The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-26
-HE most popular place of amuse T.
ment in Washington is the hall of

"HE most popular place of amuse-
= fame. One is thoroughly enter
tanned in specula;ing on what the inmates
could have accomplished which entitled
them to position in this hail. where mon
Of renown are expected forever to re-
maN As matter of fact congress-
man would serve we'll his country were
he to Introduce a bill providing for the
appointment of an agent whose business
it should be to inquire for knowledge
concerning the men whose statues are in
the hall of fame. and having inquired and
learned, to relate the deeds to those who
come
Statuary hall, as a matter of fact and
source of regret, is sham and fraud.
This is the result of unwise action of
Congress in limiting the number of in
mates from each state, and in retaining
the right to reject any oreal of those
nominated by the states 1t is remark
able the foresight with which the men
we send to Congress are blessed. 1t is
indeed the wise man who says that TO
state shall have more than two sors
great enough TO live forever in the minds
and hearts of the people, great enough
for the nation to honor and revere. 1t is
indeed the man With the wisdom of Sole
mon who says to the state, Name your
When one contemplates all the wisdom
Al.
Of the nation, ne cries aloud In sympathy
for the people of the country who do not
daily come under the beneficent influence
of such brilliant light.
AS result of the wisdom OF Congress,
Statuary hall is a sham and a fraud. Il
is no honor TO man that his statue is
placed, for the statue is not always placed
by the voice of the people of the nation,
or by the voice of the people of the state,
or even the sanction of the people of the
state but sometimes by the money ami
influence of relatives who desire to tell
their neighbors that Father So and So
has position in the hall of fame
At the present time, one man represents
Alabama. The state or the people of the
state may honor another of the sons Any
man will be welcome provided he did not
serve calamity in the war between the
states, did not display remarkable bravery
in that conflict, did not charge a battery
or capture a fort or man a vessel across
the seas. For should Alabama nominate
Wheeler, or Semmes, or the gallant Pet
ham, this Congress of ours would cry aloud
in holy horror.
Inasmuch as there are many Ala
bamians who do not come under the class
ification in which the foregoing trio
comes. there is . great opportunity con-
fronting the state. We might look amorg
us and size up the fellow He should he
pompous in appearance for pomposity
will be reckoned with. He should have
a glorious pouch, capon lined. His hair
must be d.rk brown, fringed with gray,
and his eye, with stern gaze, should re
of blue He must then be equipped with
a sum of money with which to buy him
self a statue There is no other requisite
Think of the fin which would follow
with visitors standing about the pom
pcus form of the new Alabamian, specu-
lating among themselves. They would
marvel. For the name has never ap-
peared in the pages of history. The fig
ure has never invented a match or a
straw. The man has never served his
country in the times which tried the souls
of men. He has never found a germ or a
method for its destruction. He has never
swan the Heliespont or cleansed the
Augean stables. He has never mingled
the eagles of his flag with the eagles of
the craigs.
But he stands in the hall of fame with
Washington, Lee. Grant. Lincoln, Andrew