Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 29.djvu/752

732 object generally in the mind of a rich man, aside from the care of his family, is the welfare of the property bequeathed. In this respect the will of the late Mr. Vanderbilt was conspicuous. The measures taken to secure the united management of the great fortune left by him may be highly commended simply as a piece of public policy. It is not too much to say that, if, in consequence of a contrary policy, the New York Central or Vanderbilt system of roads had gone to pieces, the whole northern part of the United States would have suffered substantial injury.

A sentiment regarding the disposition of property at death, noticed by J. S. Mill as existing in America, still retains its hold; we mean the sentiment favoring the settlement of great sums on charities, churches, and especially on educational institutions. A California millionaire has recently set aside an immense fortune, said to amount to $20,000,000, for a university in that State. From an economic point of view there is absolutely no defense of such an action. It simply means the perpetual expenditure—the economic waste—of the whole annual yield of the property donated. Of course, the defense can be made that as property is for life, and not life for property, we should not regard wealth spent on things so necessary as education as misapplied. And if it be taken for granted that future ages will not know enough, or will not have the means to pay for the education needful for them, this is a good defense. But if, as we must here maintain, it be thought that the wants of a time are best met by the spontaneous agency of the time—as we see in the superiority of our popularly-sustained churches over state-supported establishments—then, from a social as well as from an economic standpoint, we must decide against the advisability of such great gifts. The possibility that our mania for education may lead to as much loss and inconvenience as the former mania which resulted in state religious establishments seems to be forgotten. Leaving all this aside, however, it should still be borne in mind that such a withdrawal of capital as that instanced is a distinct injury to trade and to the working classes; and further that any perpetuity is almost certain to become unresponsive to the needs of a new age, and is likely to become as useless as are, according to Professor Huxley, the great endowments which maintain fellowships at the English universities. Wherever the line between benevolent and reproductive expenditure should be drawn, it seems highly probable that the public sentiment in favor of public legacies is unduly strong, at least among those whose views find their way into print; and that the private sentiment which we see in daily operation is really much more beneficial to the country.

If the views taken in this article have any basis in truth, the opinions commonly held are to a large extent wrong in nearly every way connected with the present subject. Public opinion is, indeed, a vague and indefinite quantity. But we may fairly say that it opposes the