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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter seven of Random Reminiscences of Men and Events by
John D. Rockefeller. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox
recordings are in the public domain. For more information or
to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by William
tom Coe, Random Reminiscences of Men and Events by John D. Rockefeller,
(00:26):
Chapter seven, The Benevolent Trust. The value of the co
operative principle in giving. Going a step farther in the
plan of making benefactions increasingly effective, which I took up
in the last chapter under the title of the Difficult
Art of Giving. I am tempted to take the opportunity
to dwell a little upon the subject of a combination
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in charitable work, which has been something of a hobby
with me for many years. If a combination to do
business is effective in saving waste and in getting better results,
why is not a nation far more important in philanthropic work.
The general idea of cooperation in giving for education, I
have felt scored a real step in advance when mister
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Andrew Carnegie consented to become a member of the General
Education Board. For in accepting a position in this directorate,
he has it seems to me stamped with his approval
this vital principle of cooperation in aiding the educational institutions
of our country. I rejoice, as everybody must, in mister
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Carnegie's enthusiasm for using his wealth for the benefit of
his less fortunate fellows, and I think his devotion to
his adopted land's welfare has set a striking example for
all time. The General Education Board, of which mister Carnegie
has now become a member, is interesting as an example
of an organization formed for the purpose of working out,
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in an orderly and rather scientific way, the problem of
helping to stimulate and improve education in all parts of
our country. What this organization may eventually accomplish, of course,
no one can tell, but surely, under its present board
of directors it will go very far. Here again, I
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feel that I may speak frankly and express my personal
faith in its success, since I am not a member
of the board and have never attended a meeting, and
the work is all done by others. There are some
other and larger plans thought out on careful and broad lines,
which I have been studying for many years, and we
can see that they are growing into definite shape. It
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is good to know that there are always unselfish men
of the best caliber to help in every large philanthropic enterprise.
One of the most satisfactory and stimulating pieces of good
fortune that has come to me is the evidence that
so many busy people are willing to turn aside from
their work in pressing fields of labor and to give
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their best thoughts and energies without compensation, to the work
of human uplift. Doctors, clergymen, lawyers, as well as many
high grade men of affairs are devoting their best and
most unselfish efforts to some of the plans that we
are all trying to work out. Take as one example
of many similar cases, mister Robert c Ogden, who, for years,
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while devoting himself to an exacting business, still found time,
supported by wonderful enthusiasm, to give force by his own personality,
to work done in difficult parts of the educational world,
particularly to improving the common school system of the South.
His efforts have been wisely directed along fundamental lines which
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must produce results through the years to come. Fortunately, my
children have been as earnest as I, and much more
diligent and carefully and intelligently carrying out the work already begun,
and agree with me that at least the same energy
and thought should be expended in the proper and effective
use of money when acquired as was exerted in the
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earning of it. The General Education Board has made, or
is making, a careful study of the location, aims, work, resources, administration,
and educational value, present and prospective of the institutions of
higher learning in the United States. The Board makes its
contributions averaging something like two million dollars a year on
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the most careful comparative study of needs and opportunities throughout
the country. Its records are open to all. Many benefactors
of education are availing themselves of these disinterested inquiries, and
it is hoped that more will do so. A large
number of individuals are contributing to the support of educational
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institutions in our country to help an inefficient, ill located,
unnecessary school is a waste. I am told by those
who have given most careful study to this problem that
it is highly probable that enough money has been s
squandered on unwise educational projects to have built up a
national system of higher education adequate to our needs. If
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the money had been properly directed to that end, many
of the good people who bestow their beneficence on education
may well give more thought to investigating the character of
the enterprises that they are importuned to help. And this
study ought to take into account the kind of people
who are responsible for their management, their location, and the
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facilities supplied by other institutions. Round about. A thorough examination
such as this generally quite impossible for an individual, and
he either declines to give from lack of accurate knowledge,
or he may give without due consideration. If, however, the
work of inquiry is done and well done by the
General Education Board, through officers of intelligence, skill and sympathy
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trained to the work, important and needed service is rendered.
The walls of sectarian exclusiveness are fast disappearing as they should,
and the best people are standing shoulder to shoulder as
they attack the great problems of general uplift Roman Catholic charities.
Just here it occurs to me to testify to the
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fact that the Roman Catholic Church, as I have observed
in my experience, has advanced a long way in this direction.
I have been surprised to learn how far a given
sum of money has gone in the hands of priests
and nuns, and how really effective is their use of it.
I fully appreciate the splendid service done by other workers
in the field, but I have seen the organization of
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the Roman Church secure better results with a given sum
of money than other church organizations are accustomed to secure
from the same expenditure. I speak of this merely to
point the value of the principle of organization in which
I believe so heartily. It is unnecessary to dwell upon
the centuries of experience with the Church of Rome has
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gone through to perfect a great power of a war organization.
Studying these problems has been a source of the greatest
interest to me. My assistants, quite distinct from any board,
have an organization of sufficient size to investigate the many
requests that come to us. This is done from the
office of our committee in New York. For an individual
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to attempt to keep any close watch of single cases
would be impossible. I am called upon to explain this
fact many times. To read the hundreds of letters daily
received at our office would be beyond the power of
any one man. And surely if the many good people
who write would only reflect a little, they must realize
that it is impossible for me personally to consider their applications.
