62d Congress, ) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, j Report 3d Session. I 1 No. 1294.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL.
January 13, 1913. — Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.
Mr. Evans, from the Committee on the Library, submitted the
following
REPORT.
[To accompany S. Con. Res. 32.]
The Committee on the Library, to which was referred Senate con- current resolution 32, to adopt a plan, design, and location for the Lincoln memorial, recommends that the concurrent resolution do pass.
The Fine Arts Commission was created by the Sixty-first Congress for the purpose of furnishing advice to Members of the Congress upon subjects within the domain of the fine arts. So many mistakes had been made in the monuments and other works of art paid for out of the Public Treasury that that Congress wisely concluded that the great number of men engaged in the serious work of legislation could not naturally be expected to have the training or experience which would make them sufficient judges of good works of art, and accordingly the Fine Arts Commission was formed. That commis- sion has unanimously recommended the plan, design, and location for the Lincoln memorial for which the appropriation has heretofore been made, and in the opinion of the committee we have none of us individually such training or experience in the fine arts as quali- fies us to sit in judgment on the recommendations of the Fine Arts Commission, and we report that becoming modesty compels us to accept the recommendations of the commission. The committee has given a great deal of time and attention and have had a number of hearings upon the subject. Real estate and automobile interests have been given a thorough hearing. The committee in addition has considered a large number of suggestions from private individuals, and as a result of the consideration of this subject has unanimously come to the conclusion that but one thoroughly adequate and feasi- ble memorial has been proposed, and that is the memorial recom- mended by the Fine Arts Commission. Owing to misstatements of facts circulated by various interests upon this subject the committee deemed it advisable to report that the common statement and rumor
2 LINCOLN MEMORIAL.
that the Grand Army of the Republic favors the expenditure of the 12,000,000 heretofore appropriated for a Lincoln memorial for a road from Gettysburg to Washington lacks the element of veracity. The facts are these: At the meeting of the Grand Army of the Republic held in Rochester more than a year ago, on the last day of the meetings, and when less than 30 members out of 800 delegates were present, and without any report from any committee and after a statement made by Gen. Torrance to the effect that a committee of the Congress had reported in favor of a Lincoln memorial in the form of a highway from Washington to Gettysburg, a resolution indorsing that highway was passed. It will be noticed that the statement that a committee of the Congress had approved the high- way from Washington to Gettysburg was not in accordance with the facts.
In September, 1912, the Grand Army of the Republic, at its annual meeting at Los Angeles, reversed the apparent conclusion reached at Rochester and resolved to support the Lincoln memorial as recom- mended by the Fine Arts Commission. The report of the meeting of the Grand Army of the Republic in Los Angeles is not yet printed; but the committee made this statement upon the authority of Rich- ard Watrous, secretary of the American Civic Federation, whose father is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and who was present at Los Angeles, and, further, upon a telegram from Gen. Alfred B. Beers, commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, sent to the chairman of the Library Committee, which telegram is as follows :
Bridgeport, Conn., January 10. Hon. James L. Slayden, M. C,
Washington, D. C: Nineteen hundred and twelve encampment. Grand Army of the Republic, indorsed, by vote, the Cullom bill for Lincoln Memorial ( ommission to erect a monument to be located on the banks of the Potomac.
Alfred B. Beers, Commander in Chief.
In view of these facts, the misstatements in regard to the support given by the Grand 'Army of the Republic to the proposed automobile road as a memorial for Lincoln need not further be considered.
Furthermore, the committee is of the opinion that a roadway is not an adequate memorial and cite as an illustration the fact that in the city of Chicago there is a Lincoln Parkway, formerly called Lin- coln Park Boulevard, a boulevard far more expensive than could be built from Washington to Gettysburg with the present appropriation, and it is questionable whether any Member x>f this House or anyone else who has ever passed along that boulevard has connected it in any way with Abraham Lincoln; but when that same person reaches Lincoln Park in Chicago and comes to St. Gauden's statue of Lincoln he then feels what a memorial is and ought to be. The personality of the man is brought to the attention of the observer in one kind of memorial and is not in the other.
