The Wilmington morning star., 1940-03-18
WASHINGTON
DAYBOOK
BY JACK sTINNETT

ASHlNGlON MaTCn ll.-InG Long ma
chine In Louisiana has met the fate Of the
one-hoss shay but visitors to Washington's
Statuary Hall in years to come may find Lou
isiana's most honored son is the late Huey
Long.
Whether they do or don't is up to Governor
Earl Long, Huey's brother and the man who
was at the wheel when the machine went into
the ditch.
Back in 1854, when the Civil war was grind
ing out heroes at a dizzy pace, congress decid'
ed to take the matter in hand. It passed a law.
The law said each state could have two nice
p~edestals in Statuary Hall, to support the stat
ues of the deceased heroes that state considered
worthy of such honor.
When Louisiana got back in the union fold, 1t
paid no attention to the law. But in 1888, the
state legislature found a hero to their liking
and put up SIS, 900 for a statue of the assassi-
mated "Kingfish." After that gesture, they did
nothing about withdrawing the money from
the treasury and the appropriation will go
back to the state for something else If it isn't
withdrawn before July, 1871.
Governor Long hasn't that much time. His
official sun sets May IA, when he goes out of
office. If he acts before then, the name and
figure Of Huey Long will be perpetuated along
with such heroes as Samuel Adams, Henry
Clay, Jeff Davis, Daniel Webster, Sam Houston,
Robert Fulton and John c. Calhoun, in one OF
the nations most distinguished halls Of fame.
Both in Washington and Louisiana, the state
officials asked about it, wouldn't say yea and
wouldn't say nay, and the new administration
hasn't even limited what they'll do if Governor
Long doesn't choose to put brother Huey In
the Capitol. 1t would hardly seem right, though,
to expect the new anti-Long administration to
honor the man who sewed up Louisiana poll
tics in his own little sack and for so many
years refused them even one little peek.
There Is, by the by, hardly any better way
for a state to memorabilia one of its distin-
guished sons than by putting him up in marble
or bronze in Statuary Hall. Even when the
deeds of the dead hero are forgotten and his
name stirs only a vague recollection, there are
the Capitol guides to jog the memory Of older
visitors to Washington and tell new genera
tons how these men reached their pedestals
in this hall Of the mighty.
They have to do little explaining, of course,
about Washington or Garfield or Andrew Jack
son or Ethan Allen or Robert E. Lee or Roger
Williams. They're all well membe in the
history books. But here Georgia has wisely
written a permanent record for DR.. Crawford
William Long, whose pioneering with ether
anaesthesia in 1912 gave him a high place in
the nations medical history. And Kentucky has
honored Ephraim Mcdowell, another distin-
guished physician, who performed the first
ovariotomy-the operation that annually saves
LOG VI "chiiSh H'NS "a WV oAN NAAAoSe
lost his life at the hands of a mob because
of it.
There are in all ~ statues from SO states.
Statuary Hall reached its population peak in
1893. Guess that 1854 congress never figured
there would be anything like 4S states, so the
boys in '33 had to straighten them out, to keep
from chipping the elbows Of the crowding
greats. Now each states gets only one pedestal
in Statuary Hall and one in other prominent
corridors and vestibules or in the rotunda.
What 1 wanted to know and couldn't find
out is what's the matter with those other
ten states? Haven't they any famous sons? Or
can't the folks get together on who deserves
such an honor? Or are they broke?
Idaho, Arizona, Minnesota and South Dakota
have taken only one spot each. The states that
haven't scratched the surface yet are Colorado,
Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota,
Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. If
any OF them has even made a recent gesture
toward putting a Capitol halo over the mem
Dry Of one of their heroes, David Lynn, Capitol
architect, hasn't heard of it.:
Maybe the mamas and papas out there are
waiting for junior to grow UP and be President.