Evening star., 1928-06-10

Marshall had nurtured the idea of
establishing there school Of commerce
and business administration. They had
even drawn up detailed plan and a
curriculum, but at this point they
stopped. The cost, they realized, would
be tremendous.
Then one day the telephone rang in
the business Office and a voice inquired
to whom to make out the deed of an
important piece Of property which the
owner wished to give the university, the
income To be spent for instruction in
commerce and business administration
The property in question turned out
to be one OF the most valuable pieces in
Chicago, worth at the lowest estimate
$2,000,000 The donor was Herbert w.
Williams, practically unknown man
living In a quiet way in quiet little
town in Connecticut. Persistent inquiry
could elicit from him almost no facts
about himself, except that he long mad
believed that business administration
ought to be taught in colleges.
THE idea Of endowing in perpetuity
any worthy idea or philanthropy
which appeals to them is one which has
always been attractive to those who
wish TO give money away. Yet it is an
idea which is now frowncd on in ccr-
tain circumstances by far-sighted
people
Wealthy men of this generation
should not prepare to underwrite for
all time the activities which now seem
to be all important to them" says an
officer OF the John Price Jones Corpo-
ration, which has conducted money
raising campaigns fer many of the big
eest institutions in the country. "The
philanthropist Of today should not look
too far ahead in financing social prog
ress. We can never tell when science
will solve some of our greatest prob
lens, such, for instance, as the cure
for cancer, making further extensive
research on that particular question un-
necessary, or when changes In our So
cial and economic ideas will produce
changes in the attitude of the public
toward social institutions. especially
those privately supported. In the past
great fortunes have been tied up even
by far-sighted men"
This is true: on almost every educa-
tional institution in the country the
hand Of some long-dead donor rests,
either benevolently or chokingly. Some
gifts which seemed insignificant at the
time they were bestowed have proved
valuable beyond the dreams of Midas;
others, which seemed generous for the
purpose for which they were given, have
proved ridiculous'y insufficient, such as
the Thomas Cotton Fund, donated to
Harvard in 1927, the income To be used
for an addition to the salary Of the
president OF the college" and which nov
amounts to exactly $3.50 a year.
A third class of gifts has brought to
their donors honor and esteem out Of
all proportion 10 either their original or
their present value. such as the d0na-
ton of just few hundred pounds and
a few books, which has sent John Har-
wards name ringing down the centuries
or the E100 given to Harvard College in
l64l by Lady Mowlson formerly Anne
Radcliffe) for a scholarship. "the reye-
nue. from 1t TO be employed forever .
but which was soon forgotten and al
lowed to lapse until the facts were again
dug up In 1893. Then the university
corporation, in burst of shame and
contrition, set aside $4,000 to renew this
scholarship, and even suggested that
the Harvard Annex" be renamed
Radcliffe College" as matter Of be-
lated justice and because OF the eunho-
MUS sound of the name.
1t In not. however. gifts OF this kind
that cause most concern TO colleges and
universities. but gifts 50 limited In their
intention that their usefulness is soon
ended When the cause for which they
were given no longer exists they become
frozen" This matter is so serious that
several States now have made laws TO
prevent 1t. In Maryland. for instance.
donor cannot give money with the