There are a number of instances in which the Congressman from Ohio was wrong. First: He insinuated that Sister Margaret Patricia McCarran took more than the necessary time to obtain her degree from the university. The most casual amount of inquiry at the university would reveal the fact that Sister Margaret Patricia completed her work for her doctor of philosophy in 4 years. This happens to be an unusually short period of time. Nuns do their full teaching job during the year in their own communities and their own schools. Sister Margaret Patricia is a fulltime teacher in the College of the Holy Names in Oakland, Calif. Nuns, therefore, have to complete their work in summer school, night school, and then by special leave of absence from their communities in order to fulfill all of the requirements for an advanced degree. Therefore, some nuns and other religious working for advanced degrees take 6, 7, or more years before they meet all of the residence. requirements for a doctorate. On this score, then, the Congressman from Ohio was completely in error. Second: The insinuation was made that the Catholic University of America might have been pressured or influenced in some way into granting the degree to Sister Margaret Patricia. It would be well to point out to the Congressman from Ohio that the highest academic standards in the United States of America are maintained at Catholic University. Besides its recognition as an outstanding American university it has also been designated a pontifical university. There has never been a pressured or undeserved degree granted by the university in the past, and I am sure there will be none granted in the future. Even a casual reference to the high academic standards of Catholic University of America would have informed the Congressman from Ohio that his information on this score was also completely in error. Third: The remarks in the record of the Congressman from Ohio constitute a stigma on the integrity of the faculty of Catholic University; on the honesty and character of its students who, for the most part, are devoted, self-sacrificing nuns, priests, and brothers of every religious order in the Catholic Church. The attack upon the character of Sister Margaret Patricia as a nun, devoted to a life of teaching, with a vow of poverty and complete worldly abandonment, is one of the most irresponsible, thoughtless, and uncharitable acts that has ever come to my attention. I do not believe that in the records of the House of Representatives there could be found a more striking example of an irresponsible statement by a Member of that body. Sister Margaret Patricia, Catholic University of America and Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain need no defense from me. However, as the publisher of the second edition of this volume I request that this reply to the unfounded and untrue charges and insinuations made by Congressman Hays be recorded and inserted in the official record immediately following the unjustified attack as it appears in the printed record. Sincerely, THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION, INC., TAX-EXEMPT FOUNDATIONS TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1954 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, INVESTIGATE TAX-EXEMPT FOUNDATIONS, Washington, D. C. Pursuant to its resolution of July 2, the committee received the following statements, which were ordered incorporated in the record of proceedings: STATE OF NEW YORK, County of New York, ss: Charles Dollard, being duly sworn, deposes and says as follows: 1. I am president of Carnegie Corporation of New York. 2. Attached hereto are two documents marked respectively "Exhibit A" and "Exhibit B," the former entitled "Introductory Statement to Special Committee to Investigate Tax-Exempt Foundations by Charles Dollard, President, Carnegie Corporation of New York," and the latter entitled "Answers to Specific Charges, a Memorandum Submitted for the Record by Charles Dollard, President, Carnegie Corporation of New York, to Special Committee to Investigate TaxExempt Foundations." These documents were prepared for submission to the Select Committee to Investigate Tax-Exempt Foundations in connection with the testimony which I intended to give before that committee during the week of June 21, 1954, at the invitation of counsel for the committee. 3. Having been informed that no representative of Carnegie Corporation of New York will be heard by the committee, I submit these statements for the record and swear that they are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief. 4. Also attached hereto is a photostatic copy of a letter dated June 9, 1954, addressed to me by Mr. Vannevar Bush, president of Carnegie Institution of Washington. This is the letter referred to on page 26 of exhibit A. CHARLES DOLLARD. