Page:Confederate Veteran volume 31.djvu/38

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32
CONFEDERATE VETERAN.

ferred from the general fund to the Hector W. Church Scholarship Fund annually, subject to the Finance Committee, until such time as the twelve thousand dollars necessary to complete the fund is obtained.

3. It is recommended that the definition of the term "War between the States" be reprinted annually among the notices in our Minutes.

4. It is recommended that a portrait of Commodore Matthew Fontaine Maury be painted and presented to the Naval Academy at Annapolis.

5. It is recommended that an offer be made to the British War School to present to it a bust of Gen. Robert E. Lee.

6. It is recommended that a portrait of Admiral Raphael Semmes be presented to the LaSalle de l'Alabama," at Geneva, Switzerland.

Of these recommendations, No. 2 became void, as later the Executive Board brought in a recommendation that four thousand dollars be appropriated from the Treasury to immediately complete the four scholarships inaugurated by the Hector W. Church bequest, which it had been previously voted (1920) should be invested until it should have multiplied itself into a sufficient fund for the four scholarships. This action was never rescinded, and while agreeing with the general sentiment that it was good to have more scholarships available, and to honor the Union soldier who generously left us the bequest, many felt the original plan of investment wisest The four thousand dollars would have been a wonderful gift for the completion of the Jefferson Davis Monument or for the promotion of the Jefferson Davis Highway.

It is the-ardent wish of the veterans that the former, which the committee reported lacked thirty thousand dollars of the sum required, be completed by June. The refusal of the Board to recognize the necessity for any appropriation for the promotion of the Jefferson Davis Highway would have prevented any further effort, but chiefly through the generous contributions of two members of the Committee—Mesdames Youree, of Louisiana, and Parker, of New York—the work will continue. The Board, at the urgent request of the committee, agreed that a bowlder should be placed at Point Isabel, Tex., in commemoration of the landing of Mississippi troops under command of Jefferson Davis (colonel in the United States army) in 1846, from which point they went into Mexico to reënforce the troops of Gen. Zachary Taylor, and Jefferson Davis was proclaimed "the rescuer of the United States army" and "Hero of Buena Vista and Monterrey."

Jefferson Davis Monument.


After a report of the Jefferson Davis Monument Committee by Mrs. Jacksie Thrash Morrison, Chairman, and the reading of a letter from General Haldeman, a stirring appeal was made for it. Mr. Eustace Williams, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer of the Jefferson Davis Home Association, following some discussion and particularly eloquent talks by Mrs. Lizzie George Henderson and Mrs. Walter Lamar, nearly eight thousand dollars was subscribed from the floor, including one thousand dollars from the treasury, said to be the largest subscription ever made at one session of a U. D. C. convention. A vigorous drive is to be inaugurated in a few weeks, in the hope of having the remainder of the sum in hand by March 1, so that the monument may be completed by June and unveiled on June 3.

All Chapters which subscribed are requested to have their pledges in by February, if possible.

The Maury Monument.


The convention at St. Louis pledged to raise five thousand dollars toward the Maury Monument, which is to be erected in Richmond, Va., by the Maury Monument Association. Nearly three thousand dollars of this sum has already been raised. Mrs. Frank Antony Walke, of Norfolk, Va., gave an interesting report and presided at a Maury Monument Directors' dinner in promotion of this great enterprise.

Library Building in Richmond.


On recommendation of Mrs. Norman V. Randolph, Chairman, the convention rescinded the action of the convention at Tampa, Fla., in regard to such building until such time as a proper building site should be offered.

Faithful Slaves Memorial.


Under the skillful leadership of Mrs. Mary Dowling Bond, the work of the committee to place a bowlder at Harper's Ferry to the faithful slaves has progressed, but some opposition is met with from the owners of the land, so the matter is still in abeyance.

Borglum's Address.


At the earnest request of Miss Mildred Lewis Rutherford, the eminent sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, was invited to address the convention on his great enterprise of carving the story of the Confederacy on the face of Stone Mountain, near Atlanta, Ga. This gigantic undertaking is sponsored by the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, and indorsed by the Georgia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, but has never been "taken over" by the general United Daughters of the Confederacy, as has frequently been erroneously stated in the newspapers of the South.

Lee Memorial.


The Lee Memorial report was a brilliantly staged debate at an evening session with a crowded house. To "a looker on in Vienna" the results were perceptible from the first.

As most U. D. C. members know, the controversy to be debated was whether or not the Birmingham convention should ratify the action of the St. Louis convention in pledging the general U. D. C. to assist in building a Lee Memorial Chapel, which is to be an enlargement and fireproofing of the present chapel built by General Lee in 1876, and where repose his ashes and the wonderful recumbent statue by Valentine. The point of dispute between the Committee, Executive Board, and Washington and Lee authorities, on one side, and the Virginia Division U. D. C, on the other, was that the Virginia Division and many adherents to their cause wished to preserve the chapel intact as a "sacred shrine" to the memory of General Lee. The University authorities and their adherents claim they are to preserve the tomb and the most sacred relics by making the building fireproof and enlarging the chapel to meet modern demands, because they felt sure General Lee would prefer it that way.

The house was divided for a debate, the President General stating she would recognize speakers from each side alternately. The Chairman of the Committee, Mrs. McKinney, and Dr. Smith, President of the University, and his legal adviser, who is also a trustee of the University, occupied the vantage ground of the platform; and, as is customary, opened and closed the debate. The Virginia Division was represented by some able delegates, led by their President, Mrs. Scott, of Richmond, the chief spokesman being Mrs. Charles E. Bolling, also of Richmond. They had no lawyer or other male speaker. There were a number of speakers for and against, the debate lasting nearly two hours. The President General finally announced that the "promise" last year constituted a "legal