The sun., 1908-05-03
DISCOED AMONG The D, A. R.
MS. DON ain MLEiN, THE MEAD,
hCCUSED or TYRANNY.
Protests Against Her Action Rt the Recent
C0I.Eress In WaShInEtOn -diO,aES On
which Suggest That ID. A. H." Stands
for Daughters Of the Annual RumpuS. !"


which Suggest That I'D. A. H." Stands
for "DAuEhters Of the Annual RumpUs" :"
WASHINGTON. May 2.--Ths Daughters
NJ the Annual Rumpus have met rs usual,
scrapped as usual and gone homo with tue
usual excess baggage outfit Of heartburn
lngs and wrath.
The Annual Rumpus' version Of the
letters d. A. r. Ia the iavorite But there
are others One peaoeable person suggested
Daughters Of the Amiabls Read djustment ="
But a we'll known New York woman de-
clared that from that time forward they
should mean for her "the Daughters oI
Anarchy and Rebellion
The anarchy is laid at the door Of Mrs
Donald Mclean OF New York, while goody
number Of the daughters are attending
70 the rebellion. Mrs Mel ean s head oi the
National Society Of the d. A. r. She is even
more than that As one woman said:
She's practically the whole body and
would like 10 be the soul. too
Mrs Mclean is a remarkable womsO.
Sho fought tooth and nail for years for the
Office Of president general Of the society.
She built up her machine with the shrewd-
ness and persistence Of politician
She campaigned constantly Al the
annual conventions her voice a big one
for a oman was the most familiar sound
unless It was the whack Of the gayel calling
her to order
She was in the minority in those DAYS
and was always seethog in protest Dele
gates 10 the present convention recall
tho fact that in the old days the presiding
officer was in r chronic state Of attempting
O. s1uelch Mrs Mclean who was always
rushing M the aisle determined to he
heard. and was not infrequeuty repulsed
with difficulty at the steps to the platform
Itself which steps she repeatedly attempted
10 take by storm.
Finally she secured the Office she had
50 hey heart upon Along with II she
annexed as healthy a crop Of enemies a. any
able bodied woman aver had TO handle
Scores o' her opponents did no hesitate
tnnuuly that Mrs. Mclean had achieved her
victory hy the use Of questionable methods
Her own State became more and more
,n,i led against her. aud this year defeated
th, Mclean State candidate by an over
whclwiHg majority.
In the meantime however, she made
hca iway in the national society She Is a
woman Of great vitality, with sense Of
humor and a rich and ready laugh. Many
10. The delegates would like tn have her cut
oIt her Jokes and the laugh and put more
business into the proceedings,
Put the rank and file who either do not
realize or do not care thet they are not
much more than dummies in the COnven-
lions. have stood by her in the national
elections. There was no real revolt until
the question OF bonding the society for the
completion Of Memorial Continental Hall
arose.
This memorial hall is a conspicuous ex-
ample Of the manner in which the d, A. X :
in sundrv cases have been premature In
action. A certain woman gets TO be presi-
dent general OF the society. She forthwith
evolves some great and glorious scheme and
pushes il as hard as she can in order to have
the honor attending it belong to her and
her administration.
When Mrs Daniel Manning was president
general plaster equestrian statre was
presented TO the city Of Paris. Wait for il
10 he executed in bronze? Oh no; that
would carry Il over into another admins
tration. 80 the pla ster statue was pre-
santed away back In 1900. and At latest re-
ports was still there though decidedly the
worse for wear.
SO il was with the wonderful Memorial
Hall. which was to be the greatest thing
Of the kind ever attempted by a national
organization Of women Instead Of raising
the funds necessary or providing some way
of assuming an indebtedness sufficient to
complete the building, they got together
enough money TO make start and laid
the cornerstone four years ago. They
went ahead until the money gave out and
then they had to stop.
To-day Memorial Hall is in q parlous
condition. 1t has cost. building and site.
close TO $500. 600. Nothing about it il COM
plete, either inside or outside.
Portions Of the construction which should
be protected from the weather are exposed
and are rapidly deteriorating Ordinarily
il looks like an abandoned folly going 10
ruin at an alarming rate Of speed.
The honor Of laying the cornerst one ot
this rather premature enterprise belonged
10 Mrs Charles W. Fairbanks, who pre-
ceded Mrs. Mclean. The society being
all tangled up with the Memorial Hall prof.
ect il il OF course out Of the question for
Mrs. Mclean to try to inaugurate any new
acheme which shall shed lustre on her regime
The best she can do is to put through
plan for finishing up the totterng enterprise
Of her predecessor.
Nobody, especially nobody who sees the
hall as il IL at present, denies that such
an achievement would be an honor to Mrs.
Mclean. The trouble has come about
because OF her alleged autocratic and
tyrannioal methods In pushi ng her plans
through the convention.
Foremost in the chorus OF protest has
been a Washington woman, Mrs. Ballinger.
not unknown TO fame as the great Ameri-
can objector In view Of the fact that this
lsdy ia Mrs Balinger. II is inferred that
al least once in her life she did say yes.
But acauiescence seems to have become
= lost art with her. With the aid OF long
forefnger and a gold lorgnette two things
which she takes turns in shaking at Mrs.
Mclean. this particular Daughter has led
the Annual Rumpus.
Aad the funny part Of II is that Mrs
Mclean, who once wore path IN the md
ila aisle trying TO protest against Injustice
toward the minority is now occupied in
trying to squelch Mrs. Balhnger, who like
q loreangered, lorgnetted Nemesis, accuses
Mrs Mclean Of high handed tyranny. Mrs,
Rannger is like the cherubim and seraphim