Chapter III: Part 3

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."

The memorial was referred to a committee of the House, and there filed.

On the following day the Secretary replied to the House with the information requested, showing present resources of the Society, disposition of its funds, current expenses, present condition and purposes.

March 26, 1869, Mr. Nye (Nevada), in the Senate, introduced--

"A bill to insure the completion of the Washington Monument."

The preamble recited, in part--

"Whereas the Monument proposed to be erected in the City of
Washington in memory of George Washington, the Father of his
Country, has been shamefully neglected and is now incompleted, with
no prospect of its being finished at all for want of means; and
whereas the Government is so deeply in debt in consequence of our
late international war that there is no prospect of an appropriation
for the completion of said Monument, and there is now, as there
always has been, a general, even a national, desire, on the part of
the people of the United States to complete this great work as
originally designed for the credit of this country and the national
respect for our heroic dead; and whereas a number of citizens
propose that in case certain privileges are granted them by the
National Congress _to complete_ said Monument _within twenty-one
years_ from the passage of this act, and that one hundred thousand
dollars shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States within
two years from the date hereof, and a like amount per annum until
the expiration of this act," &c.

The bill provided "that A. T. Stewart, C. Vanderbilt," and other persons named, "_as per agreement_, dated March 14, 1869, executed by Charles P. Briton and Charles B. Phillips, &c., are hereby created a body corporate and politic under the name and style of the _Washington Monument Union_ for the purpose of devising ways and means for completion of said Monument."

It was further provided that the said Union could hold and convey property "and issue certificates of subscription, which shall entitle the holders thereof to any consideration that may be awarded by such system, scheme, plan, or means said corporation may devise or adopt, and use such agency as they shall deem necessary to their success." One hundred thousand dollars was to be paid in within two years, and thereafter the same sum _annually_.

April 1, 1869, Mr. Osborne offered a somewhat similar bill, which was also referred, but having other incorporators, who were to "have the right, privilege, and franchise of devising such ways and means as they may desire for the distribution of money or property for the term of twenty years from the date of the passage of this act."

Precedent to the exercise of these rights a bond should be given the United States in penalty of $100,000 to pay into its Treasury within two years a like sum, and such sum every year thereafter for twenty years the first $200,000 to be subject to the order of the Lincoln Monument Association, the balance to be subject to the order of the Washington Monument Association.

These schemes for completing the Monument, however, went no further.

Not until 1871 did the Society feel encouraged to again issue a general appeal to the public.

February 22, 1871, the Society resolved to offer through the public press the following propositions, either of which, when accepted, by the required donation should be a contract between the donor and the Society: The name of any person, corporation, or society contributing the sum of $5,000 or more to the Monument fund shall be perpetuated by inscription on a block in the Monument, to be prepared by the Society for that purpose. The names of _all_ persons, corporations, or societies contributing the sum of $2,500 or more and _less_ than $5,000 shall be included in a list, and such list shall be inscribed on a _block_ or blocks in the Monument, to be prepared by the Society for that purpose. The names of all persons, corporations, or societies contributing $1,000 or more and less than $2,500 to be inscribed on a tablet to be erected in the Monument. Any person or body contributing $100 and less than $1,000 to be recorded on a list, and such list kept perpetually in the archives of the Society.

Mr. John S. Benson was appointed the agent of the Society to place these propositions before the country and to invoke the aid of private citizens and public men; legislatures, municipal bodies, assemblies, and _every form_ of organization of the people. Numerous articles in the press called attention to the claims of the Monument.

The Legislature of New York, April 20, 1871, by a two-thirds vote, appropriated the sum of $10,000 "as the contribution of the State of New York, to be paid by the Treasurer on the warrant of the Comptroller to the Treasurer of the National Washington Monument Society whenever the Governor shall certify * * * a sufficient sum has been subscribed from other sources to enable the said Society to resume work with a reasonable prospect of completing the obelisk or shaft."

By the second section of the same act the Governor was to transmit copies of it to the Governors of other States, "with a request that they communicate the same to the Legislatures of their respective States."

The New York "Jewish Messenger," of its own account, undertook to raise the necessary funds, and appealed to the Jewish people, and especially the Jewish ladies, to complete the National Washington Monument; "that the Israelites in America should be Americans in every relation of life, and distinct only in their fealty to the faith of their fathers. The Jewesses of America will earn the kindest and most-enduring acknowledgements of America's sons; they will rear a proud monument for themselves in working together for the accomplishment of this national duty."

