The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-28
PRESS ON THE DUKE GIFT

bv MT. James B. Duke came as very timely Christmas gift to the fortunate institutions. The gift has aroused more than usual comment, not only because ot its generous size, but also because It IS given by a Southern man to southern causes out of wealth created in the South. Thus it quite overshadows in the news tbe gifts of George Eastman which total more than the Duke endowment, although spread over a period of more years, the latest being for some twelve millions The Duke gift represents an lmmeolaee value of forty millions with an ultimate income value of twice as much. Inc largest single portion of the tund goes to Trinity College, at Durham Nortn Carolina, on condition that the nalhT oi +ha ;nstitution be changed to Duke Uni yersity. No difficulty is apprehendeo on that score, however.
 Speaking in general of funds ot tnls onhicailv observes: "The question ot now such gifts may most effectively operate throughout a long future raises itseli more freouently as great trust tunos oI +his sort are established. Experience III Fnoland. and to a lesser degree expe- r;ence in the United States, has made It clear that attempts to define rigidly ana ;nflexiblv the detailed purposes to De served by permanent trust tunos are nAe- lv to be futile or disastrous The pni'- anthropist dies, the world changes, the world's problems and methods of accom- nlishine results change; but great tunds continue to be ruled by dead hand. It was to combat the influence ot thls oeao hand that Frederick H. Golf, the CieVe- land banker, formulated some ten years ago the plan which has become Known as the community trust plan. however although the community trust plan IS very efficient one, it should not be tor- r.o+ian that the beouest and the "dead hand" of John Harvard have hardly worked to the disadvantage of the unl- versity bearing his name.
 The Philadelphia Public Ledger is moved to remark: ''Never before has wealth seeped, crawled and moved back so amazingly towards the human mass out of which it came. There IS neat and a human pressure in America today that melt great accreations of wealtn " hack into the uses of mankind. Never was there so much wealth and never was .-> there so great an effort at !eVenhg wealth. That effort has found it's way into politics in an attempt to tax wealth ont of existence and return its substance +o the common use. Knowingly or half instinctively many of the very rich are moving toward that same end by tnelr own roads," The Ledger's. explanation seems inadequate, however, TOT hocke- feller and Carnegie began their bene- licences before surtaxes were imposed, and others have doubtless been impelled by motives other than purpose of speno- ing wealth according to the owners de- s;re ,.ather than pay taxes The wealthy founders of funds for public benefit must he given credit for a considerable degree of public spirit and humanity If justice is to be done them.
 A pertinent suggestion is found in the comment of the Houston Post-Dispatch: "While MT. Dukes great gift goes direct Jv to his own people, the example of hls beneficence will be helpful to educational effort throughout the South. There are many men of great wealth in the South today. and they might do much to lit / education and benevolence to more cred l itable levels if they realized, as MT. Duke :. has. the responsibilities that inhere in ' the trusteeship of wealth. Their reaction to MT. Dukes example will appear sooner or later" Along the same line of thought the Nashville Banner continues: ssNothing could be more significant of new South risen in vigorous splendor from the ruin caused by the Civil War, than the unparalleled munlflcence or James B. Duke in creating a vast trust fund for the furtherance of educational and charitable projects in North and South Carolina. It is the first time a Southerner has done such thing on such a scale, and it assures the section which : produced the wealth the enjoyment of benefits derived from it's constructive use. The plan which MT. Duke has de- vised promises to work wonderfully well for society as whole"
 The fact that MT. Dukes gift is actual ly double its face value as an endowment has been overlooked by most editors, but is emphasized by the New York Times "Mr. Duke apparently looks forward to the management of his power interests by the trustees over period of several gen. erations. Provision in the deed of gift for setting aside twenty per cent. of the annual income towards the accumulation of a second capital sum of forty million dollars apparently assumes a period o1 about seventy-five years as the minimum of the continuance of the trust. This ls not the principle on which the older foundations proceed. The Rockefeller Foundation has formally adopted the principle of distributing capital as vel as interest and so liquidating itself out of business within measurable space o1 years, leaving it for the more distant flu ture to develop it's own benefactors."
 In general observation on the whole kubiect Of such acts of public beneficencC the Washington Star remarks: Count IesS numbers of young Americans owt tSAsr educational advancement to sucl oenefactions Opportunities have beer opened to them though the endowmen of schools and colleges and libraries ant