It may be here remarked, with reference to the site selected for the Monument, that the foundations were laid but a short distance to the east of the meridian line, run, at the instance of President Jefferson, by Nicholas King, surveyor, October 15, 1804. The report of Mr. King, as found in the Department of State, bears the endorsement, "to be filed in the office of State as a record of demarcation of the first meridian of the United States." This line, by the President's instructions, passed through the center of the White House, and where it intersected a line due east and west through the center of the Capitol a small monument or pyramid of stones was placed—an object which disappeared about the year 1874, in the process of improving the Monument grounds. It would also appear that the center of the District of Columbia, within its original lines, was not far removed northwestward from the Monument as it stands, being near the corner of Seventeenth and C streets, N.W., 1,305 feet north and 1,579 feet west of the Monument. (National Geographic Magazine, vol. 6, p. 149.)
It does not appear, however, that these latter existing facts were in any manner considered by the Board of Managers in the selection of the site for the Monument.
The corner-stone for the Monument, a block of marble weighing "twenty-four thousand five hundred pounds," was quarried and presented to the Society by Mr. Thomas Symington, of Baltimore, Md. On its arrival in the city, the stone was enthusiastically drawn to the site of the Monument by many workmen from the navy yard, and other persons.
In planning the ceremonies to occur on the laying of the corner-stone of the Monument, the Society invited ex-President John Quincy Adams to deliver the oration, but the invitation, however, was regretfully declined by Mr. Adams on account of the state of his health.
Hon. Daniel Webster being requested to deliver the oration declined because of pressure of business and the shortness of the time allowed in which to prepare one.
Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, of Massachusetts, Speaker of the House of Representatives, being then requested consented to deliver the oration.
Invitations were sent by the committee of arrangements to Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, Mrs. Dolly P. Madison, Mrs. John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Lewis Cass, General Sam Houston, Chief Justice Taney, George Washington Parke Custis, and other distinguished persons to attend the ceremonies of the laying of the corner-stone. The replies received indicate the interest of those invited in the erection of the Monument to Washington.
For the occasion transportation lines entering the District of Columbia reduced their usual rates of travel.
On the 4th of July, 1848, under a bright sky, in the presence of the President and Vice-President of the United States, Senators and Representatives in Congress, Heads of Executive Departments, and other officers of the Government, the Judiciary, Representatives of Foreign Governments, the corporate authorities of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria, military commands, associations of many descriptions, delegations from States and Territories and from several Indian tribes, and a great multitude of citizens, the corner-stone was laid.
The Rev. Mr. McJilton offered the consecration prayer, and the oration, lofty and eloquent, was delivered by the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop.
Mr. Benj. B. French, Grand Master of the Masonic Fraternity of the United States, then delivered a beautiful and appropriate address, after which he descended to the corner-stone and performed the Masonic ceremonies of laying it.
The gavel used was that employed by George Washington, as Master Mason, in the Masonic ceremonies in the laying of the corner-stone of the National Capitol. A patriotic song, written by Robert Treat Paine, was sung, after which the benediction was pronounced.
The corner-stone was laid at the northeast angle of the foundation. Among the distinguished guests on the stand at the laying of the corner-stone were Mrs. Alexander Hamilton (then ninety-one years old), Mrs. Dolly Paine Madison, George Washington Parke Custis, and others of eminence.
The proceedings are thus discussed in the papers of the times:
* * * * * *
"The day was fine. The rain had laid the dust and infused a delicious freshness in the air. The procession was extensive and beautiful. It embraced many military companies of our own and our sister cities—various associations, with their characteristic emblems; the President and Cabinet and various officers of the Executive Departments; many of the Members of Congress; citizens and strangers who had poured into the city. When the lengthened procession had reached the site of the Monument they were joined by a whole cortege of ladies and gentlemen; and we are free to say we never beheld so magnificent a spectacle. From 15,000 to 20,000 persons are estimated to have been present, stretched over a large area of ground from the southern hill, gradually sloping down to the plain below."
"In a hollow spread with boards and surrounded with seats the crowd gathered. Around two sides of this space were high and solidly-constructed seats, hired out to spectators, covered with awnings, and affording a favorable position for seeing and hearing. A temporary arch was erected, covered with colored cotton and suitably embellished. But its most attractive ornament was a living American eagle, with its dark plumage, piercing eye, and snowy head and tail, who seemed to look with anxious gaze on the unwonted spectacle below. This is the same eagle which in Alexandria surmounted the arch of welcome there erected to Lafayette; and to complete its honors and its public character, it has since been entrusted to M. Vattemare, to be presented to the National Museum in Paris. He is now forty years old."
"The fireworks (at night) exhibited on the same theatre, and prepared by the pyrotechnists of the navy yard, were admirable beyond description. They were witnessed by an immense multitude. The President's reception at night in the East Room was very numerously attended. Thus passed one of the most splendid and agreeable days Washington has ever witnessed."
Objections having been from time to time urged against the plan of the Monument, the Society, early in 1848, appointed a committee to consider them. In April of that year, pursuant to a report of a committee of its members, the Society fixed upon a height of 500 feet for the shaft, leaving in abeyance the surrounding pantheon and base. And this modification continued to be the plan of the Monument until it was again altered at a later period.
The corner-stone laid, the Society began active operations to raise the shaft, which were most vigorously prosecuted. The purchase of materials and the general construction of the Monument, embracing the employment of labor, skilled and common, were committed by the Society to three of their number, denominated a Building Committee.
The members of this committee devoted much of their time patriotically to the duties assigned them, held weekly meetings during several years, and served without any sort of compensation whatever.
With a view of having the States of the Union properly represented in the Monument, the Society extended an invitation for each State to furnish for insertion in the interior walls a block of marble or other durable stone, a production of its soil, of the following dimensions: Four feet long, two feet high, and with a bed of from twelve to eighteen inches, the name of the State to be cut thereon in large letters, and, if desirable to the donor, the State's coat of arms also. Later, this invitation to contribute memorial blocks of stone was extended to embrace such a gift from a foreign government.
In response to these invitations were received from time to time the many rich and durable blocks which now adorn the interior walls of the shaft, in themselves smaller but not less impressive monuments to the memory of Washington.
In about six years from the laying of the corner-stone the Monument had reached the height of 156 feet, not quite one-third of its ultimate modified elevation. During this period the Society continued most actively at work in the raising of funds to carry the Monument forward.