Receipts this year from collections, chiefly at the Monument, and accrued interest, were $1,008.

Following the act of New York, the Legislature of Minnesota appropriated, February 27, 1872, the sum of $1,000 towards the completion of the Monument.

Also, by act of February 28, 1872, upon the like conditions, the Legislature of the State of New Jersey appropriated the sum of $3,000 towards the work, which was followed on July 30, 1872, by an act of the State of Connecticut appropriating on the same terms the sum of $2,000. But these examples of duty discharged, not less than of patriotism, were not imitated by any other of the State governments.

In February, 1872, a bill was introduced in the House providing that the affairs of the Society should be vested in a board of directors, to consist of five members of the Society and President and Secretary _ex officio_. Any person on payment of $5.00 to be a member, with all the rights and privileges of incorporators, to vote and hold office, except that of President of the Association. The bill was referred.

The Society once more addressed a memorial to Congress praying a _direct_ appropriation might be made towards the completion of the Monument, or that "such action might be had as to the assembled patriotism of the Nation might seem meet."

The memorial was referred in the House of Representatives to the Committee on the District of Columbia, which subsequently reported the subject back, April 19, 1872, recommending that "it be referred to the Committee on Appropriations," and it was so ordered, but no action was taken on the report at this session.

January 27, 1873, a select committee of thirteen was appointed by the House under a resolution adopted to confer with the Society as to the practicability of completing the Monument by the "approaching Centennial."

February 22, 1873, the committee submitted its report, which recommended that $200,000 be appropriated to aid the Society in its work. The report recited in part--

"The committee have become fully impressed with the belief that the
present time is not only opportune for Congressional action in the
matter, but that the _honor_ of the Nation demands it. * * * "Some
question has been made as to the security of the foundations, and
the committee caused an examination to be made upon this point. The
Chief of Engineers was called upon to detail an officer to make an
examination and report. His report is appended hereto, and shows
that no perceptible change has taken place since the Monument was
raised to its present height. * * *

* * * "An opinion has also obtained some credence that the funds of
the Society, though considerably increased from year to year, are
absorbed in the payment of sinecures. The committee have had before
them _the accounts of the Society from its organization to the
present time_. * * * It will there be found that the Society _has no
salaried officers connected with it_. Their services have been
gratuitous, and they are much to be commended for their faithfulness
and their patriotic zeal in this great work. There are less than
fourteen thousand dollars, funds of the Society, in the hands of
the Treasurer, most of which are invested in interest-bearing
securities."

It was estimated that $700,000 would be required to finish the shaft, constructing also a suitable base, and that the work might be completed by the 4th of July, 1876.

The report concluded:

"In considering the question as to what action Congress shall take
in this matter, three views are presented: First, Shall the
responsibility for the completion of the Monument rest wholly upon
the efforts of the Monument Society? Second, Shall Congress assume
the entire responsibility, and to that end repeal the charter of the
Society? Third, Shall Congress aid the Society by an appropriation,
leaving it to continue its efforts to raise funds for the completion
of the Monument?

"As to the first, the committee find that the Society has made
_every reasonable effort_ to revive public interest and to secure
subscriptions, but its efforts have failed and will _continue_ to
fail without _some expression of confidence on the part of Congress_
in the form of material aid.

"As to the second view, the committee are unwilling to recommend the
disbandment of an association which has already done so much, and is
still willing to continue its patriotic efforts to redeem the
plighted faith of the Nation.

"The committee have taken the third view--that of recommending an
appropriation by Congress and of the continuation of the Society
for the purpose of soliciting further subscriptions under the
original idea upon which it started." * * *

The present consideration of the report, however, was postponed until the following "Wednesday, at two o'clock," and made a special order. But on the appointed day the committee failed to secure recognition, and not obtaining the floor at any time during the remainder of the session, addressed a letter to the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate asking an amendment to the sundry civil appropriation act of $200,000, to be expended as provided in the bill it had reported to the House. But Congress adjourned without action on the report.

At the next session the select committee of the last Congress was reappointed, and on May 1, 1874, submitted a report comprehending its former one, and to which was appended a transcript of the complete accounts of the Society. The report concurred with prior ones in Congress, commending the Society's past management and efforts to erect the Monument.

