USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Extracts from the minutes of the yearly meeting of Friends held in Philadelphia, 1921 > Part 6
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The religious life of the School is strong and practical. Increasingly is the appeal made to the students on the religious basis, both in matters of conduct and in ways of living, and the pupils themselves appear desirous to settle problems which arise from the standpoint of what is right rather than what is expedient. The First and Fifth-day meetings continue to be seasons characterized by a genuine
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spirit of worship, with frequent vocal service from visiting Friends, the officers of the School, and from the pupils. A- close spiritual sympathy exists between many of the faculty and the students, and the religious life is deepened and developed by many personal talks with individuals or in groups. In addition to the usual meetings for wor- ship, there are various groups of the students who meet at regular times for quiet devotion, or for discussion of school and personal problems.
The Monthly Meeting established more than a year ago and now having sixty-one members, is satisfying a very definite need, which many in the School and com- munity have felt for a long time. The meetings are regular- ly held on the last Fourth-day evening, but one, of each month; they are open to any of the students who wish to attend, and a considerable number avail themselves of the opportunity. The Monthly Meeting feels its responsibility not simply for the meetings for worship and for the re- ligious life of the School, but also for the surrounding community, and there is a very earnest desire that the meeting should not merely function through the medium of a formal routine of business, but should become a positive and energizing spiritual force.
The Westtown Committee has been asked to co-operate in this active concern for the School community, and has appointed a sub-committee for the purpose.
We may thus report improved health of the pupils, better housing conditions, greater success in college en- trance examinations, improved morale and increasing religious interest, but may it not be well for us on such an occasion as this to set once more clearly before us the special demands of a denominational school such as ours? Westtown must compete with the best schools, both public and private. It must seek teachers of high attainments in scholarship, possessed of the great gift of teaching, who are at the same time able to appreciate and uphold the best traditions and highest ideals of Westtown. Only so can we compete with success.
Every Quaker school should be a Quaker experiment, - recognizable as such by every passing stranger. Some of
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the great realities of the Quaker faith are-the belief that an attentive spirit can receive direct guidance from God in daily life: that in order to be Christ's disciples we must live constantly in the spirit that taketh away the occasion of all wars-the spirit of brotherhood; that all places and all days are potentially holy: that in our meetings for worship we engage in a great act of corporate worship, which should be more solemn than any outward sacra- ment, more beautiful than any ritual, a Divinely ordered, happy harmony which even music could not express : finally, that the acceptance of Christ as Master and Leader is the chief thing and need not be expressed in any formal words or set creed, but rather in a loving and a lovely life.
It may be objected that it is hardly possible to set such a high standard for boys and girls, and it is true that these spiritual principles must be interpreted and adapted by the teacher in words and acts appropriate to the develop- ment of youth, ever remembering how different youth is from adult life. The vital thing is that the teachers should be deeply grounded in these principles, and always able to make this adaptation. If our principles are not too hard for men and women in the turmoil of the world, they are not too hard for boys and girls when rightly inter- preted to them in the comparatively sheltered atmosphere of school life. If the adult is able to practice his Quakerism in business, social relations and politics, the youth can learn and practice this loving and lovely life-this life of kindly brotherhood, at school as well; and so we may all grow together until even the nations of the world shall practice it among each other.
Surely it is by an approach to such standards as these that we must test the success or failure of Westtown School.
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APPENDIX TO REPORT OF WESTTOWN SCHOOL COMMITTEE. OPERATING ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDING SIXTH MONTH 30, 1920. INCOME.
Amount received for Board and Tuition, in- cluding income from the Scholarship Funds (Present charge $300 per pupil) . $ 62,027.68
Income of the General Purpose Funds. 1 1,609.66 Income from Funds, Appropriated for Salaries . 19,749.00
Income from Funds, Appropriated for other purposes . 2,872.23
Appropriations from the Alumni Association (including certain appropriations from the Centennial Memorial Fund)
2,219.43.
