Evening Star Newspaper, July 25, 1937, Page 46

THE NDAY STAR, WASHINGTON D. C, JULY PART FOUR e ————— = e IR SRR ey L LT e DUPONT CIRCLE MEMORIALS Statue of Admiral and Later Fountain Have Been Notable Orna- ments to Section of City Associated With Center of In- fluence in Higher Development. By John Clagett Proctor. | HERE are many places in Wash- | ington ’ that but few people | know anything about, and it | is quite likely that only a lim- | ited few, even of the old-timers, | could tell you where once was lo- | cated Pacific Circle, although under | another name it is still in the same place, right in the heart of the city, its present name being Dupont Circle, which will be readily recognized by every ore. Back in 1882, when it was pro- posed to erect a statue of Rear Ad- miral Samuel Francis Dupont in this circle, Congress thought that the name of this reservation should be | changed to the name of the man | whose statue was to grace the in- closure, and this was according done | It took a few years to get the red | tape unwound, of course, and to have | the statue made, and finally the day for unveiling arrived. And this day | was December 20, 1884. It was bitter cold, the Potomac being frozen over all the way from Washington to Alexandria. But this did not prevent President Arthur and many distin- guished guests from braving the ele- ments, though it does seem that a different time of the year would best have been selected for an event of | this kind | “The piercing wind,” says an old eccount, “which blew up the broad converging avenues and across Du- pont Circle yvesterday made the pom- pous ceremonies of unveiling another statue seem more perfunctory than ever. The stand was prettily draped by the Wyandotte and Dispatch sail- ors, and some of the neighboring re: idences had been gay in honor of the event. The President and cabinet | were somewhat tardv. When they appeared on the platform the bugle corps of the Maine Band played the usual welcome, which was immedi- ately followed by Rossini's ‘Stabat Mater’ by the tull band, with cornet golo by Jaegar. It was a grand per- formance and brought forth merited applause. 'AS SOON as the music had died | away, ~ Secretary Chandler | stepped to the front of the grand- stand and said: ‘We have assembled to honor the memory of one of the naval | heroes of the War for the Union. | Samuel Francis Dupont, who entered | the Navv in 1815 as a boy of 12 and died in the service in 1865, a rear admiral. His faithful labors for his | his patience, dignity and | under trying circumstances, important achievements in battle against the enemv have made his name illustrious. The Congress | has ordered that his statue shall be | here erected, an enduring memorial | of his virtues, his valor and his patriotism.’ “After the remarks of Secretary Chandler, he called upon Rev. Dr. Leonard, who was dressed in full epis- copal robes and offered up a fittiny praver. Immediately after the pra two sailors, stationed on either side of the pedestal, seized the ropes that held the covering around the statue | and at the signal pulled them away, | the appearance of the figure being greeted by a salute from the military and applause of the spectators. “As soon as the applause died away Becretary Chandler introduced Sen- ator Bayard of Delaware as the orator | of the day. It took the Senator just | one hour and 10 minutes to deliver his address, he standing all the time uncovered in the intense cold. The Epectators, especially those on the grandstand, were the pictures of de- spair, the cold making their faces appear in all sorts of shapes and €rimaces. Secretary Frelinghuysen was the only member of the cabinet who retreated. retiring early from the &cene, but the rest of the gathering withstood the blast and the snow that | fell toward the close like so many veterans. ‘At the conclusion of Senator Bayard's address the Marine Band | struck up "Hail to the Chuef,” while a | rear admiral’s salute was fired from the artillery stationed on P street. | The military parade consisted of the | Marine Battalion, with full band and | bugle corps, commanded by Col. Mc- Cauley and Lieuts. Harrington, Nichol- | gon and Turner, a detachment of | sailors from the Navy Yard supplied | with cutlasses and Dupont Post, No. 2. G. A. R., of Wilmington, Del,, under | charge of Comdr. Emmons. Most n!i the Army and Navy officers on duty here were present in uniform, as were also many diplomats.” WELL. it is surprising what a b change in sentiment a few | years will bring about, and so we find that in less than 37 years the statue of Admiral Dupont. then considered an artistic achievement, was taken down and removed from the city and | 1n its place was erected a white marble | fountain, upon which are figures rep- | resenting the sea, the wind and the | stars Of course, no one with an eye for | the beautiful could other than praise | this memorial as a work of art, espe- | cially when we know that Daniel | Chester French. who made that mar- | velous statue of the Great Emanci- pator in the Lincoln Memorial. was