i6 4 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



can withdraw his interests to Mexico, should the suit against Mr. Stanford he 

 successful. Meanwhile, by the way, the question is tested for him at the expense 

 of the Stanford estate, the railroad interests of which are in his hands as 

 president of the road. . . . 



It is believed by all jurists whom we have consulted, that the government 

 has no case. The limitation of three years being an integral part of the statute 

 in question, must hold against the government as against others. Furthermore, 

 the aid extended by the government was not a debt incurred in business of the 

 corporation. 



However this may be, the courts will decide justly. Our anxiety is that 

 they may decide speedily. 



As to the various criticisms which you mention, permit me a word. In all 

 personal matters, Mr. Stanford was perfectly truthful and just. Except in 

 matters pertaining to the division of the earnings and bonds of the Central 

 Pacific and the fact that its affairs were not made public, I have never heard 

 his railroad career seriously criticized. In California, he had a very wide fol- 

 lowing among the best men, men who liked and respected him, not on account 

 of his wealth and railroad connections, but rather in spite of them. In all the 

 railroad war through which this state is passing, no responsible person has 

 uttered a slur against Mr. Stanford or against the university. 



It is not true that Mr. Stanford pretended to give the university a dollar 

 more than he gave. He gave the three farms, formerly valued at $5,000,000, in 

 these times worth much less; all the movable stock upon them, about $1,000,000 

 more; the university buildings costing $1,250,000; and by will $2,500,000 in 

 cash. It was agreed by Mr. and Mrs. Stanford that each should be the residuary 

 legatee of the other, and that whichever should survive should devote the rest 

 of his or her life and estate to the university. The Stanford estate is therefore 

 the university's endowment. Not in law but in fact the estate is the university. 

 It was Mr. Stanford's feeling, and I was fully aware of it, that should his wife 

 survive him, she should be free to endow the university and to control it as he 

 had done. No one has ever struggled more loyally to do so than Mrs. Stanford. 

 Since her husband died we have not received a dollar of his money, but the 

 university has gone on without check or hindrance, though at times she has 

 been forced to give up luxuries and to limit her expenses in every conceivable 

 way. As a matter of fact, she has each year given me a personal bond for all 

 she thinks that she can raise from the farms and from her own small personal 

 property. Her devotion to the work is absolute and she is giving her life to it. 

 When she loses, she will die. 



The lands are unsalable only because the deed of gift prohibits their sale. 

 In Mr. Stanford's lifetime they were conducted as parks. When they came into 

 our hands, their products fell short by $10,000 to $20,000 per month of meeting 

 the pay-rolls. This year under Mrs. Stanford's direction, they have yielded 

 upwards of $150,000 above expenses. The sale of colts is a source of revenue 

 now that the reputation of the Palo Alto stud is made. 



No cash has ever been set aside in advance, for very simple reasons. I could 

 not ask for it. Mr. Stanford was not expecting sudden death, financial panics, 

 nor an attack from the government. He paid in cash all salaries and all bills, 

 placed no limits on me, and on his sudden death left no debts against the uni- 

 versity. There are now no debts left against his estate, which is appraised at 

 $17,000,000, except the government claim which acts as an injunction tying 

 everything up. It is not true that Mr. Stanford tried to " rear a personal 

 monument by a good use of ill-gotten money." No one ever gave money in a 

 more generous spirit, and there have not been many great givers who placed so 



