Evening star., 1907-11-13
FIGHT IS ON AGAIN
Evasion Charged Against Ad-
visory Committee
OF GRANT COMMISSION
Which Has No Authority or Status
in Law.
BUT WHICH NOW DECIDES"
Discussion Of Recommendation That
Historic Trees Be Transplanted
and Statue Site Retained.
BUT WHICH NOW DECIDES

Grant memorial commission, which
yesterday decided to recommend
to the commission that, despite all
protests, the Grant statue be To-
Gated upon the originally selected
site in the Botanic Gardens, and
that such historic trees as are
found to be in the way be removed
and replanted elsewhere, is doing
its deciding, selecting and recon-
mending without any authority.
| This was the intimauon given a Star re-
porter at the Department Of Justice to-
day. 1t must be called an intimattcn be-
cause the Department Of Justice. inolvid-
| ually and collectively. must not deliver
| itself of an opinion on any point of law
| except in response to suggestion from the
proper official source. Consequently the
| answer to the reporters question as to the
status of the advisory committee of the
Grant memorial commission was effectu-
ally swathed in air-cushion verbiage and
| feather-bed phraseology. and was COM
prehensively spherical and aualificatory.
| 1t may be held by those who favor the
selected site OF the Grant statue that
the advisory committee does not of neces-
sary need either legal status or even
qualified authority in order to advise the
| memorial commission. But this, at best.
is held to be beside the point. The ad-
visory committee. as a matter of fact, has
made. quite formally if irregularly. its de-
csion In the matter of the site and that
decision. by indirection. is. to all intents
and purposes, the decision Of the memorial
| commission.
Those familiar with the subject hold
that the salient facts in this case are
| intimately similar to those concerned
in the appointment by the President.
! some years ago. OF committee Of ex-
| perts to advise the Secretary Of Agri-
| culture. The appointment OF that COM
| mittee, whose members were to serve
| without compensation, was held to be
contrary to law. and the President then
| appointed the experts as committee
| to advise him. so that he might pass
! along their assembled and assorted
| wisdom to the Secretary. In both cases
it is held that the desired elimination
| attained was the result of evasive in
| direction.
Caustic Comment.
| Rather caustic comment was heard in
| Washington today with reference to the
advisory committees main reason for
sticking to its original site plan-that to
change the location of the statue would
interfere with its plan for the improve
ment Of the Mall. as 1t would take it from
| the established axis passing from the
| Capitol to the Monument.
| But the opponents of the present plans
of the advisory committee are desirous
of knowing several things. Have any
plans for the improvement OF the Mall
been adopted? If SO. when and by whom
| Has the axis spoken of been accepted as
the established axis about which the Mall
| improvement plans will revolve? II so.
| when was it accepted-and again by
! whom?
| The plain truth is, it is said. that the
advisory committee OF the Grant m 4
mortal commission. which contains sew
! eral members of the park comm ssion
doesn't care two straws about the exact
| location of the Grant statue, as such.
What 1t does want. according to authori-
tative statements from several men In a
position to know, is pur >ly and simply
| a starting point in the line of the Mall
| Improvement plans of the park commis-
sion. With that point established-and
the location Of the Grant statue serves
with charming tmeliness 70" this pur-
pose-the park commission would then. it
| is pointed out, be in vastly better shape
'nr-and angle scheme Of city landscape
decoration down the reluctant throat OF
! the National capital.
Moving tho Big Trees.
So far as the decision of the advisory
committee to dig up the Crittenden oak
and other big historic trees is concerned,
there is also considerable to be said.
Park Commissioner Parsons Of New York
| recently wrote a letter to the engineer S
Office Of the War Department, In which
he made the statement that all the at
tempts to move big trees from one point
! TO IN he nortrc Of ,,
which he was familiar had been unsuc-
cessful, the trees having died. But this
does not alter the fact that big trees have
been transplanted most successfully. and
that any one of the big nurserymen of the
country would probably be willing and
anxious to take the job OF moving the
! Crittenden oak and other forest monarchs
! for reasonable compensation, plus the
free advertising 1t would give his busi-
ness.
| But if the members of the advisory CON-
mittee, In deciding to have the great trees
| moved, had any real hope that the jot
would be successful, they must of neces'
| sity have arranged to postpone all work
on the Grant statue for from four to 8 y
/ years. According to an authority on the
! subject. big tree can't be scooped ur
! like a piece of ragWeed. carted around.
slapped in another hole and expected to
survive the treatment. This, 1t Is sug-
| gssted, may have been the trouble with
/ the trees in New York of which Park
/ Commissioner Parson spoke in his letter
/ In order to he successful the work OF
transplanting must be done very owly
the prelim nary work being done one year,
additional work the following year and so
on. Anr so far no one has been found
who believes the advisory committee OF
the Grant memorial commission intends
to wait any appreciable length Of time in
order to make 1t more certain that the
/ trees survive the transplanting operation
1t was suggested today that those mem
bers of the advisory committee of the
Grant memorial commission who were
also members of the park commission
constituted in effect, although not numer-
ically, majority OF the advisors" and
were able to carry their plans whenever
any difference of opinion arose. In this
same connection 1t was pointed out that
these same gentlemen, members Of the
advisory committee. while standing high
in their several professions we're not emf
nently we'll qualified to decide question
of the magnitude Of this. affecting as II
does not the more comparatively trifiine
matter of the location Of the Grant
statue, but the future growth and beau
tification Of the National sapital and the
| welfare of its citizens.
Gen. Dodge's Opinion.
Gen. Grenville VI. Dodge. president OF
the Grant memorial commission. who
came over to Washington to consult with
the advisory committee. left this morning
for New York. He said just before he
took the train that the action OF the ad.
vtsory committee was not binding on the
commission. This throws no new light or
cUh i,1Af "a ~