The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-08-10
THE BEST OF REASONS.

Statuary Hall, in the National capitol
at Washington, is a fruitful source of
discussion in the East. Attorney Gen
eral Wickersham. on being applied to by
PRESIDENT Taft for an opinion as to the
| power of Congress or the Nation in
any of its departments to censor or SUI
pervlse the offerings of States for
statues to 90 in that Hall, replied that
no supervisory power exists in the Ma.
tlonal Government; that the States can
furnish for that Hall statues Of such Of
their distinguished citizens as they may
select, the only limitation being that
they cannot supply more than two in
| number.
The question arose upon the Offering
by Virginia of the statue of General
| Robert l.. Lee in Confederate uniform.
The Attorney General s opinion that the
National Government has no power of
rejection admits that statue The At
torney General, however, accompanies
his opinion with the statement that sit
is probably true that when this Act was
passed, Congress did not contemplate
that any State would designate one or
more of its citizens who were engaged
in the War of the Rebellion against the
United States as persons lllustrious for
their historic renown or for dstin-
guished civic or military services, whose
statues should be placed in this Hall J"
Upon this the New York Commercial
protests, and demands to know tex
actly what warrant is there for such ar
assertion and it goes on to argue that
both branches of Congress contained
many Southern and Northern members
and that 1T is easy to conceive that the
men from the South had an mind the
perpctuation of the Robert +. Lee type
for selection by their States for the con-
ferring of this honor, and it concludes
thereupon that what Congress contem-
plated Hmay have comprehended just
what the Attorney General thinks now
that it did not. -
This assumption, however, is hardly
tenable in view of the fact that the Con-
stitution and laws of this country are
framed for the honoring of loyalty and
propriety of selecting, as examples for
| National renown and for perpetual re-
membrance, the names and statues of
men whose chief fame came by reason
of their assaults upon the Government,
ought to be evident. 1t is not logical to
suppose that any government would pro-
vide means for special distinction and
| honor to those who are most conspicuous
in attempting its destruction, We con
slider that Attorney-General Wicker.
sham $ suggestion on this point Is not
only a logical one, growing out of the
general conditions of nationality. but is
one in strict accord with the Constitu-
| ton and laws of the United States. 1t
was evidently the purpose of those who
framed Article Fourteen of Amend
ments to the Constitution (see sections
and 4) to frown upon the recognition
in any way of those who engaged in the
War Of the Rebellion. So that the log
| ical consequence of the National the
ory of self-preservation would amply
Justify the Attorney-General in the re-
hectiou he made in this respect as part
of his opinion in the case, and the trend
of the laws is the same. 1t is not only
q natural reflection that Attorney-Gen-
eral Wickersham made, it is a logical
and lawful reflection, and one that 1t
would seem impossible to controvert,
unless on the theory that the Nation
welcomes and rewards attempts on its
life