ash and Davidson Monuments \ill Text of the Debate Between Congressmen Cannon a?id Kitcbin. Showing Mr. Kitchirfs Faithful Work on Behalf of the Bill and his Expressed Opinion, that Guilford Battle Ground Should Have the Monuments. MONUMENTS TO GENERALS FRANCiS NASH AND WILLIAM LEE DAVIDSON. Congressional Record, Fifty-Seventh Congress, First Session Washington, D. C, July i, 1902. Mr. William W. Kitchin. Mr. Speak- er, I ask unanimous consent for the present consideration of house joint resolution No. 16. to carry into effect two resolutions of the Continental Congress directing monuments to be erected to the memory of Generals Francis Nash and William Lee David- ■:' North Carolina. The joint resolution was read, as follows: Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled. That the sum of .p. 000 be, and the same is hereby. appropriated for the erection of a mon- ument in honor of the memory of Brigadier General Francis Nash, of North Carolina, according to the re- solution of congress passed on the 4th day of November, 1777. Sec. 2. That a like sum of $5,000 be. and the same is hereby, appropriated for the erection of a monument in hon- or of the memory of Brigadier General William Lee Davidson, of North Caro- lina, in accordance with the resolution of congress passed on the 20th day of September. 1781 Sec. 3. That the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay the sums appro- priated to the order of the governor of North Carolina whenever required for the purposes aforesaid. The following amendment recom- mended by the committee was read: Strike out section 3 of the bill and substitute therefor the following: Sec. 3. That the site for the location of said monuments, the designs for the same, the conduct of the work of erec- tion, and the disbursement of the money hereinafter appropriated shall be under the direction of the secretary of war. who shall, however, act joint- ly with the Governor of the State of North Carolina, as far as may be prac- ticable, in the selection of a location for said monuments." The Speaker. Is there objection? .Mr. Cannon. Mr. Speaker. I should like to ask the gentleman, has this been authorized by law or is this the authorization? Mr. Kitchin. This is the authoriza- tion. Mr. Cannon. Two monuments are to be erected somewhere in North Caro- lina to the memory of two Revolution- ary soldiers'' Mr. William W. Kitchin. Two brig- adier-generals who fell in the forefront of a battle in the Revolutionary war. These monuments were once authoriz- ed by the Continental Congress. Mr. Cannon. Why were they not put up under that authorization? Mr. William W. Kitchin. It may have been on account of the disturbed condition of the country, or on account of the poverty of the Continental treas- ury. In any event, the monument? were not built, although they were authorized by the Continental Con- gress. Mr. Cannon. Mr. Speaker, it is un- gracious to object. Mr. William W. Kitchin. I hope the gentleman will not. Mi. Cannon. But this thing of mon- uments, seems to me. ought to be con- fined, except in very rare instances— and it seems to me the exceptions are not wise — to the District of Columbia. Mr. Richardson of Tennessee. They are old acquaintances of my friend from Illinois. 1 think he was born in North Carolina about that time. I Laughter.) Mr. Cannon. They died just before I can recollect; but I know my friend from Tennessee had full acquaintance with them. (Laughter.) Mr. William W. Kitchin. Before the gentleman from Illinois interposes an objection. I would like to say this to him: That one of these generals, Gen- eral Nash, was the colonel of the First North Carolina Regiment. He was af- terwards promoted to brigadier-gen- eral, and was ordered to join General Washington in the North, where he served under the eye of the great com- mander with distinction, and at the battle of Germantown, Pa., now in the of Philadelphia, he was was mor- tally wounded and died a few days af- terwards. He is buried in the Men- nonist burial ground in Kulpsville. Montgomery County. Pa. The Continental Congress thereaf- ter, in a resolution mentioning his gal- lantry and bravery, authorized the ion of a monument to his memory. General Davidson was born in Penn- sylvania, but moved to North Carolina when a child. He was first major and finally brigadier-general. He fought in the battles of Brandywine, Mon- mouth, and at Germantown. where General Nash fell. He was severely wounded at the battle of Calsons Mill, and was killed at the engagement of Cowans 'Ford, on the Catawba River, in North Carolina, resisting Cornwal- 1 is' march northward. Both of these men fought for their country's liberty, and they poured out their life's blood in that behalf. I say to the gentleman from Illinois that the original resolutions in the Continental Congress which recognized these two brave soldiers directed the Governor of North Carolina to build the monu- ments, and left their location to the discretion of the Governor of North Carolina. We have in North Carolina the Guilford Battle Ground Association. It has reclaimed this famous battle ground at Guilford Court House, which Mr. Benton, in his "Thirty Years in the United States Senate," says led in- evitably to Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown. This battle ground has been reclaimed by the patriotic citi- zens, who have also erected many small monuments there, and on the Fourth of July of each year thousands of people from various parts of our state pay tribute to the principles of liberty, independence, and sacrifice which actuated our revolutionary an- cestors. I certainly hope that the gen- tleman from Illinois, with this expla- nation, will not object to the present consideration of the resolution. I think these monuments ought to be erected. In The location is left with the secretary of war and the Governor ol North Car- olina, so