Yearly Meeting Appropriation . 5,000.00
"Old Scholars" Five-year Guarantee Fund. 5,000.00 Voluntary Contributions from Parents and Guardians, in Excess of Amount paid for Board and Tuition 1,815.00
Dividend from the Farm and Dairy 5,000.00
Dividend from the Orchard and Forestry Dept.
1,406.56
Board and Rent of Officers, Teachers and Em- ployees 18,675.05
Miscellaneous Receipts (including Farm House) 756.34
$136,130.95
EXPENDITURES.
(Each Item including estimated cost of Board and Rent of Officers, Teachers and Employees.)
Officers, Teachers and Secretaries . $ 51,322.89
Office Supplies and Expenses 9,447.67
2,561.87
Real Estate Maintenance
Taxes . 2,171.18
Fire Insurance. 2,237.33
Heat, Light and Water 15,683.28
Laundry operation, less receipts 2,967.33
Amount carried forward
$86,391.55
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Amount brought forward . $86,391.55
Kitchen and Dining-room Supplies and Service 39,937.41
Housekeeping Supplies and Service. . 6,907.87
Physicians, Nurses and Medical Supplies 3,656.90
School Supplies, net . 1,254.67
Campus, Gardens and Greenhouse,-less credits
6,175.51
Library, Magazines and Newspapers. 444.21
Operating Stage, net . 2,385.96
Teachers' Retirement Fund 459.93
Interest on money borrowed .
2,244.12
Miscellaneous Disbursements of Special Funds, etc.
2,510.70
Total operating cost this year . $152;368.83
Deduct total income as above stated 136, 130.95
Deficit for the year $ 16,237.88
FINANCIAL REPORT OF WESTTOWN SCHOOL.
Since our last report the following legacies have been received, viz:
From the estate of the late Sarah A. C. Loyd, securities having a value, when received, of $10,000; this donation being credited as a part of the new Endowment Fund for the payment of salaries.
A bequest of $500, from the late William B. Moore, to be held for scholarship purposes.
A bequest of $475 from the late James F. Reid, for general purposes.
It is also in order to report that Charles E. Estlack, of Woodbury, New Jersey, who died First Month 23, 1920, bequeathed to Westtown School, one-fifth of his residuary estate, without restriction as to its use. It is expected that this bequest will amount to about $75,000; and although the legacy itself has not yet been received, the executors have made a payment of $6,000 on account of income earned by the estate since the decease of the testator.
The financial result from operating the school, for the year which ended Sixth Month 30, 1920, was disappoint- ing, although the Farm and Dairy, as well as the Orchard
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Department, contributed handsomely to our income ac- count. During the preceding four years of the period of the Great War, the operation of the school had been ac- complished without any serious accumulation of deficits, but in the year 1919-20, especially during the latter half of the year, the full force of the high prices of both sup- plies and labor was felt at Westtown, and as a result the cost of operating the school exceeded the available in- come by $15,238. The receipts in income account were $117,703, and the payments $133,941. The cost of opera- tion per scholar was $630, based on an average enroll- ment of boarding pupils of 210.
Prior to the session of the Yearly Meeting in 1920 the question of the adequacy of the present price of board and tuition, viz: $300, was very carefully considered, and it was then decided not to increase the charge for the succeeding school year; and report to the Yearly Meeting was made to this effect. At that time, however, the Com- mittee was not aware that the results of operation for the then current year would show any considerable de- ficiency.
Since the close of the last fiscal year, however, this deficit from operation, which is probably unprecedented in the history of Westtown, has been the subject of almost continuous investigation and thought. This has led to a survey of the whole financial field, both as respects capi- tal and income, and to a review of the transactions of the past five years especially. It is gratifying to be able to report that during this five-year period our endowment funds have increased from $636,000 to about $1,300,000, and that during the same period the further sum of $111,- 000 has been expended upon various improvements to the real estate apart from the usual expenditures for up- keep of the property. The expenditure for salaries has been increased 60 per cent. since 1916.
Some of the questions which have arisen in our con- sideration of the financial status of the School are the following:
What possibilities of retrenchment can be found in scrutinizing the budget, and what is the prospect of re- duction in living expenses?
