New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-12-16

THE OBELISK And THE P1RK COMMISSION
So long as Mr.. Wenman was clothed with
power to devastate the Public Parks, securely
insolent in his belief that Tammany was omnl-
potent and perhaps eternal, it was dangerous
to make any protest against his acts of vaudal-
ism. Any appeal made to him by people Of in
telligence and taste would of itself suffice to
make him more stubborn in his insensate Opp0-
sitiOG to their wishes. When the entire city re-
VOTED against the proposal to set up the obeiisk
on a green knoll in the Park, Mr.. Wenmans
characteristic deiyerance was: "WheIeas the
donor of the transportation of the mOnollth Is
4" said to favor its erection on the mound there
fore shall vote to have it placed there" OF
course consideration like this could be en-
tertaiDed by thc owners OF the Park. Ii might
be allowed to mitigate their hostility to the
scheme But Nj. Wenman, as president OF the
Park Commission, intIusted with the duty Of
conserving the peoples pleasure ground and
protecting it against intrusion, was the one man
who had no business to listen to, or be swayed
by, such an argument. This formal declaration
OF contemptuous disregard for the rights of the
people, this aVowed determination of Mr.. Wen
man to use bis power as trustee against the IN
terests OF the people who paid him for ms ser
vices, will probably stand as the low water
mark of the faithlessness and degradation
which IN official presumably responsible can
reach. In precisely the same Split, Mr.. Wen
man ordered n noble row of elms chopped
down, because a Tammany man. who thought
the drives in the Park were meant for a trOtting
course, assured him that the trees were in the
way OF his carriage when he swung in from
| Filth-ave.
But Mr.. Wenman has been pitchforled back
| into private life, and Mr.. Wales is now a re-
sponsbe Park Commissioner responsible not
| for tho mistakes of his predecessors and Of the
| past but for his own action and the future. If
| the peOrle's rights have been sacrlhced 10y
| illogical votes, why should they not be restored
by votes that can be justified by reason
Everybody knows that the artistic significance
OF the obclsk will be lost if it is set up on a
mound and surrounded by fence like mOnu-
mont IL a graveyard lot. On the contrary, the
full meaning of the obelisk as work OF art will
be brought out with emphasis if it is placed in
! the vesiibule of the Fifth-aye. entrance to the
Park while rs a memento OF Egyptian culture,
as n monograph of primitive literature, it
would most appropriately front the Scholars
! Gate. If placed In Mr. Wenman's site it has no
architectural relation to the Museum of Art, aud
the Park itself Will be disfgured by having one
| Of its eminences shaved off, its trees chopped
down, its turf dug away, and its soft green lawn
! divided by hard lines of gravel. MIR. Wales is
on record against this barbarism. So is Mr..
! Lane. SO is Mr.. Green. All these gentlemen
! favor the plaza site; and if Mr. Conover does
not, he stands defying the popular will in
majestic isolation. Why, then, should not the
reoi ganized Park Commission rescind a resolu-
| ton which outraged popular opinion, aud re-
scind it at onceY Here is fragrant instance of
official misdemeanor, fortunately not consum-
mated and here Is u conspicuous opportunity
for a Commission which represents the people
to prove how ample is its power for progress
and reform.
| 1t is generally understood that Mr.. Vanderbilt
is the gentleman to whose liberality the city is
indebted tor the monolith. 1t can readily be
seen why he should feel delicacy about ex-
pressing any desire to have the work set up so
near his own residence. But the modest con-
cealment of his generosity should the more
powerfully incline the Commission to this
act of justice toward him and the city. 1t the
obelsk is misplaced, it will one day be re-
/ moved, as THE TRIBUNE has already given
notice. 1t will pay the city better to assume
the cost now than 1t will to wait year, as in
the case OF the Scott statue, OF two years, AS in
the case of the Morse statue which were both
replanted after they had been set up where
they did not belong. The trestle and all its
parapnernalia will ultimately DO needed to take
the obelisk TO the plaza. Why not use them
now 7 Can any friend of the Parks suggest a
more appropriate plan for signalling and com
! memolating the downfall OF Wenmani
| The letter from Mr.. Archibald Forbes which We
printed the other day opened an interesting branch