An appeal to the people was adopted and issued by the Society in 1848, immediately after the laying of the corner-stone, in which the past history of the work was given, what was desired and in contemplation to do, and an urgent request for contributions was made, and an eloquent reference to Washington was embodied.
In June, 1849, a special appeal for contributions, to be made in all parts of the country on the ensuing 4th of July, was issued, and everywhere distributed.
Another special appeal was made in this year, which recited, among other things—
"The scholars and pupils, male and female, of all the institutions of learning, and the public and private schools in this country, are requested to make such monthly contributions as may be convenient towards the erection of the Monument till it shall be completed. It is estimated that there are about 3,000,000 of pupils of all ages in the United States, and the monthly contribution of even one cent by each would alone, in a few years, complete the structure now in progress. The assistance of the principals and teachers in these schools, however, will be essential, and the Board would be thankful if they would lend their aid to carry out this plan by making such collections monthly, and transmitting the amount collected to the Treasurer or to the General Agent of the Society here," &c.
February 5, 1850, the Society adopted the following resolution:
"Resolved, That in view of the liberal contributions made by two of the banks of the City of Washington, the General Agent be requested to address a circular letter to the several banking institutions of the United States, bearing the signatures of the Board of Managers, soliciting from them contributions to the erection of the Monument."
In accordance with this resolve a circular letter was issued March 1, 1850, appealing to all banks for contributions.
In May, 1850, circular letters were sent to all deputy marshals of the United States who were to be employed in taking the census then at hand, soliciting their aid in the collection of funds while engaged in the enumeration of the people, and offering a commission of 15 per cent. on the amount collected to each collector, following in this plan the one pursued in 1840. A further general appeal was also printed and distributed everywhere.
Early in 1851 the following resolution was adopted by the Society:
"Resolved, That a circular be addressed in the name of this Board to the respective Grand Lodges of the Masonic and Odd Fellows' fraternities and Grand Divisions of the Sons of Temperance in the United States, requesting that arrangements be made to obtain such periodical contributions as they may deem proper, to be applied to the erection of the Washington National Monument, until the same shall be completed."
Accordingly, an appeal was issued to the bodies mentioned in the resolution.
In January, 1852, pursuant to a resolution of the Society, the military organizations of the country were specially called upon for contributions.
In 1853, another urgent and general appeal was put forth for funds, to be given by the Masonic bodies of the country.
In 1854, there was another general address to the country, similar in character to former appeals, and a special appeal was sent to the officers of the Navy of the United States, invoking their co-operation and aid in raising money to carry on the work of building the Monument.
The tangible result of these general and special appeals for funds was far short of hope. The funds collected went into the treasury of the Society, and were at once expended to meet the current and contract obligations of the work of building the Monument.
STONE FROM ROME.
In this year an act occurred at the Monument which created much indignation and excitement in the District, and was the subject of much public discussion throughout the country.
The facts furnished to the press by the Society, after an investigation by it, were reported thus in the "Daily National Intelligencer" on March 8, 1854:
"A deed of barbarism was enacted on Monday morning last, between one and two o'clock, by several persons (number not known, but supposed to be from four to ten), which will be considered as belonging rather to some of the centuries considerably in our rear than to the better half of the boasted Nineteenth Century. We refer to the forcible seizure from its place of deposit, in a shed at the Washington Monument, of a block of marble sent hither from Rome, a tribute to the memory of Washington by the Pontiff, and intended to become a part of the edifice now erecting to signalize his name and glory. It originally stood in the Temple of Concord at Rome, was of beautiful texture, and had for its dimensions a length of three feet, height of eighteen inches, and thickness of ten inches. The account we hear of the matter is this: That at about the time above mentioned several men suddenly surrounded the watch box of the night watchman, and passed a cord, such as is used for clothes lines, around the box, and piled stones against the door, calling to the man within that if he kept quiet he would not be injured, at the same time they pasted pieces of newspapers on the two or three window openings that commanded the particular shed containing the fated block, so as to prevent the watchman from seeing their operations. They then removed one of the strips in front of the place where the block stood, and passing in and out by the opening carried it off by placing it on a hand cart used about the premises. There is no doubt they took the block to the river side, not less than a quarter of a mile off, and pitched it over the steep bank upon the river beach, where they enjoyed a favorable opportunity of breaking it up undiscovered or boating it off into the river, which they probably did after defacing it. All this went on, it seems, without effective remonstrance from the watchman, although he had with him a double-barrel shot gun loaded with buck shot, and the operations at the shed were within easy shot. As for the pasting on the windows, there was nothing in that, for they slid up and down like the sashes of an omnibus. These proceedings, the watchman says, took place about half-past one; but he gave no notice of it to the family residing at the Monument until four. For these and other similar reasons he has been suspended."
A meeting of the Society was held on the 7th of March in reference to this vandalism, and it was resolved to offer a reward to discover the perpetrators. Accordingly, the following advertisement appeared in the "Daily National Intelligencer" on March 8th:
"$100 Reward. The Board of Managers of the Washington National Monument Society will pay the above reward of $100 for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who, on the night of the 5th instant, stole and destroyed a block of marble contributed to said Monument."
This advertisement availed nothing as to the discovery of the guilty persons. It was understood to have been the work of persons belonging to the party styled "Know-Nothings;" one of their professions being opposition to the Roman Catholic Church and any political preference of its members. It was not thought the persons were generally depraved characters, but, on the contrary, were supposed to be identified with the respectable part of the community. From the time of the reception of this stone from Rome by the Society until its destruction, there had been frequent expressions in a portion of the daily press in opposition to its being placed in the Monument, and the Society had received many protesting letters and, in some instances, long petitions from various parts of the country, numerously signed, urging that the stone be not used by the Society, as it was representative of the Roman Church, &c.
Many petitions from New Jersey recited:
"We, the undersigned, citizens of ——, in the State of New Jersey, believing the proffer of a block of marble recently made by the Pope of Rome to this country for the Washington Monument to be totally inconsistent with the known principles of that despotic system of government of which he is the head; that the inscription, 'Rome to America,' engraved upon it, bears a significance beyond its natural meaning; that the construction is an artful stratagem, calculated to divert the attention of the American people for the present from his animosity to republican institutions by an outward profession of regard; that the gift of a despot, if placed within those walls, can never be looked upon by true Americans but with feelings of mortification and disgust; and believing that the original design of the structure was to perpetuate the memory of Washington as the champion of American liberty, its national character should be preserved, do therefore most earnestly protest against the placing of said stone within the Monument, or any other stone from any other than a republican government."
