Evening star., 1923-11-25
COMMUNITY TRUSTS
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

I Mullanphy, mayor of ST. Louis. left
one-third of his property to be de-
| voted to the relief Of pioneers. strand
! ed in that city, but bound bona fide,"
as his will decreed. ito settle for a
! home in the west" At that time St.
| Louis had been for several years the
/ "jumping-off place" for westward no
/ settlers. and for many of them it had
/ proved to be the last stop. their funds.
/ or strength or courage, becoming ex-
/ hausted there.
But within q few years there were
7 practically no benefciaries for the
/ Mullanphy fund. as he had described
( them. 1t now amounts to about a
| million dollars, and for the last half
/ century the administrators have been
! hard pressed to find legal ways of
| spending the income. limited as they
| are by the conditions prescribed be-
| fore the civil war.
Known a. Dead Hand.
| Situations such as have been de-
scribed are known to philanthropic
workers as the handicap Of the dead
| hand. That Is to say, the donors of
| these funds in establishing them, out
of the finest motives and a wholly
generous spirit. have done so in such
manner that in effect their dead
hands are to continue forever the
controlling force over the funds. 1t
has seemed that most philanthropists
have the idea that they must stipu-
late even to the minutest details
exactly how their charities are to be
administered or the money will be
wasted or devoted to less worthy
purposes. And in about nine cases
out OF ten 1t develops that they de-
feat their own ends.
, To eliminate this dead hand is the
OBJECT or the community trusts which
are now being established through
out the country. The idea originated
with the late Judge Frederick Goff
Of Cleveland, according to Ralph
hayes. director of the New York
community trust, and the movement
, is growing rapidly.
AS the plan has been worked out
in New York city. ten Of the lead
agreed to act as trustees of funds
intended for public purposes and to
turn the income over to a distribu-
tion committee to supervise its ex-
penditure. This committee consists
or eleven members. one chosen by
the president of the Chamber Of Com
merce of the State of New York.
another by the president Of the New
York Academy of Medicine, a third
by the president of the Bar Asso-
clatlOn, 1ourtn Dy the mayor OF
New York, fifth by the president
of the board of trustees of the
Brooklyn Institute Of Arts and
Sciences. a sixth by the senior judge
of the United States circuit court
of appeals, and the remaining five by
the trustees Of the community trust.
This committee is expected to re-
| fleet business prudence. popular
responsibility and civic progressive
/ ness" as former Secretary of Com
! merce William c. Redfleld puts 1t.
Its membership is SO rotated that
some reappointments occur each year
and there is assurance that the funds
| will always be safeguarded and ap-
piled only in ways that will con-
serve the public interest.
Under this system It is hoped that
persons bequeathing money for phil
! anthropic purposes will not specify
just how 1t Is to be expended, but
| will leave that to the discretion of
| the committee. But If the donors
! do have a specific charity which they
insist upon designating they are
urged to leave the distribution OF
] the funds to the committees decision
| II in the course of events the
time should come when the original
| purpose of the beQuest cannot be
| carried out to the advantage Of the
| community as q whole. That is what
makes it in reality a community
l trust.