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Should the Yearly Meeting be asked to increase its appropriation, and would it be advisable that the appro- priation of the Yearly Meeting should be used hereafter exclusively for scholarships?
Must we again have recourse to a practice, followed for many years at Westtown-namely, that of charging off operating deficits against legacies bequeathed to the School without restrictions, thus, in effect, reducing our endowment funds?
Can a part of the new endowment fund, called the "Westtown $250,000 Fund," now in the process of collec- tion, be properly used to wipe out the existing indebtedness which has resulted from the extraordinary conditions of the past two years, thus enabling us to start again with a clean slate?
Finally, is it advisable to increase the price of board and tuition, and if so to what figure?
The consideration of these questions led to the calling of a meeting held in Philadelphia on Second Month 5th, last, to which were especially invited the parents of children now at the school, and other parents who we hope will be patrons in the future. A general invitation was also extended to all friends of Westtown. This meeting was well attended by those with whom the Westtown Com- mittee desired to confer, and we believe that the full and free discussion which then took place, as well as the wide distribution of financial data, in advance of the meeting, have been of much assistance in enabling the Committee to reach a decision, and in informing the membership of the Yearly Meeting at large of the conditions that must be met.
Our conclusions are as follows :
First-The matter of retrenchment will continue to be given most careful attention, and while there will no doubt be considerable saving in some items the coming year, they will be largely offset by increased needs for plant maintenance which have not been adequate in the recent past.
We do not think it wise to resume the practice of using legacies to cancel deficits, neither do we think it best to
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use part of the principal of the $250,000,00 Fund for ex- tinguishing the debt for a year at least.
In the discussion of deficits, inside as well as outside of the Committee, the principle which should govern the charge for Board and Tuition seems to have been pretty clearly established. This makes the actual cost to the School per pupil the basis. All the children are entitled to the benefits of certain invested funds and to the capi- tal in the plant. When these are deducted, for the coming year, the estimated figure per capita is $462.00. An ad- vance in tuition at the present time to cover the whole of this amount seems ill-advised, and $400 has been fixed as the charge for the ensuing year. , The School will, therefore, still be obliged to depend in measure upon the liberality of its many friends.
The use of the Yearly Meeting appropriation and of some other prospective and available funds is contem- plated as a means to ameliorate this advance in cases where it will certainly be burdensome.
The appropriation of $5,000.00 is again asked for.
The financial statement of the Treasurer is attached for information, and his accounts, as well as the securities, have been audited by members of the Finance Committee
THE FARM.
The high cost of labor and supplies was felt at West- town as well as elsewhere, and the falling prices of all farm products made our profits less than some other years. The profit for the year was $4,374.29, $3,500.00 having been turned over to the School. We have continued re- pairing our farm buildings and hope by another year to have them all in good order.
The dairy continues to be the chief source of profit, the receipts from the sale of milk being $39,025. Fifty- eight of our 137 animals are registered Ayreshires, many of them making high advanced Registry records, and we ought soon to be able to sell our surplus animals at good prices. We have also 13 registered Holsteins of popular breeding. We are glad to report that our herd continues
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to be practically free from tuberculosis, and that we are furnishing the School with milk and cream of great purity, a large percentage of the balance being sold to one of the large dealers as certified milk.
THE ORCHARDS.
The Walnut Hill orchards continue a satisfactory de- velopment, the 15 acres of peaches yielding 9,076 baskets of fruit last season, which sold on an average for all grades of $1.21 per basket.
The young apple trees, now seven years old, yielded a total crop of over 1000 baskets, and in addition, seven bushels of cherries were picked and enough pears, plums and quinces to make us look eagerly to the coming years. The old orchards yielded 3,500 baskets.
The ledger shows a net profit for the year of $4,394.94.
The sum of $3,659.94 has been turned over to the School. Five hundred dollars of this was rental, according to the agreement, for Walnut Hill, $659.94 was the School's share of fruit from the old orchards, and $2,500.00 was a return from profits.