But the Society was not organized on sectarian or political lines, and to the opposition and protests no heed was given. The Society was composed of men of different political beliefs and church affiliations.
The immediate effect of the destruction of the "Pope's stone" was to anger a large body of the citizens of the country, members of the Catholic Church, and then, and for a long time afterward, to estrange any interest they had had in the building of the Monument, and to this extent to impair the field for the collection of funds for the Monument.
It has never been certainly known what the precise fate of the stone was, though occasional uncorroborated statements of individuals, alleging knowledge of or participation in its destruction, have been made as to it. But their variance has rendered them of no value.
The further collection of funds for the Monument was not only curtailed by the destruction of the Pope's stone, but the political and business conditions of the country in 1854 caused a great falling off in contributions. The Monument had now reached a height of 153 feet above the foundation, and the Society had expended on the entire structure $230,000. The funds being now practically exhausted, and all its efforts to obtain further sums proving abortive in this year, 1854, the Society presented a memorial to Congress representing that they were unable to devise any plan likely to succeed in raising the requisite means, and under the circumstances asked that Congress might take such action as it deemed proper.
In the House of Representatives the memorial was referred to a select committee of thirteen members, appointed under a resolution July 13th, of which committee the Hon. Henry May, of Maryland, was chairman.
By a previous order, Mr. May, on the 22d of February, 1855, made an eloquent and able report to the House, in which, after a careful examination of the whole subject, the proceedings of the Society were reviewed and approved, and an appropriation of $200,000 by Congress was recommended "on behalf of the people of the United States to aid the funds of this Society." There was no suggestion made that Congress should assume the completion of the Monument; the Society were to continue actively in the work they had been prosecuting. Congress would make simply a donation to the funds. The sum proposed was the same in amount which the House of Representatives, by their resolution of January 1, 1801, had agreed to appropriate for erecting a mausoleum to Washington, in the City of Washington. The report referred to the Society and its work in the following terms of approval:
"The Society was organized on an admirable plan, and its officers undertook the duties assigned them by its Constitution, and have, as your committee are well satisfied, faithfully performed them.
"The funds were to be collected in all parts of the United States; and agents as competent and as faithful as could be found were appointed, after giving bond for the performance of their duties. These agents were sent to all parts of the country, and contributions were commenced and continued by the subscription of $1.00 for each person. This plan was adopted in order that all might have the opportunity to contribute.
"In the appointment of these agents a careful scrutiny was exercised by the Society, and undoubted recommendations of both character and capacity were in every case required, and though an opinion may prevail in some parts of the country to the contrary, your committee are satisfied that these agents generally proved to be worthy of the confidence reposed in them. Of the large number employed but two of them failed to account for the money collected, and legal measures resorted to promptly by the Society against their bonds have, in one of these instances, obtained the full amount of the liability.
"It may well be questioned if any Society executing a plan for collecting money so extensively has met with equal success in justifying the integrity of its agents, and it is pleasing to state that not one cent of the funds received by the Society has at any time been lost by investment or otherwise."
This report, recommending "that the sum of two hundred thousand dollars should be subscribed by Congress on behalf of the people of the United States to aid the funds of the Society" was submitted to the House with every assurance of its adoption, and that the appropriation recommended would be made. But an unfortunate occurrence arose, news of which, upon reaching Mr. May upon the floor, occasioned a suspension of further consideration of the report, and the whole matter was laid upon the table. The occurrence was the result of "a plot, secretly contrived and suddenly disclosed, to reverse the principles on which the Society had uniformly acted, and to degrade an enterprise, sacred to patriotism and humanity, into an instrument of party or sect." On the day the report of Mr. May was submitted to the House of Representatives, "a crowd of persons assembled at the City Hall and there voted for seventeen individuals, named in a printed ticket, to be officers and managers of 'the' Society. The only previous announcement of this proceeding was notice signed 'F. W. Eckloff, clerk W. N. M. Society,' and published on the evening of the 21st of February in the American Organ' and the 'Evening Star,' and on the morning of the 22d in the `National Intelligencer.' On the 24th of February the result of the election was proclaimed in the Press," by which it appeared 755 votes were cast, resulting in the election of the following officers: Vespasian Ellis, First Vice-President; George H. Plant, Second V. P.; Charles C. Tucker, Secretary; John M. McCalla, Treasurer; and the following Board of Managers: Samuel S. Briggs, French S. Evans, Henry Addison, Charles R. Belt, Joseph H. Bradley, J. N. Craig, Thomas D. Sandy, Samuel C. Busey, James A. Gordon, Robert T. Knight, Samuel E. Douglass, Joseph Libbey, Sr., Thomas A. Brooke.
This pretended election was not had according to the Constitution of the Society. The constitutional time of election was every third year from the year 1835, and the last election had been held in 1853.
It was the province of the Secretary of the Society to issue all notices of meetings, and the clerk (Eckloff), a mere recorder and messenger, had no color of authority to issue any such notice. The last regular weekly meeting of the Society was held on the 20th of February, and it had then adjourned to meet on the 27th of that month. Of the 755 votes cast all were given to each of the seventeen persons elected, except one, who received 754 votes, and not one of the persons elected was a member of the existing board. This election was carried on certificates of membership, which could be obtained from the Society or its agents on the payment of one dollar, but which were issued without any knowledge of the Society, and no money representing them was ever received by its Treasurer.
Abundant evidence shows that the plan of this election was "silently yet solemnly resolved," and framed in the secret lodges of the "Know-Nothing" or American party of that day, its object being to transfer the entire and exclusive management into its own hands, and to oust every other description of citizens from participation in the trust.
On the 24th of February, the existing Society held a special meeting, protesting against the pretended election of February 22d, and appointed a committee "to investigate the existing state of things and report thereon at the next regular meeting."
The committee reported at a meeting of the Society on the 27th of February, and in accordance therewith adopted resolutions declaring "that the election held on the 22d instant of officers and managers of the Washington National Monument Society was in direct violation of the Constitution of said Society, and therefore null and void; that this Board, being by virtue of the Constitution of the Washington National Monument Society, the existing Board of Managers, and as such charged with a trust of the most solemn character, in behalf of the American people cannot voluntarily surrender the same; that the above resolutions be communicated to the gentlemen claiming under the election of the 22d instant, and that we propose that an amicable suit be instituted for the purpose of testing the rights of the two parties."
