Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1910-03-31
BY II. w. ROOD

about the statue of General Lee in
the hall OF statuary in the capitol at
Washington There has been received
at Grand Army headquarters great
bundle of pamphlets containing an
ADDRESS upon the subject by Comrade
Jasper T. Darling, past commander
CT Columbia Post, No. 706, depart
nent of Illinois. 1t is in positive OPP
position to allowing the statue of Lee
TO remain in the hall, and was de-
livered at great campfire OF the ~
g. A. r. posts in the city. Those
who would Like to read this speech
may have copy of it upon request.
Having been asked many questions
about this statue, whether it is al
ready in the hall at Washington, and
whether, If it IS there, it can remain
only upon approval of congress,
wrote a letter to Congressman Mel
son concerning the matter, and have
received the following information.
Since this must be Of general in
terest, ] am putting it where others
can read it. Here 1t is:
Letter to Mr.. Nelson.
March 10th, 1910
Hon. John NJ. Nelson,
House of Representatives.
Dear Sir:
In response to the purpose of your
visit to my Office today, / am enclos-
ing for your observation a copy OF
the law setting apart the old hall OF
the house of representatives as a
hall of statuary for the states.
Consideration of this law will show
you that under its terms each state
has a perfect right to place therein
two statues of persons selected by
the state, and it would require another
act Of congress to prevent state
from placing it's selection in statu-
airy hall. Furthermore, while stat
ues have been formally accepted by
congress, It is not a question of ne
cessity, but one of courtesy. Con-
gress has done this in several in
stances, but only as a courtesy to
the states. To repeat. any state
could place its selected statues in
the hall. and that would be the end
of the matter as the law stands to-
day.
AS you mentioned the Lee statue,
which has invited some criticism,
you can see that no further action is
necessary on the part of the con-
gress, and it would require a separ-
ate act to reject it.
In this particular case, Virginia has
selected Lee and Washington to rep
resent the state of Virginia The old
plaster statue of Washington which
was formerly in Statuary Hall was
not presented by the state of Vir-
ginia, but was secured by Thomas
Jefferson, and was replica of the
Houdon statue in the state house at
Richmond, Virginia.
/ am returning herewith the letter
of Mr.. Rood.
Hoping this information will serve
your purpose, l am,
Very respectfully,
Elliott Woods,
Superintendent U. S. Capitol Build
ing and Grounds.
The Resolution.
Joint Resolution Setting apart the
old hall of the house of representa-
tives as a hall of statuary.
Whereas the old hall of the' house
of representative being now worse
than uselessly occupied as a place of
storage and traffic, and as It must
of necessity remain a thoroughfare
between the two wings OF the CAPT
toll: therefore
Resolved by the senate and house
of representatives of the United
States of America in congress
assembled, That the President be,
and he is hereby. authorized to in
vite each and all the states to pro-
vide and furnish statues in marble
or bronze, not exceeding two in num-
Der for each state. of men who have
been citizens thereof and llustrious
for their historic renown or from dis
tinguished civic or military services,
such as each state shall determine to
be worthy of this national common
Grafton; and that they be placed in
the old hall of the house of repre-
sentatives. in the capitol of the United
States, which is hereby set apart, or
so much thereof as may be neces-
sary, as national Statuary Hall, for
the purposes herein indicated, and
the same shall be under the care
and supervision of the commissioner
of public buildings"
Approved April 10, 1864.
So there you have it, comrades.
The statue IS there, rebel uniform
and all, and it will stay there. We
may protest. If we wish,-that is if II
will do us any good, but nothing will
come of it.
More than this: if the state of
Mississippi chooses to send TO the hall
the statue of JEFF DAVIS, nothing in
the present law can stand in the way
of it. And in the same way still
others of the same character may
thus be honored. Next?
Some More Good Schools.
The work of patriotic instruction
has given me an opportunity to meet,
during the last three weeks, with the
good people of Verona, Mt. Horeb
and Lake Mills in union church SER
vices; and on the following Mondays
with the schools of those communi,
ties. In these places the congrega-