alsn its sculptor, Henry Bacon the architect and that Piceirrilli brothers were the marble workers. But this is there and speaks for itself, while the heroic bronze figure, formerly on the site, is probably in one of the Parks of Wilmington, Del,, where The Star, at the time of its removal, said 1t would be placed. The statue, placed in the circle in 1884, was the work of Launt Thomp- son, an artist of rare ability, of whom 1t has been said: “Another sculptor of great ability owes his first instruction in the plas: tic art to Palmer—Launt Thompson. | He was a poor lad, who early showed | art instincts, but was employed in the | office of Dr Armsby, until Palmer stated one aay that he was in search of an assistant, and asked Dr. Armsby if he could recommenld any one. The doctor suggested Thompson (who was in the room) as a youth who had a turn that way, but had been unable | to find opportunity to gratify his art | cravings. Thus began the career of | one of our strongest portrait sculptors. In the modeling. both of the bust and the full figure, Thompson has | been equaled by, very few of our sculptors. Among many successful works may be mentioned his Napoleon, Edwin Booth, Gen. Sedgwick, at Weet Point, and President Pierson, at Yale College.” - . ‘The cost of this statué was $20,500, | nouncements, or lack of them, between | | Then came the Hayes administration Statue of Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Dupont, for- merly in Dupont Circle. It was dedicated in 1884 and removed in 1921. Congress. that replaced it was somewhere be- tween $75.000 and $100.000, which was borne by the Du Pont family. At the unveiling exercises of the latter | the Marine Band was also present, as it had been in 1884, and among its selections played Nevin's “Narcissus.” Right Rev. Bishop of Washington, gave the in- vocation; Mrs. Bruce Ford, the ad- miral’s granddaughter, pulled the cord, 1 while the Secretary of the Navy, Edwin Denby, made the formal address. "THE removal of the old statue is said to have been because it be- came an eyesore to a member of the Du Pont family. An unusual reason, | if true. for if it were unworthy of a place in Washington, why set it up' in Delaware, to offend some one else’s | vision? | However, as we look at the matter | from the sidelines, perhaps it would have been better to let the statue | remain in Washington, where it would | have been seen by &0 many thousands | of visitors annually, for, after nll.f there are many naval officers whose | history is as brilliant as his, though | their service may not have covered | quite as many vears and their an- | cestral background not so 1mpnmm.} Admiral Samuel Francis Dupont | was born at Bergen Point, N. J, September 27, 1803, and died at Phila- delphia, Pa. June 23, 1865. In 1815 President Madison appointed him a midshipman in the Navy, his first service being & voyage to the Med- | iterranean in the Franklin. During | the years 1821 and 1822 he served | aboard the Constitution, being later attached to the Congress. In 1842 he | was promoted to commander, and in | 1845 assisted in perfecting the or- ganization of the newly founded Naval The cost of the fountain | Alfred Harding, D. D, | lAmaemy. On the outbreak of the | Mexican War he was sent to com- | mand the Cyane, and toward the ibegtnmna of the Civil War was ap- | pointed flag officer and ordered to ‘Lhe command of the South Atlantic | blockading squadron. Perhaps his greatest achievement in this war was when, in conjunction | with Gen. Thomas W. Sherman's land | forces, he captured the forts at Port Royal Entrance, 8. C. and Tyber Island, at the mouth of the Savannah. Thus Port Royal became the great | depot for the Union fleet, In' this }enngemem, we are told, the ships | described an ellipse between the forts, | each vessel delivering its fire as it | slowly sailed by, then passing on and | another taking its place. The line of this ellipse was constantly changed | to prevent the Confederates from get- ting the range of the vessels. His attack on Charleston, April 7, 1863, did not, however, end so glori- ously, and his attempt to run the fortifications at the entrance to this city ended in a disastrous failure, when he was repulsed with consid- erable loss. Shortly after this, on July 5, 1863, he was relieved from | command. 2 | BESIDES the fountain, erected here to his memory, a fort was named for him during the Civil War, and part of the earthworks atill denote the spot. It is just about on the southeast Dis- trict of Columbia-Maryland line where it is crossed by the Marlboro road. Be- ginning at the top of Good Hope road, | where was Fort Wagner, the other forts, extending on a line to Fort du Pont, were Fort Baker, Fort Davis | and Fort Caton, Admiral du Pont was the third son of Victor Marie du Pont de Nemours, who was born in “aris, France, Octo- ber 1, 1767, and died in Philadelphia, Pa, January 30, 1827. He in turn was | the son of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, French economist. i Victor Marie du Pont settled in Louvier, Del, and became one of | America’s outstanding manufacturers. | His father, Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, who was born in Paris, De- | cember 14, 1729, died at Eleutherian Mills, near Wilmington, Del.,, August | 7, 1817. He is stated always to have been an ardent advocate of the cause of American liberty, and when the time was ripe for peace overtures be- tween this country and Great Britain, toward the close of the American Rev- olution, to have been entrusted by the Count de Vergennes with the delicate mission of conducting the secret nego- tiations with the English representa- tive, Dr. Hutton, which culminated in the peace treaty of 1783, by which Great Britain acknowledged the inde- | pendence of the United States. He was also instrumental in pro- moting the treaty of 1803, by which the United States purchased Louis- lana. However, like Lafayette, his trials in his own country were great, and upon one occasion he barely escaped the guillotine turn of Napoleon from Elba, he was forced to flee to the United States, where his two sons had already be- | come citizens, | Circle without saying a word about some of the notable buildings | that surrounded this well known park, | | especially the pioneer of them all— Stewart's Castle, erected in 1873, by | Senator William M. Stewart, at a cost of about $225000, with furnishings costing $100,000 more. On December and Dupont Circle, west of the Stewart's Castle, erected by Senator William M. Stewart of Nevada in 1873 on the northiwest corner of Connecticut avenue Leiter home. 30, 1879, it was severely burned, with a loss estimated at $30,000. The last owner of the “castle,” which stood on the site where is now the branch of the Riggs National Bank, was Sena- tor William A. Clark of Montana, who removed the building in 1901. The home of James G. Blaine, can- didate for the presidency in 1884, and who was defeated by Grover Cleve- land, is still standing to the west of the circle. The permit to build the house was issued on June 8, 1881, the estimated cost being placed at $48,000. John Fraser was the architect and Robert Davidson & Co. the builders. The “Plumed Knight,” as Blaine was called, resided in this house but a short while, when, in 1883, he leased it to Levi Z. Leiter of Chicago for five vears at an annual rental of $11,000. During Blaine's residence here the house was the center of much social gayety. On January 1, 1891, it was damaged by fire to the extent of $1 000. Westinghouse, jr, of Pittsburgh, bought the property and resided there | for some years. During the World War it became | Henry B. Spencer of this city time the property was sold the con- | | sideration was mentioned as After the re- ' (ONE could hardly speak of Dupont | the home of the Officers’ Club, and in 1921 it was sold by Westinghouse to At the $90.000, and it was then described as having a frontage of 1276 feet on P street, 696 feet on Twentieth street, and 1166 feet on Massachusetts ave- nue. It was further stated: “The house is constructed of brick and is four stories in height, and contains many large rooms. including a spa- cious reception nail on the main floor, flanked by numerous living and dining rooms.” After vacating the Blaine house. Mr. Leiter built the mansion at 1500 | New Hampshire avenue and here his daughter Mary resided when she mar- ried the Hon. George Nathaniel Cur- | zon, in St. John's Church, Sixteenth | and H streets, April 22, 1895, ‘HE Patterson house, at No. 15 Dupont circle, 1s. no doubt, the most important residence in this neighborhood. particularly so because it was occupled in 1927 as the tem- porary White House, during the mak- ing of repairs to the Executive Man- sion. At the time it was taken over by the President, The Star said: “The old Patterson home is one of the finest of the many mansions to be found in the Dupont Circle sec- tion of Washington. Stately in archi- tecture, of Italian influence, from the outside, it is even more gorgeous in- side. It contains 30 rooms, all of them large and comfortable, and 10 baths. An elevator runs from base- ment to top floor. Later, on May 26, 1899, George | being | | “The house has four floors and s built of white stone, and was designed | by the late Sanford White. It is com- pletely detached. This feature is un- | derstood to have had considerable influence in causing this house to be | picked by the President for the tem- | porary White House. They wanted a | home that had plenty of light. There | were other houses that appealed, but were not selected because they are | not detached and because their con- | struction did not permit sufficient day- | light to enter the rooms.” It was during Mr. Coolidge's resi- | | dence here that Col. Charles Lind- | | bergh and his mother, Mrs. Evangeline Lindbergh, were the President’s guests, folowing the return of Col. Lindbergh to this country after his memorable flight across the Atlantic. It was from the balcony of waved a greeting to the throng which gathered in front of the house to shout his praise Lindbergh, as will be recalled. as a boy, spent much of his time