Cornell University Medical College - Samaritan Yearbook (New York, NY)

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The New York H orpilal, lVeJt 16117 Slreel, efzznzfzfe gate. Completed in 1877 tbir was lbe recom! N. Y. H. and was used for the fore of pfzliefzlf znzlil llae prerem' hospital was opened ill 1932. agreed that, if such change were made, the conduct of the medical department would be carried on by a medical com- mittee of the University, to be composed of gentlemen se- lected by the then governing faculty, and that such medical committee shouldin effect represent the wishes of the facult Y in every respect as to the appointment of professors, changes to be made in the professorships, and general management of the medical department, always excepting the amount of salary to be paid the professors, which was to be fixed by the council. These matters being fully understood and agreed upon, the property was conveyed by the Medical College Laboratory to the University. The conditions and agreements were not included in the terms of the deed, but were fully understood, each party relying on the good faith of the other. 'There were then two gentlemen on the medical com- mittee of the University, thor-oughly acquainted with its wants and needs, and one of whom, Colonel Oliver H. Payne, was the gentleman who had given the 2I5150,000 to put the Medical College Laboratory upon a firm basis. With those two gentlemen the governing faculty were fully satisfied. At the request of the Chancellor, the governing .faculty suggested as the other two members of the medical com- mittee the names of Mr. Henry F. Dimmock and Mr. Charles E. Miller. These gentlemen, although not graduates of the New York University, or connected with it in any manner, were promptly eleoted members of the council of New York University and appointed members of the medical com- mittee which thus consisted of Colonel Oliver I-I. Payne Mr. Charles T. Barney, Mr. Henry F. Dimmock, and Mr., Charles E. Miller. 'Sho Of discord was introduced by Chancellor MacCracken by a proposition to unite the faculty of Bellevue Medical College with the then existing medical department of the University. That plan, after numerous conferences and negotiations, fell through. The Chancellor was bitterly disappointed, and, attributing the loss of the lan to the medical faculty of spite upon away from rtly thereafter a new and entirely unexpected element the University, promptly prdieeded to vent his lt. The control of the medical faculty was taken the medical committee of the Universi-ty by him, and trans- ferred to the executive committee of the council, a body of which only one The faculty was out consultation medical faculty. committee voted they could earn of the medical committee was a member. ,appointed by the executive committee, with- with either the medical committee or the No salaries were fixed, but the executive that compensation should be limited to what by their own labors, not crediting them in any manner with the property which they had given to the University, and imposing upon them numerous charges and expenses with which they were not properly chargeable and which they had not hitherto paid. There was one nota'ble ex- ception in the case of the dean, Dr. LeFevre, who was a friend of the Chancellor, and whose salary was fixed without reference to what might have been earned. It is needless to say that his appointment was not only not approved by the faculty of the medical department or the medical com- mittee, but was very objectionable to them. 'Measures of this character followed thick and fast, until it became manifest that it was the purpose of the University council to violate the agreement upon which they had got possession of the property of the medical laboratory, and to drive the old faculty out, leaving the University the possessors of property acquired under false pretences, and without the burden of consulting or advising any gentlemen to whose generosity they were indebted for the property. 'The next step that followed was at the annual election for trustees of the university council, 'fin the month of November, 1897. In pursuance of the above plan, Mr. Henry F. Dimmock was dropped from -the council at the elec- tion, after a spirited contest in which many of the leading members of the council strongly disapproved of the ac-tion taken. The failure to reelect Mr. Dimmock was immediately .followed by the resignation from the council of Colonel Oliver H. Payne and Messers. Barney and Miller. 'It was, however, apparent to many members of the Council that they could not violate all the pledges given, under which they had obtained the property of the Medi- cal College Laboratory, and still continue to hold such property, and thereupon, on the motion of a member of the council, a resolution was adopted appointing a com- mittee of six members of the council to investigate the matter of the property of the medical department and -15'

