The New York herald., 1921-03-24
Where Charity Often Fails.

when first they were made have had
a peculiar interest to mankind; they
have often had the elements Of both
romance and cool business calculation
and they have been the expression of
desire to serve a useful community
or national purpose as well as to per
petuate the donors name. That these
bequests which have grown out Of the
best of intentions and most worthy
impulses frequently fail to secure the
results desired is recognized by all
who have studied the matter. The
reason OF the failure In many cases
HAROLD RrEGELMAN shows in an ar
ticle In Better Times
Mr.. RIEGELMAH says that a cursory
inspection of wills which have been
probated reveals two outstanding
facts: very small proportion con-
tain charitable or philanthropic be-
quests and the selection Of beneficial
ries Is made in many instances with
out the remotest conception of the
needs of the community expected to
be benefited.
An officer of one of the large trust
companies reports that Of 175 wills
under which the company acted in
ten years five contained charitable
bequests, and an official Of another
company which handles large estates
says that out Of thirty wills ten had
charitable bequests Mr.. RIEGELMAN
took 100 wills from recent records
In the Surrogates' Court Of New York
county and found that only fifteen
contained bequests which might be
classed as philanthropic or charitable.
He sums this up by saying that about
"15 per cent. of the people-60 per
cent. of them are men-who die leav-
Ing wills provide or attempt to pro-
vide for community needs"
An analysis OF seventy seven be-
quests made showed that more than
third were for churches or relig-
ious purposes, less than a fourth were
for hospitals and only small por-
tion for relief Of the aged and indi-
gent, for child aid and for self-help
organizations. Excluding religious
gifts the heavy preponderance Of
philanthropic bequests went to cor
reetive charities, that Is, to charities
tending to alleviate the effects OF pow
erty, disease and crime. But ii must
be recognized that IF nothing is done
to remove the causes Of poverty and
crime, but only to take care of the
effect, little real progress Is made"
Many charities which are deserv-
ing are entirely overlooked. This is
perhaps notably the case with agen-
cies charged with the improvement Of
fundamental social conditions, which
are all overworked and underfnanced.
MIR. RIEGELMAN considers that this
Is due in q large measure to lack Of
information on the part of testators
and their advisers. Too often the re-
liable sources of Information regard
Ing the communlty's greatest needs
there are such sources within the
reach OF all the charitably inclined
in the city-are not consulted. Some
times the fact that an institution has
large financial resources is a reason
for choosing 1t, sometimes il Is a
matter of special appeal or the pres
ence OF well known names on list
of directors.
1t is from this lack OF information
as we'll as of foresight that comes
the wastage OF overendowment and
underendowment There comes also
the grotesque results OF obsolescence,
such as unqualified bequests to the
American Anti-Slavery Society. trusts
to assist fugitive slaves and the fund
which was left by ST. Louis man
for the aid Of American settlers trav-
elling by wagon trails on the plains
west Of the Mississippi and the Mis-
souri,. In these cases the requests
remain, though there Is no need OF
anti slavery agitation. help for fugi-
tive slaves or aid for wagon travel
lera over the plains. May not many
other trusts with specific and lin