in Wash- | ington while his father was serving | in Congress as a Representative from | | Minnesota. In 1907, came to Washington bergh took up his residence at 1831 V street northwest. For some un- known reason this place did not seem to suit his fancy, and in the following when he -first the senior Lind- street, For his whereabouts after 1908 City Directory must be depended upon, and this gives his 1910 address as the Congress Hall Hotel, located at New Jersey avenue and C street south- east, where formerly stood several dings owned by Thomas Law, the corner one of which w 'sidence. Mr. Law had married Elizabeth Parke Cus granddaughter of Martha Washington, and it was to their home | that the first President paid visits when in this city. The House Office Annex now occupies this site. "HE Laws did not get along in perfect harmony, and ere long the property was leased to Conrad & McMunn for hotel purposes, and it was here that Thomas Jefferson re- sided while Vice President and from here also that he marched with an escort to the Capitol to be sworn in as President in 1801, when some folks say he rode up the Avenue unaccom- panied and hitched his horse to a paling fence and returned to White House after the ceremony, in the same democratic fashion; but’ of | course this statement does not apply | to his first inauguration. The next place we find Representa- tive Lindbergh is at the Hotel Dris- coll, First and B streets northwest, where he stopped in 1914. The direc- | tories do not give his address this house that he | year he had moved to 1726 Willard | | still one of Washington's most beau- the | | was built in 1873, unless | within a block of the circle the | for ! prraary rior to 1915 and 1916, but during his la vear in Washington he stopped at the Continental Hotel, corner of North Capitol and E streets. That Col. Lindbergh received much of his education in Washington theie is little doubt the 10 years his father served in [thfi Lower House, The Patterson mansion is the res dence of Mrs. Eleanor Patterson, pi lisher of the Washington Herald. It was constructed in 1901 and 1902 The cost of the building was esti- mated at $164,000, the building bei done during & period of low prices The site was acquired for $83.000 ‘The extra refinements which wen | into the building cost $164.000, among these being the wainscoting for the library, costing $6.000; interior de: orative features, $10,000, and marble for the hall and stairway, $10,000. Tne | mansion at the time it was occupied by Mr. Coolidge was assessed at ap- proximately $450,000. It was built by the George A. Fuller Co. and is tiful mansions. tae days of wn to more Stewart Castle in the lai- ter instance, the person looking back- ward into the past was willing to con- fess that he was an old-timer and could recall John Hopkins' brickyard, at Twentieth and P streets, which was operated as late as 1875, though Mr. ¢ looked like in the ear] Washington, or, to come d recent times, when | Hopkins, a Georgetown man, died in | 1858, the business probably being car- | ried on after that date by his heirs Old Slash Run. still remembered by many.-touched, in its zig-zag course, This stream, sometimes also called Shad Run, was still an open stream in many places when many still living were youngsters. Its source was some- where in the vicinity of Fifteenth street and Columbia road, and tr odor arising from the insanita slaughter houses which lined banks was very unpleasant in warm weather, as the city became gradually more congested. Some of the earl included those of William Link Frank Linkins, John Pfeaster, John Berry. George Walker | its detraction | crossing Florida Besides attending the | Friends School, he attended also the | Eastern High School in the period of | | of Congress slaughter houses John Little and others. But nature had made this a picturesque stream and it had its attraction as well as It entered the city by avenue at about Eighteenth street. A feeder which Jjoined the main stream in the center of square 156, between Seventeenth and Eighteenth, P and Q, added to the size of the branch as it wended | its way southeasterly to near Sixteenth and L streets, where it zig-zagged west to Twenty-second street and flowed into Rock Creek at a point between N and O streets. “Guy Graham,” so an old item states, “‘was the pioneer settler of the Dupont Cir was one of cut from the Capitol to the Treas designated Pennsylvania avenue his day, and for many vears a ward, there was good swimming aln! Slash Run, which wo! day one of the mos hborhood,” and the 1o w id embrare LIST FAMOUS WOMEN American Ladies Who Are Called Great Come From Every Imaginable Profes- sion, According to Publication. By James Waldo Fawcett. ORE than 1000 American women deserve (o be regarded as famous Such is the fincir sented in the latest publication of the Division of Bibliography of the Libra The book, as vet avai able only in mimeographed form, was compiled by Miss Florence S. Hellman acting chief bibliographer. Tt brings up to date a similar but much less comprehensive study made