Replying to a transmitted copy of these resolutions, the "Know-Nothing" board adopted resolutions not admitting any right in "the late Board of Managers" to participate in the "administration of this Society other than as members thereof," and appointed a committee of three persons "to confer with those gentlemen in response to the resolutions received from them to-day, and that they report to the next meeting of this Board."
The two committees met on the 3d of March, but were unable to agree on terms of arrangement, the committee of the "Know-Nothing" board adhering to a refusal to submit the dispute to judicial decision.
The Superintendent in charge of the Monument, William Dougherty, declining to recognize the authority of the pretended board or to surrender possession of any of the buildings on the Monument grounds to the new superintendent appointed by it, on the evening of the 9th of March these buildings were forcibly taken possession of in its name, and the "new" superintendent was installed in place. Thereafter, for several years, the Society had no further communication with the "Know-Nothing" board, and published in the daily press a full account of the controversy, which demonstrated the illegality of the organization of the board in usurped possession. Arrangements were also made to secure a decision by the courts in the premises. The Society's agents were also advised of the existing conditions. Being bonded, no moneys collected by them were paid to the treasurer of the "Know-Nothing" board, which board shortly issued the following address, thereby stamping its character:
"Brethren of the American Party:
"For twenty years past a voluntary association has existed in this city, formed for the purpose of raising funds to erect a monument to Washington. It was founded on the scheme of voluntary contributions among the people of the United States, in such sums as would enable every citizen to contribute towards it. After years of patient waiting, a sufficient amount was accumulated to justify them in adopting a plan and beginning the work. A plan was adopted of a single shaft of white marble, of four equal sides, having a base 55 feet square, and rising to the height of 600 feet, diminishing gradually from base to top, and to be 33 feet square at the top. The base is to be a pantheon, surrounded by columns and ornamented by statues. The interior of the Monument is a square chamber: the walls, 15 feet in thickness, are composed of the solid blue stone of the Potomac in large masses, faced on the outside with white marble 18 inches thick, firmly bonded at every course into the blue stone. The corner-stone was laid on the 4th of July, 1848. The structure has reached the height of 170 feet at a cost of upward of $230,000. And it appears to be firm as the materials of which it is composed.
"Last year the contributions were wholly insufficient to keep up the ordinary progress of the work, and the managers were constrained to apply to Congress for aid. In the course of its construction they had thought it expedient and proper to receive not only contributions in money from every quarter of the globe, but they invited contributions in ornamented stones, to be placed, under the direction of the architect, in the face of the wall of the chamber. Among others, a stone sent from the Pope of Rome, and was received by the managers, to be placed, as the others, in some conspicuous place.
"It was an American Monument, and its construction and management was said to be mainly in the hands of Catholics and foreigners. Complaints were also made of the administration of the association, and of the expenditures and losses in the collections of funds. For these and divers other causes, the Americans of this District resolved in their respective Councils that this work ought to be typical of their Government, completed by the free act of the People, under the direction and by the hands of the natives. Accordingly, at the election held on the 22d of February last, they nominated and elected a ticket of their own Order, who now have the control of the work.
"It will require at least one million of dollars to complete it as it was originally designed, and that sum must be raised by the Councils of our Order, or we must suffer indelible disgrace and become a bye-word. There are enrolled in the Order at this time not less than two millions of freemen. A contribution of fifty cents from each, a sum within the reach of every member, will effect it. There may be some too poor—there cannot be any too mean or too insensible to the obligation upon them—to give this sum. If this shall be so, we have adopted a plan by which that difficulty may be met. For every contribution of one dollar, a certificate of membership is to be issued to the person in whose name the subscription is made. It is therefore proposed that collections shall be made in each Council throughout the Nation in such manner as each may deem most expedient, and the money remitted to John M. McCalla, Esq., Treasurer of the National Monument, accompanied by a letter addressed to Charles C. Tucker, Secretary of the National Monument, stating the amount thus forwarded, and transmitting a list of the names to whom a certificate for each dollar thus paid in is to be sent. For each single subscription of five dollars a handsome engraved plate of the Monument, of large size, will be sent.
"But, Brethren, while the sum of fifty cents from each member of the Order may be barely sufficient to complete the structure, it will take as much more to finish the work and the grounds, and leave a surplus to be invested and yield an interest to keep it in repair end defray the incidental annual expenses.
"We have pledged the American party to this work. We have taken the great step of overthrowing, on this pledge, the administration which has preceded us, and which not only failed but went as beggars to Congress to ask legislative aid for that which loses all merit, unless it be the free-will offering of grateful hearts.
"Have we done right?
"Brothers, we come to you to demand your aid in this great work to which we have been appointed, and to which, through us, you are pledged. We do not come alone. Our brethren in the District of Columbia, beneath the walls of the Presidential Mansion, from which a frowning brow is ever turned upon us—these brethren, moved by the sacred fire that ever burns in their hearts, the altars of patriotism, defying the scorn and contumely and lust of those temporarily in power, have come up freely to our aid. They have set to you, the free citizens of free States, with power to remove and bring to account those who dare to turn a wrathful eye on the movements of those native to the soil—to you in every sense Freemen—they have set a bright and glorious example. May you walk by its light. The Councils in this the heart of the Nation—yet not one of its members—our Councils have, with wondrous unanimity, resolved to contribute one dollar for each member enrolled in each separate Council. Let it go forth—publish it wherever in this broad land, those born beneath the stars and stripes, the glorious banner of our Union, have met, or shall meet, to resolve that Americans must and shall govern America. Ring it in the ear of the slothful—breathe it into the heart of the earnest—the native Americans in Council, in the District of Columbia, have resolved to contribute a dollar for each member toward the completion of the work; and they have already begun their contributions.
"Brethren, it is a national work—it is the heaped-up offering of mighty people—it is the work of the age. To it, from every kindred and nation, offerings have been brought—the tribute of far-off lands to that name which stands single, alone, mighty, majestic, in the history of the world, as though it were written in letters of starry light in the high heavens, to be read by all men. These are but the homage paid to virtue end renown, while the heart is cold or hostile.