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for faithful and meritorious service . He was an iron manufacturer and oil refiner in Cleveland from 1866 to 1884, at which time he moved to New York. Dr. Lewis A. Conner describes Colonel Payne in his later years as a tall, spare, quiet man, still a bachelor, in whom modesty, simplicity, and gentleness were dominant char- acteristics. He despised ostentation and publicity and his gift to the Cornell School was made with the understanding that his name should not be made public in connection with it. ' The school is founded . . . a contemporary account It behooves us now to examine the story behind the story of the founding of Cornell Medical School. Time has worn away some of the bitter feelings of those early years, and we may now examine objectively a contemporary ac- count in the Evening Post of April 16, 1898: A serious dissension divides the council of trustees of New York University, it may be stated upon authority, and such friends of the University as are informed of the state of affairs fear that unless 'peace with honor' shall be estab- lished at an early day, there wil-lf ensue complications det- rimental to the good name and to the prosperity and useful- ness of a seat of learning which had just attained a prospect of winning a place in the front rank. The latest visible consequence of the council's internal discord is the secession of the eminent surgeons and physicians who have so long given distinction to the Medical School of the University, and their attachment in a body to the medical department which Cornell University has just established in this city. How a result so deplorable to the New York University- so fortunate on the other hand for Cornell University-has been 'brought about, is a question to which all the sons and supporters of the former institution eagerly desire answer. A gentleman who is thoroughly familiar with the whole situation in all of its details has given to the Even- ing Post the following explanation of the seeming mystery: 'From the year 1841 to the year 1887 there was a medical department of the New York University. The whole control of that department was vested in a governing faculty, who accepted the entire financial responsibility and collected and disposed of the tuition fees. Their compensation was limited to such fees, after payment of expenses. The eight govern- ing professors were elected by the council, but only on the recommendation of the medical faculty, all other professors were selected and appointed by the governing faculty of physicians. The University conferred degrees of medicine upon the recommendation of the medical faculty. 'From time to time gifts were made to this governing faculty, as individuals, with which monies, in 1883, they purchased large buildings on East Twenty-Sixth Street, at a net expense of somewhat over 3150,000, of which 390,000 had been borrowed upon bond and mortgage, 340,000 had been contributed by the faculty themselves, and about 320,000 received from subscribers. 'In 1885 a corporation was formed, called the Medical College Laboratory, and individual members of the govern- ing faculty, who then held certificates representing their interests in the property, conveyed the property to the Medi- cal College Laboratory, as a convenient method of holding 3 . s E scam Broome Street downiowfz extension clinic old N. Y. H. title. Thereafter the governing faculty contributed additional amounts. In 1892, Colonel Payne, a friend of the medical governing faculty, 'contributed 3150,000 to the Medical Col- lege Laboratory, with which he satisfied the mortgages upon the buildings, and cancelled the certificates of interests held by the members of the governing faculty, so that the title to the property, free and unencumbered, thereafter stood in the name of the Medical College Laboratory. That amount in effect represented the entire value of the -property, part of the additional sum contributed before that 'by the faculty and their friends having been spent in the care of the insti- tution and in repairs and alterations which added little or nothing to its value. 'Early in 1897, the Chancellor of the University, Dr. Henry M. MacCracken, represented to the governing faculty that it would be much for their interest, as well as that of the University, if the system of self-government, which had hitherto prevailed as to the medical department, should be abandoned, and if, in place of a fluctuating income, de- pendent on the amount earned from year to year, the faculty should receive fixed salaries, to be -paid by the University, and that, to enable the University to meet such salaries and expenses, the property owned by the Medical College Laboratory should be conveyed to the University. He also ' agreed medical mittee 4 lected t committ in every to be rr of the of salary by 'Clie 1 agreed t College agreemen were full of the ot 'There mittee ol wants an. Payne, W to put th With tho: satisfied, , -l:2lCl1liy Sup mittee thg E- Miller, New York Were Prom University mittee wh, Mr- Cllarlc Charles E- 'Sh01'tly .of discord PFOPO-5lll0n Wh the th, Plan That tell throuotl allflbutinf ihe Ullixirs ij, The C0111 e medical fel' to tl l

