USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > History of the Cuyahoga County soldiers' and sailors' monument > Part 8
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"'An excellent idea,' said Mr. Prentiss. It is well that he should be acquainted with the facts in the case.'
HISTORY OF THE CUYAHOGA COUNTY
"Attorney Prentiss was then instructed to notify Gen. Meyer, Mr. Herrick, Col. Gibbons, the Police Prose- cutor, and the officers at the Central Station that the Commission would build a fence about the Square.
"'Can you have from forty to fifty of your cool-headed friends in the Square when you begin operations?' asked Mr. Prentiss.
"'A thousand, if necessary,' answered Capt. Scofield.
"'You can use all possible means, except actual vio- lence, to keep those policemen out of the Square,' said Mr. Prentiss. 'They have no right to interfere with you.'
"'We, of course,' said Capt. Scofield, 'would rather use peaceable means. We are not outlaws, as the City Officials are.'
"'If a man displays a warrant,' said Mr. Prentiss, 'it is your duty to stop at once; but you need not pay any attention to an ordinary patrolinan. Have a sufficient number of your friends on hand to show that you are not alone in the movement.'
""'We will have them,' said Mr. Hayr; 'we will have 1,000 old Soldiers building that fence.
"That's it,' said Mr. Prentiss; 'put the fence up by force, but don't use violence. Thrust people aside. Those policemen are nothing to you. You are not only justified in building the fence and using force, without injury, but I think you ought to show some soldierly courage in prosecuting the work.'
" Major Gleason favored deferring action upon the construction of the fence until Monday, but Capt. Sco- field was eager to start work on Friday morning.
"'Mr. Prentiss can issue all the notices Thursday morning,' said he.
"Mr. Force was also opposed to beginning work 011 Friday morning, and Mr. Prentiss was instructed to issue the notices specifying the time of building the fence to be 'within a day or two.'"
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The Leader of the 14th said:
"""We will now move on the enemy with brass bands,' said Major W. J. Gleason at the close of the meeting of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument Commission last evening. By 'the enemy' the Major referred to the City Officials. He declared that the battle would take place within a very few days. There will be less havoc than that which occurred on the bloody field of Gettysburg. In place of the artillery there will be several wagon loads of lumber. Instead of regiments of infantry and cavalry there will be a small force of carpenters. The staff of officers will be composed of members of the Commission. On the other side there will be the police force under able management. The City will have the advantage of some artillery in the battle, however, if they care to make use of the big naval gun in the Square, captured by Commodore Perry from the British, and its companion, the field-piece brought back from the Rebellion by General Barnett. Both sides are ready for the struggle, and it is awaited with intense interest."
The Leader reporter got in his work as follows on the same date :
"A candid exchange of private sentiments between General Ed. S. Meyer, the Director of Law, and Major W. J. Gleason, President of the Soldiers' Monument Commission, caused a sensation at the City Hall yester- day. According to the rumors, there was everything but bloodshed in the meeting, and the language was mainly plain, sturdy Anglo-Saxon. The courtly con- struction peculiar to diplomatic intercourse was not in demand and was not used, and when the meeting ad- journed everybody knew exactly what everybody else thought of the topics under discussion. The meeting was largely accidental.
"General Meyer and Major Gleason both have their
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offices in the third story of the City Hall. Major Glea- son's abiding place is between General Meyer's office and the elevator. As the Major is President of the Monument Commission, he is naturally not pleased with the course of the City in refusing to prepare a part of the Public Square as a site for the Soldiers' and Sail- ors' Monument. When he alighted from the City Hall elevator on the third floor, yesterday, he mnet a news- paper reporter and proceeded to tell him a few things. These things included some reference to General Meyer.
"'He has not been treating us fairly,' said the Major, in effect. 'For double back action in landing on both sides of a question, he beats anything I ever saw. Be- fore he was hired by the City he volunteered to act as Attorney for the Commission, and said he was in favor of having the Monument placed in the Square. When he was made Corporation Counsel he, of course, took the other side. After the Supreme Court decided in our favor, a few weeks ago, I met him on Ontario Street. He shook hands, and said he was not sorry that the Supreme Court had held in our favor. He said that he was still 'with the boys' and would place no further obstructions in our way. Why, while we were talking, Mooney, one of his assistants, was on his way to Coun- cilman O'Brien's store with a resolution to repeal the one giving us the right to use the Square. Mr. O'Brien refused to introduce the resolution.'