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The plan that we have worked out, and I hope
improved upon year after year, has been the result of experience,
and I refer to it now only as one contribution
to a general subject which is of such great moment
to earnest people. And this must be my excuse for
speaking so frankly. The appeals that come the reading, assorting,
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and investigating of the hundreds of letters of appeal which
are received daily at my office are attended to by
a department organized for this purpose. The task is not
so difficult as at first it might seem. The letters
are to be sure of great variety, from all sorts
of people, in every condition of life, and indeed from
all parts of the world. Four fifths of these letters are, however,
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requests for money for personal use, with no other title
to consideration than that the writer would be gratified to
have it. There remain numbers of requests which all must
recognize as worthy of notice. These may be divided roughly
as follows. The claims of local charities. The town or
city in which one lives has a definite appeal to
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all its citizens and all good neighbors will wish to
co operate with friends and fellow townsmen. But these local charities, hospitals,
kindergartens and the like ought not to make appeal outside
the local communities which they serve. The burden should be
carried by the people who are on the spot and
who are or should be most familiar with local needs.
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Then come the national and international claims. These properly appeal,
especially to men of large means throughout the country, whose
wealth admits of their doing something more than assist in
caring for the local charities. There are many great national
and international philanthropic and Christian organizations that cover the whole
field of world wide charity. And while people of reputed
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wealth all receive appeals from individual workers throughout the world
for personal assistance, the prudent and thoughtful giver will more
and more choose these great and responsible organizations as the
medium for his gifts and the distribution of his funds
too distant fields. This has been my custom, and the
experience of every day serves only to confirm its wisdom.
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The great value of dealing with an organization which no
all the facts and can best decide just where the
help can be applied to the best advantage has impressed
itself upon me through the results of long years of experience.
For example, one is asked to give in a certain
field of missionary work a sum for a definite purpose.
Let us say a hospital. To comply with this request
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will take say ten thousand dollars. It seems wise and
natural to give this amount. The missionary who wants this
money is working under the direction of a strong and
capable religious denomination. Suppose the request is referred to the
manager of the board of this denomination, and it transpires
that there are many good reasons why a new hospital
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is not badly needed at this point, and by a
little good management, the need of this missionary can be
met by another hospital in its neighborhood, whereas another missionary
in another place has no such possibility. For any hospital
facilities whatever, there is no question that the money should
be spent in the place last named. These conditions the
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managers of all the mission stations know, although perhaps the
one who is giving the money never heard of them,
and in my judgment, he is wise and not acting
until he has consulted these men of larger information. It
is interesting to follow the mental processes that some excellent
souls go through to cloud their consciences when they consider
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what their duty actually is. For instance, one man says,
I do not believe in giving money to street beggars.
I agree with him, I do not believe in the
practice either, But that is not a reason why one
should be exempt from doing something to help the situation
represented by the street beggar. Because one does not yield
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to the importunities of such people is exactly the reason
one should join and uphold the charity organization societies of
one's own locality, which deal justly and humanely with this class,
separating the worthy from the unworthy. Another says, I don't
give to such and such a board because I have
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read that of the money given, only half or less
actually gets to the person needing help. This is often
not a true statement of fact, as proved again and again,
and even if it were true in part, it does
not relieve the possible giver from the duty of helping
to make the organization more efficient. By no possible chance
is it a valid excuse for closing up one's pocket
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book and dismissing the whole subject from one's mind. Institutions
as they relate to each other. Surely it is wise
to be careful not to duplicate effort, and not to
inaugurate new charities in fields already covered, but rather to
strengthen and perfect those already at work. There is a
great deal of rivalry and a vast amount of duplication,
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and one of the most difficult things in giving is
to ascertain when the field is fully covered. Many people
simply consider whether the institution to which they are giving
is thoughtful fully and well managed, without stopping to discover
whether the field is not already occupied by others. And
for this reason one ought not to investigate a single
institution by itself, but always in its relation to all
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similar institutions in the territory. Here is a case in point.
A number of enthusiastic people had a plan for founding
an orphan asylum, which was to be conducted by one
of our strongest religious denominations. The raising of the necessary
funds was begun, and among the people who were asked
to subscribe was a man who always made it a
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practice to study the situation carefully before committing himself to
a contribution. He asked one of the promoters of the
new institution, how many beds the present asylum serving this
community provided, how efficient they were where located, and what
particular class of institution was lacking in the community to
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None of these questions were answers forthcoming. So we had
this information gathered on his own account, with the purpose
of helping to make the new plan effective. His studies
revealed the fact that the city where the new asylum
was to be built was so well provided with such institutions,
that there were already vastly more beds for children than
there were applicants to fill them, and that the field
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was well and fully covered. These facts being presented to
the organizers of the enterprise, it was shown that no
real need for such an institution existed. I wish I
might add that the scheme was abandoned. It was not.
Such charities seldom are when once the sympathies of the
worthy people, however misinformed, are heartily enlisted. It may be
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urged that doing the work in this systematic and apparently
cold blooded way leaves out of consideration to a large extent,
the merits of individual cases. My contention is that the
organization of work in combination should not and does not
stifle the work of individuals, but strengthens and stimulate. The
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orderly combination of philanthropic effort is growing daily, and at
the same time the spirit of broad philanthropy never was
so general as it is now. The claim of higher education.
The giver who works out these problems for himself will
no doubt find many critics. So many people see the
pressing needs of every day life that possibly they fail
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to realize those which are, if less obvious, of an
even larger significance. For instance, the great claims of higher education.
Ignorance is the source of a large part of the
poverty and a vast amount of the crime in the world.
