280 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
sition at the head of the municipality
of Put-in-Bay
through the period of celebrations
incident to the cen-
tennial celebration of Perry's victory
on Lake Erie.
Secretary Galbreath called attention to
a large pho-
tograph of the "Old Sculptor"
T. D. Jones, which had
been contributed to the museum by Mr.
Claude Meeker.
The masterpiece of Mr. Jones, the
"Lincoln Memorial,"
which stood for many years in the
rotunda of the State
House at Columbus, is now at the head
of the stairway
between the Senate chamber and the
State Library.
A vote of thanks was tendered Mr.
Meeker for the
gift. On motion the morning session
adjourned to meet
in the afternoon.
President Johnson: "We have now
come to an im-
portant point in our program. We took
it upon our-
selves to send an invitation to a
distinguished son of
Ohio to deliver the annual address. The
speaker of the
day is a renowned lecturer and
educator, a distinguished
statesman, and a beloved neighbor from
Yellow Springs.
I ask General Orton to escort to the
platform United
States Senator Simeon D. Fess.
SENATOR SIMEON D. FESS
spoke as follows:
"Mr. President, ladies and
gentlemen: I was considerably
abashed a moment ago, when the Chairman
refreshed my memory
-- that I am to deliver the annual
address. I recall now that
when the Secretary asked me whether it
would be possible for
me to reach this place today, and
invited me to address you, that
he did mention something about the
annual address. I cannot
express to you my perturbation. I do not
like to make an apol-
ogy for being present in a place like
this, which represents such
a very important work for the state and
nation, and with an un-
usual type of audience, with so slight
preparation to do what I
have been announced to do. I say this
with a deep desire that
Fortieth Annual Meeting 281
you may understand the situation. The
truth about the matter
is we have been living a rather strenuous life ever
since, and be-
fore, I received the invitation.
"I just completed a trip down the
Ohio from Pittsburgh to
Cincinnati, that occupied three days of
the most pleasurable time
imaginable, and in a large measure most
instructive. My im-
pressions just now, not suddenly made
but the result of what
I saw, is that I doubt whether there is
any waterway in any
section of the country that is more
beautiful and magnificent
than the Ohio from its headwaters at
Pittsburgh to the Queen
City of Cincinnati (Applause).
"The two Senators from this state
were invited to join
that inspection tour to examine the
locks, now all completed
from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati save one,
the thirty-second, which
will be completed by next season at
least. My colleague, the
senior Senator, was able to be with us
the first day, then he
had to leave the boat I continued with the touring delegation
until the end of the journey. The
cheering we received all along
the river, the upper part of which was
actually jammed with
convoys, the heavy congestion incident
to the business of the
Pittsburgh district, the ringing of
bells, the blowing of whistles,
the shouting of the people, the
gathering of assemblies at every
point along the river, gave a suggestion
that there is a deep in-
terest in the possibilities of a
commerce which at one time was
greater than now and at some future time
will again be greater
than it is now. That is one thing which,
to my mind, illustrates
the value to the state of the early
historic settlements which were
made along the river.
"Many romances were told and retold
upon the boat, about
the early history of Ohio. The story of
Blennerhasset was re-
told, and of course one of the things I
was most anxious to see
was the lower end of the island where
his famous mansion stood
in other days. The story was repeated by
some one who was
well acquainted with the early history
of our state. Then some
one told about the land, how dense the
forests were, what forts
were built, the efforts to persuade
people to come into this won-
derful Scioto valley where the river
empties into the Ohio -- a
iand as fertile today as any that lies
out of doors. Some one told
the story of Bathsheba Rouse, and since
she is said to be buried
at Yellow Springs, where I live, I took
particular interest in it
-- I could repeat that story, but I
think most of it is fiction, and
therefore it is not in place here. But
is there any place in Ohio,
either interior or border, of greater
local historic interest than
along the beautiful river that flows to
the south of us? I am
glad that we have an organization in
this state that has as its
282
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
chief purpose the preservation of the
history which gives the
beginnings of our great state."
Reverting to present day issues that
are engaging the
attention of the administrative and
legislative branches
of the national government, Senator
Fess expressed
faith that the conference on the
limitation of arma-
ments, which had ended with a large
measure of suc-
cess, would be followed by another
conference of sim-
ilar character in Washington with
prospects for another
advance in the direction of a permanent
peace among
civilized nations.
Senator Fess also spoke in favor of the
World
Court. He pointed out that a large
portion of the ex-
penditures of the national government
are due to wars
and the support of an army. He favored
the establish-
ment of a World Court for the
settlement of interna-
tional difficulties. "The next
step," said he, "is to cre-
ate a judicial body to which we may
submit international
issues. I know there are objections to
the proposal to
establish an international court, but I
know that Amer-
ica cannot do anything better. And when
the interna-
tional court is considered in the
December meeting of
Congress, take it from me, the measure
will be over-
whelmingly approved."
Senator Fess in conclusion praised the
work of the
Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Society and
expressed the great disappointment that
came to him
when he learned that the Rickenbacker
airplane, which
he was seeking to have transferred to
the museum of
the Society, had been destroyed. On
this subject he said:
"Some time ago I received a letter
from your secretary, ask-
ing if I could procure for your museum
the plane that had been
Fortieth Annual Meeting 283
brought down by Rickenbacker, and which
had been brought to
this country. I made some investigation
and found that the
plane was at the Wilbur Wright field. I
immediately introduced
a resolution to place it in your care. I
thought it so desirable
that it should be in Columbus, on this
college campus, and under
the protection of this particular
Society, that I introduced the
resolution.
"Now we have always had the
practice before passing a reso-
lution affecting the army or navy, of
sending the resolution to
the member of the cabinet in control, so
I sent a copy of this
resolution to Secretary Weeks. Secretary
Weeks wrote me a
formal letter, in which he said they
could not make any disposi-
tion of the war relics until the people
on the hill pass a general
law for the distribution of the same.
That kind of letter is so
common -- that is the kind of letter I
have written myself some-
times.
"I was greatly disappointed. I was
talking to several mem-
bers of Congress about it, and all said
it must be placed on the
Ohio State University grounds. In the
meantime I went to see
President Harding about another matter,
and when I asked
him about doing a certain thing he said,
'Senator, take that up
with Secretary Weeks.' I said, 'No, I
won't.' He asked why,
and I told him I had had experience with
Secretary Weeks, and
told him about this plane.
"The President said, 'What, would
he not agree to let that
plane be sent up for permanent
preservation by that Society?'
and I said, 'No, he wrote me a mere
formal letter saying that he
could not distribute the war relics
until the people on the hill
pass a general law to govern the
matter.' President Harding
at that moment began to write -- he
wrote an order to John
Leach to declare that plane surplus and
put a price on it, and he
(President Harding) would buy it and
send it to you. I felt
fine about that. Then I received a
letter from this authority stat-
ing to me that some time before the
plane had been declared
rubbish and had been burnt. Now I cannot
say anything more
-- it won't do, because I would say
something I should not say.
But you see that is the kind of thing
this Society is trying to, pre-
serve -- a relic of great value, which
to some other people was
rubbish." (Applause).
A rising vote of thanks was tendered
Senator Fess
for his able address.