhausted.
To illustrate the situation Herbert
Law called TO mind the incident of the
baby which appeared three times in one
line of applicants. each time in the
arms Of a different suffering mamma.
the deduction being that there was
more money than needy infants.
III was finally decided that James D.
Phelan, who leaves for the East today,
should interview some OF the donors in
Eastern cities as TO their Willingness to
have their contributions used for q
hospital.
At present the committee is paying
out about $5000 a day, but the impress
sion is gaining ground that the deserv-
ing cases are now confined to such as
would ordinarily be aided by the Asso-
ciated Charities and that a lavish dis
tribution would DO harm.
Most people think il is harder to get
money than TO spend il, but the ex-
erience OF the Relief Corporation has
led Us TO the opposite conclusion" said
Herbert z. Law last night in discussing
the difficulties Of the organization