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DANIEL CHESTER FRENCH
GLENDALE
MASSACHUSETS

September 11, 1916.

Abbot H. Thayer, Esq.,
Dublin,
New Hampshire.

Dear Abbot:-

You were very good to remember my keen interest in the matter of the painting of the British navy, as evinced by your sending me your letter which appeared in the New York Tribune. The obtuseness of the military and naval authorities in regard to art matters is shared, so far as my experience goes, by the general public. I have never yet seen a man who did not think that his eyes were just as good and that he could see just as well as I could or any artist could. Having constantly run up against committees in charge of erecting monuments ever since I have been in the business of art, perhaps I appreciate better even than you do, how ignorant people are on this subject. Any set of old soldiers or business men will take it upon themselves to decide as to the merits of a lot of designs for a monument even overiding any expert advice that they may, by some accident, have called in.

A number of cases in which the Honorable Secretaries at Washington, having appointed committees of artists to decide in regard to competitions of designs for monuments, after getting the expert advice, [[strikethrough]] they [[/strikethrough]] have chosen another design on their own untutored responsibility, with the result that you observe when you walk the streets of Washington. I believe that art is the only deperatment in which the opinion of the expert is ignored or disregarded. It is deplorable that England should not reap the benefit of your deep studies into this subtle problem. When I read in the papers of the invisibility of the German ships, it occurred to me, as it must have to you, that they had grasped your ideas and applied them.

I find the Summer slipping away and my intention of calling upon you fading with it. I still hope faintly that I may see you in your home environment, but I am afraid the chances are not great. I constantly regret that we cannot see more of each other. I wish you would remember me most kindly to Mrs. Thayer, and believe me,

Faithfully yours,
Dan C. French.

DCF-EEH