Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-21

Publication of a letter in Kansas
CITY claimed to have been written by
George Washington to his wife short
Iy before the signing of the Declare
ton of Independence, in which he eX
pressed love" for my king and re-
scented becoming a rebel shared
equal interest here today with plans
for one of the greatest celebrations to-
morrow communicating the first
Presidents birth.
President Coolidge will address a
Joint session of the Senate and House.
His speech. to he broadcast to mil
lions of listeners over a 42-station
hook-up arranged by the National
Broadcasting Co. and probably relayed
to European radio fans by London
stations will set in motion plans for
celebration of the 200th anniversary
of Washingtons birth in 1882
Silent On Letter.
Historians here declined to offer any
opinions as to the probable authentici-
~ of excerpts of the lost" letter pro-
duced in Kansas City as one penned
by George Washington, although w.
c. Ford, former chief of the manu-
script division of the Library of Con
gress. declared in Cambridge, Mass,
that the missive was probably founded
on well known forgery.
The letter, dated June "a, 1876, was
made public by A. II. Clark, a Kan
sas City artist. in a copyrighted article
in the Kansas City Star, ten days
before the signing of the Decla-
ration Of Independence, and signed
"G. w" 1t expressed the writer's be-
lief that good terms could be ar
ranged between the American colonies
and the British without cutting one
another's throats," and also the au
thor's regret that this cannot be ac-
complished without fixing on me the
sad name, rebel"
II love my king, you know I do"
the text continued, adding, "a, soldier.
q good man, cannot help but love
him. How peculiarly hard then is
our fortune to be deemed traitors to
SO good a king
Pledged to Do His Duty.
The letter went on to say that the
writer was prepared for any eventu-
ality except a ''dishonorable peace"
and that he saw his duty, that of
standing up for the liberties Of my
country, and whatever differences and
lie in my way, | dare
not shrink from it."
Other high lights in the letter. about
2 1000 words long and in script de-
scribed as similar to other facsimies
of Washington's letters, were refer
ences to failure of the Continental
Congress to grant certain requests of
Washington, which caused his Army
to suffer great inconvenience, and to
his attention being called to the dis
covery of a most wild and daring plot"
which, he wrote, probably will make
a good deal of noise in the country"
His wife Martha was assured of his
affection and hurt was expressed at
her suspicious that he was inatten-
tive and losing his regard for her.
Fear for his wife's health led him to
request that she be innoculated
against smallpox.
Urged to Go to Philadelphia.
She also was urged to leave for
because of fear that
that restless mailman, our quondam
governor" might carry on 'preda-
tory war in Virginia and vent his
spite at my house."
Charles Moore, present head of the
division of the Library or
Congress, said that only a thorough
study of the letters text could estab-
lish its authenticity. He recalled
that Martha Washington burned vir
tually all of the revolutionary leaders
letters soon after his death, but that
TWO are known to have survived. One,
dated Philadelphia. April %. 1875, is
preserved in a collection here, while
The other, of unknown date, passed
into unknown hands and has never
turned up. Mr.. Moore said.
Mr. Ford, the former manuscript di-
vision chief, was positive the Kansas
City letter was fake. He said the
letter from which the excerpts appar
rently were taken never existed in
Washington handwriting and is
known only from printed versions"
He added that Mr.. Clark may have
a contemporary copy, but it Is without
value as history or as an autograph"
mo account of his having found it
in family papers will offer support of
his claim" he said.