The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-07-14
STATUARY HALL HORRORS.

1t is the universal opinion of those
who see the ghastly Statuary Hall in
Washington, that the best thing that
could happen would be to have all the
statues removed and returned to their
respective States. They are in the old
hall of the House of representatives..
fine room which is utterly spoiled by
these CHASTITY statues of more or less
near.art. The room looks more like a
mortuary yard in marble than any
thing else in its present condition. None
of the statues measure even fairly up
to the highest .artistic requirements
and some OF tESm are so crude as to
be a shock.
Among the statues in that National
Mortuary headquarters is one from
Kansas, the statue of former Senator
John J. Ingalls, OF that State. The son
of Senator Ingalls,, who is now Lieu
tena Governor of Kansas, is asking
the State to petition Congress to allow
the removal of the statue Of his father
from Statuary Hall in the Capitol, so
that it can be returned to the State
and installed in the State Capitol. The
demand Of Lieutenant nt-Governor ingalls,
is based upon the diminishing rev
erence'' for, and the humiliating
comment on the "National statu-
ary." The statues are all jostled to-
gether in an unna tural or forbidding
sort of way, put in apparently haphaz-
ard, without any idea of symmetry or
chronological sequence. They are oft
en- described collectively aa 1.-the
chamber of atrocities or "horrors,
and such they fairly may be called.
1t is to be hoped that Lieutenant
Governor ingalls, petition for the
withdrawal of the ingalls, statue may
be approved, and it is hoped also that
other States will join in the movement, |
SO as to clear out Statuary Hall alto,
gether, and return the statues therein
to the respective States which sent
them there. That would give room for
some real utility or beauty in the ele-
CANT hall, for those statues are mere |
objects in it. Their return |
would also give the States back their
choice Of heroic statuary, and would |
leave each State at liberty to add in |
its State Capitol to its first choice
the statues Of such other citizens as it |
might consider worthy Of being so dis
The rightful, natural use of Statuary
Hall might be effected by putting in
there statues of all the Presidents, |
taking care to make the statues real |
works of art, put there at National cx-
pense and for National purposes. The
idea of devoting hall to the ghastly |
memories, the shocking bad taste made
choice of on the part Of the different
States is an illogical use of the Ma
tional Capitol, and should never have
been either suggested or carried out.
Let the National capitol be for Nation
al purposes, representing National fig
nres, and not for the nero display of
local taste or foolish temporary judg-
ment
Besides, the controversies that have
arisen by reason of the choice IN these |
ary Hall on its present basis. The
putting into that hall by Virginia Of
the statue of General Lee, and the
of the putting in the stat
ure of jeff Davis ought surely to be
enough to condemn the idea which pro-
iuced Statuary Hall, and TO relegate
the statue choice TO each State respec-
lively, for itself and its own capitol.
There is nothing National in statuary
provided by mere fraction which one |
State comprises of the whole Union, |
and there is no reason why the Union,
as whole, should be afflicted by this
ocal choice, which in some cases is a |
glorification Of treason and in others is
liable TO be all of that, and more.