Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-12
OF WORLDWIDE INTEREST
BENEFACTTOMS OF THE RICH
BY FREDERIC J. HAsklN

modern philanthropists is: Help those
who help themselves.
Of similar character are the gifts of
Henry Phipps, George Peabody, John
f. Slater, Peter Cooper. Samuel j.
Tilden, Enoch Pratt Leland Stanford,
stephen Girard, George w. Childs,
Helen Gould, John d. Rockefeller and
others. Mr.. r ,ckefeller has given many
millions to the cause Of education and
philanthropy. His fad is higher edu-
cation and to promote this he has
given upward of $50000,000 during the
past several years. his chief BEN
eficiaries being Chicago university and
the general education board.
The Peabody fund for education in
the south was founded In 1867. Since
that time its income to the amount of
$2,6OO,OO0 has been spent in a telling
way, and recently the principal has
been divided. John r. Slater of Massa-
chusetts In 1882 established a million
dollar fund for the education of the
freed slaves, and it now has surplus
of $1,700,000. Enoch Pratt and Samuel
]. Tilden were pioneer library founders
in this country. their activities being
confined principally to Baltimore and
New York. The history of Leland
Stanford, jr.. university, to which $780,
100000 was donated by the late Cali
fornia senator and his family, is too
we'll known to detail, as is also the
Peter Cooper institute, New York,
where the people gather and discuss a
wide range OF questions for their in
tellectual and social Improvement.
Girard college for boys at Philadel-
phia has done so much good In train
ing boys for the battle of life that 1t
led Robert M. Carson, another Phila-
delphia millionaire, to recently give $5,-
100000 for the establishment of sim
liar school for girls. Mr. Carson, how
ever, is said to have surrounded his
gift with so many conditions that his
bequest has been referred to as "a five
million-dollar blunder"
Henry Phipps has succeeded In max
ing philanthropy pay for itself In
addition to establishing an institution
for the investigation and treatment Of
tuberculosis, he created fund of ST.
100000 for the erection cf model tene-
ments. These are expected to earn
per cent on the investment, the income
to be applied to the construction of
similar tenements. These tenements now
house 6000 people in New York. Their
surroundings are clean and sanitary. yet
four-room and bath apartment can be
had in Phipps tenement for So per
week. On the roofs of these tenements
are Fairgrounds for the children, while
the Easements contain kindergartens
where a baby can be started on the
educational path for fee of l cent
per day.
All of these philanthropic enterprises
have been carried on in the United
States, but elsewhere in the world the
spirit of charity has not been dormant.
The late Baroness Burdett- -Coutts spent
millions in improving the condition OF
London's poor. Pedro Alvarado, .thc
Mexican Monte Cristo," is distributing
100000 per year among his fellowmen
and has offered to pay the Mexican ma
tional debt. Similar activities are un-
der way in other countries.
That both the philanthropist and the
sociologist have much to do is shown
by recent census bulletin on benevo-
lent institutions. 1t shows that there
are 1907 benevolent institutions in the
United States continuing nearly 100000
inmates, and that the annual cost of
maintaining these is over $55, ,000, 900. In
addition to these institutions there are
orphanages and children's homes with
92. .2S9 inmates, day nurseries with 1917
and hospitals with z.064,512. Dispen-
saries now treat about 100000 cases q
year. The number of inmates of per-
manent and temporary homes for the
INDECENT Is about 100000 yearly; blind
and deaf in homes and schools aggre-
gate 14.731, while there are 10000 blind
and nearly 10000 deaf in the country.
The insane in hospitals number 100000
and the feeble-minded In institutions
number 10000. Almshouses in the
United States contain 1915 paupers.
And all these are reached by the bene-
factions of the rich.