The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1921-09-23

They are afraid of making d prece
dent in the public purchase of the his
toric homes Of iour great men. L
Monticello were 10 purchased the!
believe, every state and most of tn
counties in the union would pres
similar claims on the public treasury
Let it be remembered that ever
Mount Vernon was preserved as i,
place of patriotic pilgrimage and in
spiration solely by the efforts of {
private association of women.
A Monticello Association has beer
formed and it has conducted cam
paign for raising funds for severa
months. 1t has not been successful
1t has secured pledges for less thar
one third the amount necessary t.
buy and maintain Monticello.
Meanwhile former Congressman
Jefferson Levy, of New York, its
present owner, has become tired OF
waiting. He has placed Monticello in
the hands of Washington real estate
agent for immediate sale.
There are not, perhaps, in the Unit
ed States half dozen estates which
combine such beauty of location with
such pure perfection of classic archi-
lecture. From the top of the little
"Mount of Tavern, where it stands,
the old brick mansion looks out and
over one of the most beautiful land
scapes on the continent, the misty
purple shoulders of the Blue Ridge
rising 20 miles away to frame the pic
ture. On the rolling red hills in the
middle distance lies the little city of
Charlottesville, where in days before
the Revolution Patrick Henry, George
Mason, and jefferson himself stirred
the spirit of the Colonists. And just
to the west rise the domes and rang
es of the University of Virginia,
founded by Jefferson as the crown OF
the system of universal popular edu-
cation which he taught.
There is no estate in the United
States combining such natural and
architectural beauty with such ire
mendous historic interest, in which is
also so perfectly preserved the atmo-
sphere and spirit of the early days of
the republic.
The country is fortunate that the
family of Jefferson Levy, which has
owned Monticello for more than rs
years, has during all this time kept it,
so far as possible, in it's original con-
dition, The estate now embraces
some 700 acres. The house, designed
by Thomas jefferson in his early 20s,
before he had ever been to Europe, is
said by the best judges to be almost
unequalled in America in the dignity
and simplicity of its classic lines. The
plans were ready and the building
started in 1869. when jefferson was
only 26. The Revolution and Jeffer-
sons long absence in France delayed
its completion until 1901. 1t stands
today almost as it stood then, and
still deserves to be ranked-as the
Due de la RochefoucauId-Lianc
wrote in 1S96-"with the most pleas
ant mansions in France and England"
1t is almost unthinkable that this
estate, where the author of the Dec
laration of Independence himself lies
buried, this enduring monument of his
genius as an architect, should be per-
mitted to pass into the hands of other
private owners, who would be quite
within their rights if they closed itS
gates to pious pilgrims or even al
tered or rebuilt" the ancient man.
sion.
Apparently it is hopeless to expect
congress to buy it as national mon
ument. No multi-millionaire stands
forward to buy the estate and dedi-
cate it to the nation. The present as
ISOLATION formed for the purpose of
buying and preserving it seems inn
potent.
Why should not the Democratic
party, which Jefferson founded, and
which looks up to him for constantly
renewed inspiration, buy Monticello
and maintain it as the central shrine
and fountain of their political faith ?
If each of the men and women who
vote the Democratic ticket at nation
al elections would contribute dime
to the fund, it woAld be sufficient
Henry NJ. Hyde, in Baltimore Sun. I
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