Evening star., 1932-10-23


Virginia members Of Congress, the late
Representative H. st. George Tucker, in
whose district Appomattox was situated,
and Senator Claude A. Swanson, to in
troduce a bill providing for the me-
mortal and authorizing the expenditure
Of 100000 for the purpose. The War
Department gave the plan its cordial
Endorsement and the bill passed without
serious trouble
Owing to the Governments economy
program, only $4,000 was made available,
but this enabled the quartermaster gen.
erals Office to hold contest and to have
a committee of architects select the win
ming design from among nearly 200 sub
mitted from all parts of the country.
The committee was unanimous in
awarding the prize to the plan prepared
by Harry Sternfield and J. Roy Carroll,
jr., architects and Caetano Cecere,
sculptor, all of Philadelphia
It Is understood that the monument
will stand on the site of the old court
house in the center of the village. This
is the logical place for it, for the court
house site is now in the middle of the
highway, which curves around both sides
Of it. The plans call for a 57-foot shaft
Of white marble or granite cleft for
some distance by slot, but with the two
pylons merging near the top into a har-
monious whole, banded with laurel SYM
bolizing reunited Nation. The pave
ment surrounding the base will be in
blue and gray, and there will be appro-
pirate landscaping
The front of the monument will bear
the great seal of the United States,
while on one side will be a portrait of
Grant and on the other a portrait of
Lee, with a map of the battlefield with
descriptive text on the rear. The prin-
cipal inscription will be as follows:
'North-South; Peace, Unity. Appo-
mattox, the Site of the Termination of
the War Between the States, 1861-1865."
William c. Noland of Richmond, chair
man OF the committee, in announcing
the award, said:
We feel that the design selected will
suitably fulfill the following clause gov
erning the program: AS the monument
authorized by Congress is to commence
rate the termination of the War Be-
tween the States, the design should
carry out this thought and should not
call to mind the tremendous conflict.
with all its attendant sorrows. It should
symbolic an undivided Nation and a
lasting peace"
A THOUGH it will mark what might
~ almost be termed the sepulcher of
the Confederacy, it is difficult to see how
such a memorial could be offensive to
any reasonable Southerner. The idea
originated in Virginia, it was executed
through the efforts of two Virginia men,
bers of Congress, and the chairman Of
the jury which made the award Is
Virginian. There is nothing in the plan
to give offense to the South.
Yet despite all this, there were pro-
tests from various sections OF Dixie
when the plans for the memorial were
announced. The whole scheme had been
Matched by the War Department to
humiliate the Southern people. 1t was
a diabolical plot originating in the brain
of some official of the Grand Army Of
the Republic.
6uC OeSpICe Tie VlOleHCc VI tl1e OPpo-
sition expressed by this association, 1t
appears safe to say that its views are
out of harmony with those Of most
Southerners at the present time. It Is
highly significant that the United Con-
federate Veterans and the Sons Of Con-
federate Veterans took no action in op-
position to the plan, although both or
panizafionS we're in session at the time