"During the latter part of the Major's talk, General Meyer arrived via the elevator, and when he heard his name mentioned in an uncomplimentary manner he stopped. The hallway was dark, and the Major's back was turned to the elevator. In a very few moments the General took his turn at the bat. He called the Major to account for having said on Tuesday in an interview that General Meyer was running an opposition Supreme
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Copyright by the Sculptor, 1890.
BRONZE CAPITAL TO SHAFT.
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Court to the one in Columbus, or something to that effect.
"'You should not pay any attention to anything in the newspapers purporting to quote what I have said,' remarked the General. 'If you want to know my opin- ions, come to my office.'
"' Well, how do you know then that I said anything about you ?' asked the Major.
"'Why, I read it in the newspapers.'
"'What right have you to presume that I made those statements if you know that the newspapers don't quote you correctly, and you do not want people to pay any attention to what you are reported as saying? I give the newspapers credit for not always getting things wrong. I was correctly quoted.'
"'I want to warn you not to carry it too far,' said General Meyer.
"'Oh, I don't care anything for your threats,' re- sponded the Major. 'I have said, and I repeat, that you have a pretty small peg to hang a new case on when you attempt to base it on the claim that one member of the Monument Commission was not legally appointed.'
"General Meyer denied that he had advised the arrest of anyone attempting to take building material upon the Square, but said the police had been ordered to prevent trespassing. He offered to go down stairs and prove it by Director Gibbons. 'That was very amusing, and I laughed at the idea,' said Major Gleason afterwards. 'I told him that Colonel Gibbons' veracity was sorely in doubt yesterday, according to the newspapers, and that it was hardly right to put it to test twice in one week. He denied that Mooney had taken the resolution to Councilman O'Brien, and claimed that Mooney had been away on a vacation for ten days. I told him I did 110t care how long Mooney had been on a vacation, as I had Mr. O'Brien's word for the resolution story.'"
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The following interview with Commissioner Elwell was had by the Leader on the 14th :
"General Elwell, a member of the Board of Monu- ment Commissioners, and who, with General Leggett, has charge of its legal matters, was asked by a reporter yesterday what effect an appeal of the Williamson case to the United States Court would have upon the action of the Commission.
"'It will tie everything up indefinitely,' he said. 'The great work upon which fourteen years have already been spent will probably have to be completed by our successors in office when we are forgotten. At the time of our action yesterday we supposed that we had only to deal with the City Hall strikers and our State Courts, and as we thought that they would hardly use Winchesters as the Homestead inen have done, we expected, if they interfered with our work by police or otherwise, to whip them in Court, as we have done in the past. As the case stood before the Williamsons' appeal, any interference on the part of our City Officials we believe would be simply contempt of Court, and we would hand them over to Judge Solders. We may make mistakes in the future, but to the present time we have made none. Our title deeds to the southeast- ern quarter of the Public Square are from the Supreme Court of Ohio, to which tribunal we were sent by the City and Mr. Williamson.'
"'How about the tax; are you weak on that point ?'
"'Not at all. We have the same assurance from our attorneys that it is strictly legal, that we had in regard to the site. The same line of cases that sustains the one sustains the other. From the beginning we have moved carefully, acting under the best legal counsel. Judge Ranney was our consulting lawyer. He helped us much, and would not accept compensation. Judge Griswold and Colonel Brinsmade drew all our bills, and
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the latter gentleman guided and looked after the Mu- nicipal legislation. All the laws which they drafted have been sustained by the Court.'
"' It is said that your Board is illegal-that General Leggett was not a member of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Union, from which the Governor was required to make the appointment ?'
