New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-05-26
Az AMERICAN MORTM4TN'

European peoples have learned by hard eXpe-
rience the dangers of letting grow up within 4
state 4 private power vast enough TO lmperll
the sovereignty of the state itself. The Middl"
Ages saw the Church acquire 10y inheritance AMI
cession property in such enormous quantities
that rulers found themselves obliged TO prohibit
all direct or indirect conveyRnces OF real prop
erty TO church corporations. And in the pres
ent day the last faint aftermath of the evils
caused by concentration of real estate and Sc
curities in the hands of religious organizations
appears In the bitter strife between the French
government and the Catholic organizations in
France Americans have supposed the evils OF
the mortman 10 be peculiarly European: but,
according 10 an interesting article by Professor
Giddings in the current Van Norden Maya
zine. our countrymen are in error. the mort
main being potentially present in the so-cali2d
charitable trusts" whose Opulence is multiply
ing with amazing rapidly. The eminent so
biologist declares that. under the lenent rule
of American courts. whereby cha Die
trust may devote its income to purposes cog
nate to those for which the funds orig
nally given 1t would seem to be entirely pos
''sible that. so far the law Of the case is con
"cerned. the income of the Sage fund could one
''of these days he devoted to the propagation
''of either anarchism or socialism, The most
serious danger however is said to he that
Wall Street will gain control of the fine old
gentlemen acting trustees and swing the
funds TO subserve private ends The
power of the vast accumulations will almost
inevitably be used TO maintain the existing
social order against any kind OF change
beneficial change no less than destructive.
With all due respect for the indubtable facts
the writer Uses in his arguments. we still have
a suspicion that the bogie he calls up is twin
q wi ST. nf En- ri oh
constitutional law might invoke upon learning
that the British navy is still technically the
private property of the Crown. What would
happen If the King should auction off the
whole bunch OF battleshps and their crews
some fine day. asks the learner Similarly
Professor Giddings INDUCES In a dream of what
might happen so far as the law is concerned"
So far as the words in the articles OF iucor-
Ioration are concerned. the Sage Fund trus-
tees might possibly spend the entire income
for five thousand years in investigating the
causes Of poverty among left-handed albinoS
living on the north side of Washington Square:
the trustees, moreover, might do this at the
nstgation Of the socialists, who are anxious
10 suppress Of the general causes of
poverty and misery. Likewise the General Edu
caton Board might squander millions in com
putting the educational value Of imaginative
sociology, while the Southern cotton mill own
ers continued TO use child labor undisturbed
But the chances of such things coming to pass
about good those in favor of an auc-
ton sale Of the British navy.
The cry for publicity now being raised when
ever a business corporation is caught SHINING
will be raised when the trustees of the "char
table trusts" become corrupt. The watchfu
eyes of professional charity workers and edu
cational experts are constantly fixed upon the
acts Of such trusts and n united public is
ever willing to correct fragrant abuses through
legislation.