"But to you, Brethren, his name is a household word. It was breathed over you on a mother's name and graven on your heart by a mother's love. It was taught you by a father's watchful care, and has been held ever before you as your beacon and your guide by a father's ceaseless anxiety. It was your watchword in the sports of youth; it is, it must be, your polar star in the mazes of a maturer life; it is the name for patriotism; it is little less than that of a god. Oh, the heart—the true American heart—the heart that beats responsive to the call of country—the heart that thrills at those words of wisdom and warning which fell from his lips, teaching us the dangers of foreign influence—the heart that swells with gratitude to the great human benefactor, who, having led us through the perils of the terrible conflicts of the Revolution, and guided us through the scarcely less perilous history of the Federation, and presided over that grand and august assembly which framed our matchless Constitution, laid in practice the deep foundations of this mighty Nation—the heart of the native-born American leaps up with joy to testify its deep love and veneration for him and seeks some adequate means to express it. And, Brethren and Countrymen, we bring it to you; we give you, by the means spread before you, an opportunity to enroll your names in the book where is found the mighty company who have contributed to this the most remarkable Monument ever erected to man, which, as his name, shall stand unique, lofty—towering above all others known among men.
"Brethren, come to our aid.
"By order of the Board:
"Chas. C. Tucker,
"Secretary.
"Washington, D. C., May, 1855."
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY:
Franklin Pierce,
President of the United Slates and ex officio President.
Vespasian Ellis,
First Vice-President.
John T. Towers,
Mayor of Washington and ex officio Second Vice-President.
George H. Plant,
Third Vice-President.
John M. McCalla,
Treasurer.
Chas. C. Tucker,
Secretary.
MANAGERS:
| Henry Addison, | Thomas D. Sandy, |
| Charles R. Belt, | Joseph H. Bradley, |
| French S. Evans, | Samuel C. Busey, |
| Charles W. Davis, | James Gordon, |
| John N. Craig, | Robert T. Knight, |
| Samuel E. Douglas, | Joseph Libby, Sr., |
| Thomas A. Brooke. | |
The address was printed in certain of the daily papers, and transmitted to the "Councils" of the party by the following letter:
"Office of the
Washington National Monument Society,
Washington, D. C., May, 1855.
"Dear Sir and Brother:
"Enclosed I send you an address from the Board of Managers of the Washington National Monument Society to members of our Order, asking their contributions in aid of the Washington National Monument, and request that you will place it before your Council and lend your influence towards the accomplishment of the object in view.
"By the action of your brethren in the District of Columbia our Order stands pledged to the country and the world to complete the Monument, and the glory of success or the disgrace of failure will be ours alone. The pledge was freely given; for we were confident that our brethren in the States would rejoice at the opportunity thus presented of testifying their gratitude and veneration for him whose "memory, maxims, and deathless example" we endeavor to keep alive in the hearts of the American people.
"I would suggest that your Council appoint a Washington Monument Committee to receive subscriptions and forward the sums collected to the Treasurer of the Society. The committee should procure a book in which to insert the name and address of each contributor and the amount contributed. This book should be forwarded to me, to be placed in the archives of the Monument, and to each contributor of one dollar or upwards will be forwarded a certificate of membership and a print of the Monument or a portrait of Washington.
"The plan laid down by the Board of Managers is to forward to each contributor of one dollar or upwards and less than five dollars a small print of the Monument, and to each contributor of five dollars a print of the Monument, 22 by 30 inches in size, or a large portrait of Washington, and both the large print and portrait to each contributor of eight dollars or upwards. To each Council will be sent a copy of the large print or portrait or both, depending upon the amount contributed in such Council.
"It is not expected, nor is it necessary, that the subscriptions be paid at once; but they may be paid in weekly, semi-monthly or monthly payments, as the Council or committee may determine. One dime per week from each member of our Order for three months will be more than sufficient to erect the Monument to its destined height, thus bringing it within the means of all to assist us in our noble work.
"If the Council deems it advisable to collect subscriptions outside of the Council, but within its jurisdiction, let it recommend a suitable person to act as agent, who will receive a compensation for his services by a commission upon the amount collected. Upon such recommendations being received, there will be forwarded to the agent named a certificate authorizing him to receive contributions. The Council will determine whether the proceeds of such collections be received and transmitted by the committee having charge of the collections within the Council or be remitted by the agent direct to the Treasurer. It is intended that the amount of such collection be placed to the credit of the Council in the reports from the Board of Managers to the State Councils and National Council.
"May we not rely upon your best exertion to aid us in the work in which we are engaged? We know that our brethren will cheerfully contribute their mites if the subject is properly placed before them. We wish to dispense, as far as possible, with the services of special agents; that all contributions may be applied directly to the purpose for which they are intended, and we must rely mainly upon those whose abilities or position enable them to render us the aid required; and who, like the officers of the Society, will desire no compensation for their services other than the pleasure of engaging in this patriotic undertaking.
"Fraternally yours,
"Chas. C. Tucker,
"Secretary W. N. M. S."
The following "Notice to the Public" was issued by the "Know-Nothing" Board:
"Office of
"Washington National Monument Society,
"Washington, July 1, 1856.
"In accordance with an order of the Board of Managers, the public are requested to pay no more contributions for the Washington National Monument to agents heretofore commissioned by the Board.
"This notice is not to be construed as a censure on the agents, but it is designed to effectuate a general settlement of the affairs of the Society. The Board is well assured of eventual success in the patriotic enterprise in which it is engaged, but it has resolved to suspend further proceedings by agency until a plan, now under consideration, for combining efficiency, promptitude, and safety, is matured.
"Balances due from agents, or offerings from independent contributors, are to be sent by draft, payable to the order of the Treasurer of Washington National Monument Society, enclosed in a letter to the undersigned.
"By order: Samuel Yorke AtLee,
"Secretary W. N. M. S.
"N. B.—Editors throughout the United States will confer a favor on the Society and benefit the public by publishing this notice and sending to the Secretary a copy of the paper containing the same."
Manifestly, the rival claims of the two Boards of Managers, and the office, books, papers, and property of the Society and the Monument itself, being in the possession and control of a narrow political faction, practically arrested the work of the Society's agents in the collection of funds and further building operations.
The "Know-Nothing" Board, as apparent evidence of its earnestness in the premises, and presumably to support its appeal for funds (several later ones being issued) and to establish public confidence, proceeded to add two courses of stone to the height of the shaft by the use of marble on the ground when it took possession. But this marble, in the main, were blocks which had been theretofore rejected and condemned as unfit for use. In later years, on the final resumption of work on the Monument, these courses were removed by the engineer in charge of its construction.
The receipts of the Society for the year 1855, from January 3d to February 20th, amounted to $695; for the remainder of that year, to $51.66—evidence of the result of the dispossession of the Society and the disinclination of the public to contribute funds under the existing conditions.
