The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1921-04-11

PUBIC Is tne Denlilclary, the charity
is public. and where no private or
pecuniary return is reserved to the
giver or to any particular person, but
all the benefits resulting from the gift
or act go to the public, Is a purely
public charity, the word purely be-
ing equivalent to wholly.
Third: An institution founded and
endowed as a purely public charity
does not lose its character as such,
under the tax laws, If It received a
revenue from the recipients of its
bounty sufficient to keep 1t in opera
ton"
In the case Of Gerke VS.. Purcell, rs
Ohio St, 229, the Ohio Supreme Court
said;
when the charity is public, the en-
clusion of all idea of private gain or
profit is equivalent in effect to the
force of purely as applied TO public
charity in the constitution"
Another test of purely public char
founded. If it was for the general
public good, and not for private gain,
and was so conducted that the public
received all the benefits of 1t, it is
a purely public charity, Donohugh VS..
Library Co., Sc Pa. St., 306.
BY the will of Elizabeth Speers, the
funds for the establishment and main
tenance of this :.ospital in the city of
Dayton were set apart by her, and the
hospital to be erected and maintained,
was to be conducted in such manner
and upon such plan, as, in the judg-
ment of the trustees, would do the
greatest good. No provision is in the
will providing that the funds so set
apart should ever revert to any pri-
vate person, or should in any event,
ever, be used for any purpose, except
the one designated in the will. The
title to the property is vested in trus-
tees, who have no personal interest in
the property, whatever, and In the
case of vacancies in the office of trus-
tees, the vacancies must be filled by
the circuit court of the county The
purpose of the donor was to create a
pure charity, and the fund was placed
in the service of the public without
any view to provide gain for any one.
'~ln -. vain n~3 -.-f' - -00' o.
the INDECENT sick, and Of those Who's.
pecuniary circumstances are such, as
will not Justify an expenditure Of more
than a small sum for medical and
surgical treatment, and nursing and
caring while sick, is, without ques-
ton, a public charity, if the doors Of
the institution are open to all per-
sons, alike. 1t is always the duty OF
the state to provide for its INDECENT
sick.
1t does not appear that it was ever
intended that any private gain should
result to any person in the operation
of the trust created by the donor. III
setting apart the fund for the erection
and maintenance of the hospital. The
supervision Of its operation was given
to the court of the highest equitable
jurisdiction in the court, and the pow
er to name the trustees was vested III
the same tribunal-thus stamping it
with evidence Of its public character.
In its operation no one has been eX-
cluded from its benefits. The county
in which it is situated and the nearby
cities have used it as an instrument
tality to care for their INDECENT sick,
and to procure surgical and medical
treatment for them. 1t is true, the
county and cities have compensated
;,,g t; thn opl +
ment of their poor and friendless sick,
but in a sum less than the actual cost
to the institution for caring for them.
One-half of the inmates have received
the services of the physicians, as well
as the nursing and their board, free of
any charge to them. While a charge is
made against every patient, other than
the ones who are consigned there by
the county or cities, it does not ap-
pear that anyone has ever been turned
away, or excluded from its benefits,
because of poverty, or inability to pay
for the benefits. Private patients are
received, who pay the institution for
their rooms, boarding, and nursing,
and pay their physicians for their
treatment, but the funds received from
this source are all devoted to the gen.
eral expenses of the hospital. A
building and grounds and furniture
are not adequate to maintain hos
pital. The nurses must be paid, fuel
and light, water and food provided,
and some one to superintend and di-
rect the operations of the hospital.
The fact that the institution receiv-
ed revenue from the recipients of
its bounty, sufficient to keep it in
operation, does not take from it its
character as purely public charity,
where it was founded and endowed
as such, and when all of the receipts
go to providing for the purposes for
which it was erected and maintained
The municipalities and the county it.
self in which the institution is locat-
ed, and whose duty 1t is to care for
the INDECENT sick of each of them, re-
spectively, have, by its use, been saved
the burden Of erecting an institution
of the kind of their own, o. otherwise
caring for such sick.
III OyC't 5uV, puDllC CHARITY IL
defined ito be a gift, to be applied
consistently with the existing laws,
for the benefit of an indefinite num-
Der of persons, either by bringing
their minds or hearts under the in
fluence Of education or religion. by
relieving their bodies from disease.
suffering or constraint, by ASSISTING
them to establish themselves in II.
or by erecting or maintaining publ
buildings or works, or otherwise les
sening the burden of government"
The Speers Hospital has been so
conducted and was so endowed and
maintained, that no private gain has
come to any one, and all of its bene-
fits go to the public.
The cases Of Wathen vs.. City of
Louisville. 81 R. e35. and GRAY Street