Hence the need of education. If we assist the highest
forms of education in whatever field, we secure the widest
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influence in enlarging the boundaries of human knowledge. For all
the new facts discovered or set in motion become the
universal heritage. I think we cannot overestimate the importance of
this matter. The mere fact that most of the great
achievements in science, medicine, art, and literature are the flower
of the higher education is sufficient. Some great writer will
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one day show how these things have ministered to the
wants of all the people, educated and uneducated, high and low,
rich and poor, and made life more what we all
wish it to be. The best philanthropy is constantly in
search of the finalities, a search for cause, an attempt
to cure evils at their source. My interest in the
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University of Chicago has been enhanced by the fact that,
while it has comprehensively considered the other features of a
collegiate course, it has given so much attention to research
Doctor William R. Harper. The mention of this promising young
institution always brings to my mind the figure of doctor
William R. Harper, whose enthusiasm for its work was so
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great that no vision of its future seemed too large.
My first meeting with doctor Harper was at Vassar College,
where one of my daughters was a student. He used
to come as the guest of doctor James M. Taylor,
the President, to lecture on Sundays, and as I frequently
spent week ends there, I saw and talked much with
the young professor then of Yale, and caught in some
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degree the contagion of his enthusiasm. When the university had
been founded and he had taken the presidency, our great
ambition was to secure the best instructors and to organize
a new institution unhampered by traditions according to the most
modern ideals. He raised millions of dollars among the people
of Chicago and the Middle West and won the personal
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interest of their leading citizens. Here lay his great strength,
for he secured not only their money, but their loyal
support and strong personal interest. The best kind of help
and co operation. He built even better than he knew.
His lofty ideals embodied in the university, awakened a deeper
interest in higher education throughout the Central West, and stirred individuals, denominations,
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and legislatures to effective action. The world will probably never
realize how largely the present splendid university system of the
Central Western States is due indirectly to the genius of
this man, with all his extraordinary power of work and
his executive and organizing ability, Doctor Harper was a man
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of exquisite personal charm. We counted among the rich and
delightful experiences of our home life that doctor and Missus
Harper would occasionally spend days together with us for a
brief respite from the exacting cares and responsibilities of the university.
Work as a friend and companion in daily intercourse, no
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one could be more delightful than he. It has been
my good fortune to contribute at various times to the
University of Chicago, of which doctor Harper was president, and
the newspapers, not unnaturally supposed at such times that he
used the occasions of our personal association to secure these contributions.
The cartoonists used to find this a fruitful theme. They
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would picture doctor Harper as a hypnotist waving his magic spell,
or would represent him forcing his way into my inner office,
where I was pictured as busy cutting coupons, and from
which delightful employment I incontinently fled out of the window
at sight of him. Or they would represent me as
fleeing across rivers on cakes of floating ice, with doctor
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Harper in hot pursuit. Or perhaps he would be following
close on my trail, like the wolf in the Russian
story in inaccessible country retreats, while I escaped only by
means of the slight delays I occasioned him by now
and then dropping a million dollar bill, which he would
be obliged to stop and pick up. These cartoons were
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intended to be very amusing, and some of them certainly
did have a flavor of humor, but they were never
humorous to Doctor Harper. They were, in fact a source
of deep humiliation to him. And I am sure he would,
were he living, be glad to have me say as
I now do, that during the entire period of his
presidency of the University of Chicago, he never once either
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wrote me a letter or asked me personally for a
dollar of money for the University of Chicago. In the
most intimate daily intercourse with him in my home, the
finances of the University of Chicago were never canvassed or discussed.
The method of procedure in this case has been substantially
the same as with all other contributions. The presentation of
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the needs of the university has been made in writing
by the officers of the University, whose special duty it
is to repair its budgets and superintend its finances. A
committee of the Trustees, with the President, have annually conferred
at a fixed time with our Department of Benevolence as
to its needs. Their conclusions have generally been entirely unanimous,
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and I have found no occasion hitherto seriously to depart
from their recommendations. There have been no personal interviews and
no personal solicitations. It has been a pleasure to me
to make these contributions. But that pleasure has arisen out
of the fact that the university is located in a
great center of empire, that it has rooted itself in
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the affections and interest of the people among whom it
is located, That it is doing a great and needed
work in fine, that it has been able to attract
and to justify the contributions of its patrons east and west.
It is not personal interviews and impassioned appeals, but sound
and justifying worth that should attract and secure the funds
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of philanthropy. The people in great numbers who are constantly
importuning me for personal interviews in behalf of favorite causes
err in supposing that the interview, were it possible, is
the best way or even a good way, of securing
what they want. Our practice has been uniformly to request
applicants to state their cases tersely, but nevertheless, as fully
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as they think necessary in writing their application is carefully
considered by very competent people chosen for this purpose. If
thereupon personal interviews are found desirable, by our assistants they
are invited from our office. Written presentations form the necessary
basis of investigation, of consultation and comparison of views between
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the different members of our staff, and of the final
presentation to me. It is impossible to conduct this department
of our work in any other way. The rule requiring
written presentation as against the interview, is enforced and adhere to,
not as the applicant sometimes supposes, as a cold rebuff
to him, but in order to secure for his cause,
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if it be a good one, the careful consideration which
is its due, a consideration that cannot be given in
a mere verbal interview. The reason for conditional gifts. It
is easy to do harm in giving money. To give
to institutions which should be supported by others is not
the best philanthropy. Such giving only serves to dry up
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the natural springs of charity. It is highly important that
every charitable institution shall have, at all times the largest
possible number of current contributors. This means that the institution
shall constantly be making its appeals. But if these constant
appeals are to be successful, the institution is forced to
do excellent work and meet real and manifest needs. Moreover,
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the interests of many people affords the best assurance of
wise economy and unselfish management, as well as of continued support.
