The New York herald., 1922-03-18
Public Hearing Wednesday to
Decide if Those Females
Are Just Poor Fish.
WOMEN'S VIEWS SOUGHT
MacMonnies Says, Let EN-
Cackle, Let EN- Babble'
and 'Bish- -B0sh.'

4
nicipal comedy, The Rough Guy, or
Quit Kicking Those Fish around" was
supplied yesterday by the Board Of Esti-
mate which solemnly set aside Wednes-
day. March %. at noontime. for a public
nearing at which shall be determined to
lne satisfaction of his Excellency, the
burSomaster, and of divers and sundry
persons else, whether the recumbent
forms serving as doormats for Mr. Mac
Monnies's big boy are actually female
women of the human species, entitled
TO respect and gentle treatment (as the
Mayor maintains they are). or whether
they are couple of inhuman mermaids
| with nothing Whatever in common with
the ruling sex (as Sculptor MacMonnies
asserts).
so at noon next Wednesday all roads,
as the saying is, will lead to the City
HAN, and anybody with a thought con-
ceaied IN his or her system regarding the
MacMonnies group which has aroused
so much comment and laughter, is at
liberty-nay, is invited-to show up in
the Aldermanic Chamber and produce
that thought before John F. Hylan. The
Mayor is in deadly earnest. So far as
ne has been able to determine, this
sculptor fellow MacMonnes, or what
ever his name is, has made a butt of
sacred womanhood, and nobody can get
away with that kind of thing when the
foremost citizen of Bushwick is around.
Rags are royal raiment when worn for
virtues sake and God bless the name of
Woman-or words to that effect. Besides
there are about four hundred thousand
of them that vote in New York. Nobody
is going to tramp on them, by gravy.
Nobody to Talk Back.
That was the Mayors attitude when
the members of the Board of Estimate
met yesterday for their weekly quarrel.
When he and his colleagues had ad-
justed themselves to their leather cush-
| ions the Mayor turned to Grover
Whalen. the beautiful and indispensable,
instructing him Ito get picture for me
of that MacMonnies statue they are
trying to stick up in the City Hall
Park, adding that with a picture at
their disposal discussion of the group
would be much easier. Grover promised
faithfully to dig up a picture some-
where, and then the Mayor explained
why he wanted the board to call a
public hearing. He said he had heard a
great deal of criticism of the MacMon.
nies statue, and that he believed it
would be well for the people to have a
chance to say whether they wanted such
a group set up in the City Hall Park. Ht
| thought the women, especially, should
be permitted to have a chance to say
their say. Then the Mayor waited for
somebody to talk back at him. Since
/ Comptroller Craig was not present there
was no reply, and the Mayor talked for
another five minutes about nothing
| much.
II understand" said Borough Presi-
dent Connolly of Queens. that the al
legged women in the group are not wom-
en- at all, but mermaids.'
The Mayor ignored this and wound
up the discussion with: II want all the
civic associations in the city notified
and the women's organizations particu-
| larly that this board will hold a hear
ing on this matter next Wednesday, We
| shall go into the appropriateness of the
group very thoroughly, and everybody
who wants to speak on the subject, espe-
4 cially the women, will be given an OPP
portunity to express themselves.
Miss Hay Seeks a Laugh.
That there will be a big attendance
| at the hearing is already certain, for
many women Of note have manifested a
desire to attend the discussion. The
suggestion was made that the whole
! question as to whether womanhood is
degraded by the statue be left to
Jury. but that bright idea was instantly
snuffed out when somebody said that
4 II would be hard to tell what kind OF
/ Jury to get one made UP of art critics
or Fulton fish market dealers. One
other difficulty is that one must see
the group for ones self to make up
ones mind Photographs of the Rough
| Guy and the Piscatrix Sisters at his
feet don't help much because they give
the front view. and it is not the view
! that shows up the fishy part OF the
ladies in question.
Miss Mary Garrett Hay said she
hoped she wouldn't be too busy to at
tend the hearing, She said that she had
been working hard all winter and needed
amusement. She said. too, that nothing
ever rested and revived her so much
as a good laugh. That seemed to be
Mrs. James Lees Laidlaw's notion of
what Wednesday would provide. Mrs
Arthur l.. Livermore said she hadn't
made up her mind.
The Very Idea.
AS for Frederick MacMonnies, sculp-
tor Of West Tenth street. the very idea
OF attending the hearing made him
speak foreign language.
.sUelrs bells," said Frederick Mac
lMonnies what do | care II all the
ignoramuses and quack politicians In
New York, together with all the dam
fool women, get together to talk about
NV statue? Let 'em cacltle. Let EN-
ba,bble. You can't change the eternal
verities that way. From Paris to Pat
agonia universal allegory pictures
sirens. temptresses. as woman. If you
suppress allegory you suppress all in
telectual effort. 1 gather that allegory
has long been extinct in the City Hall
"How in hell do you suppose they
cxpect me to shoulder the responsible
ity for making temptation feminineY
! Bish -bosh. sayl For lifetime have
sdored womankind. | have spent my
life az their feet II all women were
idiots they should still have the vote,
for they would still be the intellectual
equals Of most men. TO intimate that
Il I. MacMonnies. respecter and admirer
| OF woman, has had hand in sym
bolism degrading TO womanhood IS TO
talk damned nonsense. You hear me-
Damned nonsense
I'm in the Bronx studio OF the
brothers Piccirilli noted marble chis-
elers, it was said that the group is
obout ready to be started downtown.
| Wednesday should settle the question
i - ,vhara the rough guy Ia to go on