far as th< >r can aid him In It and in my opinion Guilford Battle Ground should be the spol fav- iiroii with their location. Mr. rami. mi Well, thi Be were two gallant BOldiers, I have no doubt The Continental Congress noted In word, but not In deed. So far as those gal- lant man are concerned, following the of Swedenborg, they know nothing of It. Mr. Sulzer Are you a Swedenhor- glan? Mr. Cannon (continuing). No douM there are other heroes in ihe celestial heavens, wherein we all hope to attain a position. Simply and purely from 'i standpoint or public service although it may si <':n to be, perhaps, not a courteous thing to do — from sympa- thy with everybody who performs his duty well, having broken the record as our friends will claim, and i pretty near to it. as we will admit, lot us leave something for the liber- ality of Congress and the Treasury to do at the next session. We will ab- solutely have nothing to do to earn our salary. I must now. with all due res- poet to my friend, purely impersonally object. Mr. William W. Kitchin. Mr. Speak- er. I regret that the gentleman ob- jects, and move to suspend the rules and pass the joint resolution No. 16. with the amendment that the Commit- tee on the Library recommends. The Speaker. Does some one object to unanimous consent? Mr. Cannon. I think I object. Mr. Speaker. The Speaker. The gentleman ob- jects. The gentleman from North Car- olina moves to suspend the rules and pass the joint resolution with the amendment recommended by the com- mittee. Mr. Cannon. On that I demand a second. Mr. William W. Kitchin. Mr. Speak- er. 1 ask that a second may be con- sisdered as ordered. The Speaker. Is there objection? (After a pause.) The Chair hears none. The Chair recognizes the gen- tleman from North Carolina on the one side and the gentleman from Illi- nois on the other. Mr. William W. Kitchin. I merely wish to say. Mr. Speaker, in addition to what I have said, that this bill, or a similar resolution, has passed the Senate for the last' three Congresses and in thef orm in which it was in- troduced into this Congress. The Com- mittee on the Library offer an amend- ment, striking out the third section and inserting a new section, pertain- ing to the location and design of this monument. I will say to the gentle- man from Illinois that we have al- ready passed some monument bills during this session, one carrying an appropriation of $25,000 and one $50.- 000 and one of $100.000 The Speaker. The gentleman from North Carolina will suspend. The Committee on Naval Affairs desires to present a conference report on the naval appropriation bill. JO Mr. William W. Kitchin. Mr. Speal er The Speaker. The gentleman ironi North Carolina has nineteen minutes remaining. Mr. William W. Kitchin. Mr. Speak- ei . it I can have ih.- attention ot the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Cannon), b to say thai t he 1 1 been liberal with the monument b II l.a slon. Wo ha\ I :.ill a-ui b Ing a monument to Qen. Hugh Met also a Revolutionary bero, that ca $25,000 ami directs that the n shall ho built in the city of Pi i burg. Va. That, it is a striking i' 1 :i of i be ■• monument a in t he State of t< Carolina if the Secretary ol W it Ide, tor be will ha\ of that question, acting with the ernor of North Carolina as far ticable. We have also pa-sod a bill for a hun- dred thousand dollars to eommeni' the martyrs of the British prison Bh We have passed a bill appropriating $26,000 to take the preliminary Btl i ward a monument to President Lin- coln. How can the gentleman from Illinois Dnd it in his heart to op, this little bill for $10,000? 1 ren to say that it is the smallest bill of this character and equal merit that this House has ever been called upon to consider. Substantially the same pro- on had the support of the Conti- nental Congress. This bill has passed the Senate repeatedly, and it has been favorably reported by the proper com- mittee of this House three times, now. to my knowledge, and I do not know how many times before. The gentleman says that building a monument to these men will do them no good. Is the gentleman going to erect that great monument which he a few days ago advocated for President Lincoln's benefit? Not a bit of it. Does Washington's monument stand down there for the benefit of George Wash- ington? Not a bit of it. Why. the gentleman from Illinois knows that we build monuments because of the purest sentiments that come from the human heart — in order to bless the living, in order to encourage those great princi- ples that guided the lives of the men whom we honor by monuments. We build monuments to patriots to -teach men patriotism, to teach men that when they act patriotically, their des- cendants and other generations will honor them. If monuments should be built to any men. they should be built to those who have died in the* cause of human liberty, in the cause of national independence, who died resisting the oppressions of British rule and British colonialism. How can you find a man more fit to be honored by a monument than General Nash, who fell at the bat- tle of Germantown. or General David- son, who fell resisting the march of Cornwallis north through Carolina? So I think if you want to teach the people of North Carolina patriotism, if you want to tie them in closer bonds to this gov- ernment, you should erect these monu- ments there, paid for out of the feder- al treasury. Erect them at this great \ gathering place (Guilford Battle \ Ground) where the patriotism of North Carolina comes together on the Fourth J of July. If the gentleman from Illi- nois will help me in this he will do 3 great service to the people, because when you encourage the spirit of pat- riotism in any section of this great country you are helping the grand total of our people in that respect. (Ap- plause). I reserve the remainder of my time Mr. Cannon. I ask