It is said that Lincoln was a plain man and that the memorial should be one which the plain people can appreciate, and that there- fore the Gettysburg road should be adopted. Just how the plain people can be made to afford the purchase of automobiles to ride from Gettysburg to Washington has not been disclosed. If the road- way is to be made for the plain people there should be a trolley line built upon it so that the plain people can afford to use it, and the
LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 6
roadway should be protected for hundreds of feet on each side to prevent the establishment of road houses or places of disreputable amusement, which should not be allowed to abut upon or distract from a memorial to the great Lincoln.
Furthermore, the Gettysburg road is impossible under the appro- priation proposed and it would require a very large annual appropri- ation for the rest of time to keep such a road in order. Roads just such as now exist throughout western Maryland it appears could be built for an initial cost of about $20,000 a mile, but such a road would have no distinction from any other road. There could be no parkways, no protection of the border of the road from objectionable features, and such a road would be very expensive to keep in condi- tion. Such is the testimony of Maj. William V. Judson, Engineer Commissioner of the District of Columbia, wTho has had large exper- ience in building roads, especially in Porto Rico. Maj. Judson's report is supported by the testimony of Gen. Hams, an Army engineer, that an adequate road of a memorial nature from Washington to Gettysburg would cost $20,000,000. He says as follows:
I figure that there would be 6,000,000, nearly 7,000,000, square yards of road surface, and you should allow 10 cents per square yard per annum for proper maintenance. The cost of maintaining the road surface would be between |600,000 and $700,000 per annum, and this allows nothing for the maintenance of parkings or of fences or of bridges, and when you take into consideration all of these it would bring the sum considerably over $1, 000, 000 for annual maintenance. The estimate of cost covers no ornamental features of any kind, not even trees.
The following is the estimate of the cost of the Lincoln memorial roadway based upon a report of the United States engineers of the cost of the roadway from Arlington to Mount Vernon :
Estimate for cost of 1 mile.
Grading, cuts and fills, average price of gravel, clav, and rock, 233,500
cubic yards, at 40 cents V $93, 400
Curbing, 32,000 linear feet, at 90 cents 28, 800
Gutters, 15,870 square yards, at 50 cents 7, 935
Top soil, 28,599 cubic yards, at 20 cents 5, 719
Culvert, bridges, riprap, and bank paving 36, 000
Land purchased, 36 acres, at $100 per acre 3, 600
Drainage, sidewalks 10, 240
] .85, 694 20 per cent increase in price since 1890 37, 138
222, 832 Estimates based on recent data for surface treatment.
Roadway, surface grade, stone bed, and bituminous surfaces. 70,400 yards,
- at $1.50 $105, 200
Trees, 4 to 5 inches in diameter 1 foot above ground, 2,000 yards, at $5. . . 10, 000
Shrubs, sodding, and sowing grass seed 2, 000
Fences or hedges, 10,500 linear feet, at $1 10, 560
350, 992 Engineer's services, 10 per cent 35, 099
Cost of roadway per mile 386, 091
Total cost of roadway.
Shortest road, 75 miles, given by Geological Survey $28, 956, 825
Length of road, according to present automobile route, 84 miles 32, 431. 644
Probable length of new road when surveyed, 100 miles 38, 609, 100
4 LINCOLN MEMORIAL.
It further appears from the evidence taken by the Library Com- mittee that there is an organization known as the Lincoln Memorial Road Association of America, which has sent out a letter saying that $12,375 is needed to get letters printed and posted to Congressmen and Senators. The letter is as follows, and no comment is necessary:
Uames R. McCleary, of Minnesota, president; Robert A. C. Smith, of New York, treasurer; Charles J. Glidden, of Massachusetts, secretary. Executive secretary, Leslie T. McCleary, Washington, D. C]
Lincoln Memorial Road Association of America,
February 7, 1912. The Janney-Steinmetz & Co.,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Gentlemen: As you probably know, Congress has provided $2,000,000 for the creation of a national memorial to Abraham Lincoln.
