"A GREAT BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION."
NO worthy institution makes a pre-eminent success in this world without becoming the mark for the arrows of envy, defamation, contumely, and insinuation. This is more frequently true of benevolent and Christian institutions than of private enterprises for gain. It is one of the means of warfare which selfishness is bound to use as a last resort. For years the Medical and Surgical Sanitarium of procedure, the committee quotes such paragraphs from the articles of association of the institution as bear upon the questions involved in the investigation, and then continues:— 1. That no profits of the institution can ever accrue or be lawfully paid to any private party or parties whatsoever. 2. That no funds of the institution can be lawfully sent outside the State to build or support other enterprises of any kind. 3. That any and all revenues of the institution must be devoted to philanthropic and charitable work within the State of Michigan, and to developing and extending the facilities of the institution itself, and for these purposes only. 4. That all the property of the institution is held in trust for the above philanthropic and charitable purposes only. 5. That title to any of the property of the institution can never be passed to any private person or persons whatsoever, but can only be transferred, at the expiration of the statutory limit of the corporation, to the trustees of another corporation organized for the same purposes and under similar restrictions. Administration of the Institution.
The above being the legal status, the purpose, the obligations and restrictions of the institution, it remains for the public to inquire whether the trustees have legally and faithfully fulfilled their trust. This the public has a right to know, inasmuch as under the law the institution is a quasi public one, deriving its powers and its privileges from the public for public purposes. nected with the management. The rates were found to range from $7.50 to $86.67 a month, and in the case of the physicians on the staff, seventy-eight dollars a month was the highest, and upon that salary the recipient has to support himself. First-year nurses receive their board, room, clothing (such as the usual uniform worn by the nurses), and necessary books for study; second-year nurses receive sixteen dollars a month, with room and board; and third-year nurses, twenty dollars, with room and board. As to Dr. Kellogg, we found that for several years he has received no salary or compensation whatever. We found that the board of trustees agreed that a certain amount should be set aside for Dr. Kellogg's compensation, but that Dr. Kellogg made it obligatory upon the board of managers that this amount, $96.33 a month, should be devoted to various benevolent purposes. To make sure that there was no other account in which money is paid to Dr. Kellogg, or in which he might be credited with services, I asked to see the personal account with the doctor in the general books, and this account was carefully examined by the members of the committee. The result of this examination was a surprise to me, as I found that Dr. Kellogg was charged with whatever he obtained from the Sanitarium, and for any work done for him at his home by any one in the employ of the Sanitarium, and that he paid for it, the same as any other individual should do. In no instance did I find that he had received credit for a single dollar for services rendered the institution. 3. The indebtedness of the Sanitarium. We found that the schedule showed the names and post-office addresses of 148 holders of obligations against the Sanitarium. They were scattered from California to Cape Town, South Africa. We could find no evidence whatever of a single dollar of indebtedness held by Dr. Kellogg or any other member of the board of managers. 4. Character and extent of the charitable work. I found, by examination of the books and files of orders for treatment, etc., that thousands of patients have been treated either absolutely free or partially free. I took, at random, the week ending June 30, 1901, and found that the books showed 130 patients coming under this heading, and for the week ending Oct. 27, 1901, 159 charity or part charity patients. These weeks were selected by myself, and not chosen for me. I found that in the year 1899 there was an expenditure of $29,347; in 1900, $30,300; and in 1901, $44,000, for charitable work in this branch. This makes a total of $103,647 in three years. 5. A general comparison of receipts and disbursements. We