Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-05-13
Names Great Poet Hon.
ored by a Statue.
One Of First Statues Of a
Civilian in Washington.
Sons Of Maine Who Are Honored
At the National Capital.


iaD.-The first statue to a Maine man,
ever reared in this city, outside of the
Capitol building was unveiled last
week when a large and distinguished
company did honor to the memory of
Henry w. Longfellow 1t is unique,
in one particular. that it is one of the
first statues to be reared in Washing
ton to civilian. A few scientists
have been honored here in bronze, but
many public square and reservation
is adorned with pedestrian or equestri-
an statues of soldiers. The incongru-
ity OF this for a nation, whose deeds
have been of peace rather than of war
has been much remarked upon. There
has been a statue of Daniel Webster
for years in Scott Circle, a couple Of
blocks from where the Longfellow
statue stands and there is a statue
of Benjamin Franklin just off a little
triangle on Pennsylvania Avenue. But
both the Webster and the Franklin sta
| tues were the gifts in large part of a
private citiZen-Stilson Hutchins, who
| came originally from New Hampshire
Congress paid for the pedestal of the
Webster statue but contributed moth
| ing to the FRANKLIN statue which was
| a gift to the city.
Ordinarily this predominance of mil
itary statues would not be SO notice.
| able. but Washington has now be-
! come city of many statues. A dozen
or more new ones have been erected
| or authorized during the last two or
| three years and it is becoming a city
one of whose remarkable attractions
| will be the likenesses of it's great men
! standing forth from the public reser-
| vations. Congress has spent many
| hundreds of thousands of dollars on
| these works of the sculptor's art but,
while it has been lavish in spending
| money to honor the soldiers of the
| Republic, has been very skinny about
voting money to perpetuate the names
| and deeds of it's statesmen and civil
ian great Twenty-Five different Am
| orleans have attained to the office of
President, prior to President Taft, but
| none of them has been give a statue
in Washington, except those who had
| gained military fame. There are
equestrian statues to Washington and
Jackson in the public parks. Gar
| field has a statue near the Capitol,
but it was erected in part by his for
mel comrades in the Army A splen-
did statue to Grant is now being erect
ed in the grounds of the Botanical
Gardens. When it is completed it will
be one of tie finest works of its class
in the city and the country, in fact
| will be memorial rather than a sta
| tue. A memorial to Lincoln has been
| authorized and It'll is now only a aues-
| ton of short time when he will be
fol \ M, Kac,
form. But for years the erection of
statues in Washington was almost
| solely to great generals of the Civil
| War. Thomas and Mcpherson, who
were military men of great ability al
| though hardly in any sense of the
| term the leading generals of the Civil
War We're among the first to be pic
tured to the throngs of the Capitol
in statues. The great army societies
have been responsible for many of these
statues. The societies of armies of the
Cumberland and the Tennessee brought
about the erection of a magnificent
statue to Sherman a few years ago
and later the society of the army of
the Potomac was instrumental in Sc
curing here a statue of Mcclellan. A
statue of Sheridan is also a recent ac
QUESTION. Accordingly a visitor to
Washington need have little difficulty
in getting an accurate idea of how the
Civil War leaders looked, for much
study was bestowed upon all these
military art productions.
During the last decade there has been
considerable successful effort in hav-
ing built in Washington statues of the
great soldiers and heroic figures of the
Revolutionary war. Most of these will
be grouped in Lafayette Square, where
tn. statue of Lafayette was first put
and which is now adorned also by a
statue of Rochambeau which is the
gift of the French government No
statue of a hero of the War of 1872
has been erected here, but Gen. Scott,
as hero of the Mexican War, has a
fine equestrian statue in Scott Circle,
named after him.
Now it is thought by many that the
dedication and unwilling Of a Long
fellow statue may mark a turning of
sentiment in Congress which eventual
ly Will lead to more statue remem
branceS OF the men who helped main
tain the Government and who have
led signally in literature and industry.
There are dozens of great names in
the legislative line, such as Clay,
Blaine and Reed, and a number Of
great cabinet officers. whose services
have been of great value to the causes
of civilization and good government.
Scart as the governments recogni
ton has been of great civilians in the
matter of statues, however. it has been
very generous in handing down to pos
terity fairly good portraits of them.
That practice has prevailed from
early times and every Department has
big collection of portraits of its for
mer head officials. There are, of
course, many Maine men and natives
of Maine among them-such as Fes
sender, McCulloch, and Lot NJ. Nor
rill IN the Treasury and Elihu B.
Washburne. who was appointed from
Illinois, and Blaine, in the State De-
partment: and Horatio King, in the
Postoflice Department.
Blaine's portrait is hung not only in
the state Department, but also in the
gallery of portraits of Speaker Of the
House A bust of Hannibal Hamlin
adorns a niche in the Senate chamber
along with some thirty others of men