We frequently make our gifts conditional on the giving of others,
not because we wish to force people to do their duty,
but because we wish, in this way to root the
Institution in the affections of as many people as possible, who,
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as contributors, become personally concerned, and thereafter may be counted
on to give to the Institution their watchful interest and
co operation. Conditional gifts are often criticized, and sometimes it
may be by people who have not thought the matter
out fully. Criticism, which is deliberate, sober, and fair, is
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always valuable, and it should be welcomed by all who
desire progress. I have had at least my full share
of adverse criticism, but I can truly say that it
has not embittered me nor left me with any harsh
feeling against a living soul. Nor do I wish to
be critical of those whose conscientious judgment, frankly expressed, differs
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from my own. No matter how noisy the pessimists may be,
we know that the world is getting better steadily and rapidly,
and that is a good thing to remember in our
moments of depression or humiliation. The benevolent trusts. To return
to the subject of the jnevolent trusts, which is a
name for corporations to manage the business side of benefactions.
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The idea needs, and to be successful, must have the
help of men who have been trained along practical lines.
The best men of business should be attracted by its
possibilities for good. When it is eventually worked out, as
it will be in some form, and probably in a
better one than we can now forecast, how worthy it
will be of the efforts of our ablest men. We
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shall have the best charity supported generously and adequately managed
with scientific efficiency by the ablest men, who will gladly
be held strictly accountable to the donors of the money,
not only for the correct financing of the funds, but
for the intelligent and effective use of every penny. To day,
the whole machinery of benevolence is conducted upon more or
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less haphazard principles. Good men and women are wearing out
their lives to raise money to sustain institutions which are
conducted by more or less or unskilled methods. This is
a tremendous waste of our best material. We cannot afford
to have great souls who are capable of doing the
most effective work slaving to raise the money. That should
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be a business man's task, and he should be supreme
in managing the machinery of the expenses. The teachers, the workers,
and the inspired leaders of the people should be relieved
of these pressing and belittling money cares. They have more
than enough to do in tilling their tremendous and never
fully occupied field, and they should be free from any
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care which might in any wise divert them from that work.
When these benevolent trusts come into active being, such organizations
on broad lines will be sure to attract the brains
of the best men we have in our commercial affairs,
as great business opportunities attract them. Now, our successful business men,
as a class, and the exceptions only prove the truth
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of the assertion, have a high standard of honor. I
have sometimes been tempted to say that our clergymen could
gain by knowing the essentials of business life better. The
closer association with men of affairs would, I think benefit
both classes people who have had much to do with
ministers and those who hold confidential positions in our churches,
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have at times had surprising experiences in meeting what is
sometimes practiced in the way of ecclesiastical business. Because these
good men have had so little of business training in
the workaday world. The whole system of proper relations, whether
it be in commerce, or in the church, or in
the sciences, rests on honor able business men seek to
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confine their dealings to people who tell the truth and
keep their promises. And the representatives of the church, who
are often prone to attack business men as a type
of what is selfish and mean, have some great lessons
to learn, and they will gladly learn them. As these
two types of workers grow closer together. The benevolent trusts,
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when they come, will raise these standards. They will look
the facts in the face. They will applaud and sustain
the effective workers and institutions, and they will uplift the
intelligent standard of good work in helping all the people,
chiefly to help themselves. There are already signs that these
combinations are coming and coming quickly, and in the directorates
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of these trusts you will eventually find the flower of
our American manhood, the men who not only know how
to make money, but who accept the great responsibility of
administering it wisely. A few years ago, on the occasion
of the dissennial anniversary of the University of Chicago, I
was attending a university dinner, and having been asked to speak,
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I had jotted down a few notes. When the time
arrived to stand up and face these guests, men of
worth and position, my notes meant nothing to me. As
I thought of the latent power of good that rested
with these rich and influential people, I was greatly affected.
I threw down my notes and started to plead for
my benevolent trust plan. You men, I said, are always
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looking forward to do something for good causes. I know
how very busy you are. You work in a treadmill
from which you see no escape. I can easily understand
that you feel that it is beyond your present power
carefully to study the needs of humanity, and that you
wait to give until you have considered many things and
decided upon some course of action. Now, why not do
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with what you can give to others as you do
with what you want to keep for yourself and your children?
Put it into a trust. You would not place a
fortune for your children in the hands of an inexperienced person,
no matter how good he might be. Let us be
as careful with the money we would spend for the
benefit of others as if we were laying it aside
for our own family's future use. Directors, carry on these
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affairs in your behalf. Let us erect a foundation, a trust,
and engage directors who will make it a life work
to manage with our personal co operation, this business of
benevolence properly and effectively. And I beg of you attend
to it now. Don't wait. I confess I felt most
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strongly on the subject, and I feel so now. End
of chapter seven. End of Random Reminiscences of Men and
Events by John D. Rockefeller, recording by William tom Coe.
Chapter seven of Random Reminiscences of Men and Events by
John D. Rockefeller. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox
recordings are in the public domain. For more information or
to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by William
tom Coe, Random Reminiscences of Men and Events by John D. Rockefeller,
(00:26):
Chapter seven, The Benevolent Trust. The value of the co
operative principle in giving. Going a step farther in the
plan of making benefactions increasingly effective, which I took up
in the last chapter under the title of the Difficult
Art of Giving. I am tempted to take the opportunity
to dwell a little upon the subject of a combination
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in charitable work, which has been something of a hobby
with me for many years. If a combination to do
business is effective in saving waste and in getting better results,
why is not a nation far more important in philanthropic work.
