EDUCATIONAL PHILANTHROPY 55 



that fact too much for granted ourselves, and we do not take 

 measures to have other people understand it. For instance, 

 in the city of Boston, with its enormous expenditure, involv- 

 ing enormous drain upon the taxpayers, a great part of the 

 expenditure which comes through taxation goes to support 

 institutions which gather up the evil results that come from 

 a bad and bungling scheme of civilization, from an insuffi- 

 cient system and scheme of education. The city hospital, 

 which is one of the finest institutions of its kind in the world, 

 is yet rendering a service, the need of which might be in part 

 obviated. The city hospital costs more than a thousand dol- 

 lars per day. We have our houses of correction which cost 

 $600 per day. We have our almshouses, and institutions for 

 neglected children ; we have our police force, which comes next 

 to the public schools as an item of pubHc expense. The ques- 

 tion is going to be asked before long, from a purely financial 

 point of view, whether there is not some way by which a por- 

 tion of this vast outlay for the negative, superficial treatment 

 of social e\dls can be cut off. In due time we shall l^e able to 

 show to the hard headed taxpayer that by the estabhshment 

 of public baths, pubUc gymnasiums, pubhc playgrounds, by 

 experiments in the direction of educational philanthropy, a 

 way may be foimd to cut off some of that expense, and to re- 

 lieve the city decisively and permanently of some of that 

 burden. 



But there is a far more forcible line of argument in support 

 of these experiments in the direction of educational philan- 

 thropy. The prime source of the wealth of any country or 

 of any city consists in the productive capacity of its people. 

 We have been depending all along upon importing productive 

 capacity into the city from the village, American and European ; 

 but we have got to learn some way now, by which we can de- 

 velop productive capacity within the lights of the city itself. 

 It is only through a broad thoroughgoing system of education 

 that wall touch all sides of life, and provide for all the practical 

 needs of Ufe, that we shall be able to develop that productive 

 capacity. And if we can show to the thoughtful citizen, that 

 education is reaching out in order to bring to the light, and 

 to bring into full power the variety of latent productive capac- 



