Evening star., 1936-04-19
Bv John ClageH Proctor.

OF GalneSVlile, Ga. however, as pao
as it looks at present, it is at least
consoling to know that the statue
erected to our celebrated former
President and Democratic saint, many
years ago, has thus far been spared
by the tornado of disapproval that
has turned this beautiful park upside
down. But, maybe. the skids will be
put under Old Hickory a little later
who knows? Indeed, it might be-
hoove Senator McKeller and some of
the other members of Congress par
ticularly interested in the noted DEM
ocratic chieftain, to keep an eye on
what is going on, or they might wake
up some morning only to find dear old
Andy down by the propagating gar
dens, where was once dumped the
statue of Abraham Lincoln, before the
people could say Jack Robinson,
and all because some one said that
che statue that was later restored to
its position in front of the court
house, was not art, just as they have
said about the Andrew jackson
statue.
In this dear, though brief life Of
ours, there is a certain something that
Is nearer and dearer than art, and that
something is sentiment, and II, for ar
eument sake, we admit that the Lin
coin, Jackson and Washington statues
In Washington are crude examples Of
sculpture, nevertheless that does not,
or should not detract sufficiently from
their value to cause their removal.
In the case of the Lincoln statue,
before referred to. the facts connected
with its erection were brought out in
the public press and later by the Com
mittee on the Library, House of Rep
resentatives, at its hearings held April
2, 1920, after the statue had been re-
moved-the proceeding up to that time
having been of surreptitious nature,
without a quorum in the House, when
the bill to which it was attached was
passed by vote Of SIS to 0, and only
the few in favor of this action being
cognizant that the removal of the
statue was being provided for. How
ever, the protests were sufficient to
have it replaced in front OF the court
house, where it is today.
OF COURSE, there may not be the
~ slightest intention to remove the
jackson statue, and it is to be hoped
that there is not. But the rumor has
been current heretofore, and, nat
urally, to use an old expression, where
there is so much smoke there must be
a little fire. Back in 1923, during the
Harding administration, the rumor
was so persistent that Senator Ken
meth McKellar of Tennessee, wrote
the President on the subject, and re-
ceived this reply:
st have your letter of April IA, in
which you protest to me the removal
of the Andrew Jackson statue which
is located in Lafayette Park, across
Pennsylvania avenue from the White
House. I think I shall make ample
reply when I say TO you that I have
no authentic knowledge of any such
proposal ever having been made
certainly none has even been sug-
gested in an official way. and the
question is not under consideration
by any one of whom know.
In these circumstances I can see
no occasion for any expression on
the subject, though I should have no
hesitancy whatever in opposing such
a removal, if such proposition were
to be seriously made. I think you
may give every assurance to your fel-
low citizens in the home State of
President Jackson that Washington
would not contemplate for moment
any indignity to his revered memory" !"
And so the statue remains where
It was placed 83 years ago. 1t is true
that it might not measure up to art,
but probably neither do we. The ideal
man. according to measurements, it
has been said, should be feet inches
high and weigh about 154 pounds,
and, of course, he should be perfect
in form and features, according to the
standards taught in the art schools.
But how many men could qualify
under the rules-relatively very few,
and if all those who could not were
shot, there would not be enough left
to bury the rest. But there is some
thing to man beside good looks and
perfect form, or Lincoln and Jackson
and multitudes of others would surely
have been out of luck.
No President has written anything
better than Lincoln's Gettysburg ad-
dress, and few, If any, have made
better Presidents than Jackson. In
deed, these men and thousands of
others made history, and it is for this
reason that they have been memorial
lied in marble and bronze. There are
various reasons why the statue of
Andrew Jackson is worth preserving
on the spot upon which It now stands
"HEN the statue was unveiled, on
w January 8, 1853, the thirty-eighth
anniversary Of the battle of New Or
leans, Senator Stephen A. Douglas,
the Little Giant" of Illinois-a politi-
cal opponent of Abraham Lincoln and
one of the two Democratic candidates
for the presidency in 1860, whom the
great Lincoln Observation-Disclosures the
Grafton, in which he made the follow
ing statements, which are well worth
knowing and remembering. He said:
1.-THE statue before you is the work
of a man exalted by his enthusiasm
for the glorious deeds and wise acts
Of hero and statesman. It is the
work Of an untaught American.