The general idea of cooperation in giving for education, I
have felt scored a real step in advance when mister
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Andrew Carnegie consented to become a member of the General
Education Board. For in accepting a position in this directorate,
he has it seems to me stamped with his approval
this vital principle of cooperation in aiding the educational institutions
of our country. I rejoice, as everybody must, in mister
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Carnegie's enthusiasm for using his wealth for the benefit of
his less fortunate fellows, and I think his devotion to
his adopted land's welfare has set a striking example for
all time. The General Education Board, of which mister Carnegie
has now become a member, is interesting as an example
of an organization formed for the purpose of working out,
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in an orderly and rather scientific way, the problem of
helping to stimulate and improve education in all parts of
our country. What this organization may eventually accomplish, of course,
no one can tell, but surely, under its present board
of directors it will go very far. Here again, I
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feel that I may speak frankly and express my personal
faith in its success, since I am not a member
of the board and have never attended a meeting, and
the work is all done by others. There are some
other and larger plans thought out on careful and broad lines,
which I have been studying for many years, and we
can see that they are growing into definite shape. It
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is good to know that there are always unselfish men
of the best caliber to help in every large philanthropic enterprise.
One of the most satisfactory and stimulating pieces of good
fortune that has come to me is the evidence that
so many busy people are willing to turn aside from
their work in pressing fields of labor and to give
(02:56):
their best thoughts and energies without compensation, to the work
of human uplift. Doctors, clergymen, lawyers, as well as many
high grade men of affairs are devoting their best and
most unselfish efforts to some of the plans that we
are all trying to work out. Take as one example
of many similar cases, mister Robert c Ogden, who, for years,
(03:20):
while devoting himself to an exacting business, still found time,
supported by wonderful enthusiasm, to give force by his own personality,
to work done in difficult parts of the educational world,
particularly to improving the common school system of the South.
His efforts have been wisely directed along fundamental lines which
(03:40):
must produce results through the years to come. Fortunately, my
children have been as earnest as I, and much more
diligent and carefully and intelligently carrying out the work already begun,
and agree with me that at least the same energy
and thought should be expended in the proper and effective
use of money when acquired as was exerted in the
(04:01):
earning of it. The General Education Board has made, or
is making, a careful study of the location, aims, work, resources, administration,
and educational value, present and prospective of the institutions of
higher learning in the United States. The Board makes its
contributions averaging something like two million dollars a year on
(04:24):
the most careful comparative study of needs and opportunities throughout
the country. Its records are open to all. Many benefactors
of education are availing themselves of these disinterested inquiries, and
it is hoped that more will do so. A large
number of individuals are contributing to the support of educational
(04:45):
institutions in our country to help an inefficient, ill located,
unnecessary school is a waste. I am told by those
who have given most careful study to this problem that
it is highly probable that enough money has been s
squandered on unwise educational projects to have built up a
national system of higher education adequate to our needs. If
(05:07):
the money had been properly directed to that end, many
of the good people who bestow their beneficence on education
may well give more thought to investigating the character of
the enterprises that they are importuned to help. And this
study ought to take into account the kind of people
who are responsible for their management, their location, and the
(05:29):
facilities supplied by other institutions. Round about. A thorough examination
such as this generally quite impossible for an individual, and
he either declines to give from lack of accurate knowledge,
or he may give without due consideration. If, however, the
work of inquiry is done and well done by the
General Education Board, through officers of intelligence, skill and sympathy
(05:53):
trained to the work, important and needed service is rendered.
The walls of sectarian exclusiveness are fast disappearing as they should,
and the best people are standing shoulder to shoulder as
they attack the great problems of general uplift Roman Catholic charities.
Just here it occurs to me to testify to the
(06:15):
fact that the Roman Catholic Church, as I have observed
in my experience, has advanced a long way in this direction.
I have been surprised to learn how far a given
sum of money has gone in the hands of priests
and nuns, and how really effective is their use of it.
I fully appreciate the splendid service done by other workers
in the field, but I have seen the organization of
(06:36):
the Roman Church secure better results with a given sum
of money than other church organizations are accustomed to secure
from the same expenditure. I speak of this merely to
point the value of the principle of organization in which
I believe so heartily. It is unnecessary to dwell upon
the centuries of experience with the Church of Rome has
(06:57):
gone through to perfect a great power of a war organization.
Studying these problems has been a source of the greatest
interest to me. My assistants, quite distinct from any board,
have an organization of sufficient size to investigate the many
requests that come to us. This is done from the
office of our committee in New York. For an individual
(07:17):
to attempt to keep any close watch of single cases
would be impossible. I am called upon to explain this
fact many times. To read the hundreds of letters daily
received at our office would be beyond the power of
any one man. And surely if the many good people
who write would only reflect a little, they must realize
that it is impossible for me personally to consider their applications.
