Mabch 3, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



335 



officers of the foundation have the same hope, 

 in order to be released from obligations which 

 they could not meet. 



Wesleyan University has amended the 

 charter which made it ultra-denominational — 

 for it required not only the president and a 

 majority of the trustees, but also a majority 

 of the professors to be members of the meth- 

 odist episcopal church — and although one 

 fourth of the trustees are elected by the con- 

 ferences of the church, it has complied with 

 the rules of the foundation. Other institu- 

 tions which are altering or trying to alter 

 their church affiliations should know that the 

 foundation will be very cautious in assuming 

 further financial responsibility. 



This appears to be at last clearly acknowl- 

 edged by the president and the executive com- 

 mittee. The president makes the acknowl- 

 edgment retroactive when he writes : 



In every report issued by the Carnegie Founda- 

 tion, tlie effort has been made to call the atten- 

 tion of colleges and universities to the fact that 

 the endowment in the hands of its trustees would 

 provide at most an adequate retiring allowance 

 system for only a small minority of the institu- 

 tions in the United States and Canada bearing the 

 name college or university. This was most 

 strongly urged even in the First Annual Report. 



But in his first annual report. President 

 Pritchett estimated that with the original en- 

 dowment the foundation could accept from 

 one hundred to one hundred and twenty in- 

 stitutions,^ including payment of pensions for 

 length of service. He wrote : 



It may therefore be safely assumed that while 

 the income of the Foundation is sufficient to 

 carry out the original plan of the Founder it is 

 not sufficient to extend the system of pensions, 

 at least at first, beyond the scope which he indi- 

 cated in his letter of gift. It would seem there- 

 fore clearly the true policy of the Trustees at the 

 inauguration of the Foundation to work within 

 these limits, giving a generous interpretation to 

 the terms " sectarian " and " state " control. 



In his letter of gift, Mr. Carnegie wrote: 

 " Expert calculation shows that the revenue 



^ More than existed, having the educational 

 standards required by the foundation, and being 

 non-denominational and non-tax-supported. 



will be ample " " to provide retiring pensions 

 for the teachers of Universities, Colleges and 

 Technical Schools in our country, Canada and 

 New Foundland." 



The state of the finances of the foundation 

 is shown in the report of the treasurer, from 

 which it appears that the receipts for the 

 year were $543,881 and the expenditures 

 $538,148, leaving a surplus income less than 

 $6,000. The obligations undertaken for the 

 current year leave a deficit of nearly $100,000. 

 This will doubtless be met from the income of 

 the further five million dollars which Mr. 

 Carnegie has consented to give for tax-sup- 

 ported institutions. He wrote to the president 

 of the foundation on March 31, 1908: "I 

 understand from you that if all the State 

 Universities should apply and be admitted 

 Five Millions more of five per cent, bonds 

 would be required." But there are eighty- 

 three institutions supported by states and 

 provinces, of which but eight have as yet been 

 admitted to the accepted list of the foundation. 



If such of these institutions are accepted as 

 fulfil the educational requirements originally 

 set by the foundation, the income next year 

 would not meet the expenses, and thereafter 

 the deficit will increase at a rate not less than 

 $100,000 a year. It will be necessary for Mr. 

 Carnegie to give at least two million dollars 

 each year in order that the income may meet 

 the increased charges. 



Under the circumstances it is not surprising 

 that the executive committee has voted that 

 it is not expedient in the future to grant retiring 

 allowances outside of the accepted list, except in 

 cases of especial significance in institutions whose 

 standards are so advanced that within a short 

 time the institution will be ready to apply for 

 admission to the Foundation. 



How incompletely even such a great gift as 

 Mr. Carnegie's establishes a pension system 

 for higher education throughout the country 

 is illustrated by the fact that Knox College is 

 the only institution accepted in the state of 

 Illinois and Tulane the only institution south 

 of Maryland and Missouri. 



The financial inability of the foundation 

 obviously accounts for the discontinuance of 