The "Know-Nothing" Board continued in possession of the Monument until October 25, 1858.
The political party which it represented disintegrating, and not being able to secure contributions toward building the Monument, or to awaken any interest in the enterprise, it concluded to surrender possession of the Monument.
On the date named the surrender was made, and the Society was reinstated in the possession of its office, books and papers, and the Monument. A number of collectors' filled subscription books, however, were missing. The Treasurer of the out-going Board passed to the Treasurer of the Society, through the Bank of Washington, December 14, 1858, the sum of $285.09. The full amount collected by the "Know-Nothing" Board during over three years of its control does not appear.
At a meeting, December 28, 1858, the Society reappointed the Hon. Elisha Whittlesey its General Agent. A committee previously appointed reported on the present condition of the Monument and other property of the Society, by which it appeared that the engine house and some other buildings on "Monument place" were in a dilapidated condition, though the engine and boiler were in good order; that of two large cranes for hoisting stone at the wharves, one had fallen down, the other had disappeared; that marble valued at $300 had been taken away; that the rope wove through a block at the top of the Monument to enable persons to ascend had been pulled down, and no means remained for ascent of the shaft save by scaffolding on the inside. "It will require an expenditure of at least $2,000 to place the fixtures and machinery in a condition to enable your Board to resume the progress of the work."
The enterprise having now passed into the hands of the Society again, they proceeded at once to make suitable arrangements for the conservation of the Monument and protection of the grounds and other property connected with it. Admonished by the transaction of February 22, 1856, and its results, of the legal difficulties in the way of voluntary association, consisting of members residing in all parts of the Union, they applied to Congress for a charter.
This was at length granted. On the 22d of February, 1859, an act passed Congress, and was approved by the President on the 26th of the same month, incorporating "The Washington National Monument Society * * * for the purpose of completing the erection now in progress of a great National Monument to the memory of Washington at the seat of the Federal Government." The incorporators named were Winfield Scott, Walter Jones, John J. Abert, James Kearney, Thomas Carberry, Peter Force, William A. Bradley, Philip R. Fendall, Walter Lennox, Matthew F. Maury (as survivors of the grantees of the site under the grant made by President Polk), and Jonathan B. H. Smith, William W. Seaton, Elisha Whittlesey, Benj. Ogte Tayloe, Thomas H. Crawford, William W. Corcoran, and John Carroll Brent.
The charter vested in and confirmed to the Society all the easements, rights, privileges theretofore held by the Society under the name of incorporation, and all thereafter to be acquired, for the purpose of erecting the Monument; provided for the election of officers and for exercising the right of amotion; that the President of the United States should be ex officio President of the Society, and the Governors of the several States should be respectively ex officio Vice-Presidents; gave the right to sue and be sued, and rendered the members of the Society liable in their individual capacities for any indebtedness contracted in the name of the Society.
ORGANIZATION OF THE WASHINGTON NATIONAL MONUMENT SOCIETY UNDER THE CHARTER.
The meeting for the organization of the Society under the charter granted by Congress took place on Tuesday evening, March 22, 1859, in the aldermen's chamber, in the City Hall, Washington, D. C.
President James Buchanan, as ex officio President of the Society, presided.
Mr. Fendall very briefly reviewed some of the circumstances out of which the original Society had sprung, stating that but four of its members now survived, and the object and aim of the Society were remarked.
Eloquently referring to Washington, he concluded:
"The completion of the Monument now in progress is far more important to the fame of the American people than to the fame of Washington."
The President, rising, referred to his efforts to awaken the interest of Congress in the erection of a monument to Washington while he was a member of the House in 1824.
"It was considered at that time (1824), and so remarked in Congress, that it was rather an indignity that any effort should be made to raise a monument to the honor and memory of Washington besides that which existed in the hearts of his countrymen."
Mr. Buchanan concluded:
"Not only in this country is his name loved and revered beyond that of all other men, but abroad, in foreign lands, our country is illustrated by him, and his name is never mentioned but as that of the purest, most unselfish patriot that ever lived; not only the most unselfish, but the most self-sacrificing of whom history has kept record."
Resolutions were then offered, accepting the act of incorporation by Congress, and making the charter the Constitution of the Society, providing for an annual election on the 22d of February of each year, and such other meetings as might be duly called; the officers of the Society to be a First Vice-President, (to be the Mayor of Washington;) Second and Third Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer and Secretary, committees to draft and report by-laws and to define and prescribe the duties of officers and agents, and to prepare "An Address to the People of the United States."
Maj.-Gen. Winfield Scott was chosen Second Vice-President, Thomas Carberry, Third Vice-President; J. B. H. Smith, Treasurer; and John Carroll Brent, Secretary.
Every effort was now put forth to revive public interest in the Monument, and to obtain substantial aid for its completion, the Society exercising great patience, forbearance, and industry to restore matters to their former condition.
The plan now proposed and to be carried into execution was the securing of contributions from voters at all municipal and general elections, and appropriations by State Legislatures and the invoking by circular letter of aid from all political, corporate, or voluntary bodies, the Army and Navy, all associations, societies, churches, and individuals.
June 6, 1859, at a general election in the City of Washington, contributions were received at the polls towards the funds of the Society amounting to $150.76.
In the result of this first renewed attempt to raise money to complete the Monument the Society, however, was not discouraged.
The matter was noticed in a daily paper in an article which, after referring to the former dispossession of the Society and the long "silence" at the base of the Monument, said:
"It was not till this state of things unhappily took place that the popular enthusiasm drooped and cooled, and it is hardly fair to expect a resuscitation in an hour or a day. We trust, however, that the night is far spent; that the day is at hand, and even the tribute of the voters of Washington on Monday last, small as it was, is an evidence of new life and returning vigor.
"It will require on the part of the Monument Board the exercise of patience and forbearance as well as industry to restore matters to the condition they once were in."
In April, 1859, the Society applied to the Honorable the Secretary of War for the detail of an officer of the Corps of Topographical Engineers to assume the duty of Engineer of the Monument and to superintend its construction.
June 7, 1859, a letter was received from the Hon. John B. Floyd, Secretary of War, stating that in compliance with the Society's request he had detailed Lieut. J. C. Ives, of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, to act under the direction of the Society as Engineer and Architect of the Monument. Subsequently, Lieutenant Ives reported for duty to the officers of the Society. In his letter advising of the detail of Lieutenant Ives, Secretary Floyd stated:
"The favorable auspices under which the enterprise has been resumed encourage the hope that this reproach will be removed. Composed of gentlemen of well-known standing, * * * the Society has a claim upon the confidence of the public that is the surest guarantee of the success of its labors."
