The evening times., 1897-04-01
TRUTH ABdtT THE LIBRARY.

tne ueSlEHfiof the CDugfesslondl Library
| building, between Messrs. Smithmeyer &
/ Pclz, the original architects. and the son
| OF Gen. Casey, the Army engineer who
! carried it into execution, or the series OF
| proceedings which gave rise to the cou-
troversy. On, the 25th OF January last
! Messrs. Smthmeyer & Pelz presented a
.memoriaf'- to Congress, through Sena-
! tor blackburn, protesting with a consid-
cradle show OF temper, against the cotn-
memoratiye tablet which has been set up
| in the building, and which gives the names
| OF the Army engineers in charge OF the
! work the most conspicuous place, and, be-
| low, separated by q line, those OF Messrs.
| Smithmeyer & PeIz and OF Mr.. Edward r.
| Casey as architects of the structure ex
| aequo. 1t will be remembered that, year
or more ago, Harper Weekly published an
article oh the Library, which, as the pub
| fishers alleged, had been submitted To
| Mr.. Casey, and approved by him, the gen
eral tenor of which, especially when taken
| in connection with the dtle of the Illus
| trations, gave the impression that Mr..
| Casey was entitled to credit for the most
! important part of the architectural work
on the building
The washington Chapter of the Ameri-
! can Institute of Architects, whose members
may be presuinedto have beenfamiliar with
the facts, took up the matter, and pro-
! tested, both as body and individuals,
against the wrong so done 10 the original
designers, saying that, in their opinion,
mo one can, with propriety and honesty,
be entitledto the credit as architects Of this
building except j l.. Smithmeyer and Paul
j. Pelz. This protest Of the Washington
Chapter was taken up by the board OF
directors of the institute, and referred to
committee, consisting OF MessTs d.
Andrews and Frank Miles Day, which re-
ported that 1.-THE good work in the in
terror OF the building however, has been
designed by Mr.. Casey, and his name
ought to be placed on the tablet as the
architect to complete the work Mr.
Casey is now practicing in New York, and
the New York Architectural League next
considered the matter. The president ap-
pointed Messrs. Bruce Price and John
Galen Howard a committee to hear Mr.
Casey's version OF the affair, aud tney
reported, that, having heard this state
ment, which they believed TO he corrcet,
they thought that large credit was due
to Mr. Casey as one of the architects of the
be not only highly fitting, but merely just,
that his name should appear on the tablet
which bears the names of the architects OF
the building
Up to January 25 the matter had not
reached too acute stage. While IL was
unfortunate that Mr casey's examination
of the Harper's Weekly article had not
resulted in making it perfectly plain that
Messrs. Smithmeyer Pelz were the sole
architectural designers Of the main fabric
of the buildings SO that the Washington
Chapter would not have felt it necessary
to make public correction this correction
was a simple affair, and the reports sub
mitted to the executive committee OF the
institute and TO the league, certainly gave
Mr. Casey full credit for what he had done,
SO that he could well afford to treat Messrs.
Smithmeyef & Pelz's memorial TO Congress
with magnanfmity, or even TO help them
in regainlng that artistic honor of which
the Harper's Weekly article had been, un-
doubtedly without intention on his part,
a chief medns in tiepriving them Instead
of this, he has sent to US and, we presume,
to others. docum ent, called a Reply TO
Senate Document No. SS,'' this being the
title Of Messrs 1Smithmeyer & Pelz's pro-
test. which. 20 say tie least, is ill-advised
in tone and Illogical in argument.
Nobody has ever denied his claim TO
credit for what he has done in connection
with the interior work of the building
but it is surprising 10 find an architect
seriously saying, as he does in this paper,
that I'm the Library OF Congress the in
terror architectural effects seem to be
of more Importance than thsoe of the eX-
terior;'' and that the architecture Of the
building which MeSsrs Smithmeyer Il
PelZ lay claim to consists merely of bare
walls and penetrations.' IL is hardly neces-
sary to say that architects would agree
that the person who devises in full con-
structive perfection the grounnd- plan OF
a building. and the bare walls and pene-
trations' of its elevations and sections is
the architectural designer Of the building,
whatever may be done with the profiles Of
the mcl,lng, or the details Of carved
and painted decoration; and Mr. Casey's
claim that the Smithmeyer & Pelz plan
was only used by his father Ito expedite
the work" and dthat fundamental changes
were made in it, consisting OF omittng in
terror wings and connectinc-pieces,'
changing the form of the eX-
one round in horizontal section" and
leaving out the "cupolas on the central
pavilion :" which, as he says, are just such
changes as are sometimes necessary to
convert a poor design into a good one, = is
ONLY further evidence that the building as
carried out, is substantially the fruit OF
Messrs smitbmeyeT & Pelzs study and
thought and that, If the designers of the
substance of building are entitled to
more honor than the person who works out
the details and decoration, or who makes
the contracts, and supeTvises their execu-
ton, their names should be placed at the
head OF those whom the tablet is in
tended TO commem crate in connection
with the building.
There is of course. a possible question
as to whether the superintendent, the per-
son who studies the details, or the archi-
tect who devises the scheme of the build
ing performs the more important duty;
but we fancy that architects will hold
but one and the same opinion as to this,
and we do not believe that Mr. Casey
would look with eQuanimity upon an
inscription on one OF his future buildings
which bracketed his name with that OF
his head draughtsman and the clerk-of-the-
works, however brilliantly they might have
accomplished their tasks. We hope he is
wise enough1te bear with patience sug-
gestion. that treatment which does not
look Objectionable when applied to other
people. often wears quite "a different as.
pect when endured by ones self Mean
while. we can wish nothing better for him
than to be spared. in his own future career,
-. nf hair ad
supplanted in his professional work, q