Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-06-28
Public Wen in Private Places.

70 the Editor OF the EVENING STAB.
The italians at yicksburg have asked Con-
Crcss to allow them to place statue to Carl
baldi in the National Cemetery at that place.
Congress hesitates. as well it may. to grant the
request, but the query arises: Why should any
body want to place public statue in a ceme-
terry? A cemetery is place of sepulture and
If friends of the buried wish to mark the resting
places of their loved ones with monuments that
is an affair of their own. with which the public
has nothing to do. But when public monu-
ment Is To be erected, either by private subscrip
ton. or by municipal. or state, or national eX-
penditure. then the public is concerned, and
anybody and every body has right TO an opin-
Ion on any and all questions relating to it. The
place for the Garibaldi monument at Vicksbura.
Is In some public square of that city. If there be
no public place suitable for such monument. it is
Incumbent on the city TO provide place. that is
If the proposed monument is to be one worthy
of public site. This principle. too should be
applied to other cases which are under consider
alton. 1t is understood that the citizens of Gin
cinnati are TO remove the remains of eX-Chief
Justice Chase to that city place them IN cemetery
there and erect a fine monument over them.
The Cincinnati monument to Salmon p. Chase
should not be buried in any cemetery. Ii is to
be essentially public monument and should be
In a public place. So of the effort to remove the
remains OF Jefferson TO one of the cemeteries of
Washington and place the monument for which
Congress has appropriated $4,000 over them.
Jeffers0ns remains should stay in Virginia IL
his descendants cannot place monument over
them, Virginia or Congress should. and here in
Washington, in one OF the public squares a grand
monument should 90 up in his honor. The
Presidents of the United States when they die
should be buried "a they always have been,
among the people from whom they came. and
there their remains should lie and be cared for
either by their friends their states. or By the
nation. in a simple and inexpensive manner
We want no Westminster Abbey no church of
st. Denis for the interment of our republican
kings Of a day. They are always of the people
to the people they. as rule, return, and among
the people let them be buried. Those who, like
Washington and Jefferson. were illustr;ous
should have public monuments at the capital
erected at the national expense. and fifty years
after they are dead is time enough to do this
unless in exceptional cases. when they have died
by violence. So should other illustrious citizens
be honored by public monuments here. A bill
IL introduced in Congress for a monument to
Franklin, and the chief fault is that the sum
proposed is only $50. 600. One hundred thou
sand dollars is little enough for monument at
the national capital to him to whom next tC
washington we owe most of all for our indie
pendence. Nor should any less sum be expended
for monument to Jefferson here but it should
not be thrust out OF sight in cemetery
There may be good reasons for the monument
to Garfield at Cleveland being put in a Gene
terry The site is said to be commanding one
and If So that, in the absence of any other equal
~ gOOd One VIII partially compensate for the
mistake of placing it there: but a modest or even
an elaborate monument over GarieId's grave
put MP by the family. and public monument
no matter how grand. on the finest site in some
public or otherwise conspicuous place i'm or
about Cleveland would be better, if such pro-
ject were practicable.
There Is. however. further reason than the
one that public monuments should not be placed
tn the seclusiOn of cemeteries. why the Garibal-
d monument at Vicksburg should not be placed
IN the national cemetery there. These spots are
the resting places of the bones of those who
fought and died for the Union. Already there
Ii encroachment on the soldiers exclusive do
main Decoration day is not sacred to his me-
nOry, as it is intended it should be-. but the re-
cent dead, not soldiers. are on that day sure to
have flowers scattered on their fresh graves
either by grief-stricken friends, or if the de-
ceased be person Of note. by seekers after no
teriety- 1t should be considered an insult to
every soldier in the latter case and an indsere-
eon IN every other. To put a statue to Carl
oaldi in national cemetery would not be an in
suit to the soldier. only an indscretiOn; to put
The statue Of a merely notorious person in such
cemetery would be an insult. Neither should
ee, nor, probably, will be, permitted.
A. SOLDIER.