Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-05-18
CONCERNING GENERAL
EDUCATION BOARD
Continued from Opposite Page.

OHpOSANC 0SC'
a concentration of power in the matter Of the
highest interest Of the nation as no fifteen
men however wise and virtuous can be rust
ed to exercise without abusing il for the furth-
erance of their own views and interests. If
college seeks ana obtains these gratuittes, with
the Rockefeller strings to them, 1t must con-
sent TO be guided by the rein with which these
fifteen men viii drive it..
''The case is here plainly stated. The fund
which the General Education Board administers
is largely provided by whose interest in
shaping public opinion upon certain matters of
vital concern TO society and TO the state Is
very great: Whether their philanthropy serves
whether the plan is unset ishly conceived and
he sinister influence unconsciOusly eXerted, the
gifts are hedged about by restrictions and con-
dtions. with the Education Board to name them
and to see that they are complied with. Every
college which shares In the largess poses as
suppliant, In sense. Not only is it's policy
partially directed by the board. but il is ad-
ditlonally Influenced Willingly or unwittingly,
by the desires of its benefactOrs. The atmos-
phere of classroom ana campus Is dangerously
subject to faint; the habits OF thought of its
students may with comparative ease he given
twist not easily corrected. Whether The
powerful engine thus created is now put to
sinister uses or n5t. the temptation TO employ
1t is ever present, and inevitably grow
stronger as the system gathers strength and
force
will be permitted in conclusion to say
that in all this discussion | have applied
no epithets to the colleges which have ac-
cepted gifts from this Board, nor have
so much as mentioned their names by
even remote suggestion. / have no sec
tartan ends to serve, and ] should despise
myself II l made an appeal to sectarian
passions and prejudices to win favour for
my contention or to secure personal ap-
plause for a perfervid defamation. IN
fortunately some Methodist Colleges,
along with several worthy institutions of
other denominations, have fallen into this
/ hof fba
case. No college. whether of my own or
any other church. has been thus en-
shared under my leadership, although l
freely admit that wiser men than l dare
claim to have been misled, and have in
ttp7 misled others in this serious matter
l have said, and l repeat it, I'VE want
institutions freer than the board-fed kind
can be, and we mean to have them, and
to put them where the Boards chain OF
colleges across the continent can not in
any wise over come them or make them
afraid" l have said, and l do say, that
we have some institutions whose doors
cannot be closed by the little coloured
pins in the office of the Rockefeller Fund
in New York" l have said and / do
say that "our colleges must be some
thing more than the Gagged birds of the
General Education Board, fed from it's
hand and made to sing at it's bidding
American education can not be safely
entrusted to fifteen men without any re-
sponsibility to the people whose educa-
ton they assume to supervise"
If for the expression of such senti-
ments l am denounced by men, who in
either personal or official character, have
already come under comparatively small
obligations to Mr.. Rockefeller and his
Board, what sort of education may we
expect to issue from the colleges after
they have received repeated subsidies
from the same source? If a little money
makes few men fume how will muct
money make whole faculties flame? The
old proverb, whose bread eat his song
1 sing" may suggest both instruction anu
warning.
While some have dissented from my
views, and a few have descended to per-
sonal abuse of me for expressing my
opinions on this subject, a far greater
number have expressed for my views cor
dial approval and hearty agreement,
among them Hon. William Jennings Bry-
an, of Nebraska. Many of our strongest
dailies have also spoken most vigorously
against the plans and methods of this
Rockefeller Board. l may mention the
Macon Telegraph, the Savannah Press,
the Times-Dispatch of Richmond, Va,
and the evening Journal of the same city,
the Charleston News and Courier, the
Raleigh News and Observer, and the New
Orleans Times Democrat. begin to hope
that our people will awaken to their peril
before it is too late The Evening Journal
of Richmond is quite confident of this,
and says:
''IJnless we mistake the character and temper
of our people, IT will not be long before the
mere suspicion that man or an institution
down here Is an agent or beneficiary OF the
General Board of Education viii cause them
to be Stunned like the plague. We are not
very rich but not sycophants or pau-
pers."
/ can not go as far as this expression
of the editor of the Journal goes. I wish
nothing akin to intolerance or even harsh
criticism, may fall upon any man or in
stitution who has been misled by the
gifts Of this Board; but l could wish all
our colleges who have accepted funds
from It would return such funds, and that
no other institution among us would ac-
cept another dollar from that quarter.
w. A GAMBLER.
P g. / may say in passing that sem
sational dispatch misquoted my language
and misrepresented my argument at a re-
cent Conference. I had no occasion to
say some of the things attributed to me.
and did not say them But l did say by
word of mouth essentially the same things
said in this article and in previous ar
ticles. 1 can not be responsible for re-
ports made by others, however accurate
they may seek or claim to be.
w. A. G.