in 1932 The list begins with Eleanor Hallo- | well Abbott, author, and closes with Lucia Zora, circus star. In the subject index attempt at classification, but tne edi- tor stipulates that “it is not intended as a complete analysis of the careers of the women" included. Actresses, clubwomen, composers, editors, educa- tors, Government official tarians, illustrators, jourr turers, missionaries, novel philanthropists, poets, reformers. social service workers, wives of famous men and wives of Presidents are grouped there is an | arbitrarily “merely as an aid to locate material relating to the various pro- fessions.” A glance over the content: shows one animal train record Mabel John Hoover, | Stark; one anthropogeographer, Ellen @ First President’s Final Decision Has Maintained Influence in Long History of National Politics, But Hard Battles for Change of Policy Have Been Fought Out. By Herbert Hollander. T'S in again, the hardest peren- | nial in American political life; | and everywhere throughout the country the question Is being | asked: “Will Franklin D Roosevelt | seek a third-term nomination, or per- | mit himself to be ‘drafted'?” Regardless of White House pro- | now and 1940, it is clear that the question will be answered definitely and finally only at the nominating | convention in the Summer of that | year. In the meantime—again regardless of what President Roosevelt says or does not say on the subject—third- term talk will grow in volume and intensity. That, history shows, has happened often before. On many occasions since the inception of the country, the public Mas become profoundly | agitated over the third-term issue. And it is noteworthy that while sen- timent generally always has been clearly opposed to a third term, those who have sought to break the prece- | dent by no means have been devoid | of supporters President George Washington's in- fluence. probably more than any other single factor, has given unshakable strength to the anti-third-term tradi- tion. There is nothing in the Consti- | tution to prevent one President from | remaining in office for more than two terms, and strong third-term move- ments have appeared in behalf of several Presidents, } | HE nearest approach to outright third-termism occurred in 1880, when supporters of Ulysses S. Grant were able to muster more than 300 convention in Chicago. Grant already had served two terms. —after the Tilden-Hayes election had nearly precipitated a second civil war —and the Grant men, under the leadership of Senator Roscoe Conk- ling of New York, saw an opportunity once more to capitalize on the gen- eral's great war record and reinstall him in the White House. (As a mat- ter of fact, Grant would have been willing to run for a third term in 1876, but failed to receive the support then that he was to gain for the effort four years later.) Despite the corruption and malad- ministration during Grant's terms, he still was popular personally, hi~ name to come before the conven- tion. But not all of the political astuteness of Conkling, nor the loy- alty of his henchmen, nor even the promise of bigger and better .spoils, votes on 36 ballots at the Republican | two | and Conkling persuaded him to allow | OPPOSITION TO THIRD TERM REVEALED BY LONG HISTORY GEORGE WASHINGTON set the as yet unshattered pre- cedent against third terms for American Presidents. Yet in a letter to Lafayette in 1778, Washington said that “I can see no propriety in preclud- ing ourselves from the services of any man who on some great emer- gency shall be deemed universally most capable of serving the pub- lie.” But Jackson declared himself strongly opposed to more than two terms; Congress on numerous oc- casions has so resolved: Grant Jailed in 1880 in the boldest and most nearly successful bid in our history for an outright third nomination; and Theodore Roose= velt could not convince the coun= try in 1912 that he was not run- ning for the third term. These and many other facts, many of them little known, be- ginning with the heated debates in the Constitution Convention on Presidential Tenure, are con- tained in the accompanying article, rendered timely by the Nation-wide interest in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1940 in- tentions. After days and weeks of bitter bat- tling, & compromise was reached, Grant was ditched and Garfield be- came the nominee. | _ When Grant received the news of his defeat, he spoke bitterly of his managers. Chagrined and humiliated, he said: “They never should have permitted my name to come before the conventicn unless they were sure of victory.” On the day Grant was placed in nomination for a third term, Repre- sentative Springer of Illinois intro- duced a resolution in Congress ex- pressing opposition to more than two terms for any President. The reso- lution was adopted by a wide margin. A similar resolution was introduced in Congress, and also adopted, as re- | cently as 1928. Its author was Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin, and the occasion was the issuance by Presi- dent Coolidge of his famous “I-do- not-choose-to-run” statement. It will be recalled that there were many in the country who favored Coolidge for another term, insisting—as Theodore Roosevelt himself did earlier—that he had been elected but once, and that this amount being appropriated by could overcome the traditional oppo- sition to a third term. - the other term came merely as the result of succession iollowing death. | | | | \ HETHER or not Coolidge carefully designed his statement as a strad- | dle—and there ix no reason to believe he did—his supporters for a third | term were numerous and highly ar- ticulate. To choke that off, La Follette in- troduced his resolution, which, after several adopted by a vote of 56 to 26. The La Follette resolution, as in- troduced, read: “Resolved, that it is the the Senate that the precedent estab- lished by Washington and other Pres- idents of the United States retiring from the presidential office after their second term has become, by universal concurrence, a part of our republican system of government, and that any tom would be unwise, unpatriotic and fraught with peril to our free institu- tions; and be it further “Resolved, that the Senate com- mends the observance of this prece- dent by the President.” The latter paragraph was dropped off as the resolution was finally adopted. OT so well known as George Washington's refusal to accept a third term is & statement made by him in 1778 in a letter to Lafayette, in which he declares himself em- phatically against limiting the presi- dential tenure of office. At that time he wrote: “There are other points in which opinions would be more likely to vary, as, for instance, on the eligibility of the same person for President after he should have served a certain num- ber of years. Guarded so effectively as the proposed Constitution is in respect to the prevention of bribery and undue influence in the choice of President, I confess I differ widely from Mr. Jefferson and you as to the necessity or expediency of rotation in that office. * * * I can see no pro- priety in precluding oursglves from the services of any man who on some great emergency shall be deemed uni- versally most capable of serving the public.” This statement is quite as explicit as Washington's later action in re- fusing the proffered third term. Did he change his mind during the suc- | ceeding years, did he not deem him- self longer worthy, or desirous, of the office, or did he not consider the emer- gency pressing enough to justify con- tinuance in the presidency? What- ever the answer may be, it was Wash- ington who, wittingly or unwittingly, set a precedent which has had far greater weight and sway than law itself. In 1788 Jefferson discussed the sense of | departure from this time-honored cus- | days of stinging debate, was | Third-term jinx. gressive ticket. TRADITION AGAINST THIRD TERM HAS FACED MANY ATTACKS s This typical cartoon, by Nelson Harding, published in 1911 by the Brooklyn Eagle, foreshadowed Theodore Rooscvelt’s presidential candidacy the following year on the Pro- question in a letter to Alexander Don- ald, as follows: “There is another strong feature in the new Constitution which I as strongly dislike. That is the perpetual re-eligibility of the President. Of this I expect no amendment at present, because I do not see that anybody has objection to it. But it will be productive of cruel distress to our country, even in your day and mine.” Perhaps Jefferson's prediction has not been borne out fully—although Grant certainly suffered “cruel dis- tress” when the Chicago attempt failed—but there is po gainsaying that the third-term issue has been a perennially live, and usually bitter, one since the very beginning. ON NUMEROUS occasions in our history, Congress has taken cog- nizance of the question. Resolutions limiting the presidential term were up in 1828, 1829, 1830 and 1832. All were defeated. Jackson, in & message to Congress, urged such a change. In 1833 and in 1835 constitutional amendments were offered, and in' 1844 the Whig platform contained a strongly worded plank pledging such an amendment. Again in 1844 and in 1846 constitutional amendments were offered in Congress, but nothing was accomplished. After the real third-term scare of 1880 there was renewed demand for some statutory limitation, but again no action was taken. Previously, in 1871 and 1872, there had been considerable agitation in favor of & single term for the Presi- dent. As a matter of fact the single term idea has been put forward frequently in the past 150 years, be- ginning with the Constitutional Con- vention itself and continuing up to the | present. The question of presidential tenure was a subject of intensive debate in 1787 when the Constitution was being hammered into form, and the present provision is the result of a compromise —as is virtually every other part of that document. Two proposals first were discussed most seriously, namely, a three-year term with eligibility for re-election and a seven-year term without eligi- bility. The first vote was for a seven-year | term without