Faith, Hope & Organization

Congress was last week asked to pass a measure allowing corporations to deduct from their income tax all sums which they give for charitable, social-welfare or unemployment-relief purposes. Individuals already have this exemption. Corporations heretofore have been forbidden it. They pay a flat 12% income tax, whereas individuals pay up to 25%. If Congress passes the bill, a likely thing, it will be the greatest boost organized charity has received for a long time. For, although Chairman Hawley of the House Ways & Means Committee introduced the resolution to Congress, the push to enactment really began with James Herbert Case, Board Chairman of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, president of the Association of Community Chests & Councils.

Banker-Charitarian Case last week was preoccupied by the failure of Bank of United States, one of four components of a proposed billion-dollar bank which he had consented to head (see p. 29). But the Community Chest work throughout the land to which he had given his prestige and advice, was for the most part completed for the year. Thanks to Banker Case, William Cooper (Ivory Soap) Proctor and men like them, 360 community chests were flooding national headquarters with glad reports of some $80,000,000 collected.

As everyone knows, Clevelanders originated the community chest idea 17 years ago to keep panhandlers from pestering citizens and to assure ample funds for the city's charities. By 1922 the U. S. had only 49 chests. Now all but 16 cities above 100,000 population have them.*

New chest cities this year include: Alliance, Ohio; Johnstown, Pa.; Springfield, Mo.; Clinton, Iowa; Hazelton, Pa.; Stamford, Conn.; New Philadelphia, Ohio. And doughty Blacksburg, Va., with a population of less than 2,000 and the smallest of all chests. They hoped to raise $800 for a chest, actually gathered $1,000.

Cities considering chests include: Augusta, Me.; New Kensington, Pa.; Mankato, Minn.; Edmonds, Wash.; St. George, Staten Island; Modesto, Calif.; Litchfield, 111.; Springfield, Vt.

Honolulu has its chest--$453,000 collected.

The idea has spread abroad. Canada has six; Hamilton and London, Ont., Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and (new this year) Vancouver. Ottawa has a Canadian Council on Child Welfare, which technically is not a chest.

Havana gave $65,805 to its Anglo-American Welfare Federation.

Rich Cape Town, South Africa, has a chest for the entire Cape Peninsula. Mrs. B. Trevelyan, who struggles alone as general secretary of the South African movement in all its branches, rejoiced that despite great difficulties, her group collected -L-9,500 (some $46,000). The Cape Town city council permitted other organizations to make street campaigns simultaneously. Lamented Mrs. Trevelyan: "The public still have a very hazy idea of what a real community chest can be ... [only] a few staunch men have supported it."

"A few staunch men" support every community chest. Cleveland, which raised $4,667,224 for its chest and $751,300 additional for unemployment relief, has its Samuel Livingston Mather, richest citizen. He gave $186,000. His step-brother William Gwinn Mather gave $63,500.

Samuel Mather is the country's second largest contributor to community chests. Largest is Senator James Couzens of Pontiac, Mich. Henry Ford gave Detroit's chest nothing this year. But Edsel Bryant Ford did--$115,000. Senator Couzens, chairman of the Detroit chest, topped this with a gift of $120,000, also giving Washington and Pontiac other sums. The Couzens and Ford money, plus the gifts of the seven Fisher brothers ($125,000) and General Motors ($100,000, tax deduction or not) provided the bones of Detroit's latest $3,657,432 campaign.

Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis fortified Philadelphia's chest with $100,000.

George Eastman waits until his Rochester fellow-citizens give their bits and then adds 10% to their total. Consequently Rochester has the highest per capita record ($4.61 1/2) for chest drives.*

Each of the 360 U. S. chests needs executive directors or secretaries. They form a new profession always certain of employment. The Association of Community Chests & Councils has created and partly finances a school for their training. It is the School of Social Administration, one of Ohio State University's graduate schools. Students must possess the minor A. B. or B. S. degrees, must study one year --three months in field work, the rest in sociology and allied courses.

*The chestless 16 are:

New York

Chicago

Boston

Yonkers

Jersey City

San Antonio

Wilmington

VVaterbury, Conn.

Paterson, N. J.

Trenton

Camden, N. J.

Cambridge, Mass.

Fall River, Mass.

Elizabeth, N. J.

Somerville, Mass.

Evansville, Ind.

*Mr. Eastman last week confirmed his $10,000 gift to the League of Nations; to finance its discussion of his 13-month calendar reform.

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