"'I know it is so said, but the Court says that the Board is legal. We say that General Leggett was a member of the Union, having always acted with it, and considered himself a member. The record may be a little imperfect, but he was a member. If he was not, it would not invalidate the Commission, of which he is one of the most efficient members. General Leggett may not have paid his twenty-five cents admission fee, but if he did owe, the record fails to show it. I cannot agree with General Meyer, if the papers report him correctly, that the Supreme Court could not have contemplated this fact and decided as they did. The Court, in the general proposition which they lay down, affirming our entire right to the Square, covers all the minor points involved. To sum up the whole matter, the Commission has simply tried to faithfully execute the will and orders of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Union, comprising many thous- ands of members. After thorough investigation, they say, and we think, that nineteen-twentieths of the people of the county say, 'put the Moment on the Square, where it can be seen without money or time, and not out in the suburbs, for the benefit of railroads and land speculators.' If we could have got sufficient land near the center of the city at a moderate cost-at a price which we could pay-we should have been glad to have secured such a site. Captain Scofield did not accept the Square until we had completely failed else- where. I am curious to see the report of Mr. Michael's
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committee, now in search of a site for the new City Hall. We had just such a committee, and they worked faithfully for several months, trying to find a site out- side of the Square. They totally failed, and Mr. Michael will find that it will take half a million dollars to buy such a site as the people will approve, and he will come back, as we did, to the Public Square for a site. The people will never pay a fabulous sum of money for a site for a City Hall when the Square belongs to them for this very purpose. Right here is the secret of the appearance of Mr. Williamson. He is fighting not so much the Monument, but the public buildings, from being placed there. We are fighting the battle of the City and County in this matter. I am surprised that our Municipal authorities should join him in this fight against the public use of the Public Square.'"
The following correspondence explains itself :
"CITY OF CLEVELAND, O., " DEPARTMENT OF POLICE, "JULY 14, 1892.
"GEN. ED. S. MEYER, Director of Law.
" DEAR SIR :- It is rumored that the Monument Commission in- tends to take possession of the southeast section of the Monumental Park and erect a fence around the same. Upon consultation with His Honor Mayor Rose he referred me to your department for legal advice as to the action of the Police Department.
" Respectfully, "JOHN W. GIBBONS, " Director of Police."
Gen. Meyer's reply was : "CITY OF CLEVELAND, "DEPARTMENT OF LAW, "JULY 14, 1892.
"COL. JOHN W. GIBBONS, Director of Police.
" DEAR SIR :- I am in receipt of your communication of this date, in which I am informed that 'it is rumored that the Monument Commission intends to take possession of the southeast section of the Monumental Park and erect a fence around the same,' and that upon consultation with His Honor Mayor Rose he has referred you
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to this department for legal advice as to the action of the depart- ment of police.
"In reply, you are respectfully informed that the Board of Monu- ment Commissioners, when duly organized, is clothed with such power and authority as are conferred by the provisions of Section 3 of the act of April 16, 1888 (O. L. vol. 85, p. 565), and are therein set forth in the following terms :
"'Section 3. Said Board of Monument Commissioners, when duly organized, shall have full power to select a place for the pro- posed Monument, and shall have the exclusive control of the build- ing of said Monument, and the place for the same, and are empow- ered to have designs and models prepared, and are hereby author- ized if they so determine, to locate the site of such Monument on the southeast side of the ' Public Square,' so-called, at the junction of Superior and Ontario Streets, in the City of Cleveland, and in case they so determine, the Park Commissioners of said City are hereby authorized and required, on demand in writing by said Commissioners, at the expense of said City, to remove the monu- ment of Commodore Perry, now in said southeast corner of said Square, to some other square or public park in said City, and all other obstructions therein.'
" The Board of Monumental Commissioners, therefore, is not em- powered to at any time enclose or erect a fence of any kind around the said southeast section of the Public Square. Your department has full power to prevent, and is charged with the duty of prevent- ing such action on the part of said Board or any other organization or persons.
"Until the Director of Public Works, as the successor of the Board of Park Commissioners, shall have removed the said 'monument of Commodore Perry' and 'all other obstructions now upon said section of the Square,' as provided in said act, the said Board of Monument Commissioners has no power to take possession of, or in any manner disturb or interfere with any part of section of said Square, for any purpose whatever, and your department has full power to prevent and is charged with the duty of preventing any attempt on the part of said Board or of any persons whomsoever to take possession of, or to disturb or interfere with any part thereof.
