The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1915-12-12

terry, ne gave permission to the United
Daughters of the Confederacy to erect
the monument at Arlington, the in
scriptions to be subject to approval by
the secretary of war. This was in
March, 1906. Mrs. Magnus Thomp-
son, president of the U. D. G. for the
District Of Columbia, with the coop
Grafton Of Senator John Sharp Will
iams, Of Mississippi, was instrument
tai in securing permission to erect the
monument. In November of the same
year she called meeting of all Con-
federate organizations in Washington,
resulting In the formation of the Ar
lington Monument Association, Col.
Hilary A. Herbert, chairman; Mrs.
Marion Butler, vice-chairman; Mrs.
Daisy McLaurin Stevens, president;
Mrs. Drury Conway Ludlow, record
ing secretary; Mrs. William Oscar
Roome, corresponding secretary; Mr..
Wallace Streater, treasurer.
In 1907 at the annual convention of
the United Daughters Of the Confed-
eracy this organisation took entire
charge Of the work, appointing com
mittee Of design and continuing the
above-named executive committee in
Washington.
The committee Of design evolved
the beautiful inspiration of choosing
as the sculptor to carry this great un-
ldertaking to It's ultimate success a
Confederate veteran, a son of Vir-
ginia, Sir Moses Ezekiel, who was
knighted by Queen Margherita of
Italy in recognition of his great
achievements in the field Of art. AS
a boy of seventeen, Moses Ezekiel en-
tered the Virginia Military Institute,
and from there he marched to New
Market with the two hundred and
twenty-five cadets who fought there
bravely and VIGOROUSLY side by side
with seasoned veterans of the Con-
Ifederacy.
| It was happy coincidence this,
that in one man should be combined
the loving memories Of the Lost Cause
and the requisite genius and training
to achieve this magnificent work of
art.
He sought to convey the idea of
peace, the South rising supreme over
sacrifices and privations, looking ever
to the future, to develop her indus
tries and her agriculture and let the
past go, but not be forgotten. The
large figure at the top represents the
South, holding in her left hand the
laurel wreath for the past, while her
right hand rests on the handles of a
plow.
On June 4th, 1914, impressive cere-
monies of unwilling were held, with
addresses by Gen. Bennett H. Young,
commander-in-chief of the u. c. ",
Gen. Washington Gardner, command
er-in-chief of the G. Al. r., Col. Hilary
"A. Herbert, president Of the Airing
ton Confederate. Memorial sAssocia-
ton, Mrs. Daisy McLaurin Stevens,
president general of the u. d. c., and
lastly by the Hon. Woodrow Wilson,
president of the United States.
To quote from Gen. Bennett II.
young's address:
This monument is history,
pledge and a prophecy. As history
| it memorializes the devotion of peo-
| pie to a cause that was lost; as a
pledge it gives assurance that North
and South have clasped hands across
a fratricidal grave; as prophecy it
promises a blessed future in which
sectional hate shall be fully trans
muted into fraternity and good will"
After such beautiful scene of fell
lowship and harmony as this, it is
hard to turn to sordid details, but the
practical business of life must have
attention, and sordid details must
needs be needed.
The Daughters of the Confederacy
generally were quite sure that the
funds were available for the discharg-
ing of every obligation in connection
with the monument. Committees were
dissolved, and workers in the ranks
made ready to turn their attention to
/ other undertakings of the organiza-
ton, when like bolt from the blue
came the report to the Savannah con-
vention in November, 1914, that a
debt of more than eight thousand dol
lars still remained to be paid. An ac-
cident to the casting of some of the
bronze work, necessitating recasting,
heavy transportation charges in ship
ping the monument across the seas,
and unlocked for expenses in connec-
| ton with the unwilling and dedica-
ton were given as the causes. The
debt, of course, was unhesitatingiy
assumed by the convention, and as
much money as could be spared from
the treasury was appropriated toward
reducing it. In the year just past,
something over two thousand dollars
of the debt was paid, but there still
remains this Indebtedness of about
six thousand dollars against Airing
ton monument.
4 Now, Daughters of the Confed-
eracy, Confederate Veterans, Sons of
Veterans and friends, the Arlington
/ Cea1 Cry,, y,,itfoc have q Y,Iop uLarohxy