(07:42):
The plan that we have worked out, and I hope
improved upon year after year, has been the result of experience,
and I refer to it now only as one contribution
to a general subject which is of such great moment
to earnest people. And this must be my excuse for
speaking so frankly. The appeals that come the reading, assorting,
(08:03):
and investigating of the hundreds of letters of appeal which
are received daily at my office are attended to by
a department organized for this purpose. The task is not
so difficult as at first it might seem. The letters
are to be sure of great variety, from all sorts
of people, in every condition of life, and indeed from
all parts of the world. Four fifths of these letters are, however,
(08:26):
requests for money for personal use, with no other title
to consideration than that the writer would be gratified to
have it. There remain numbers of requests which all must
recognize as worthy of notice. These may be divided roughly
as follows. The claims of local charities. The town or
city in which one lives has a definite appeal to
(08:48):
all its citizens and all good neighbors will wish to
co operate with friends and fellow townsmen. But these local charities, hospitals,
kindergartens and the like ought not to make appeal outside
the local communities which they serve. The burden should be
carried by the people who are on the spot and
who are or should be most familiar with local needs.
(09:10):
Then come the national and international claims. These properly appeal,
especially to men of large means throughout the country, whose
wealth admits of their doing something more than assist in
caring for the local charities. There are many great national
and international philanthropic and Christian organizations that cover the whole
field of world wide charity. And while people of reputed
(09:33):
wealth all receive appeals from individual workers throughout the world
for personal assistance, the prudent and thoughtful giver will more
and more choose these great and responsible organizations as the
medium for his gifts and the distribution of his funds
too distant fields. This has been my custom, and the
experience of every day serves only to confirm its wisdom.
(09:57):
The great value of dealing with an organization which no
all the facts and can best decide just where the
help can be applied to the best advantage has impressed
itself upon me through the results of long years of experience.
For example, one is asked to give in a certain
field of missionary work a sum for a definite purpose.
Let us say a hospital. To comply with this request
(10:20):
will take say ten thousand dollars. It seems wise and
natural to give this amount. The missionary who wants this
money is working under the direction of a strong and
capable religious denomination. Suppose the request is referred to the
manager of the board of this denomination, and it transpires
that there are many good reasons why a new hospital
(10:42):
is not badly needed at this point, and by a
little good management, the need of this missionary can be
met by another hospital in its neighborhood, whereas another missionary
in another place has no such possibility. For any hospital
facilities whatever, there is no question that the money should
be spent in the place last named. These conditions the
(11:03):
managers of all the mission stations know, although perhaps the
one who is giving the money never heard of them,
and in my judgment, he is wise and not acting
until he has consulted these men of larger information. It
is interesting to follow the mental processes that some excellent
souls go through to cloud their consciences when they consider
(11:25):
what their duty actually is. For instance, one man says,
I do not believe in giving money to street beggars.
I agree with him, I do not believe in the
practice either, But that is not a reason why one
should be exempt from doing something to help the situation
represented by the street beggar. Because one does not yield
(11:45):
to the importunities of such people is exactly the reason
one should join and uphold the charity organization societies of
one's own locality, which deal justly and humanely with this class,
separating the worthy from the unworthy. Another says, I don't
give to such and such a board because I have
(12:05):
read that of the money given, only half or less
actually gets to the person needing help. This is often
not a true statement of fact, as proved again and again,
and even if it were true in part, it does
not relieve the possible giver from the duty of helping
to make the organization more efficient. By no possible chance
is it a valid excuse for closing up one's pocket
(12:28):
book and dismissing the whole subject from one's mind. Institutions
as they relate to each other. Surely it is wise
to be careful not to duplicate effort, and not to
inaugurate new charities in fields already covered, but rather to
strengthen and perfect those already at work. There is a
great deal of rivalry and a vast amount of duplication,
(12:50):
and one of the most difficult things in giving is
to ascertain when the field is fully covered. Many people
simply consider whether the institution to which they are giving
is thoughtful fully and well managed, without stopping to discover
whether the field is not already occupied by others. And
for this reason one ought not to investigate a single
institution by itself, but always in its relation to all
(13:13):
similar institutions in the territory. Here is a case in point.
A number of enthusiastic people had a plan for founding
an orphan asylum, which was to be conducted by one
of our strongest religious denominations. The raising of the necessary
funds was begun, and among the people who were asked
to subscribe was a man who always made it a
(13:35):
practice to study the situation carefully before committing himself to
a contribution. He asked one of the promoters of the
new institution, how many beds the present asylum serving this
community provided, how efficient they were where located, and what
particular class of institution was lacking in the community to
(13:55):
None of these questions were answers forthcoming. So we had
this information gathered on his own account, with the purpose
of helping to make the new plan effective. His studies
revealed the fact that the city where the new asylum
was to be built was so well provided with such institutions,
that there were already vastly more beds for children than
there were applicants to fill them, and that the field
(14:17):
was well and fully covered. These facts being presented to
the organizers of the enterprise, it was shown that no
real need for such an institution existed. I wish I
might add that the scheme was abandoned. It was not.
Such charities seldom are when once the sympathies of the
worthy people, however misinformed, are heartily enlisted. It may be
(14:40):
urged that doing the work in this systematic and apparently
cold blooded way leaves out of consideration to a large extent,
the merits of individual cases. My contention is that the
organization of work in combination should not and does not
stifle the work of individuals, but strengthens and stimulate. The
(15:01):
orderly combination of philanthropic effort is growing daily, and at
the same time the spirit of broad philanthropy never was
so general as it is now. The claim of higher education.
The giver who works out these problems for himself will
no doubt find many critics. So many people see the
pressing needs of every day life that possibly they fail
(15:23):
to realize those which are, if less obvious, of an
even larger significance. For instance, the great claims of higher education.
Ignorance is the source of a large part of the
poverty and a vast amount of the crime in the world.