"Should any resistance be offered the officers of your department while in the lawful discharge of the duties above mentioned and set forthi, the persons so offending should be promptly arrested and held to answer the charge of disorderly conduct.
" If the Board of Monument Commissioners is dissatisfied with the course pursued by the Director of Public Works, its remedy lies in an application to the proper court for a writ of mandamus to com-
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pel the said Director to remove the monument of Commodore Perry, and other obstructions on said section of the Square, and not in a resort to a breach of the peace."
"Very respectfully,
"ED. S. MEYER, Corporation Counsel."
Mayor Rose, as well as Director Herrick, asserted at this time that there was nothing in the law which per- mitted the Commission to erect the fence. When the attention of the Mayor was called to the fact that the fence was only preliminary to the actual construction of the Monument, and that the building law provides that property must be fenced in before the construction of buildings is undertaken, he admitted that the general law did specify buildings, but was silent on the subject of monuments. This, of course, is a nice distinction.
The Mayor expressed some surprise when he learned the true dimensions of the Monument. He thought the structure much bigger than it really is. Though hav- ing ample opportunity, he never cared enough to informn himself.
XII.
T HE Fourteenth Annual Reunion of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers' and Sailors' Union was held at Forest City Park, on July 14th. This association en- braced in its membership representatives of all the ex- Army and Navy organizations in the county. We clip the following report of the proceedings from the Leader of the 15th :
"The blue coats and gold-braided hats of the veteran Soldiers were very numerous at Forest City Park, yes- terday. The occasion was the Fourteenth Annual Re- union of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers' and Sailors' Union, and it was the success that the gatherings of veterans always are. Early in the forenoon, the 'boys' began to assemble with their wives and children, and at II o'clock, when the 'assembly' was sounded, several hundred people were at the park, and others arrived as the day wore on, until by the middle of the afternoon a very large crowd was present. The day was perfectly adapted for an outing, and the surroundings were made the most of. Weather-beaten and bullet-scarred vet- erans tumbled over each other in their efforts to crowd into the cars of the roller coaster, and yelled with deliglit as the swiftly-moving little vehicles carried them in a spiral curve from a level with the tree-tops to solid ground. There was also a circular arrangement called a swing, the motion of which was very suggest- ive of that which a skiff encounters in a heavy sea. The swing was better patronized by old Sailors than old Soldiers. A landsman ran big chances of being
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made seasick by merely looking at the swingers in their see-saw perambulations.
"Old Comrades stood in groups, and fought their battles over again, and many a yarn was spun of skirmish and siege, of rebel prison and daring escape. Then came dinner, and the well-filled baskets provided by wives and daughters were quickly emptied. After dinner there was speech-making, and plenty of it, and, of course, the Monument was the only topic upon which the speakers talked. The Union placed itself on record as unalterably in favor of the Square as the proper site for the Monument. Several of the speeches were decidedly personal in their trend, and plentiful doses of hot shot were bestowed upon the opponents of the Commissioners' plans. After the business meeting and the speeches came the games, and it was dusk when the veterans took up their homeward march, well pleased with themselves and their holiday.
"Promptly at 2:30 o'clock, the bugle for the second time sounded the 'assembly,' and the members of the Union gathered in the open pavilion to hold their annual business meeting. President Pudney called the meeting to order. The minutes of last year's session were read and approved.
"The President delivered the opening address, in which he said :
"'Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen: I desire to return sincere thanks for the honor of presiding over this Union during the past year. Fourteen years ago, 1,300 of us miet in Case Hall, with no other object in view except that of forming an organization that should unite the old Soldiers and Sailors. We represented every State in the Union north of Mason and Dixon's line, and some of the States sonth. We have met every year since that time. The Soldiers' and Sailors'
INFANTRY EMBLEM IN CAPITAL.
