THE CARNEGIE MILLIONS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 142, 2 November 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE CARNEGIE MILLIONS

WHAT AMERICA IS DOLNG WITH THEM. A tour of Mr. Carnegie's permanent foundations in America lias just been made by Dr. John Ross, chairman of the Carnegie Dunfermline Trustees. The total sum which is publicly administered on Mr. Carnegie's behalf reaches already about £42,000,000. Direct private gifts are not counted in this total, and Dr. Ross points out that nearly £5,000,000 has recently been received from Mr. Carnegie by 'H2 universities, colleges and institutes in the United States and Canada. The foundations may be roughly divided into two classes, educational and general. The first consists of the Pittsburg Institute, the Washington Institution, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and the free libraries. Dr. Ross relates that Mr. Carnegie began his charities by offering about £50,000 to Pittsburg for a free library. The offer was refused, and Alleghany City received the benefit of it. Pittsburg, however, soon repented, and the result was that Mr. Carnegie gave about £200,000 for an institute. Altogether the benefactions to Pittsburg have amounted to over £6,000,000.

Dr. Ross had an interesting view of the technical schools of the Pittsburg Institute. He went over them on a Sunday, and found 40 or 50 young women working at draughtsmanship. They had been hard at it since Saturday afternoon, and were keeping themselves awake with coffee. One of the men, however, had fallen asleep. Two mothers happened to be bringing breakfast for tbeir boys, and thus encouraging them in completing their contributions for a competition. "Some of these young men will be heard of in the world," says Dr. Ross.

The Pittsburg Institute includes a hall of music, with a permanent orchestra, a museum, a department of fine arts which gives exhibitions, a school for women and the technical schools. At the latter about 4000 requests for admission had been received during the past year. The accommodation is, however, only sufficient at present for half that number. The Washington Institution is ten years old now. Its object is to secure for America the leadership in national science, and a capital producing £220,000 has been allocated for it by Mr. Carnegie. The widest kind of scientific investigations are undertaken. Dr. Ross mentions especially the department of terrestrial magnetism. A vessel is engaged by it in making corrections m the mariners' charts. It is entirely equipped with bronze instruments, so that the needle is not influenced by the presence of iron. Even the sailors' knives are of bronze. There is also an observatory situated 6000 ft above sea level, and only to'be approached by experts on horseback. Dr. Ross, however, was carried up in a chair by relays of four Japanese men.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching "appeared to be the one which achieved most immediate results." A revenue of over £150,000 is devoted to this foundation. Enquiry into all the institutions of higher education in the country have been carried out by it. Some of the institutions have had to close their doors when unfavorable reports have appeared. For instance, nothing could survive the publication of the sentence: "This wretched institution has no definite entrance standard, no decent laboratory equipment, and no adequate clinical facilities." Many reforms, too, have been carried out through the suggestions of the Carnegie trust.

Benefactions of a move general kind are the hero fund, of over £1,000,000 capital, for the United States, Canada and Newfoundland, with its administrative centre at Pittsburg; the fund for injured and aged workmen in the United States Steel Corporation, started by Mr. Carnegie, and now amounting to about £2,500,000; the peace fund of about £2,000,000 capital, which contributes to a study of international law, economics and history, intercourse and education; and the palace of the Pan-American Union at Washington. As for the libraries, Dr. Ross writes that he has a list of over 2300 buildings erected as libraries by Mr. Carnegie all over the English-speaking world for over £11,500,000.. Some of the libraries in New York were inspected by Dr. Boss. "I found all in excellent order, carefully managed by skilled, trained librarians, interested in their work, and conscious that they were doing the State a service," he says. Finally, Mr. Carnegie's interests includes church organs, and he has devoted to their erection about 6000 sums, averaging £2OO each.