288 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



$32,000,000, to the General Education 

 Board, which he had previously en- 

 dowed with $11,000,000. The letter an- 

 nouncing this gift, read at a meeting 

 of the board on February 7, is as fol- 

 lows: 



New York, Feb. 6, 1907. 

 General Education Board, 



54 William Street, 

 New York City. 



Gentlemen: My father authorizes me 

 to say that on or before April 1, 1907, 

 he will give to the General Education 

 Board income-bearing securities, the 

 present market value of which is about 

 thirty-two million dollars ($32,000,- 

 000), one third to be added to the per- 

 manent endowment of the board, two 

 thirds to be applied to such specific 

 objects within the corporate purposes 

 of the board as either he or I may, 

 from time to time, direct; any remain- 

 der not so designated at the death of 

 the survivor to be added also to the 

 permanent endowment of the board. 

 Very truly, 



John D. Rockefeller, Jr. 



The board has acknowledged this 

 great gift in the following terms: 



The General Education Board ac- 

 knowledges the receipt of the communi- 

 cation of February 6, 1907, from Mr. 

 John D. Rockefeller, Jr., a member of 

 this body, announcing your decision to 

 give to the board for the purpose of its 

 organization, securities of the current 

 value of $32,000,000. The General Ed- 

 ucation Board accepts this gift with a 

 deep sense of gratitude to you and of 

 responsibility to society. This sum, 

 added to the $11,000,000 which you 

 have formerly given to this board, 

 makes the General Education Board 

 the guardian and administrator of a 

 total trust fund of $43,000,000. 



This is the largest sum ever given 

 by a man in the history of the race 

 for any social or philanthropic purpose. 

 The board congratulates you upon the 

 high and wise impulse which has 

 moved you to this deed, and desires to 

 thank you, in behalf of all educational 

 interests whose developments it will 

 advance, in behalf of our country whose 

 civilization for all time it should be 

 made to strengthen and elevate, and in 

 behalf of mankind everywhere, in whose 

 interests it has been given and for 

 whose use it is dedicated. 



The administration of this fund en- 

 tails upon the General Education Board 

 the most far-reaching responsibilities 

 ever placed upon any educational or- 

 ganization in the world. As members 

 of the board, we accept this responsi- 

 bility, conscious alike of its difficulties 

 and its opportunities. 



We will use our best wisdom to 

 transmute your gift into intellect and 

 moral power, accounting it a supreme 

 privilege to dedicate whatever strength 

 we have to its just use in the service 

 of men. 



The work of the General Education 

 Board has in the main been confined 

 to gifts to certain denominational col- 

 leges on condition that they collect 

 three times the amount appropriated, 

 but the present gift is not limited to 

 higher education. It is said that agri- 

 cultural education in the south will be 

 especially assisted. It will be observed 

 that Mr. Rockefeller and his son re- 

 serve the right to dispose of two thirds 

 of the capital in accordance with the 

 purposes of the board. This is a wise 

 provision, as the money would probably 

 be of greatest use if distributed to as- 

 sist existing institutions without other 

 conditions than their deserts, or to 

 establish new institutions. A central- 

 ized control of higher education, how- 

 ever indirect, has dangers as well as 

 advantages. 



SCIENTIFIC ITEMS 



M. Chauveau, of the section of agri- 

 culture, has been elected president of 

 the Paris Academy of Sciences to suc- 

 ceed M. Poincare 1 , of the section of 

 mathematics. — Professor Ernest W. 

 Brown, who this year goes from Haver- 

 ford College to Yale University, has 

 been awarded the Adams prize of Cam- 

 bridge University, for his work on the 

 motion of the moon.— Professor William 

 James, of Harvard University, our most 

 eminent student of philosophy and psy- 

 chology, celebrated his sixty-fifth birth- 

 day on January 11, and retired on Jan- 

 uary 22 from the active work of his 

 chair. 



