The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-03-16
Lee Monument.
RIcHSoNr, VA, March 10, 1871.

Lee Monument. l
R1cHxoSp, VA, March 10, 1877.
To TIE Editors of the Dispatch:
Gent,emeu. the Wing In its Issue Of
Yesterday devoted column and a hat 70
remarks on my former letters, now en-
close to you an article which was sent to me
sonae DAYS ayo, and which Ishase hitherto
retained from publication from the nope
that the :" Board OF Managers" OF the Lee
Monument Association would before TINS
have seen the injustice to foreign aTtls1s ~
limiting the time within which to sena III
models. designs, &c. to six months, leaV,bs
fhe onestion of the Capitol Square to altcF
consideration.
The writer OF the enclosed article is Ger
tainly one who has taken IS nsuch dcttUe nn.
terest In collecting funds for the monutn s,as
"a anv one else. North or South, ana the
s.Board OF Managers are. noso Iar Det.ei
known to that writer than to me: 800,
On the Sd of March. believe, tne oo ,s,.
~ Nanapers'' did resolve " 70 open coihle-
fition for the work to the artists OF the
worid.,' but the advertisement above she
name of the secretary OF that Boaid dld not
faithfully carry out that resolve, as nave
before shown
From the Whigfef yesterday conclude
that the invitation was only meant 10 De
complimentary to foreign artists, as we are
singularly informed by the writer OF tnat
article that cit is not the rule in WORKS Oh
this kind to call for proposals" and. IN fact,
that men OF the highest rank in their probes
sion rarely enter the lists Of competition. rs
their fame fully supplies their hands with
all they can do.
Yet we are Immediately afterwards told
that there is not an artist OF note In TINS OF
the old world who has not "worked out an
his own mind his conception OF what the
work ought to be, ii he had not commI'ea
it to paper or plaster"
donbt il the writer in the Wing knows
much about "artists who have risen to the
highest rank in their profession" DO
know that his opinion about their entering
into competition differs very widely from
that OF Slgnor Castellani, Of Rome; than
whom there is now no better Judge OF art
living.
It is true that Houdon, Hart, and Foley
had no competitors; and many OF us must
have often regretted it as to the two hrst.
But the Washington monument was open
to the competition, really and not nominaiiy,
OF the whole world. II the Lee monuments
to bear any fair comparison with 1t, then the
whole world should be honestly invited 10
compete, and given time enough to SEND IN
models and designs; and not be invited ana
have the door slammed in their faces JUST as
they arrive by the fastest train.
remain, gentlemen, yours truly,
J. D.
It must surely crate on the feelings OF
every southerner devoted-as every south
erner is-to the memory Of our immortal
Be- Lee to read under the head OF proposals, in
the advertising columns OF daily neWspa-
per, the advertisement Of the Board OF Man
ayers Of the Lee-Monument Association for
"models, drawings, and Designs" WHICH
"will be received at this Office up to the hour
OF noon on the first Monday in September,
1877, for a colossal equestrian statue OF Gen
erar Robert E. Lee" &C., &c.
We confess that we read the advertise
ment with shudder and dropped the pa
per in disgust at having thus seen the means
to secure an artist for what we hope will
be the noblest work Of art in America
Just such as those which would be used in
securing bids for railroad contract. The
impossibility OF any designs and models
worthy Of. the subject being prepared in
the limited space Of six months must strike
eyery one. We are sure that the Board OF
Managers must see this themselves now,
and that they will withdraw their 'tpro-
posals.N Indeed, we suppose this will be
necessity, as we are authorized to state that
the ladies who compose the Ladies' Lee
Monument Committee, and whose fund Is
nearly double that Of the Board Of Managers,
refuse positively to let any Of the money
they control 60 to monument whose
models are to be prepared in such haste, and
have notified the Board to this effect.
The ladies, moreover, had already taken
steps for procuring designs and models
which will secure for them the best talent IN
the artistic world. Through an italian gen.
tleman whose taste Is considered the finest
in Europe they have offered prize OF
thousand dollars for the best design Of an
equestrian statue Of General Lee. Circu-
lars are to be distributed in Germany, Italy,
France, and England offering this prize.
The artists are not limited as to time in pre-
pairing these models, and they are to be fur
nished with busts, pictures, and photo
graphs Of the General. A meeting OF the
most talented men in Rome is to be called,
and they are to give their opinion on the
merits of the designs offered; SO that the COM
mittee will have the aid OF the superior taste
and knowledge of Europeans. In letter
sent to the Board lastweek March 3d) by the
ladies' committee, in which they decline to
assign the erection of this monument to any
artist who applies for it without competi-
ton, they allude to the steps they them
selves had taken to secure superior artist.
The Board Of Managers, we do not doubt,
did not understand from the ladies' letter
that they had gone as far as they have done
in taking steps to get designs, &c. Yet it
Is difficult to see how such 4 misunder-
standing could have arisen when they eX-
pressed themselves as clearly as they did.
In. proof OF this we are authorized by these
ladies to give the following as an extract
from this letter; and we are glad to give it,
as it will satisfy those who are naturally
anxious on the subject that they will not be
betrayed nor enticed into any hasty action
in the matter, and, as they express it, that
they appreciate fully that their task is IS a
solemn and sacred one" In this letter to
the Board OF Managers they say:
"We cannot forget that the fine eques-
trian statues now existing have been pro-
duced by the highest effort OF matured
genius, and that such monuments must
ever be the noblest and most elaborate form
of sculpture. When such work is design
ed to go down to posterity as m exponent
Of the nations devotion and admiration for
our immortal Lee the task OF selecting its
author must be considered solemn as
well as sacred one.
"Under this view Of the case, we have
already taken steps to have models Of the
highest excellence laid before us, that, aided
by your committee, we might make selec-
tim after having AT least done ALI that eould