Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/844

 830 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

positions are plainly untenable. A man certainly has a legal right to spend his money as he sees fit, but it cannot be success- fully contended that he has a moral right so to do. The best thought of this generation is agreed in affirming that a man is morally bound to use his talents in the service of his fellow-men. The object of human existence is the full and complete realiza- tion of the self, of the individual, and, through it, of the race. In working toward this ultimate goal each individual should be an active participator, and anyone who is not is a mere cumberer of the earth. Now, why does not the same rule apply to material as well as to intellectual resources ? Obviously it does. The parable of the talents teaches as much ; but we prefer a figurative interpretation. A literal application would involve financial mat- ters in short, would touch the pocket-nerve of the interpreter. Even an amateur in financial physiology knows the sensitiveness of this locality. Thoughtful people are coming quite generally to the conclusion that the ethics of citizenship demands that the individual make use of his wealth no less than of his talents in the advancement of his fellow-men. There is no absolute owner- ship in fee simple from the ethical standpoint. That selfishness which contends that there is is destined to vanish before the broader view. Power in any line is accompanied by responsi- bility.

It is, therefore, pertinent to ask whether this view of the mat- ter is mere theory, or whether there are any substantial data from which to deduce an opinion of this kind. Such data cer- tainly exist. As evidence I would cite the long list of mag- nificent donations which have been made in recent years for philanthropic purposes. The state of Massachusetts alone has received from private individuals more than $8,000,000 for the endowment of libraries, in addition to more than one hundred memorial library buildings and numerous collections of books. The Astor Library of New York, the Enoch Pratt Library of Baltimore, the Newberry Library of Chicago, and the various libraries founded by Andrew Carnegie in Europe and America are all examples of private beneficence. In addition the well-known cases of the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, Pratt Institute