There have been no extensive Forestry operations since last year, but the few remaining chestnut saplings on Walnut Hill are being cleared up by the school boys for cord-wood.
A new feature of the pine planting is a road which has been laid out so that visitors may have access by auto to this part of the school's property.
Signed by direction and on behalf of the Westtown Com- mittee.
J. HENRY BARTLETT, Chairman.
ELLEN C. CARTER, Secretary.
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REPORT
OF THE SOCIAL ORDER COMMITTEE.
To the Yearly Meeting :-
We are sometimes prone to think of social questions as great world matters with which we have little direct connection. But in these days many of our social prob- lems seem to be pressing home upon us in an intimate personal way. Our Report this year deals chiefly with certain of these questions in which it seems to us the Yearly Meeting is directly concerned. We submit the Report with the earnest desire that we may all unite in a living concern to bring the whole range of life, particu- larly industrial and commercial affairs, more completely under the leadership of Jesus Christ. A brief review of the Committee's activities during the past year will be found at the end of the Report.
The three-year period for which the Committee was appointed terminates with this Yearly Meeting. We come to the end of our service feeling that it has been a privi- lege to be entrusted with this work by the Meeting, and we are convinced that the moral and spiritual problems in this field call for the continuation of earnest efforts by our Society. We urge that as strong a Committee as possible be appointed to carry on the work. We have found it a great advantage to be able to add new members to the Committee, and we recommend that the same power to add to its numbers be granted to the new Committee, if appointed.
The Social Order Committee has been in existence four years. During the first two of these the Society of Friends in America was brought into great exercise be- cause of the state of war into which our country had been plunged. Instead of ignoring the situation and sheltering
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themselves behind an ancient tradition the Friends sought earnestly to know their duty in the grave trouble which had come upon their country and in the emergency which it had brought to themselves.
In looking back over this history, as far as it has been enacted, for it is still going on in the relief work abroad, the Society of Friends may humbly feel that on the whole it has been enabled to meet a great crisis on a high plane of action, and in a manner consistent with its well-known principles of peace. Never were these principles so clearly set forth before the world nor so profoundly respected by it. And this was largely because, instead of maintain- ing a negative testimony, Friends had followed a con- structive plan of peace and good-will to men which had involved much labor and voluntary sacrifice.
This active service brought Friends into close touch with the conduct and problems of war, as well as with its character. As a thoughtful people who were not willing to accept war as a normal and inevitable incident in the development of humanity, they examined carefully into the causes which had made the peoples of Europe willing to plunge into the devastating horrors of the conflict, into which the United States had finally been drawn. It has seemed to them, in common with many others, that it was not merely a struggle for political supremacy, but also for commercial opportunity and privilege, and there is wide- spread conviction that it all arose out of a wide applica- tion of the prevailing principles of ordinary business. And then, with a call almost as insistent as the duties which arose from the actual war, came the question: How far are we in our actual conduct of business, and in our attitude to the general social order, helping to bring about the next war, the clouds of which are already hanging over the horizon? By the time of the Armistice, two years ago, these convictions were fairly general, at least among Friends in the regions bordering on the two sides of the Atlantic.
Meanwhile, the conflict in the industrial world has exemplified the same self-seeking spirit. There has been gross profiteering in the necessities of life, while labor
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and capital have contended for their respective interests, with small regard for the welfare or comfort of the general public.
The feelings that were taking shape in the minds of Friends two years ago have broadened and deepened through this injurious and needless struggle. Friends have realized more and more that it is not international strife only that blights the lives of men and women and little children, that modern industrialism has its casual- ties and tragedies as well as war. In nearly all of our hearts there is the persistent feeling that public business and the affairs of government show very little of the loving kind- ness and peaceable spirit of Jesus. We are sure that many persons who acknowledge these influences in their private lives largely ignore them in their public duties. We know something of the ways of directing our individual conduct, but we still have much to learn concerning social and public righteousness.