Doubts having been raised as to the stability of the material which had been employed in building the Monument and as to the sufficiency of its foundations to support the shaft at its proposed height of 600 feet, Lieutenant Ives, on the 10th of August, 1859, made a report upon the subject after a careful examination of all the conditions, which recited, in part:
"To those who are aware of the care which was taken in laying the foundation of the Monument, both in the selection and preparation of the bed and in the execution of masonry work, it will be scarcely necessary to enter into any statement in regard to its present condition. * * * For five years during which the work has been suspended, the foundation has been bearing about four-sevenths of the pressure that it will ultimately be required to sustain, and, in a recent examination, I was unable to detect any appearance of settling or indication of insecurity. * * * Whether the height of 600 feet can be attained without endangering the stability of the obelisk, a computation is herewith subjoined, from which it would appear that, without taking into consideration the adhesion of the mortar, the weight alone of the structure would offer a resistance nearly eight times greater than the overturning effort of the heaviest tempest to which it would probably ever be exposed."
The conclusions of this report set at rest at that time all doubts that had existed as to the stability of the Monument completed and of its foundation.
A proposition, submitted by Lieutenant Ives, to raise funds by erecting contribution boxes in the post-offices throughout the country, constituting postmasters agents of the Society for their care and supervision and the transmission of money thus collected to the Treasurer of the Society, was adopted, and Lieutenant Ives was charged with the execution of the plan. Amounts collected from the boxes were sent directly to the Treasurer, and memoranda of the same to Lieutenant Ives, a record being also kept at the Washington City post-office of all letters addressed to that officer as Engineer of the Monument.
May 17, 1859, the Society published and circulated a general appeal to the public. Collateral to the raising of funds by the "post-office plan," agents were appointed, under bond (allowed the usual 15 per cent. on the amount of collections to defray their expenses), in defined districts to solicit contributions, and a circular appeal was specially addressed to corporations, literary and benevolent institutions, to schools, organizations, the Masonic fraternity, and to officers of the Navy in command, asking their aid to bring the subject before the officers and men under them.
At the end of the first four months under Lieutenant Ives' plan returns were had from 841 post-offices, the sums aggregating $2,240.31 (some 28,000 offices making no response at all), an amount far short of hope. It had been estimated that $45,000 a year would be required to keep the work on the Monument in fair progress when again resumed.
Aside from the post-office receipts, the most considerable items collected in this year were: Contribution box at the Monument, $822.40; box at the Patent Office, $396.26; California, $1,000; from collections in the City of Washington, $49.73. The entire receipts for the year were $3,074.96, while the expenditures made in preparation to resume work, printing, &c., amounted to $1,429.39.
On the 15th of March, 1859, at the Masonic National Convention held in the City of Chicago, a number of the wives, daughters, and sisters of Masons in attendance upon the Convention, assembled in the "Richmond House" and formed a "Ladies' National Washington Monument Association to aid in the completion of the Washington Monument now being erected in Washington, D. C." Mrs. Finley M. King, Port Byron, N. Y., was elected President, and Mrs. John L. Lewis, Penn Yan, N. Y., Secretary and Treasurer, and Vice-Presidents were appointed, residents of different States, among the number Mrs. Reuben Hyde Walworth, N. Y.; Mrs. Robert M. Henderson, Mo.; Mrs. Floride C. Cunningham, S. C.; Mrs. William Sheets, Ind.; Mrs. Margaret C. Brown, Fla.; Mrs. Elbert H. English, Ark.; Mrs. Giles M. Hillyer, Miss.; Mrs. Jane Van Wagoner, N. J.; Mrs. Martha E. Holbrook, Or.; Mrs. Gilbert C. Morell, Neb.; Mrs. William S. Long, Cal.; Mrs. John G. Saxe, Vt.; Miss Sallie Bell, Tenn.; Mrs. Richard Vaux, Pa.
The Ladies' Association proceeded actively to work to raise funds by various plans, but with small result. In the year 1860 there was issued an "Appeal of The Ladies' Washington National Monument Society to the judges and inspectors of elections of the various towns, wards, precincts, and election districts in the United States, to every paper and periodical published, and to the whole people." After reference to the unfinished Monument and a glowing tribute to the memory of Washington, the address requested "judges and inspectors of election" in every place in the ensuing Presidential election (or any person, if they fail to do so) to provide boxes in which to receive contributions, and appoint suitable persons to take charge of them, and "every voter" was earnestly entreated to deposit in the boxes any sum, "however small," and the press were asked to give the appeal notice.
Money collected was to be transmitted by draft or "in postage stamps" to the Secretary or to any one of the lady Vice-Presidents in the several States, the amounts collected to be finally published in the daily papers.
The success achieved by the association of ladies was but indifferent compared with the expectations in its formation, and it collapsed in about two years. In 1860 it paid to the Treasurer of the Society, as shown by his account, $458.50.
The prosecution of the "post-office plan" of collection was continued, and by September, 1860, response had been had from 1,118 postmasters, contributions received aggregating $4,179.56. Of this amount, through the post-offices of California was received $1,120.63, of which $755.49 was from the City of San Francisco.
Having been ordered by the War Department to other duty, September 22, 1860, Lieutenant Ives resigned as Architect and Engineer of the Monument, submitting with his resignation a report of the operations he had conducted, together with an account of his receipts and expenditures. He was thanked in a resolution "for the faithful, efficient, and patriotic manner in which he has discharged the duties as Engineer of the Monument and originator and superintendent of post-office contributions."
In his report Lieutenant Ives stated:
"I am still of opinion that if the plan could have had, as I at first supposed it would, the direct aid of the Postmaster-General, a great majority, if not all, of the postmasters would have united in it, and that it would have insured in a few years a sufficient sum to complete the work. Without that aid I have been unable to secure the co-operation of a sufficient number to accomplish the work."
A general appeal was now issued, requesting contributions at the polls at the Presidential election to occur November 6th, following. The success of this effort was marked and peculiar. From the State of California was realized $10,962.01; Prince George County, Md., $3.63; St. Louis, Mo., $54.20. No other receipts are reported. Other contributions during this year were $290 from employees of the Panama Railroad; $25.80 from the Post-Office Department; $807.45 from the box at the Monument, and $413.55 from one maintained at the Patent Office. The total of all collections reported being for the year $6,026.22; expenditures, $3,514.32. The California collections were paid over in the following year.
