Evening star., 1946-06-23
Capital Sidelights
BIZ viii P. Kennedu

Many AMBITIOUS researchers and his
torians are scheduling next summer for
. thorough rewriting OF the history Of
the Civil War period when treasury
Of Lincoln papers, held inviolable for
two decades in the Library Of Congress.
will become available to students. It Is
q historic fact that Lincoln during
that hectic, fratricidal period assumed
supreme authority. 1t Is believed, from
the spoken word Of his son, Robert Todd
Lincoln (who was captain on the stan
Of Gen. U. g. Grant, subsequently Sec
retary of War in the cabinets of Presi-
dents Garfield and Arthur, and later
Minister to Great Britain, that these
papers will disclose cabinet intrigues
that could not be made public at an
earlier date.
These sorce-papers Of President
Lincoln were presented to the Library
Of Congress by his son, Robert Todd
Lincoln. with the specific reservation
that they shall be placed in q sealed
vault. or compartment, and carefully
preserved from ofiicial or public inspec,
ton. or private view, until after the ex-
piration Of 81 years from the date of
my death" He died July 26, 1926, 30 in
the closing days of July. 1947, the dead
hand" will be removed from these his
toric documents as yet unstudied by
historians. The late Senator Albert J.
Beveridge, who wrote two-volume un-
finished work on Abraham Lincoln,
comparable to his outstanding four
volume set on John Marshall. had hoped
to be the first to examine these seques-
tered papers In completing his life OF
Lincoln.
The story Is told that a friend ap-
pretended Robert Lincoln burning some
OF the Lincoln papers In his fireplace
and that he stated there was much in
these papers that 1t would be absolutely
dangerous to have made public. Finally,
1t is said. DR.. Nicholas Murray Butler
persuaded the son to have the docu-
ments preserved for posterity in the
Library Of Congress, and the 21-year
fat resulted.
Following her husbands death Mrs.
Robert Todd Lincoln made further gifts
OF Lincolniana to the Library Of Con.
gress, including letters from Queen VIC
toria, Empress Eugene and Louis Phi
lippe dOrleans, Comte de Paris. She
also presented 81 books that had be-
longed to President Lincoln, in one Of
which Is an original letter signed by
Lincoln, August IS, 1856.
Incoln's granddaughter, Mrs. Charles
1sham, nine years ago, added to the
gifts from her family to the Library q
collection Of volumes from the Presi.
dents library, the manuscript Of a poem
by Lincoln, the silver inkstand which
Representative Charles D. Poston of
Arizona had executed by Tiffany AS q
gift to the President in 1865, jewelry
worn by Mrs. Lincoln at two inaugural
balls. and several family daguerreotypes,
including one of Abraham Lincoln at
the age of SO.
The National Capital made an early
start toward becoming an industrial
center with the encouragement Of Pres
ident Washington. During the Napo-
leonic period, the necessity for develop
ing American manufactures became
acute. On July 4, 1908, when members
OF the Washington City Council called at
the White House to pay their respects to
the President, they wore homespun in
obedience to resolution Of the council,
and many citizens followed their ex-
ample.