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Union of these United States is no sort of false organ- ization. We have had drafted from our ranks five Presidents, in whom we have added to the roll of fame as grand men as the world ever saw. We, as Soldiers, have no reason to be ashamed of the record we have made. Before we sprang into existence as soldiers, we heard it said that there were no Soldiers like those trained men who fought at Austerlitz, Waterloo, and Balaklava. But at every field, from Bull Run to Appomattox, the deeds of those men sunk into insig- nificance as compared with what the Volunteer Soldiers of America did. The State of Ohio and Cuyahoga County had something to do and something to say in every battle. Let us, as Soldiers and citizens, continue to meet and perforin our duties, and lawfully do those things that are right, and thus continue to win a record of which America may be proud.'
"Captain Levi F. Bauder was then introduced, and read the report of the Monument Commission.
"'The tax levies provided for by law will produce funds to complete the Monument according to the designs. That the Memorial is not now entirely com- pleted and dedicated, is wholly owing to litigation. The City of Cleveland and the Williamson estate brought suits to enjoin the Commission from erecting the Monument on the site selected. The injunction was granted by the Court of Common Pleas, and the findings of that Court were affirined by the Cir- cuit Court. The matter was then carried to the Su- preme Court, and the judgment of the lower Court was reversed, the Commission winning a complete victory.'
" Then followed the gist of the decision of the St- preme Court. Continuing, the report went on as follows: 'This apparently disposes of the entire sub- ject, so far as the rights of the Commission to select
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and occupy the site selected, the southeast quarter of the Public Square, are concerned. The Commission naturally expected prompt and cheerful acquiescence in the decision of the court of last resort in the State, but it finds itself confronted with hostilities on every hand. A demand upon the City to remove the statue of Commodore Perry and a twenty-inch water pipe which traverses the site was met by the Council with a refusal to appropriate the necessary funds, and to emphasize the act, it rescinded its permission to erect the Monument on the Public Square. The Commission thereupon held a meeting, and authorized the Executive Committee to proceed with the actual work of erecting a fence around the site, preliminary to excavating for the foundations. We must act soon, because we have $125,000 worth of material on hand. We have heard intimations that the Commissioners would be prevented by the police, by force, from erecting a fence around the proposed excavation. The effort to build a fence will be made in a few days, and if blood should be spilled, we shudder to think of the consequences if Colonel Gibbons, of the militia, should be ordered by the Governor to charge bayonets on Director Gibbons, of the police.'
"The reference to Colonel Gibbons' chances of ap- pearing in a dual role met with much applause and laughter. The report was unanimously adopted and ordered spread upon the minutes. Captain Shields immediately moved the appointment of a committee on resolutions to express the Union's sentiments in regard to the Monument question. The motion was adopted, and Messrs. Shields, Phillips, Hubbard, Whittaker, Armstrong, Fairbanks and Brainard were appointed as such committee. They retired to draft resolutions, and the President then called for five-minute speeches from members of the Union. Nearly all the speeches which
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followed were of more than the allotted length, but the orators were given full swing, and talked as long as they had anything to say.
"Colonel C. C. Dewstoe was the first to rise to his feet. He said that the fact that the Monument had not been already erected was not the fault of the Com- mission. 'As far back as October 30, 1879, at a meet- ing held in Case Hall,' he continued, 'it was recom- mended that the proposed Monument be erected in the Public Square, and yet we have been lately accused of springing that site on the public. Well, if it was sprung, thirteen hundred people did the springing.' Captain Dewstoe further said that the late Judge Ranney, in giving his opinion of the right of the Com- mission to build the Monument on the Square, used these words: 'I have no more doubt of your right to occupy the Square than I have of my right to occupy the home I live in.' 'I never saw such pitiable, small, narrow-minded pettifoggery as has been evidenced by the City authorities in this matter,' continued Colonel Dewstoe. The Director of Public Works says we may have the right to build the Monument in the Square, but we mustn't build a fence. The building laws say we mustn't make an excavation without putting a fence around it. A certain newspaper in this city has decried the design of the Monument. I don't claim to be an artist, or to be a judge of art, but I know that Professor C. F. Olney, who is a critic above par, said that he had never seen so beautiful a design, or one so thoroughly correct, from an artist's standpoint, as that of the Monument. I consider his opinion fully equal to that of the artistic editor of the paper in question. There has been a great deal of false sentiment created against this Commission. Let the soldier element inake sentiment as well as those on the other side. I, for one, believe the Monument should stand in the
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