2
The Commoner.
Mti
-VOLUME 5, NUMBER
31
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but God was' not in the firo; and alter the fire,
a still, small voice, and it was the voice of God.
And so, today, throughout the world an increas
ing number, standing upon the heights, are cora
ing to believe that God is not in the ironclads
that sweep the ocean with their guns, that God
is not in the armies that shake the earth with
their tread, or In the fire of musketry, but in the
still, small voice of justice that issues from tri
bunals like that instituted at The Hague, or in
the spirit that marked the concluding hours of
the conference at Portsmouth.
JJJ t
' . THE BENNETT ESTATE SETTLED
Now that the Bennett estate is finally settled
Mr. Bryan submits the following statement to the
readers of The Commoner:
In the spring of 1900 Mr. Philo S. Bennett,
living at New Haven, Conn., and engaged in the
mercantile business in the city of New York,
visited Nebraska and asked Mr. Bryan to assist
him in preparing certain paragraphs of his will
(all the other provisions being copied from a
former will,) The paragraphs referred to were:
Elrst, for a library at Salem, 111. (It provided for
a bequest of $1,500 to which Mr. Bryan was to
add $1,500.) Second, $10,00p to establish a fund
at twenty-five colleges, lo be selected by Mr.
Bryan, the annual proceeds to be used for a
prize to encourage a study of the principles of
free government. Third, $10,000 to be distributed
among colleges, to be selected by Mr. Bryan,
the annual income to be used to aid poor boys
to obtain an education. Fourth, $10,000 to be
distributed among, colleges, to be selected by
Mrs. Bryan, the annual income to be used to
assist poor girls to obtain an education. Fifth,
$50,000 to Mrs. Bennett, in trust for a purpose set
forth in a sealed letter deposited with the will.
This sealed letter directed Mrs. Bennett to pay
the amount to Mr. Bryan (Mr. Bennett proposed
It as a direct bequest but' at the request of Mr.
Bryan it was given to Mrs Bennett in" trust, be
cause its acceptance was conditonal.) The sealed
letter directed Mr. Bryan to distribute the $50,000
among educational and charitable institutions
in case he refused to accept it for himself and
family. The residuary legatees contested the
three $10,000 items and the $50,000 item. The
court confirmed the $10,000 items but on technical
grounds held that the $50,000 bequest was in
operative. The readers of The Commoner have already "
been informed of the main facts, namely, that
the widow and other relatives were bountifully
provided for; that the testator's intention was
never "questioned and that the charge of undue
influence was withdrawn; and that Mr. Bryan
announced in the beginning that he would not
accept the bequest without the consent of the
widow, but that he felt in 'honor bound to insist
upon the distribution of the $50,000 as directed
by Mr. Bennett.
Mr. Bryan was thus drawn into a contest
in which he had but a remote and contingent
pecuniary interest, if in fact he had any at all,
but which he could not in conscience abandon.
The contest cost him a little more. than fifteen
hundred dollars for attorney's fees and court
costs, besides travelling expenses and loss of time.
In submitting his report as executor he
claimed the' customary fee, $2,500, explaining
that the amount would not be used by him for
himself, but would be spent in completing the
plans made by Mr. Bennett. The fee was al
lowed by the probate court and was used as fol
lows: Fourteen hundred and eighty-nine dollars and
forty-three cents was used to pay that part of the
inheritance tax which was not covered by in
terest, so that the $1,500 library fund, and the
three $10,000 funds might be used in full. Three
hundred and fifty dollars was given to the city
of Salem as an endowment for the library (Mr.
Bryan besides giving $1,500 to the Salem .library
gives the site, worth considerably more than
$35u.) Two hundred dollars has been deposited
with Mr. Sloan, Mr. Bennett's surviving partner,
to pay for a bust of Mr. Bennett for the Salem
library. The balance, $460.57 less the cost of filing
reports, will be paid to Rev. Alexander "Irvine,
Mr. Bennett's pastor, to be used by him in the
education of hi3 sons.
