Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-08
Gifts to Education.

Iob, n Rockefelier comes into the lime
light again as the patron of education IFS
gift Of S?.0soCGO to the general education
hoard makes the total of his contributions
10 that organization $i3.O00.OGO sum more
than four times as great as the Rhodes
fund for the foundation of scholarships az
Oxford and twelve times greater than the
Peabody education fund created by George
Peabody In 1S5I-69 for education In the
southern states. Mr.. Rockefeller has gwen
away about 100000 coo. mainly to educa-
tionai institutions. and Mr.. Carnegie has
given away about s130.000OjO. mainly 1or
libraries.
The gift of Mr. Rockefeller may give rise
to three reflections. The first is that his IN
come is immensely greater than his needs
and shows the enormity of Standard VI
profits In the second place 1t shows GER
tain generosity of spirit. because, although
the money could be OF no real use to Mr..
Rockefeller. he was not under compuisioh
to give II away The third reflection is that
Mr. Rockefeller exhibits wisdom In the
choice of an object of his munificence.
The general education board gives aid TO
colleges that are established. that are doing
good work and that in the opinion of the
board deserve aid. Mr.. Rockefeller gave to
the board in 1855 $10.0O0.OOG and from the
income of this fund conditional subscrip-
tions of more than million dollars have
been made to eighteen colleges In the
.,utbern and western states. The condition
on which the subscriptions have been made
Is that the college raise three dollars for
one allowed by the board. 1t Is given in the
news of the day that the board now has on
file applicat atoms from 30 colleges for Imam
cial aid.
Educa tional benevolence has become
fashion with multi-mill!onaires 1t is a
fashion that may change. No one doubts
that education is an uplifting force In a
people but education may mean several
things. Commonly 1t is understood to mean
the requirement of fact from books. and
generally from a certain class of books. 1t
Is easy to imagine that this narrow kind of
education may be overdone. 1t would be
more difficult to overdo that broader kind
of education which deals with medicine.
chemistry. metallurgy, mechanics. etc, in
which branches of knowledge discoveries
are made that enhance the comfort of the
whole race.
II might be that if the surplus wealth of
all rich men should be devoted to educa ton
the whole thing might be overdone. Every
body would be so educated that only the star
scholar or the learned genius could put on
the airs of education and the common uni
versity graduate would have no higher rela .
tive standing in the world than the common
manual laborer today. And as the univer.
sity man has not so far distinguished HIM
self a farm hand. street cleaner or brick
maker the world might suffer from a scar
city of hand workers and surplus of
brain workers.
There are other ways in which men might
spend wealth. do public good and perpetuate
their names. In every big city some rich
citizen might endow a hospital in which
lives might be saved. suffering ameliorated
and surgery and hygiene taught. Many of
the present hospitals have public beds
some of them endowed. but they are in
adequate
rich man might endow a mission of
hygiene, the missionaries of which IL DOS
sessed of diplomatic cunning and genuine
sympathy. might go among the poor and
teach them to live better. to minimize the
danger of infectious disease teach them
something about food values and food prep
aration and teach them the needlessness
or extravaganza in rum and tobacco
Then there is the question of public parks.
A rich man might buy few acres of slums
and turn them into a place of beauty.
health and recreation