Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/845

 ETHICS OF WEALTH 831

of Brooklyn, Armour Institute of Chicago, Drexel Institute of Philadelphia, the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Chicago, Cornell and Clark Universities are examples of what amassed wealth has done for the cause of advanced education. The recent material prosperity of Columbia University in New York city is due to the beneficence of wealthy men and women. Girard College and the Johns Hopkins Hospital are monumental examples of private philanthropy in another line. The Peabody and Slater educational funds are evidences of the same ethical obligation and philanthropic spirit. It is true that the cynic may remark, as he has often done, that rich men delight in establish- ing soup-houses and hospitals that their names may be heralded to future ages. Such selfish motives may have obtained in some instances. James Lick stated his intention to erect a lofty shaft to his memory on some peak of the Pacific coast. Some practical friend suggested that such a monument might be destroyed by an invading army and proposed that an observatory on some inland height should constitute his memorial monument. The result is the famous Lick Observatory. Such a motive may be open to criticism, but in most instances of the kind the motive is doubtless truly philanthropic. There is, in most cases, a very considerable element of the feeling that in the donation is the discharge of a public duty. A great many educational and charitable institutions have received aid from persons who have absolutely insisted that their names be not mentioned in connec- tion with their bequests. New York University has received more than $1,000,000 from such sources, and one donor gave $300,000 to the medical school of this institution, and requested, not only that his name be withheld, but that the gift be not formally announced.

George lies in an article in the Century Magazine for March, 1897, on the "Art of Large Giving," says:

Not the discontended poor alone, but the thoughtful rich, begin to feel that financial primacy creates new debts toward the public. But can these debts be legally defined and enforced ? Skill and wisdom are lacking for the task, even if the question were closed as to the justice of the attempt. For many men of great possessions the voice of conscience is effective, as the contemplated grasp of the tax-gatherer could never be.