A SHINING MODEL FOR PHILANTHROPISTS.
Farsightedness of Stephen Girard Made His Bequests the Most Valuable in the Country.
The death of Russell Sage and the problem of the distribution of his millions were the subject of much comment, some of which led naturally to editorial reminiscence. The Saint Louis Globe-Democrat reverts to the case of Stephen Girard, who, proportionately to the amount of his possessions, was probably his country’s greatest benefactor in the way of public bequests.
When Stephen Girard died in Philadelphia, in 1831, he was easily the richest man in the United States, the estate he disposed of amounting to seven million dollars. By will, he gave one hundred and forty thousand dollars to relatives (he was a childless widower), a number of bequests to employees, ninety-six thousand dollars to organized charities, three hundred thousand dollars to the State of Pennsylvania for internal improvements, and certain property in Louisiana to the city of New Orleans for public improvements.
The residue, amounting to over six million dollars, was bestowed on the city of Philadelphia, chiefly for the erection and maintenance of a college to accommodate not fewer than three hundred white male orphans, and the courts have construed a fatherless boy to be an orphan.
Put City in Charge of Work.
Mr. Girard put the city in charge of this work, and since 1869 it has been managed by a board of trustees appointed by the courts. Under its care the value of the Girard estate has increased to thirty-two million five hundred and fifty thousand dollars, three-fourths of which is productive real estate, with the remainder in choice cash assets.
Girard College, with its seventeen buildings, occupies forty acres. Its pupils at present number one thousand four hundred and eighty-three, and up to the present time it has fed, clothed, and educated seven thousand seven hundred boys, fitting them to step at once into active pursuits. This work will go on through the centuries with increasing resources.
Girard had a striking version of what wealth is for. He was a natural money-maker from his first commercial venture. He enjoyed the shaping of business and making it pay. He was no easy mark, but, giving others their due, exacted his own. His public spirit was highly developed, an inborn trait.
As a banker in the period of the second war with England, Girard personally saved the credit of the national credit more than once. He served Philadelphia many years in various official capacities, including that of councilman. Large internal improvements appealed to him strongly, and he was among the foremost in advocating and subscribing to them.
Set No Value on Wealth.
Girard set no value upon wealth, except as a means to accomplish worthy ends, and these were more to him than his money, or even his life.
In the year 1793, when Philadelphia lost a sixth of its population by yellow fever, and most of its citizens had fled, Girard personally took the inside management of a pest-house, ignoring all other business for two months. In one hundred days of that autumn the burials in the city exceeded four thousand.
At forty years of age Girard had only a competence, and wrote to a friend: “I do not value fortune. The love of labor is my highest ambition. I observe with pleasure that you have a numerous family and that you are in possession of an honest fortune. This is all a wise man has a right to wish for.”
Yet in the next forty years, largely through the fluctuations of values caused by war, he honestly and usefully accumulated seven million dollars, and devoted it to an everlasting mission of beneficence to his fellow men. He wrote that “Labor is the price of life, its happiness, its everything. To rest is to rust.”
Long-Headed In His Views.
He was long-headed in his views. More than a century ago his advice for a large city was: “Build high, as there is only one ground rent.” He would have none but solid construction.
A farm near the city was his place of recreation. On his journeys there his lunch was under the seat, and on his return the space was occupied with milk and butter for his domestic use. But he spent a great deal of money on the introduction of rare plants and fine cattle. He steadily declared that no man should be an idler on his money, and he kept his word.
It is well said of him that “The spirit of work made him active; the spirit of justice made him exact; the spirit of trade made him rich; the spirit of duty made him brave; the spirit of patriotism made him generous; and the spirit of love made him great.”
As a credit mark on the side of a vast fortune Girard is conspicuous, and he fully succeeded in not dying rich, for he gave all to his fellow citizens, making sure that it would be safeguarded for that purpose forever.
Girard was a strange character. Penurious about small things, disagreeable in his personality, he was generous, beneficent, and public-spirited in a large way.