Two general plans for this memorial will be presented for the consideration of Con- gress. One plan restricts the memorial to a purely ornamental structure in Wash- ington.
The other plan contemplates the construction of a great highway or boulevard, leading from a superb memorial structure in Washington to the spot at Gettysburg where Lincoln delivered his immortal address, which "crystallized the spirit of the Republic into a paragraph." Through its extensions by the various States this will rapidly develop into a transcontinental highway and become the nucleus of a great national system of public roads which will bind together all sections of the Nation. Every city, town, and hamlet in the country will build a highway to connect with some extension of the Lincoln Road.
Some of those who are still opposed to having the National Government take any hand in road building claim to see in the construction of this memorial road the estab- lishment of such a precedent as an objection to the road as the essential feature of the memorial.
Congress will undoubtedly regard the sentiment expressed for this road as a partial index of the sentiment for Federal aid throughout the country and will appropriate for highways as soon as it is convinced that the people are as much interested in the improvement of their roads as they are in the improvement of their rivers. If it is desirable to have the Government build or aid in the building of highways, why is not this the place to begin?
Probably nine-tenths of the people who have considered the question prefer the memorial which includes the road to Gettysburg, and would favor removing the re- striction in the present law which limits the memorial to something located wholly within the city of Washington. The thing to do is to have them say so to their Con- gressmen and Senators. Most of them will do so if asked to.
We are therefore conducting a national campaign of publicity and organization to get the wishes of the people'before Congress. As a part of this campaign it is very desir- able to send a personal letter with a leaflet and form like the inclosed to 1,000 leading citizens in each of 275 congressional districts, asking those addressed to take this matter up with their Congressmen and Senators. To put these letters with inclosures in the mail costs about $45 per 1,000, or a total of $12,375.
Having in mind the far-reaching importance of this matter, one of the good-roads committee connected with the automobile industry has subscribed $2,500 to aid our publicity campaign. Many of the leading automobile clubs and individual manu- facturers have subscribed varying amounts. You may have subscribed directly or indirectly, but even if that is the case it is vital to the success of this movement that you subscribe a substantial amount in addition, as more money is urgently needed, and a popular subscription could not be raised in time to be available.
Over 100 members of the National House of Representatives, including the Speaker of the House, and many of the leading Senators of both parties have already expressed themselves in favor of the memorial road. We would like to make it as nearly unani- mous as possible.
I hope you will give this movement your strong moral and financial support and that you will act at once.
In addition to making a substantial subscription now I hope that each of your execu- tive officers will write a personal letter to his Congressman and his two United States Senators urging them to favor the plan for the Lincoln memorial which includes the road to Gettysburg, and that you will arrange to have each of your representatives and agents throughout the country do the same.
Yours, very truly, Leslie T. McCleary,
Executive Secretary.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 5
It will be noticed that this letter contains the statement that the Speaker of the House of Representatives favors the Gettysburg Road, but the fact is that the special commission to consider the plan, design, and location of the Lincoln memorial, as it is at present con- stituted, consists of President Taft, Senators Cullom and Wetmore, Speaker Clark, Representatives Cannon and McCall, and that all of the members of said commission signed the report which contains the following words:
The commission after a careful examination and discussion of the design presented by Mr. Bacon has adopted it unanimously and recommends that Congress approve the construction of the memorial upon the selected site in Potomac Park in accordance with the plans and designs of Mr. Bacon.
Mr. Bacon's designs are those recommended by the Fine Arts Commission.
The committee has therefore come to the conclusion that there is no opposition except that which may be called the opposition of the special interests to the proposed Lincoln Memorial in Potomac Park, and as the present concurrent resolution passed the Senate with but one vote against it, we recommend that it do pass the House.
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