The three $10,000 funds have been distributed
as follows:
BENNETT PRIZE FUND
Delaware College, Newark, Del . ... $400
Bowdoin College, Brunswick.s Mo " 400
A. and M. College of Kentucky, Lexington, Kyi.' 400
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass........ 400
Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H 400
University of Tennesseo, Knoxvillo, Tenn.... 400
St. John's College, Annapolis, Md 400
University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 400
University of Montana, Missoula, Mont 400
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 400
University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.... 400
University of South Dakota, Vermillion, S. D.. 400
University of California, Berkeley, Cal 400
Nevada State University, Reno, Nev 400
University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo 400.
South Carolina College, Columbians. C...... 400
Cornell University, Ithaca, N, Y.. 400
University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyo 400
University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt........ 400
University of Oregon, Eugene, Ore.. . ; 400
Yale University, New Haven, Conn , 400
Brown University, Providence, R. 1 400
University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N. D.. 400
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,Pa.. . . , 400
Princeton University, Princeton, N. J .400
Each college is to invest the amount, received
and use the annual income for a prize for the
best essay discussing the principles of free gov
ernment. Mr. Bryan had already established
similar prizes in nineteen states and the twenty
five colleges selected for the Bennett prize were
selected from other states so that every state
but one now contains a college giving such a prize.
MR. BRYAN'S FUND FOR BOYS
The fund for the aid of poor boys desiring
a colloge education was distributed by Mr. Bryan
as follows:
Illinois College, Jacksonville, 111 $1000
Park College, Parkville, Mo 750
College of William & Mary, Williamsburg,-Va. . 750
Doane College, Crete, Neb ; :.... 500
Howard College, East Lake, (Near Birming
ham, Ala.) ; 500
Hendrix College, Conway, Ark .-. 500
Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute,
Tuskegee, Ala :..,....' 500
Kenyon College, Gambier, O 500
Muskingum College, New Concord, O.. 500
St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn 500
Hillsdale College, Conway, Ark .".... 500
University of the South, Sewanee, Tenb 500
Trinity University; Waxahaehie, Tex....... 500
Ripon College, Ripon, Wis 500
Nazareth College, Muskogqe, I. T... ..", , .500
Hope College, Holland, Mich .... '.'.'.." "-500
Butler College, Indianapolis, Ina . . .'.... 500
Sutherland College, Sutherland, Fla 500 -
MRS BRYAN'S FUND FOR GIRLS
The fund for the aid of poor girls desiring
to obtain a college education was distributed by
Mrs. Bryan as follows:
Georgia Normal and Industrial College, Mill-.
edgeville, Ga ;v $500
Eureka College, Eureka, 111 500
Hastings College, Hastings, Neb ,.. 500
Wesleyan University, Buchannon, W, Va '500
Henry Kendall College, Muskogee, I. T 500
Williamsburg Institute, Williamsburg, Ky 500
Wesleyan University, University Place, Neb.. 500
Baylor University, Waco, Tex..., 500
Iowa College, Grinnell, la 500
Tulane University of Louisana, New Or
leans, La , 5Q0
Slate Normal and Industrial College, Greens
boro, N. C 500
Hiram College, Hiram, 0 500
Kingfisher College, Kingfisher, O. T, 500
. Academy of the Visitation, Dubuque, la. . 500
Williams Industrial College, Little Rock, Ark. 500
-Ewing College, Ewlng, 111 500
Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kan .,! 500
University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz 500
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N. M. 500
rlhe Mississippi Industrial Institute and Col
lege, Columbus, Miss 500
As the boys who are helped by the fund
are to return the money to the college as soon
after leaving college as they can conveniently do
so and as the money when so returned is to be
advanced to others the aid extended will constant
ly increase. The girls aided are asked to do the
same but it is not required of them. '
In distributing the prize fund preference -was
given, to state universities except where the state
contained some cdllege of greater importance
In distributing the funds for the aid of poor
boys and girls preference was generally given
to the smaller colleges the same amount of
money going farther among these colleges.