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recommend to the council what action should be. taken re- specting it. What -thereafter took place is shown in the fol- lowing correspondence: New York, March 24, 1898. Israel C. Pierson, Esq., Secretary: ' Dear Sir: On behalf of the Medical College Laboratory, I beg to acknowledge receipt of your communication to its several members, dated March 7, 1898, advising it that at a meeting of the coun- cil of New York University, held March 7, 1898, the following action was taken: Resolved, That the council of New York Uni- versity is willing to submit to arbitration any dif- ferences between it, on the one hand, and the Medical College and Loomis Laboratories, on the other handg and if those corporations also desire an arbitration, the officers of the council and the Chancellor be authorized to make the necessary arrangements and agree on the appointment of three arbitratorsng and to state: There are no mat- ters indifference between the New York University and the Medical College Laboratory to which the Loomis Laboratory is a party, and we confine our reply to the matters in differencce between the New York University and our college. They are briefly set forth in our letter to the council of the New York University, bearing date january 8, 1898, a copy of which is as follows: New York, January 8, 1898, The Council of the New York University: Dear Sirs: About a year ago we transferred to your institution property representing the results of the labor of our faculty for Hfty years. That transfer was made with the object of bringing the medical department and your institution into closer touch, and with the understanding that the eonrrol and management of that property should remain with the medical department, and for that purpose the interests of our faculty should be represented by a medical committee selected by your institution composed of gentlemen of the faculty, to whoni should be entrusted the entire and exclusive man- agement of affairs appertaining to ir, The expectations of that transfer have not been attained. The experience of the past few months has shown that you are unable to carry out that understanding. The control of the medical depart- ment has been taken by you from the medical committeeg the expenses and salaries of the officers of the medical department have been fixed without their consent and without consultation with the medical committee, the personnel of the medical committee has been changed by you, and one of the gentlemen selected by our faculty to guard and protect their interests 'has been dropped from your council in direct opposition to the wishes of those who represent our faculty, and in direct violation of the understanding. Under these circumstances, we consider that you must necessarily be unwilling to retain the property which we gave to you on the foregoing understanding. By a restoration of that property to us, we trust to be able, as we have always been in the past, to carry on our institution with success, and by harmonious action, which under the present circumstances is impossible of attainment, to pro- mote the prosperity of both our institutions. We request that you will give the matter your immediate attention and re-transfer to us our prop- erty transferred to you last year. We remain, Yours very respectfully, D. Willis james, President Charles E. Miller, Vice President Francis Lynde Stetson, DireCtOr M. Polk, Director Lewis A. Stimson, Director R. A. Witthaus, Director Gilman Thompson, DireCf0f Prior to that time a committee had been ap- pointed by your President, Dr. William A1160 Butler, in pursuance of a resolution of the council dated November 5, 1897, adopted without any re- quest from us, directing the appointment of a com- mittee to investigate -the matter of the properly of the medical department and recommend to the llVard, Jecozrd New York Horpilal. Sha by Ibe First and Second Medical Division red r. c0UnCi That Hall, Fredfflf 8, ter is 35 mittee, ff .Deaf 5 to take U sirous Of You' I 3. illness of of Placing 'When resulted lf the PFOPC tion, my 1 some of fl poration. I gentlemen have more fore consie stand fully tion wisro? gentlemen that l enter and dehnit case the pr erly and tl matters rela in a medic agreement c mittee sm . by the cou Glmstances, turned or-er 'I feel rt when givin, and ml' out felumed. W1-lliS QQ iilt council bers in 3 O .The l L01 '1fl'lYQd .H , v u K F0 8 . P in Bloonriwdr., Y If 1 r -ur MMI: u'1'l flip.. v 4414.1 7, -4