Evening star., 1926-04-26
BATTLE MEMORIALS
OVERSEAS CURBED
Commission Holds Further
Monuments Should Be
Erected at Home.

Disappearing the erection III Europe
of further monuments by states.
municipalities. military OrsaniZationI
or private individuals unless they he
useful. such as bridges, fountains or
similar public improvements, the
American Battle Monuments Commits
sion has laid down n new policy. in
Guiding approval of the District Of
Columbia World War memorial for
Potomac Park.
The commission is incluined to the
view" said an Official statement pub
lished TODAY, that after the Govern
ment = memorial project in Europe ls
cOmplet ed and affer the erection OF
useful memorial structures in Fra nee.
such as bridges public buildings. etc.
any additional expression OF the
gratitude and love for our soldiers
can best he shown by memorials
erected In the United States, such.
for example. as sthe white Doric
Temple proposed for erection In
Washington to commemorate the
soldiers from the District Of Columbia.
These me MEMORIALS would he seen
and enjoved by the soldiers them
selves. a. we'll aS their families ana
relatives, and the upi.eep will Involve
no problems
.ADDtUNfu UN
\ resolution on the new policy had
been paesed by the ccIuiniSSinn AT us
last regular meeting and was later
approved by President Coolidge when
preaente.! by Gen. PershinS.
The resolution reads. That the pol
lev of the commission shall he To de-
cline to approve any future plans for
memorials In Europe. proposed Tor
.tr1tf mall
itarv orga nization or private lndl-
yiduals of the United States. with the
execution OF memorials that Will De
useful TO the Inhabitants of the nelsh-
borhood in which they are to be erect
ed. such as bridges. fountains. pubiic
buildings. gsteways or other publc
improvements.
The. resolution can be made efec-
tive. II was explained, because the
French and Belgian governments
have greed not to allow the erection
Of American memorials in their couh-
tries. unless those memorials nave
first been approved by the American
Rattle Monuments Commission.
Cooperation Is Asked.
"It Is the hope of the commission
however" said the statement. that
inOSe lIIkSIcstcu WIN
carving out the above resolution. so
that the commission will be relieved
Of the Embarrassment OF not approx
ing memorials submitted.
The question of memorials was
brought before the commission by Gen.
Pershing himself. lie expressed con
Germ that so many American melnor-
isls were being planned for erection IN
Europe and stated that If something
were not done to prevent IL. ne great
lv feared that our country WOuId eA-
ceed the bounds of good taste IN TINS
regard. He painted out that all
American memorials. regardless OF
whether they were erected by the
Government. states, associations or
individuals of the country. were con
Sidered by the people Of Europe III
the same ella ssiticat tion. Ills view Is
that the plans of the commission con
Template sufficient number of me
MORALS, and that none should be
erected except those planned by the
commission, it being the body that
represents the Government as a
whole.
During the discussion which foi-
lowed on this question. the points
given below were brought out:
The statement says.
There are but few French, Belgian
and Italian memorials on these bat
tIefields, and even though the finan-
cial situation in those countries were
satisfacto IT is improba that
many such memorials would he
erected. as the people of continental
Europe do not seem to favor them as
much as we do in this country.
Erroneous Impression Feared.
THE batlefields fought over by
American troops in Europe have been
battlefields all through history. and
even during the late war they had In
most cases been fought over one or
more times by the troops of other
countEies.
The conditions on the battlefields.
as outlined above. tend to make even
A moderate number of American
memorials conspicuous and too mapy
would create an entirely erroneous
impression OF the American object In
erecting them. In this connection II
should be considered that our country
was fighting during the latter part OF
the war only and had fewer troops
engaged and lighter losses than either
France. England or Italy.
"The battlefield region of France is
opn of tho roOsf unattractiVp DartS. In