All the principal denominations were recog
nized in the distribution a little partiality be
ing shown the Congregational colleges because
Mr. Bennett attended tho Congregational church
rwo ,colored schools were included and one
of the other colleges has a considerable number
- of Indians enrolled among its students. The var
ious funds were so distributed that in at least
one college in every state and territory hi
the two oceans a. rorm.n.n r.-. IHVv ctvecn
perpetuate the name and recall thT m
Philo Sherman Bennett. tte genercsly ot
Mr. and lifr Tivn,
compensation f6r distributing thSe fmw110
they are richly rewarded for the mio SH
been able to do by the conqc 0l.sn s ?S Ve
have aided a friend to make a vn t at the
button to his own and subseat.nnl le contri
The Bennett case has given m l?Tmm'
deal of annoyance and some of U
papers have maliciously misrepresented the 2
. but it is over and the money BGPiVn,i r , to
tional purposes will proreTcontlnlgSE
lo thousands of boys and girls whim th ?! 8
ance will soon be forgotten ' e annoy
JJJ
ANOTHER DOCTRINE APPROPRIATED
In contributing so largely to the promotion
of peace between Russia and Japan or nation
3 taking a step toward the realization of X
ideal presented by Mr. Bryan in his speech at
Ind anapolis accepting the second nomination. He
said: 'I can conceive of a national destiny sur.
passing the glories of the present and the past--a
destiny which meets the responsibilities of to
day and measures up to the possibilities of tho
future. Behold a republic, resting securely upon
the foundation stones quarried by revolutionary
patriots from the mountain of eternal truth a.
republic applying in practice and proclaiming to
the world the self-evident proposition that all
men are created equal; that they are endowed
with inalienable rights; that governments are in
stituted among men to secure these rights and
that governments derive their just powers
from the consent of- the governed.
Behold a republic in which civil and religious
liberty stimulate all to earnest enueavor and in
which the law restrains every hand uplifted for
a neighbor's injury a republic In which every
citizen is a sovereign, but in which no one cares
to wear a crown. Behold a republic standing
erect while empires all around are bowed be
neath the weight of their own armaments a re
public whose flag is loved while other flags are
only feared. Behold a republic Increasing in pop
ulation, in wealth, in strength and in influence,
solving the problems of civilization and hasten
ing the coming of an universal brotherhood-a
republic which shakes thrones and dissolves
aristocracies by its silent example and gives light
and inspiration to those who sit in darkness.
Behold a republic gradually but surely becoming
a supreme moral factor in the world's progress
and the accepted arbiter of the world's disputes
a republic whose history,' like the path of the just,
'is as the shining light that vshineth more and
more unto the perfect day.'"
JJJ
SOUNDS LIKE 1896
'The Railway World" published at Philadelphia,
in its issue of August 4, printed an interesting
editorial entitled "Gold Production and Business
Prosperity." Mr. John M. Garman of Wilkes
Barre, Pa., who called The Commoner's atention
to this editorial says, "The statements sound a lit
tle like democratic campaign literature of 1896."
The Railway World's editorial folows:
"After a sleep o&nine years the money ques
tion has again, begun to attract general attention.
This time, however, it presents a phase which is
entirely new.
"From 1873 to 1896 the world was perplexed
over a threatened scarcity of the standard metal.
Year after year, with hardly an interuption,
prices declined. The demand for money con
stantly exceeded the supply and in the process
of readjustment, business in every civilized coun
try suffered under the burden of falling prices.
In recent years the movement of prices and gold
production has been reversed. Beginning in 1S96
in Europe, and 1898 in the United States, prices
have advanced until even allowing for the slight
depression of 1902 and 1903, about half the de
N cline from 1873 to 1896 has been regained. Tho
cause of this advance was not generally under
stood., It was regarded as a temporary phenom
enon, and the accompanying revival of business,
extraordinary and unprecedented though it has
been, was interpreted as the consequence of a
temporary expansion of credit, similar to that
which lifted the country out of the depression of
1873-9.
"Not until commodity prices failed to decline
in response to the severe liquidation in the secur
ity markets during 1902 and 1903, was the atten
tion of financiers and economists directed to tho
real cause of the sustained prosperity the enor-
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