The expenditures were charged to the erection of new buildings on the Monument grounds and the necessary repair of others, reorganizing the plant, and the costs of collections, no salary being paid except to a watchman.
Improvements made were thus noticed in a daily paper:
"The place has been placed in such a condition that all the Board wants now in order to resume the work of erection is funds."
To an appeal issued asking contributions to be made on February 23, 1861, but one response was reported.
March 26, 1861, an appeal was addressed "To the people and postmasters," reciting:
"In consequence of the great falling off in post-office contributions, ascribable chiefly to the troubles of the times and the usual change on the advent of a new administration, the undersigned deem it proper to again appeal to the patriotism of the people and postmasters. They therefore respectfully request out-going postmasters to commend the system to their successors and the incoming to imitate the laudable example of their predecessors, and in cases where the latter have not responded and put up boxes to have them erected and forward contributions, however small."
In response to this appeal the amount reported through the post-office for the entire year amounted to only $88.52, of which Rhode Island sent 75 cents, Virginia 48 cents, and Mississippi 15 cents.
A memorial by the Society addressed to Congress, briefly reviewing the history of the Monument, giving an account of the Society's transactions, and asking the aid of Congress in the premises, was adversely reported upon by the Committee on the District of Columbia. A minority report by Mr. Hughes, from the same committee, to accompany a bill H. R. 769, among other statements, after referring to the report of the Select Committee of the House made in 1855, recited:
"Your committee find no reason for dissenting from the views unanimously taken by the select committee in the report already cited. We cannot but regard the proceedings adopted by Congress shortly after the death of Washington as pledging the public faith to the erection of a suitable monument to his memory. It cannot be doubted that the pledge was given in full consonance with the feelings and wishes of the whole country. Whatever may be said to excuse or explain the delay which has been suffered in redeeming the pledge, the contributions of nearly a quarter of a million of dollars which individual citizens have already made towards erecting a monument to the father of his country, abundantly shows that its completion is an object dear to the hearts of the people. They cannot understand why the universal custom of free States in all ages of the world, to commemorate by monumental representations deeds of patriotism and glory, has so long been disregarded in the instance of the noblest of all national benefactors.
"Your committee recommend that the sum of $200,000 be appropriated by Congress, on behalf of the people of the United States, to aid the memorialists in completing the Monument to Washington now in the process of erection at the seat of the Federal Government. But they are of opinion that this amount ought to be disbursed in annual sums of $20,000 for each fiscal year; that each annual installment be paid to the Treasurer of the Society, on a joint warrant, to be signed by the chairmen of the committees of the two Houses of Congress for the District of Columbia; and that the accounts of disbursements be settled at the Treasury in the usual mode of auditing the accounts of disbursing agents. We report herewith a bill accordingly."
The recommendations of this report, however, were not adopted.
The reported collections for the year 1861 were $9,917.64, of which amount $9,000 was the contributions collected in California in November, 1860; the balance, $424.08, was collected at the Monument, $70.02 in the box at the Patent Office, and $298.33 paid by the Ladies' Washington Monument Society.
The funds the Society had now secured—about $12,000 net over necessary expense incurred—was invested in good interest-bearing stocks. The change in the national administration and changes in the reorganization of the Post-Office Department demoralized the plan to secure collections through the medium of local post-offices, and it was shortly discontinued.
The funds of the Society were now but little augmented for a number of years, the only moneys received being deposits of small amounts in boxes placed for the purpose at the Monument grounds, in the United States Patent Office, and in the Smithsonian Institute. At no time did the sums thus received aggregate more than $700 per annum (1867), the average being far less.
The paralyzing influences of the Civil War put a blight upon any further labors of the Society to accomplish the long-cherished object of erecting, on behalf of the people, a national monument to Washington, and public interest and attention being absorbed in more momentous questions, the erection of the Monument was all but forgotten. To the pen and to the patriotic devotion of the learned and scholarly Secretary, Mr. John Carroll Brent, is due what little public notice the Monument obtained during the years of strife.
At the meeting on the 22d of February, 1866, for election of officers, there was a large attendance. The President of the United States, Mr. Andrew Johnson, presided. Replying to some remarks of welcome, he said:
"Gentlemen of the Association: It is no ordinary pleasure to me to have it in my power to meet you here on this occasion and participate in your proceedings, intended to resume and progress in the completion of a monument, if I may speak the language of his eulogist, to him who was 'the first in war, the first in peace, and the first in the hearts of his countrymen.'
"I repeat, it is no ordinary pleasure to me to meet you here on this occasion, on the birthday of the Father of his Country, and participate with you in your efforts to complete the Monument intended to commemorate his name. * * * I hope and trust the work will soon be completed. I hope and trust if there are any States which have not yet contributed and placed their pledges in that Monument of the Union bearing their inscription, it will go on until all the States have done so. I will here remark, it will continue to go on notwithstanding we have disturbed relations of some of the States to the Federal Government; that it will continue to go on until those relations are harmonized and our Union again be complete. Let us restore the Union, and let us proceed with the Monument as its symbol until it shall contain the pledge of all the States of the Union. Let us go on with this great work; let us complete it at the earliest moment practicable; let your Monument rise—if I may speak in the language of that celebrated and distinguished statesman who made the greatest effort of his life in vindication of the Union of these States—'let this Monument to Washington rise higher and higher until it shall meet the sun in his coming, and his last parting ray shall linger and play on its summit.'
"I thank you, gentlemen, for the compliment you have conferred upon me in inviting me to attend on this, the birthday of the Father of his Country, to participate in your proceedings, and I hope and trust your efforts will be crowned with success."
Little progress, however, was made toward resuming work on the Monument in this year. The receipts from all sources, chiefly at the Monument and Patent Office, and accrued interest, amounted to only $1,281.06. Early in 1867 the Society again memorialized Congress, as on former occasions.
July 17th, Mr. Driggs, in the House, offered a preamble and resolution, which was adopted, reciting that the Society "had been in existence twenty years without having accomplished anything beyond the partial erection of a square column on the public grounds; that large sums of money had been collected, and that collections are still continued in the Patent Office and other buildings, and directing the Secretary of the Interior to inform the House what became of the money collected in the Patent Office and as to the present condition of the Association."