A report by Lieut. W. L. Marshall, Corps of Engineers, bearing on the sufficiency of the foundations to support the Monument at a height of 600 feet was also submitted as a part of the committee's report, Lieutenant Marshall making his report as a result of a request preferred by the chairman of the select committee to the Chief of Engineers, U.S.A. It was stated by Lieutenant Marshall:

"It seems inadvisable to complete the Washington Monument to the
full height of 600 feet. The area covered by its foundations is too
small for a structure of the proposed dimensions and weight, causing
an excessive pressure upon a soil not wholly incompressible."

And he recommended the height be less than 500 feet.

The committee's report recommended the passage of a joint resolution "that it is the duty of Congress to provide by a sufficient appropriation for the completion of the unfinished Washington Monument, at Washington City, by the 4th of July, 1876, the one hundredth anniversary of American Independence."

The report was ordered printed, and recommitted to the select committee on the Washington Monument. No further action was had on the report before the adjournment of Congress.

Abandoning hope that Congress would aid in the resumption of work on the Monument that it might be under way by the "Centennial year," the Society proceeded to appeal to the country. Mr. Frederick L. Harvey, Sr., was appointed its General Agent, and charged with the execution of a plan he had proposed and which the Society had adopted. This plan was to appeal to all organized bodies and associations in the country to make a "contingent" contribution of funds towards building the Monument, one-half to be payable to the Treasurer of the Society on official advice that the total sum estimated to be required, $500,000, had been subscribed, the balance to become payable in equal installments from six to twelve months later. The interest of the country was to be aroused by frequent articles in the daily press and by lectures. Contributions to be sought also from churches and schools and by placing contribution boxes in the exhibition buildings on the Centennial Exposition grounds, in the City of Philadelphia, when opened.

Mr. Harvey proceeded most actively and energetically to execute the plan. The press of Washington and elsewhere earnestly commended the work and urged contributions.

Rev. Dr. Otis Tiffany, an eloquent pulpit orator, was commissioned to visit the larger cities of the country and deliver an address on the life and character of Washington, and this gentleman spoke in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and other cities, thus helping to awaken public attention to the Monument.

President Grant and his Cabinet attended the lecture in Baltimore, going from Washington.

Between July and September, 1874, over two hundred pledges were received by the Society from organizations in every part of the country, chiefly, however, from the Masonic Order, Odd-Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Independent Order of Red Men, Temperance, and other fraternal bodies. Subscriptions ranged from five to fifty dollars each. Circular letters were prepared and sent directly to the executive officers of all organizations. Interest seemed once more aroused in the completion of the Monument, the contingent subscriptions continuing to be made.

February 22, 1875, the Society adopted an address to the country, which, referring to the plan of contingent contributions payable direct to its Treasurer, continued:

"The result of their first appeal in this direction has been such as
to strengthen their faith. * * * The organizations which have been
thus far reached have responded with subscriptions which, if
generally and promptly emulated in amount by kindred institutions
throughout the land, would secure the completion of the structure
during the Jubilee Year. Had their recent appeal fallen dead upon
the country and yielded no fruits, they would have been inclined to
despair of ever reaching success in the great undertaking so long
entrusted to their care."

A special letter to the railway and banking corporations embodying the "contingent" plan produced many substantial subscriptions.

In June, 1876, the Society published a further appeal, signed by its officers, U. S. Grant, _ex officio_ President; W. W. Corcoran, First Vice-President; Robert C. Winthrop, Second Vice-President; J. B. H. Smith, Treasurer, and John B. Blake, Secretary, requesting collections in churches and Sunday schools throughout the country on the 2d of July following. This appeal was endorsed and signed by the pastors of the different religious denominations in the City of Washington. Application to the management of the Centennial Exposition to place contribution boxes for the Monument in the Exposition buildings was denied; but permission having been granted by proper authority, boxes were placed in the State buildings on the Exposition grounds in June, 1876. By the prosecution of this plan some $90,000 had been contingently subscribed when the inflow of subscriptions was arrested by unexpected action by Congress in the matter. The "contingent" plan had been one of the most successful the Society had ever pursued, and had given every assurance of final success.

Deferring to the opinion of Lieutenant Marshall the height of the Monument was reduced to 485 feet.

While pursuing its "contingent" plan of contributions, February 3, 1876, the Society appointed a special committee, composed of Rear Admiral Levin M. Powell (chairman), Hon. Walter S. Cox, Dr. John B. Blake, Dr. Charles F. Stansbury, and Fred D. Stuart, to prepare and present to Congress a memorial praying an appropriation in aid of its efforts as a contribution toward completing the Monument.

