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a number of essentially unexamined assumptions, among them that if
foundations spend their money wisely that is sufficient justification for
their tax exemption. But as Rep . John W. Byrnes of Wisconsin put it to
John D. Rockefeller III, in the course of congressional hearings a few
years ago:
The real problem here ... is that certain people have a choice as to
how the tax aspect of their income is going to be spent. .. . The
great vast array of the American people do not have this choice .
They are not only paying for things about which some of them are
not very enthusiastic, but they must also pay a higher price to carry
on these services simply because people with wealth have said that .
they do not want to support any of these services.
Should we permit a segment of our society to set up a government
of its own to render philanthropic services? Our tax laws have given
one group a chance to ... make their own determination as to what
is in the public good, and to decide how to spend that money.
How do we cope with the choice that we have given to some people
when we haven't given that choice to the great mass of citizens?
Mr. Nielsen recognizes the issue - - indeed he quotes Rep. Byrnes's
exchange with Mr. Rockefeller -- but he doesn't really address it. The
thrust of his inquiry has to do with how well foundations have per–
formed and what are their prospects for improved performance, rather
than whether they should be given the right to do so. It seems to me
more has to be said on why the poor should sacrifice tax-financed ser–
vices so that the rich might indulge their charities or foundationmen
their social theories.
Conceivably Mr. Nielsen could make a case for what he calls "the
third sector" (sandwiched between government and private enterprise) if
he demonstrated that certain types of desirable activity will never be
done by private enterprise and can or should never be done by govern–
ment. He suggests this when he asks: "Who else in the 1920s and 1930s
would have provided funds to give advanced training to a generation of
black leaders? Who else would have helped initiate the early work on
population control and family planning in the face of great public indif–
ference and institutionalized hostility? Who else would have financed the
Myrdal study on the American racial dilemma in the 1940s? And in re–
cent years, what other funding could have been found to help organize
the Mexican-American community to assert its rightful claims? Who else
could have created a commission on public broadcasting, financed the
Conant study of the American high school, and createq the Kerr com-