Hence the need of education. If we assist the highest
forms of education in whatever field, we secure the widest
(15:45):
influence in enlarging the boundaries of human knowledge. For all
the new facts discovered or set in motion become the
universal heritage. I think we cannot overestimate the importance of
this matter. The mere fact that most of the great
achievements in science, medicine, art, and literature are the flower
of the higher education is sufficient. Some great writer will
(16:09):
one day show how these things have ministered to the
wants of all the people, educated and uneducated, high and low,
rich and poor, and made life more what we all
wish it to be. The best philanthropy is constantly in
search of the finalities, a search for cause, an attempt
to cure evils at their source. My interest in the
(16:30):
University of Chicago has been enhanced by the fact that,
while it has comprehensively considered the other features of a
collegiate course, it has given so much attention to research
Doctor William R. Harper. The mention of this promising young
institution always brings to my mind the figure of doctor
William R. Harper, whose enthusiasm for its work was so
(16:52):
great that no vision of its future seemed too large.
My first meeting with doctor Harper was at Vassar College,
where one of my daughters was a student. He used
to come as the guest of doctor James M. Taylor,
the President, to lecture on Sundays, and as I frequently
spent week ends there, I saw and talked much with
the young professor then of Yale, and caught in some
(17:15):
degree the contagion of his enthusiasm. When the university had
been founded and he had taken the presidency, our great
ambition was to secure the best instructors and to organize
a new institution unhampered by traditions according to the most
modern ideals. He raised millions of dollars among the people
of Chicago and the Middle West and won the personal
(17:37):
interest of their leading citizens. Here lay his great strength,
for he secured not only their money, but their loyal
support and strong personal interest. The best kind of help
and co operation. He built even better than he knew.
His lofty ideals embodied in the university, awakened a deeper
interest in higher education throughout the Central West, and stirred individuals, denominations,
(18:02):
and legislatures to effective action. The world will probably never
realize how largely the present splendid university system of the
Central Western States is due indirectly to the genius of
this man, with all his extraordinary power of work and
his executive and organizing ability, Doctor Harper was a man
(18:22):
of exquisite personal charm. We counted among the rich and
delightful experiences of our home life that doctor and Missus
Harper would occasionally spend days together with us for a
brief respite from the exacting cares and responsibilities of the university.
Work as a friend and companion in daily intercourse, no
(18:43):
one could be more delightful than he. It has been
my good fortune to contribute at various times to the
University of Chicago, of which doctor Harper was president, and
the newspapers, not unnaturally supposed at such times that he
used the occasions of our personal association to secure these contributions.
The cartoonists used to find this a fruitful theme. They
(19:06):
would picture doctor Harper as a hypnotist waving his magic spell,
or would represent him forcing his way into my inner office,
where I was pictured as busy cutting coupons, and from
which delightful employment I incontinently fled out of the window
at sight of him. Or they would represent me as
fleeing across rivers on cakes of floating ice, with doctor
(19:27):
Harper in hot pursuit. Or perhaps he would be following
close on my trail, like the wolf in the Russian
story in inaccessible country retreats, while I escaped only by
means of the slight delays I occasioned him by now
and then dropping a million dollar bill, which he would
be obliged to stop and pick up. These cartoons were
(19:48):
intended to be very amusing, and some of them certainly
did have a flavor of humor, but they were never
humorous to Doctor Harper. They were, in fact a source
of deep humiliation to him. And I am sure he would,
were he living, be glad to have me say as
I now do, that during the entire period of his
presidency of the University of Chicago, he never once either
(20:10):
wrote me a letter or asked me personally for a
dollar of money for the University of Chicago. In the
most intimate daily intercourse with him in my home, the
finances of the University of Chicago were never canvassed or discussed.
The method of procedure in this case has been substantially
the same as with all other contributions. The presentation of
(20:33):
the needs of the university has been made in writing
by the officers of the University, whose special duty it
is to repair its budgets and superintend its finances. A
committee of the Trustees, with the President, have annually conferred
at a fixed time with our Department of Benevolence as
to its needs. Their conclusions have generally been entirely unanimous,
(20:56):
and I have found no occasion hitherto seriously to depart
from their recommendations. There have been no personal interviews and
no personal solicitations. It has been a pleasure to me
to make these contributions. But that pleasure has arisen out
of the fact that the university is located in a
great center of empire, that it has rooted itself in
(21:17):
the affections and interest of the people among whom it
is located, That it is doing a great and needed
work in fine, that it has been able to attract
and to justify the contributions of its patrons east and west.
It is not personal interviews and impassioned appeals, but sound
and justifying worth that should attract and secure the funds
(21:40):
of philanthropy. The people in great numbers who are constantly
importuning me for personal interviews in behalf of favorite causes
err in supposing that the interview, were it possible, is
the best way or even a good way, of securing
what they want. Our practice has been uniformly to request
applicants to state their cases tersely, but nevertheless, as fully
(22:05):
as they think necessary in writing their application is carefully
considered by very competent people chosen for this purpose. If
thereupon personal interviews are found desirable, by our assistants they
are invited from our office. Written presentations form the necessary
basis of investigation, of consultation and comparison of views between
(22:28):
the different members of our staff, and of the final
presentation to me. It is impossible to conduct this department
of our work in any other way. The rule requiring
written presentation as against the interview, is enforced and adhere to,
not as the applicant sometimes supposes, as a cold rebuff
to him, but in order to secure for his cause,
(22:51):
if it be a good one, the careful consideration which
is its due, a consideration that cannot be given in
a mere verbal interview. The reason for conditional gifts. It
is easy to do harm in giving money. To give
to institutions which should be supported by others is not
the best philanthropy. Such giving only serves to dry up
(23:13):
the natural springs of charity. It is highly important that
every charitable institution shall have, at all times the largest
possible number of current contributors. This means that the institution
shall constantly be making its appeals. But if these constant
appeals are to be successful, the institution is forced to
do excellent work and meet real and manifest needs. Moreover,
(23:37):
the interests of many people affords the best assurance of
wise economy and unselfish management, as well as of continued support.
