The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1907-03-21
Getting Too Strong to be Swallowed
Easily.
Charlotte Observer.

obbti"eT
When President Jacob G. Schurman,
of Cornell University, recently declar-
ed in al address at Cleveland, O.,
that ''if the $32 100000 just given
! by Rockefeller to education goes for
the civilization of the South, it is far
from tainted" he made some of our
contemporaries who have looked
with more or less favor upon what,
for lack OF a better name, has be-
come known as "Ogdenism" sit up
and take notice. The prospect OF
being civilized did not blind them to
the fact that the remark was hardly
complimentary. OF course, DR.. Schur-
man did not intend to be offensive;
he was merely indiscreet. Other
hints have not been lacking that
while Standard Oil lucre smells rather
unpleasantly it will be sanctified by
use in the uplifting of the Southern
heather. Apart from snch patrOni-
zing utteranceS as these II startling
insight into the purposes OF the Gen
eral Education Boar'i, through the
Rockefeller millions will be welded, is
given in the Outlook by DR.. Lyman
Abbott, one Of the chief spokesmen
of the "movement" DR.. Abbott
writes lis follows:
with this financial power in con-
troll the General Education Board is
in position to do what no other body
in this country can at present, even
attempt. 1t can determine largely
what institutions shall grow, and, in
some measure, what shall stand still
or decay. 1t can look over the ter
ritory of the nation, note the places
where there is famine of learning,
and start new educational plants of
any species it chooses, and revive
old ones. 1t can do in many ways
what the government does for educa-
ton in France or Germany. Its
power will be enormous; it seems as
if it might be able really to deter
mine the character of American edu-
cation. The funds it holds represent
only Il fraction of the amounts which
it will control; by giving a sum to an
institution on condition that the in
stitItiOn raise an equal or greater
amount, it will be able to direct
a much larger amount than it pos
Sesses.
The Richmond Times Dispa tch has
been swallowing much Ogden doc
tri e, but it finds this IL little too
strong. The following is its comment:
1--WE confess that we do not like
the tone of this article. The Times
Dispatch has always opposed gov
ernment aid to public schools for
one reason, among Others, that ii
the government should give money
to the Southern schools it would nat
urally insist upon having voice in
the management Of the schools. For
the same reason we should be OPP
posed to any Rockefeller donations
to Southern schools, if they carried
with them a BoGrd, or Mr.. Rookie
Teller. or any Northern man or syn
dicate that should determine the
character of American education.
"The Outlook has put the South.
ern schools on notice, and they will
govern themselves accordingly. Any
lSouthern school which would com
promise its principles or it's indie
lpendence for money would be men
ace rather than a benefit to society
The Southern schools have indeed
been put on notice Of this proposal
to determine the character OF Amer
lean education," and every one o
them which accepts single dollar o
this subsidy fund will understand
the conditions perfectly we'll. What
shall it profit an educational institu
ton, any more than a man, to gain
hundreds of thousands or millions
and lose its own soul? We are GLAD
that the TimeS-Dispatch has grasped
the situation so fully. All the more
because they seem to be in a minori
| ty, people who do not care to be
subsidized ought to stand together