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of July, 1954. GORDON S. WALKER, Notary Public, State of New York. Commission expires March 30, 1956. STATEMENT BY CHARLES DOLLARD, PRESIDENT, CARNEGIE CORPORATION OF NEW YORK FOUNDATIONS IN AMERICAN LIFE Philanthropy is an American habit, and the modern foundation is an American invention. Other countries have philanthropic foundations of various kinds, but it is in America that they have reached their most impressive development. Abraham Flexner, one of the most distinguished figures in the history of organized philanthropy, once wrote: There is not a nation in Europe that does not envy us the public spirit which our wealthy men have shown in dedicating a large part of their wealth to public services, in the form of foundations. * * *1 The emergence of great foundations in America was no accident. Americans like to make money, and they enjoy spending the money they have made for the benefit of their fellows. It is quite true that in recent years the development of foundations has been facilitated by tax provisions; but it is a grave injustice to American philanthropists to say that they are moved chiefly by consideration of tax avoidance. Both the Rockefeller and Carnegie Foundations were set up at a time when there were no Federal income or estate taxes. Even today no one can doubt that the great bulk of American giving is in response to charitable impulses. The function of the philanthropic foundations is to improve the tenor of human life in the area or areas in which they operate. They seek to make human beings healthier, happier, wiser, more conscious of the rich possibilities of human existence and more capable of realizing them. A foundation will, of course, fail of its purpose if it attempts to do everything at once-to be all things to all men. It must concentrate its grants in a limited number of fields, using its best judgment as to what expenditures will at any given time be of most value in forwarding its central purpose. Free and untrammeled inquiry by freemen is of the very essence of a free society, its growth and development. Government has its necessary function in support of free schools and colleges and universities; but the success of government, whether Federal, State, or municipal, in the field of education, broadly defined, will be in proportion to the degree in which it does not dominate. The privately endowed institutions of learning-schools, universities, colleges, and foundations-help to set standards for education as a whole and engage in research, inventions, and discoveries in fields that may not yet interest government. Private enterprise in education contributes to the diversity which is the life of our American system. Many different people and organizations are encouraged to work independently in recognizing and tackling new problems and in developing new ideas and processes. Their efforts will not be uniformly successful. But the net effect of their efforts will be good because of the very freedom that permits the best to demonstrate its superiority over the second best. Selection by competition is the cornerstone of American free enterprise. 1 Extract from letter dated December 15, 1952, from Abraham Flexner to Harold M. "Keele, counsel for the Cox committee, reprinted on p. 763 of the hearings before the Cox committee. A wise nation will never surrender to government the exclusive right to be concerned about the health, the education, and the prosperity of the people. The very essence of the American system is that government shall do everything possible to encourage private enterprise in all phases of our national life-economic, social, and cultural. Our Nation owes much of its vitality and momentum to the inbred reluctance of Americans to lean on their Government. Anything which might reduce this reluctance is in our opinion to be feared and avoided. Those who wish to have research, study, inquiry, and teaching put in the hands of government exclusively, or indirectly subject to government control, should look to Russia where this process has been perfected. CARNEGIE CORPORATION OF NEW YORK Now let me speak briefly about the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the other funds established by Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie Corporation of New York is an educational foundation, chartered by the State of New York in 1911. During his lifetime, Andrew Carnegie made personal gifts for educational and cultural activities totaling approximately $107 million. In addition he provided endowment for six American philanthropic funds. The first five trusts which he established were chartered for work in specific fields: Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, 1896 Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1902 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1905 Each of these trusts has its own board, its own staff, and its own capital funds. The total endowment of these first 5 trusts was $53,100,000. Then in 1911 he established Carnegie Corporation of New York with the broad purpose of carrying on philanthropic activities which would contribute to "the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding." Carnegie Corporation of New York received from Andrew Carnegie by gift and will an endowment of $135 million. The assets of the corporation as of September 30, 1953, were $178,861,599, the difference between the original endowment of $135 million and the present book value of the corporation's holdings representing primarily gains on the sales and redemption of securities. Securities are carried at cost; the present market value is higher. In his letters of gift to the corporation, Mr. Carnegie stipulated that only the income from the endowment should be available for expenditure by the trustees; and that the original trustees should elect their own successors. A complete list of current trustees of the Carnegie Corporation is appended to this statement. It has been suggested that foundation trustees are figureheads and have no real knowledge of what the paid officers of the foundations are doing. This has no basis in fact with respect to the operations of Carnegie Corporation. The trustees of the corporation are active and responsible in both the making of corporation policy and the actual expenditure of corporation income. There is constant communication between officers and trustees. Attendance at board and committee meetings is uniformly high. |