The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-09-15
The Morgan-Pettus Memorial
By Clara CaHaway.


in the helpless years of Reconstruction. Since the days when Morgan and Pet tus drew the broad indeltble color line in Alabama, and wrested the reins of government from the hands of the alien. we have looked up to them as our political fathers. And now the time is come when this strong sentiment-- this fliaI devotion. this pride. this ioy- aIty, this respect. this love--must be crystalized into one grand expression. and this expression must be memorial as great as the traditions these men have left us.
 The erection of the memorial to Ala bama's senators is an opportunity for realization of an ideal. What would such an accomplishments not mean to the progress of art in our midst2 Here Is a need that the erection of a me- morial commensurate with the great ness of the men it represents can fill. Selma and Alabama can honor not only themselves, but the nation. with this monument. They can give to American art a stimulus and to Southern nrt an Impulse. Money should be no consid- sration, for Alabama must not cheap en her generosity. stab her sentiment or dishonor her patriotism by not erect- ing an ideal monument to her ideal representatives. The greatness Of a monument lies not in its height or iTs its bulk, but in its conception and exe- cutioD. A fault with our American art is that we build something big or tall. or pile up some granite. and call 1t a monument. The Washington boriu- mont is a step backward toward Egypt ian pyramid building and that of Bun- ker Hill Is as characterless as a pagan 0balisk, as if massiveness were more than brain or heart. and as if Greece had taught the world no lessons In sculpture. This is also noticeable in ,the vast number of Confederate monu- ments" that dot our Southland. Though a monument placed high Is an error, fortunately the most of these are high enough to hide the defects. European monuments. and the best in America. ars made genuine works of art and placed where they can be seen,
 The citizens of Alabama are e whole hearted people and will give more gem erously if they know their money going for genuineness when they con- tribute to the Morgan -Pettus Memorial Fund. Let them have the best work by the best artist and thus express in the highest form their appreciation of Ala.
 bama's statesmen. Let the Pettus~ Morgan monument represent these men as sons of Selma and of Alabama, and let 1t do this by showing the peoples taste for beauty and love for genuine ness in art as well as in men. Let us not lower our ideals in carrying them out, The monument Alabama erects to her illustrious representatives should bear the names not only of John Tyler Morgan and Edmund Winston Pettus. but the name of the best sculptor that can be engaged to make it. Alabama does not want a memorial purchased at
 market prices from a firm or manufact- ory that turns out its wares by the hundreds and accepts just as many orders as it can get. Alabama wants her memorial n bear the imprint of ideals and per
 sonality. The soul of honor of conn Sence and of patriotism must glow ir | this movement, and 1t will take a soul not a machine. to put 1t there. Thi'