the attention of the House for a minute because in the closing hours of the session, when everybody is feeling good and hoping to get home soon, everything is relax- ed here and we do things all along the line that we would not have done at any other period in the session. I am always very glad when the hammer falls and final adjournment occurs, be- cause on a day like this no one realizes exactly the scope of what we do. I was born in North Carolina. (Ap- plause.) Somebody said once "You could not help yourself." (Laughter). But I am proud of being born there, in a Quaker settlement of small land- owners — humble. God-fearing people, better than their descendants in that respect, perhaps. A way back sixty years ago we went over the moutains to the wilderness of the West. Now. my birthplace, while I have not been there since that time, is dear to me. My home where I have lived for sixty years is dear to me. And I will say again that perhaps it may seem un- gracious to oppose a bill like this. I am proud of the history of North Car- olina, and of every State. I am proud of the achievements of the Revolution- ary fathers. I am proud of the achieve- ments of the heroes of 1812, and of the Mexican war, and of the civil war. and of the late war. But, after all is said and done. I sometimes grow a little weary when the common patriotism and common pride in the progress of our race is made an excuse to do this, that, and the other, that really no great number of people desire to have done. I had not much pride in what happened yesterday touching two appropriations, but that is past and gone. I am not here to scold about it. I doubt the propriety of making appropriations from the National Treasury to erect monuments any- where outside of the District of Columbia. Here we are supreme, the capital of the nation. Here we gather the revenues and make the expendi- tures.. Here is where all the people come. So that I have quite generally voted for whatever memorials have been proposed, if they came in due shape with the emplacement thereof here. I sometimes could wish that all the great battlefields and everything that would memorialize great events of our history could be marked. Many of them are. Mr. William W. Kitchin. May I ask the gentleman a question? Mr. Cannon. Just a moment. I will yield to you before I get through. Many of them are. There is scarcely a county throughout the northland bin what you will find monuments to the memory of the soldiers who fought for the union in the late war. Constructed how? By the people. The men and the women and the children have tak- eE up collections here and there and accumulated them until, five, ten, or twenty-five thousand dollars have beer, collected, and each man, woman, and child feel as if there had been sacrifice made for the monuments that com- memorate the achievements of the il- lustrious dead. That which cost some- thing we appreciate. Sometimes I have felt that an ob- jection to our higher school system is that it has not cost much. That people appreciate the common-school system — the three R's are all right from the standpoint of national good and nation- al education, but we have got in the habit of injecting hypodermically, il seems to me, education which comesj with trifling cost into people that not want it. We appreciate, I again, that which costs something, aj that patriotism that causes people the various localities to lay aside a d<| lar here and there and gather it gether and erect a monument is right kind of action and the right kifl of sentiment to foster. I have sometimes wished, and i inclined to think I would possibly vo| for the erection of a monument at national expense to commemorate battle of Kings Mountain, where mountaineers, reenforced under lead of Gen. John Sevier by Tenne! seans. after a long march through ley and over mountain, fought great battle. (Applause on the Den cratic side.) But I would prefer not] go beyond that. True, we voted erect a monument to the memory General Mercer down in Virginia, think that was a mistake from tl standpoint that I am speaking of, a\ I believe now that the best way is stop the construction of monumen to commemorate the character and sq vices of illustrious men from the ginning of our history outside of Wa ington, so that I have demanded second, and I feel as one that it is duty to vote "no" upon this propc tion. Now I yield to my friend. Mr. William W. Kitchin. I ask gentleman, after reminding him th the patriotic citizens of North Carj Una have contributed their money built several monuments on Guilfol Battle Ground, whether the gentlemj — since the Continental Congress, co posed of the contemporaries of the3 brave men. had authorized the gov^ ernor to erect monuments to them- does not think that would except this joint resolution from the ordinary monument cases and justify him in supporting monuments for these men outside of the District of Columbia? Mr. Cannon. I will say to my friend it seems to me not. I recollect in my service in the House that Congress did make a small appropriation toward the improvement of the battlefield of Guilford Court-house, and that has been expended with contributions made by the patriotic citizens of the locality and of North Carolina. But Congress took good care after it made this dona- tion to divorce itself from the main- tenance. Now, this is upon a differ- ent ground. That is all I have to say about it. The Speaker. The question is on sus- pending the rules and passing the bill. The Speaker proceeded to put the question. Mr. Cannon. I think I will take a rising vote. The house proceeded to divide. Mr. Cannon (during the count). Mr. Speaker, it is evidently the sense of the House that the bill pass, and I with- draw the demand for a division. The Speaker. Two-thirds having voted in favor thereof, the rules are suspended and the joint resolution as amended is passed.