re-eligibility, the second vote was for a seven-year term wiih eligibility, and on a third vote a reso- lution was adopted providing for a seven-year term for the President of the United States without eligibility for re-election to that office. However, the convention was not vet done with the question, for the entire matter then was referred to a committee of 11, representing each of the 11 States represented in the con- vention. This committee, after long and careful consideration, voted to recommend a four-year term without | reference to eligibility for re-election. This recommendation was accepted by the convention and became part of the Constitution. As to qualifications, the Constitu- tion simply specifies that the President must be a natural born citizen, he must have attained the age of 35 years and he shall have been a resident of the United States for 14 years. \VHEN Theodore Roosevelt ran for President in 1912 on the Pro- gressive ticket against President Taft and Gov. Wilson. he had a strong . | anti-third-term sentiment to contend | with, despite his heated claim that he was running for the presidency, not | the third time, but the second time. | The first time he ran for the vice vice presidency with McKinley, suc- | ceeding to the White House on the latter's death. The same argument was used, not by Coolidge himself, but | by those who wished him to run again in 1928. Many probably have forgotten it, but Wilson is known to have desired a third nomination in 1920, despite order to win from the country & repu- diation of the senatorial “irreconcil- ables” who had wrecked his plan for American participation in the League of Nations. so crushed in body, there is held to be the strongest evidence that he would have made a characteristically | vigorous fight for another nomination and another opportunity to go before the country on his record. There was only one President “hn; declared at the outset of his first administration that he would take but | one term and held by his resolution. | He was James Buchanan, 65 years old at his inauguration. Only Wil- liam Henry Harrison, 68, was older among all the Presidents when taking office. While there is little likelihood that Buchanan could have been re- elected, it is noteworthy that he did not seek renomination, thus keeping his still unique pledge. If Wilson had not been | markswoman or Oakley; one photographer, Mar Bourke-White; one Girl Scol Juliette Gordon Low, and one violin Maud Powell. | (QTHER brackets are: a rcheologists, art pa omers, business exer: ers, Congresswomen, tists, engineers, enton RIStS, exp home econof leaders, | tioned—Lyd | Fanny Bullo orkr daughters of the Revol Boyd and Rose O the Soutt Kath: n My Shoes": ne Doss Rislev, her Abandoned Orchard,” and Rose of “The Stump Farm Some of the names are u For example, who would guess ry Ludwig Hays McCauley conceals v .Pitcher of the battle of Mon- Louise Leonard the an Ru the other h names need tion. Lydia the most w her generation i millions of people who probably have heard of Martha Washington or Helen Keller, de An Hilda Eleanor oine of Mr: "THE list serves to bring back to pub- lic notice a few “forgotten ladies” who ought not to be lost. Emma Laz- arus, the unhappy American “sister” of Thomas Chatterton, is a case in roint. Another is Rose Hawthorne Lathrop. daughter of the “Twice Told Tales"—she abandoned the world to devote herseif to the care of patients ering with incurable cancer and, as Mother Alphonsa, earned a place in any proper Hall of Fame of which it is possible to con- ceive. Miss Hellman's purpose has been eminently practical. She has under= stood that people are interested pri- marily in their contemporaries. To meet the current demand. therefore, she has listed Grace Abbott, Rnsa Bampton, Pamela Bianco, Carrie Jacobs Bond. Evangeline Booth, Pearl Buck, Senator Hattie Caraway, Carrie Chapman Catt, Mrs. Calvin Coolidge, Katharine Cornell, Joan Crawford, Gertrude Ederle, Zona Gale, Mary Garden, Lillian Gish, Helen Hayes, Katherine Hepburn, Malvina Hoffman, Fannie Hurst, Eleanor Holm Jarrett, ; despite | gy Le Gallienne, Anne Morrow Lind- his unfortunate physical condition, in | bergh, Ruth Hanna McCormick Simms, Evalyn Walsh McLean, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Helen Wills Moody, Grace Moore, Kathleen Nor- ris, Julia Peterkin, Mary Pickford, Brenda Putnam, Mary Roberts Rine- hart, Norma Shearer, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Gertrude Stein, Lillian D, Wald, Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney, the Duchess of Windsor and the mother and the wife of President Franklin D. Rooseveit Yet there are certain remarkable omissions, inevitable, no doubt, in the circumstances. Shirley Temple may be cited for illustration. All in all, however, Miss Hellman's labors have resulted in something far more important than a guide to litpr- ature. She has demonstrated in her list the romance and the variety of American life. Her book is an index finger to the color and vitality of as rich a civilization as e'er the sun shone on,