The Washington times., 1921-02-12
By Floyd Mac0RIFF.
International News Service.

International News Service.
NEW YORK. Feb. l2.-To Gutzon
Borglum. the American sculptor who
came out of the West and after years
OF study produced a statue of In
coin that compels comprehension OF
him as truly 'man of the ages"
the International News Service went
for a new message about ABE"
The errand was not futile.
| Pausing from his work on a heroic
war memorial, the sculptor drew up
| a chair near a stove in bis unpre-
tentious but picturesque studio and
spoke Of Lincoln with animation, ad-
miration and reverence. Asked what
outstanding thing he found in Lin
coin, Borglum replied:
Lincoln was the only great Re-
publican representative that we have
had, unless Roosevelt or Cleveland.
since the beginning of our country.
The latter two had some OF the same
characteristics and might have de-
| veloped along the same lines under
| similar circumstances.
He said he found that Lincoln was
| very much misunderstood in his day
and very unfairly criticized" and so
he looked for the cause.
1T is not generally recognized that
the Government which Lincoln's Gov
ernment succeeded and supplanted-
the Buchanan Government-was the
decayed end of an aristocracy which
had seized this country, and Lincoln
came. out Of the West like a new lIb-
orator, practically the first great
American who was Indigenous to the
soil, to the rude conditions that make
our best men.
WAS SUBJECT TO RIDICULE.
therefore. IL was perfectly natural
that a Government and a group which
had almost established a court and
which conducted its international ar
fairs on the rules of the best circles
In Europe should look askance at TINS
man, who was long and simple ana
awkward, and utterly unacauainted
with the manners of the circle he was
supplanting. So the reproach of awk-
wardness and gawkineSs and crude
ness which was applied to him were
the natural terms Of an elegant, SILK
shirted product of convention to USE
why did you decide to make a
statue of Lincoln"
.Lincoln was born in the West"
Borglum replied. 81 have great sym
pathy with the Western character; in
fact, with all the frontier characters
OF our history. Washington. was a
frontier character Lincoln occup ed
the middle part of our history in the
same way. l heard a great deal about
Lincoln as a child, from my father. l
began my study of Lincoln out OF per-
sonal regard for one of our greatest
men.
STATUES WRONGLY CONCEIVED.
81 found the statues OF Lincoln were
either very awkward and crude, in
tending to be natural, or else they
were artificial and hammered. Two
Of the most important statues, made
by the two most important sculptors,
are perhaps the most false and arti-
nciai One makes him look like an
actor, like a curly-headed, brooding
Hamlet, and the other looks like
Sunday school teacher accepting
scolding.
Neither one gives any idea of the
weight Of responsibility that always
bore on this large, sincere nature,
which he could never shake off. He
carried 1t with him constantly-his
talk, his manner, even when he was
playful, always had some little double
meaning relating to the burden OF
civilization and government which he
was carrying. And / do not think any
monument should be made which does
not show this.
ONE SMILING PORTRAIT.
"There is no contemporary portrait
which shows the man smiling, except
one very late photograph, made when
Lee had surrendered. And then IT was
only when the photographer asked
him " he would not smile, because the
war was over, that Lincoln smiled
or, rather, his face cracked little,
tho surface moved--the most pathetic
portrait extant"
The sculptor said Lincoln impressed
him Every much AS a Scrlptural fig
ure. yet he is modern and not East
ern Mt all"
"However, we find many OF his type
In tho West his humor and wit are
very common all through the West
IL was not something peculiar to him.
He was considered a very poor story
teller In Sangamon county.
'In making my statue I approached
Lincoln entirely as n human being, as
n great intellectual specimen OF hu-
manity. II was this, with n will Of
his own. that made him great"
RIGHT SIDE OF FACE BEST.
| Touching upon Llncoln's phyaical