The Price of Philanthropy

Public spirited citizens who have volunteered to circulate among the taxpayers petitions asking the county commissioners to appropriate $10,000 to secure the location in this county of the Stubblefield home, state that their work would be made much easier if the three executors of the will, who are also named as trustees of the home, would make some definite statement to the public regarding their plans for conducting the institution. Many taxpayers before signing the petition would like some assurance from the trustees that the Stubblefield home will not be overcrowded with mendicants from all parts of the states of Washington and Oregon. The interest on an endowment of $125,000 will not maintain a great number of widows and orphans, and there is a general feeling that the trustees should agree to place some restrictions upon applicants for refuge in the Home. The trustees certainly have the right under the will to make some rules regarding the number of inmates to maintain and also regarding the character, age and condition of the widows and orphans eligible for admission. The institution should be made self-sustaining. No doubt if it proves successful philanthropic citizens will from time to time increase its endowment and thus increase its sphere of usefulness. But in no event should it be allowed to become a burden upon the taxpayers.