February 6, 1876, Hon. George F. Edmunds offered in the Senate the following resolution, which was considered by unanimous consent, agreed to, and referred to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds:

"_Resolved_, That the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds be,
and it is hereby, instructed to inquire into the expediency of
making an adequate provision for the speedy completion of the
Washington Monument in the City of Washington, and that it have
leave to report by bill or otherwise."

February 10, 1876, Mr. Edmunds laid before the Senate a memorial of the Society, presented by its committee, which was read and referred to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds.

It being understood that plans were suggested in some quarters looking to a demolition of the uncompleted Monument, and the, use of the materials of it in the construction of a different style of monument to Washington, at a meeting of the Society on March 30, 1876, among other things, it was resolved "that all idea of surrendering the character of the Monument or allowing the structure, as far as completed, to be taken down, should be positively and emphatically disavowed."

In view of the resolution of the Senate of February 6th, the chairman of its Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds received plans for changing the Monument to a Lombard Tower, and for erecting an arch of its materials. Bat the committee made no report.

ACT OF AUGUST 2, 1876.

On the 5th of July, 1876, Hon. John Sherman, of Ohio, offered in the Senate a joint resolution declaring, after an appropriate preamble, that the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled, "in the name of the people of the United States, at the beginning of the second century of the national existence, do assume and direct the completion of the Washington Monument, in the City of Washington." This resolution was unanimously adopted in both Houses of Congress.

On July 22d, the Senate passed a bill appropriating $100,000, "to continue the construction of the Washington Monument in the City of Washington."

In the debate in the Senate there was some criticism of the design of the Monument as an obelisk, and preference was expressed for some other form of Monument.

It was said by Senator Bayard:

"I do not believe that the impression we desire to produce upon them
(the people) will in any degree be assisted by the continuance of
such a blot upon architecture, as I must consider this obelisk which
stands here half-shorn of its height."

It was remarked by Mr. Sherman:

"I think it is the misfortune now of this Washington Monument that
it has been talked of in Congress for one hundred years. We have
made promise after promise, and the very moment we come to do
anything like the execution of the promise we are met by these
delays."

The question of the sufficiency of the foundation of the Monument was also raised, resulting in adding a section to the bill providing for an examination of the foundation before commencing work on the Monument, and if the same should be found insufficient no work to be done until the matter was reported to Congress.

The bill also provided that before the expenditure of any of the appropriation the Society should transfer and covey to the United States, in due form, all the property, rights, and privileges belonging to it in the Monument.

The construction of the Monument was placed under a joint commission consisting of the President of the United States, the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department, and the Architect of the Capitol.

In the House of Representatives the bill was referred, on July 24th, to the Committee on Appropriations, and reported back by Mr. Foster, of Ohio, on July 27th, with amendments. As amended, the bill provided for an appropriation of $200,000, payable in four equal annual installments, to continue the construction of the Washington Monument, "and provided that nothing in the bill should be 'so construed as to prohibit the Society' from continuing its organization for the purpose of soliciting money and material from the States, associations, and the people in aid of the completion of the Monument, and acting in an advisory and co-operative capacity with the Commissioners hereinafter named until the completion and dedication of the same."

The Joint Commission was increased from the three members provided by the Senate to five by adding to it the "Chief of Engineers of the United Staten Army and the First Vice-President of the Washington National Monument Society."

It was explained by Mr. Foster that the sum had been raised to $200,000, with an annual expenditure of it of $50,000, and the Society continued; "because we hope by continuing the Society in existence they can raise from the people the balance of the sum needed, and as it will take at least four years to complete the Monument." He further remarked: "This puts the appropriation of $200,000 in the form of a donation, while at the same time it secures to the United States all the property and rights or every name and nature of the Society. * * The present purpose is to complete the Monument within live years," and to dedicate it "October 19, 1881, being the centennial of the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, the last 'great act of Washington's' military career, and the closing act of the war."

In considering the bill, several amendments were adopted at the instance of Mr. Holman, of Indiana, and other members.

The bill passed the House July 27th, and as amended, was passed by the Senate the next day and was approved by President Grant on the 2d of August, 1876.

September 7, 1876, the Society adopted and issued an appeal "To the People of the United States," which was signed by its Secretary, John B. Blake.

