Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 38.djvu/109

Rh During the past week I wrote to Hon. Luke E. Wright, Secretary of War, and furnished him with all the necessary data which had been in the possession of the late Mr. Meyer, and duplicates of all this material are in the hands of Mr. Foster, the representative of the Confederated Southern Memorial Association, in Washington, D. C.

Last summer, just before Congress adjourned, my attention was called to a newspaper item which stated that Hon. C. C. Carlin, of Virginia, had given notice that he would introduce a bill in Congress asking why the name of Jefferson Davis had been removed from the stone on "Cabin John Bridge," and that his bill would ask that it be restored. I wrote immediately to Mr. Carlin, and to Hon. R. C. Davey, M. C. from Louisiana, asking him to see Mr. Carlin in person and to explain to him that the C. S. M. A. had at its convention in June, 1907, passed a resolution to the same effect, and that our Representative had already taken the matter up with the Hon. AW H. Taft; and we begged him (Mr. Carlin) to defer his action, as we had been advised against bringing the subject before Congress. The advice from all sources, from Confederate as well as officials at Washington, is, to be patient and leave the matter in the hands of the Secretary of War.

Mrs. J. Enders Robinson, of Richmond, Va., the delegate from the Confederate Memorial Literary Society of Richmond, Va., who offered the "Cabin John Bridge" resolution, also wrote to Mr. Carlin, explaining all that had been done, and asked for his co-operation with the committee. If we hope to succeed, there must be concert of action; the committee must be united in its plan of procedure, as it is in its desire to accomplish this patriotic work.

In every step that I have taken I have advised with the Commander-in-Chief of the United Confederate Veterans, General Clement A. Evans. As chairman, I am willing and pleased to receive suggestions from the members of the committee, and from you in particular, in whose judgment I have great confidence. If you will pardon me, I would suggest that in printing your report in the Atlantic Minutes you would say that by reason of your office of President-General of the U. D. C, you are a