The New York herald., 1876-07-26
Concerning Monuments

The Senate has had under debate the
proposition to complete the monument to
Washington at the national capital This
monument has for long time been un-
finished. It was commenced in 184S and
has thus far cost about $3.50, ,OO0 It WAS
proposed to build it to height of six hun
dred feet, and it has now reached one hun
dred and seventy-four feet. Money has been
raised by private subscription, but as nearly
. thirty years effort have not completed more
than one-third of the work we can we'll un-
derstand why it should be taken up by
Congress. If there is honor in Congress
monument to Washington should be built.
In 1888 Congress resolved that the people of
the United States should erect monument
to Washington. This was at the close of
the Revolutionary war, when wewere flushed
with patriotism and victory. The matter
died out. We were poor. Party spirit ran
high and some people were denouncing
Washington just as some people are now
denouncing Grant. Washington died in
1899, and thereupon Congress again re-
solved to erect the monument. Fifty years
passed on before the work began and now,
ninety-three years after the first solemn
promise of Congress to build the monument,
it is still unfinished.
Speaking of monuments, we notice in
the correspondence Of the Rochester Demo
crat and Chronicle that this city is def
cient in monuments. We have scarcely one
outside of the Park that has dignity or
value. The Worth monument is chaste and
commentaries man whose name and
career are quite forgotten. There is
modest monument to Montgomery, the Irish
hero Of the Revolution, in st. Paul's church,
seen from Broadway, but how few of the
hurrying crowd ever pause and look at it
Hamilton, in some respects the greatest and
most intellectual statesman of the Revolu-
ton. lies in Trinity yard under modest
monument far away from the sidewalk,
where it cannot be seen. Lord Sterling,
who was one of Washington's best lieuten-
ants, is buried in Trinity we believe. There
is disposition to adorn the Park with
monuments, and we have few statues scat
tered around. But if another Old Mortality
came to New York he would find a generous
task in readorning the forgotten graves of
some of our worthy dead.
JUSTICE TO AN INJURED MAN. is q
soul-harrowing narrative in the papers to the
effect that Stokes, now in prison for the
murder OF James Fisk, Jr., has really been
locked up in cell, dressed in prison clothes
and compelled to work. The sympathy of
ell humane men is requested for this unfor-
tunate man. We had supposed that Stokes
enjoyed the best of fare and was having a
good time, living in retirement as defer
ence to public opinion, but ready to come
out in October and run for Congress on a
reform ticket But it really seems that he
is in prison and at work. Considering that
he is 4 murderer, and was sent to jail rs q
murderer, it is, perhaps, not surprising that
he is in Jail. But we do not see that he re-
quires sympathy. That should be given to
the man he slew in cold blood
EupHoNY IN THE CANvAss.-An exchange
points out that while the republican ticket,
Hayes and Wheeler" sounds like a squeak
ing treble falsetto the democratic ticket,
.Tilden and Hendricks" sounds like the
roar of seventy-four gunshp. One is
feeble and disheartening the other rolls
like shout of victory. We anticipated this
difficulty, as our readers will remember, and
advised the Cincinnati Convention to name
ticket that would reverberate, es-
pecially in a canvass like this, when
the republicans need every element of