After referring to the act of Congress appropriating $200,000 to aid in the completion of the Monument, the appeal recited:

"The occasion is deemed a fitting one to address the citizens of the
United States upon that subject, and to exhort them, in the name of
patriotism, not for a moment, on that account, to relax their
efforts to hasten the accomplishment of that long delayed but much
desired result."

No response, however, was had from the appeal. The country evidently now looked to Congress to assume the whole amount required to finish the Monument.

January 19, 1877. Mr. W. W. Corcoran and Dr. John B. Blake, as officers of the Society, conveyed by deed to the United States the property referred to in the act of August 2, 1876, which deed was duly recorded in the land records of the District of Columbia.

Of the funds in the possession of the Society was later erected the memorial building on the Monument grounds for the office of the custodian, the deposit of the Society's archives, and for the accommodation of the visitor.

The relations of the Society to the Monument were now limited as provided in the law. Such States as had omitted providing memorial blocks to represent them in the Monument had their attention called to the omission and supplied them.

In accordance with the proviso in the act of Congress the foundations of the Monument were examined. The board of officers detailed from the Engineer Corps of the Army by the President to make the examination reported adversely as to their sufficiency to sustain the weight of the Monument at its proposed height, and the matter was reported to Congress.

Under authority of joint resolutions of Congress of June 14, 1878, and June 27, 1879, authorizing it, the foundations were strengthened.

This difficult work was successfully accomplished by the eminent engineer, Lieut.-Col. Thomas Lincoln Casey (later Brigadier-General), Corps of Engineers, who had been detailed by the President, at the request of the Joint Commission, as engineer officer in charge of the construction of the Monument. Capt. George W. Davis, U. S. A., was detailed as Assistant Engineer. He had been recommended and endorsed for the position of engineer in charge by the Society. Later, Mr. Bernard R. Green, C. E., also acted as assistant to Colonel Casey.

Many important features of the work performed emanated from suggestions made and worked out by these officers, and which were adopted. To Captain Davis was assigned the duty of observing and superintending the execution of the details of construction as the work progressed and the performance of the contracts for materials. The immediate direction of work and workmen on the grounds was the duty of the master mechanic, Mr. P. H. McLaughlin. To Mr. Green is to be ascribed the conception and working out of the plans for placing the pyramidion or top on the shaft, plans adopted by the Engineer-in-Charge and approved by the Joint Commission.

The detail plans of construction were drawn by Mr. Gustav Friebus, of Washington, D. C., an architect employed in the office of the Engineer-in-Charge, and under his direction.

The work of strengthening the foundations approaching completion, the fact was reported to Congress by the Joint Commission, and an appropriation recommended to begin and continue the erection of the shaft.

In support of this recommendation, and to secure adherence to the original plan of a simple obelisk and to meet the objections frequently raised, both in and out of Congress as to that form of monument, the Society, after some correspondence with Colonel Casey, at a meeting held on the 1st of April, 1880, appointed the following committee "to take charge of the interests of the Monument before Congress:" Robert C. Winthrop, Joseph M. Toner, James G. Berret, Horatio King, John B. Blake, and Daniel B. Clarke.

This committee carefully prepared a memorial, addressed to Congress, which was adopted at a special meeting of the Society on the 26th of April, 1880. The memorial was presented to Congress by the committee on the 20th of April, 1880, referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia, and ordered printed. The memorial recited, in part:

"The undersigned are not unmindful that strong efforts have been
made of late to throw discredit on the design of the Monument, and
that various plans have been presented for changing the character of
the structure. Nor has the Association, which the undersigned have
the honor to represent, ever been unwilling that such modifications
of the design should be made as should be found necessary for the
absolute security of the work. With this view they gave formal
expression a year ago to their acquiescence in the general plans of
the accomplished American artist, Mr. Story, who had kindly given
his attention to the subject: but now that the strengthening of the
foundation has been successfully and triumphantly accomplished by a
signal application of skill and science, they cannot forbear front
making a respectful but urgent appeal to Congress to give their
final sanction to the prosecution and completion of the work without
more delay according to the plans recommended by the commissioners
appointed by Congress with the President of the United States at
their head and by the engineer under their direction. Any other
course, they are convinced, would be likely to postpone the
completion of the Monument for another generation, to involve the
whole subject in continued perplexity, and to necessitate vastly
larger appropriations in the end than have now been asked for. * * *