Thus far the Social Order Committee thankfully be- lieves that the Yearly Meeting is fairly united. But when it comes to the means by which these ideas should be carried into effect, there are apparent disagreements much wider than the real differences of opinion justify. Some Friends feel that while there is need for a far greater application of Christian kindliness to the affairs of busi- ness and that a sense of service should pervade every calling, yet our present social and industrial forms should be preserved with a new spirit. We are accustomed to these forms, they say, and know how to use them, and to change them radically and suddenly would introduce a chaos which would be harmful to everyone.
On the other hand, there are some Friends who have great faith in their ideas of service and brotherhood and equal opportunity, and they are sure these can never be properly enjoyed under a social order whose forms are based on such opposite ideals. Therefore they feel that fundamental changes will ultimately be involved in the Christianization of our industrial and economic system. The Social Order Committee would like to bring these two groups nearer together. We would have our conser-
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vative Friends feel a particular obligation to humanize all their own business relations, to see that, so far as they are able, they put into effect the various plans which ease the lives of the workers, and draw together in a better understanding the employer and the employed. It may be that the complete realization of these efforts will bring the industrial peace and economic content that is desired. Meanwhile, we would have them feel that the opinions of Friends who advocate greater changes constitute no real danger to society. After all, these people may be in the main right. They may have a vision which is denied to others. The early advocates of many a righteous cause have seemed impractical visionaries to their staid and sober contemporaries. As far as they are wrong they will probably be unable to achieve their ends. It will be difficult to find a single case where the views of generous, high-minded, peaceable Christian people have prevailed to the detriment of the community.
We would encourage the spirit animating those Friends ยท who are seeking important changes in our social order, but we would have them be patient, for it has seldom hap- pened that the early advocates of any reform found at the first the best methods for its accomplishment. The final result has not often been achieved by greatly increasing the number of persons specially devoted to it, but rather by the gradual enlightenment of the mass of the people.
But, after all, it is not by prudent counsel, or human interest or generous vision that the great change of hu- manizing and Christianizing our business relations and social order is to be accomplished. The motive must lie deeper. The Society of Friends in recent times has been blessed with more than one clear call to duty. It was called to a ministry of love in its attitude to the war, in its service in the devastated countries abroad and in the feeding of helpless people all over stricken Europe. Is it now called to bring the same ministry of love and good-will into its business relations and the social order, so as to change those narrow and selfish tendencies which so often impress a pitiful standard of living on many of the work- ing classes, besides breeding those national policies which
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produce our wars ? The call has come to many of us individually, is it also a call to the whole Society? We would most earnestly entreat each one of us to ask of ourselves the questions: Is this a call to me? Is it a call to our religious group? If this is done, we believe that in most cases we shall own both calls. If we do this how it simplifies the whole social order work of the Yearly Meeting and of our Committee. In the first place, it sanctifies the work. It carries with it a faith that will remove mountains of difficulty. It unites us all in spite of our differing theories and methods. It will be the Lord's work and we shall seek to know His mind and humbly endeavor to follow the truth wherever it may lead. We shall not need to search for things to do, but we shall crave the willingness to accept the opportunities which will open before us. It will not only accentuate the obligation of every member to make his life conform to the highest standards of Christian service but it will place the same duty on the Yearly Meeting as an official body.
This brings us to the closing subject of this message- the responsibility of the Yearly Meeting to the rather large body of workers of which, through the various com- mittees appointed by it and by the subordinate Meet- ings, it is the employer. This body of workers includes the teachers of Westtown School, the Indian School at Tunesassa and all the long list of schools under the sub- ordinate meetings, and also the caretakers, mechanics and farm workers in these institutions. Then there are the many people engaged in the homes, Libraries and other institutions maintained by the various meetings.
All these institutions exist for the benefit of certain classes of people. All the money at the disposal of the managers-and it is seldom sufficient-is to be spent on their account. It is natural to try to secure the greatest amount of service which this money will provide. This, however, tends towards giving the lowest salary or wage which will secure adequate service, toward assigning to each person the maximum of duties which they are able or willing to carry, and toward granting the most restrict- ed living accommodations which the workers will accept.
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