We frequently make our gifts conditional on the giving of others,
not because we wish to force people to do their duty,
but because we wish, in this way to root the
Institution in the affections of as many people as possible, who,
(23:59):
as contributors, become personally concerned, and thereafter may be counted
on to give to the Institution their watchful interest and
co operation. Conditional gifts are often criticized, and sometimes it
may be by people who have not thought the matter
out fully. Criticism, which is deliberate, sober, and fair, is
(24:21):
always valuable, and it should be welcomed by all who
desire progress. I have had at least my full share
of adverse criticism, but I can truly say that it
has not embittered me nor left me with any harsh
feeling against a living soul. Nor do I wish to
be critical of those whose conscientious judgment, frankly expressed, differs
(24:41):
from my own. No matter how noisy the pessimists may be,
we know that the world is getting better steadily and rapidly,
and that is a good thing to remember in our
moments of depression or humiliation. The benevolent trusts. To return
to the subject of the jnevolent trusts, which is a
name for corporations to manage the business side of benefactions.
(25:05):
The idea needs, and to be successful, must have the
help of men who have been trained along practical lines.
The best men of business should be attracted by its
possibilities for good. When it is eventually worked out, as
it will be in some form, and probably in a
better one than we can now forecast, how worthy it
will be of the efforts of our ablest men. We
(25:28):
shall have the best charity supported generously and adequately managed
with scientific efficiency by the ablest men, who will gladly
be held strictly accountable to the donors of the money,
not only for the correct financing of the funds, but
for the intelligent and effective use of every penny. To day,
the whole machinery of benevolence is conducted upon more or
(25:50):
less haphazard principles. Good men and women are wearing out
their lives to raise money to sustain institutions which are
conducted by more or less or unskilled methods. This is
a tremendous waste of our best material. We cannot afford
to have great souls who are capable of doing the
most effective work slaving to raise the money. That should
(26:11):
be a business man's task, and he should be supreme
in managing the machinery of the expenses. The teachers, the workers,
and the inspired leaders of the people should be relieved
of these pressing and belittling money cares. They have more
than enough to do in tilling their tremendous and never
fully occupied field, and they should be free from any
(26:31):
care which might in any wise divert them from that work.
When these benevolent trusts come into active being, such organizations
on broad lines will be sure to attract the brains
of the best men we have in our commercial affairs,
as great business opportunities attract them. Now, our successful business men,
as a class, and the exceptions only prove the truth
(26:54):
of the assertion, have a high standard of honor. I
have sometimes been tempted to say that our clergymen could
gain by knowing the essentials of business life better. The
closer association with men of affairs would, I think benefit
both classes people who have had much to do with
ministers and those who hold confidential positions in our churches,
(27:15):
have at times had surprising experiences in meeting what is
sometimes practiced in the way of ecclesiastical business. Because these
good men have had so little of business training in
the workaday world. The whole system of proper relations, whether
it be in commerce, or in the church, or in
the sciences, rests on honor able business men seek to
(27:38):
confine their dealings to people who tell the truth and
keep their promises. And the representatives of the church, who
are often prone to attack business men as a type
of what is selfish and mean, have some great lessons
to learn, and they will gladly learn them. As these
two types of workers grow closer together. The benevolent trusts,
(27:59):
when they come, will raise these standards. They will look
the facts in the face. They will applaud and sustain
the effective workers and institutions, and they will uplift the
intelligent standard of good work in helping all the people,
chiefly to help themselves. There are already signs that these
combinations are coming and coming quickly, and in the directorates
(28:21):
of these trusts you will eventually find the flower of
our American manhood, the men who not only know how
to make money, but who accept the great responsibility of
administering it wisely. A few years ago, on the occasion
of the dissennial anniversary of the University of Chicago, I
was attending a university dinner, and having been asked to speak,
(28:42):
I had jotted down a few notes. When the time
arrived to stand up and face these guests, men of
worth and position, my notes meant nothing to me. As
I thought of the latent power of good that rested
with these rich and influential people, I was greatly affected.
I threw down my notes and started to plead for
my benevolent trust plan. You men, I said, are always
(29:05):
looking forward to do something for good causes. I know
how very busy you are. You work in a treadmill
from which you see no escape. I can easily understand
that you feel that it is beyond your present power
carefully to study the needs of humanity, and that you
wait to give until you have considered many things and
decided upon some course of action. Now, why not do
(29:28):
with what you can give to others as you do
with what you want to keep for yourself and your children?
Put it into a trust. You would not place a
fortune for your children in the hands of an inexperienced person,
no matter how good he might be. Let us be
as careful with the money we would spend for the
benefit of others as if we were laying it aside
for our own family's future use. Directors, carry on these
(29:51):
affairs in your behalf. Let us erect a foundation, a trust,
and engage directors who will make it a life work
to manage with our personal co operation, this business of
benevolence properly and effectively. And I beg of you attend
to it now. Don't wait. I confess I felt most
(30:12):
strongly on the subject, and I feel so now. End
of chapter seven. End of Random Reminiscences of Men and
Events by John D. Rockefeller, recording by William tom Coe.
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