Evening star., 1937-01-17
Good Uses of Great Wealth.

UOOO uses Oh Oredt w cdll1ls
Hard on the heels of the announce
ment OF Andrew w. Melons gift of his
pictures to his country comes news OF
Charles Hayden's endowment Of youth
movement of the kind the Nation needs
foundation, capitalized with approM-
mately fifty million dollars, for the edu-
cation of boys and young men and the
advancement Of their moral, mental and
physical well-being." In both instances
the public has proof of the tendency of
philanthropy to take practical form. Each
represents an example of the good use of
great wealth.
The attention of radical reformers Is
particularly invited to the principle in
volved In the exercise of such generosity.
In their prejudiced theory the creation
of riches is sinful crime against society.
The fortunes of millionaires. they insist,
should be arbitrarily appropriated. Dur
ing the recent political campaign, as
everybody knows, it was the contention
of at least one presidential candidate
that the Government should take from
those who have and give to those who
have not"
Yet it would be difficult to conceive Of
more effective plan for the socialization
of accumulated property than that which
already is operative. Consider Washing
ton alone. The city possesses abundant
proof of the feeling of responsibility
which aff1uent persons commonly enter
tain toward their supposedly less
fortunate fellows. Here may be found
innumerable manifestations of the ele-
mental altruism Of the so-called
'moneyed class"-among them the Public
Library, given by Andrew Carnegie; the
Shakespeare Library, endowed by Henry
and Emily Folger; the Corcoran. Freer
and Phillips galleries, commemorating
the liberality of three far-visioned
donors; the institution established for
the diffusion of knowledge by James
Smithson: four universities largely
financed by private contributors; Wash
ington Cathedral, the Shrine of the I'm
maculate Conception and other temples
of prayer built by means Of the sacri-
fees of many devout persons; hospitals
and homes for the aged and for little
children constantly helped by anonymous
friends equipped with an instinct to share
their blessings; concerts, provided by Mrs.
Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge and Mrs.
Matthew John Whittall; residential halls
for girls and young women. presented by
Mrs. Henry Alvah Strong; Summer
camps for underprivileged youngsters
maintained by the business and pro-
fessional community; the orthopedic
service of the Kiwanis Club; the Roeb-
ling, Garfield, Abbott and other scientific
funds in the custody of the Smithsonian
regents; research foundations like those
of the Brookings Institution; specialized
collections of rarities. exempliled in the
books of Mrs. Violet Blair Janin; the
manuscripts relating to church history
gathered by DR.. Marcus Benjamin, the
JCWCICo ClOoSCS VI V4lS. L. LSdNlll
and the gospel hymn deposit of DR..
George Coles Stebbins at Mount st.
Alban; the College of Preachers, pro-
vided by Alexander Smith Cochran;
monuments like that to President James
Buchanan, raised by his niece, Mrs. Har-
riet Lane Johnston. The Library of Con-
gress in single year, as it's latest report
shows, received twenty-eight thousand
books and pamphlets from unofficial
sources. Associate Justice Oliver Wen
dell Holmes left the bulk of his estate
directly to the National Treasury.
But the subject might more easily be
discussed from the angle of a strategi-
cally negative approach. What indi-
vdual, it might be demanded, has been
at one and the same time wealthy and
niggardly?> The story of riches in
America generally has been a story of
charity. Some few exceptions merely
prove the rule.