Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-14
MORAL SIDE OF MONEY
PRESIDENT NEEDHAM'S VIEW OF
PRESENT SITUATION.
Main Purpose is to Raise Money for
Purchase Of George Washing
ton University Site.

''There is no such thing as tainted mon
ey,' declared DR.. Charles w. Needham
president of George Washington University
in an address before the students of that
institution yesterday. THE university is
making a campaign for a larger scope in
American education, and has raised more
than $4,000 locally toward the purchase
of a $500 600 site for new buildings. What
is 1t that taints money!" asked President
Needham, in announcing the university s
attitude on the subject. Il know what
some people say about it. They say that
the wrong conduct of a holder attaches to
the money, and the money is thereafter
unfit for service
Human conduct in acquiring money does
not attach to or mix in the coin, nor lessen
nor weaken the promise to pay upon the
bank note. There Is always the question of
ownership. The man who gives must own
IT, But there is no such thing as tainted
money. Good, moral money-that Is, coin
of full weight and live promises to pay
good coin, is good anywhere, in any man s
hand. Truth takes no passing shadow to
ITSELF, and money cannot become 1mpreg-
Ing this view of good money, 1 will accept
1t from any man who owns II"
All Money Moral.
All HlOHey Is moral III ltSelI, dQueQ fTeSl-
dent Needham. and none of it has been be-
smirched by the deeds of passing users.
The freedom of the university teacher was
also strongly proclaimed by DR.. Needham,
and the right Of all scientific Investigators
to seek the truth wherever it may lead
them
He explained that the university needs
real, good money and much Of 1t. AS an
adII ON inc t,,tio md
morality by conduct well as by text
books and teachers. There is, as we have
seen, a vital morality in money. Shall we
take immoral money? No-but we are told
there Is such thing as tainted money"
Il know my honored associates on the
faculty, who are striving so nobly and sue
cessfully to get money, will shudder-you
are shuddering, cold chill Is now creeping
up your good spines while I approach the
widely discussed subject of tainted money
But we cannot Danish the subject from the
minds Of the people by shutting our eyes.
we shall teach, though we decline to meet
the class.
What is tainted money? We shall find
no answer in the Bank of England. Those
little machines that weigh the gold and
cancel the notes take no account Of dust,
or microbes, or uses. They determine by
weight and cancel dead promises because
they are paid. They take no account of
with its genuineness and Intrinsic worth
as coin or promise.
What Causes Taint.
What is it that taints money? I know
what some people say about 1t. They say
that the wrong conduct Of holder attaches
to the money, and the money is thereafter
unfit for service. Some streams of water
are polluted by mingling diseased and filthy
OF tor in h,1f tor
itself by running. No scientist has yet
arisen who claims that polluted water
should be impounded; it is better to let it
flow. But this is hardly fair Illustration,
for filth and water do mix and the mixture
deceives the people and they drink and are
poisoned. But human conduct in acquiring
money does not attach to or mix in the
coin, nor lessen or weaken the promise to
pay upon the bank note.
But in defending good money I do not
defend bad men nor bad conduct in men.
There are tainted men-and women. Taint-
ed by conduct Conduct Is a vital part of
man. 1t proceeds out of the heart. 1t is
the expression Of character. 1t stands for
them in the worlds activities 1t is their
teaching to the generations present and the
generations to come.
Names stand for deeds. and deeds are
the souls growth. You multiply deeds by
the names you set up in the market places
and over the portals Of temples. We are
where choose to labor. The mass Of
people seek to grow harvests by the same
methods successful farmers have followed
in the past. They seek to make money
by the methods adopted by successful
fnanciers. If the methods are bad in one
generation, they will, If commended and
approved, be followed by the majority of
men in the next generation. The wise and
prudent and true, when they discover
bad method. will discard it and choose a
better way; and If true guides of the peo-
pie, especially the young, they will con-
denim the method and refuse to canonize
the men who follow it.
How inappropriate. to put it mildly, how
blighting to an institutions life and in
fuence, it would be to call a woman's
college Cleopatra Hail. or a building
devoted to the studies intended to develop
patriotism and civic virtues, Benedict
Arnold Hail. or a building dedicated to
truth Ananias Hail. Take their good
money, yes. The disciples buried Ananias,
but we are not told that they returned
his good money. Name the building after
such men, no.
Would Avoid Shadows.
II am no believer in human perfection,
nor do I ask our founders to be wholly
unspotted from contact with the worlds
activities but If they wish to put their
names upon buildings or have schools
called after them, let them come with good
RECORDS IN Tue SUBJECTS 10 pc Taught III
those buildings and schools. We want no
shadows cast upon our teaching Of truth.
no questioning of the standards by which
we measure. nor of the sincerity of our
scientific spirit in searching after the truth.
Let our university be free, but let every
teacher within 1t. and those whose names
appear upon its walls. be true and sound
in the particular subject for which he
stands. Understand me. I do not say per-
foof nd oil
Looking into the faces Of the young
men and women Of our beloved institution
this morning, let me urge you to become
citizens Of this glorious republic who stand
for the things that are right and sound;
for money that Is full-weighted gold; for
notes that are live promises: for genuine
ness and integrity in all civic and business
conduct, and SO live and make your wealth
that any institution Of learning may not
only take your good money but may also
write your name over the portal Of any
temple dedicated to knowledge and truth
and honor and virtue