This pretended election was not had according to the Constitution of the Society. The constitutional time of election was every third year from the year 1835, and the last election had been held in 1853.
It was the province of the Secretary of the Society to issue all notices of meetings, and the clerk (Eckloff), a mere recorder and messenger, had no color of authority to issue any such notice. The last regular weekly meeting of the Society was held on the 20th of February, and it had then adjourned to meet on the 27th of that month. Of the 755 votes cast all were given to each of the seventeen persons elected, except one, who received 754 votes, and not one of the persons elected was a member of the existing board. This election was carried on certificates of membership, which could be obtained from the Society or its agents on the payment of one dollar, but which were issued without any knowledge of the Society, and no money representing them was ever received by its Treasurer.
Abundant evidence shows that the plan of this election was "silently yet solemnly resolved," and framed in the secret lodges of the "Know-Nothing" or American party of that day, its object being to transfer the entire and exclusive management into its own hands, and to oust every other description of citizens from participation in the trust.
On the 24th of February, the existing Society held a special meeting, protesting against the pretended election of February 22d, and appointed a committee "to investigate the existing state of things and report thereon at the next regular meeting."
The committee reported at a meeting of the Society on the 27th of February, and in accordance therewith adopted resolutions declaring "that the election held on the 22d instant of officers and managers of the Washington National Monument Society was in direct violation of the Constitution of said Society, and therefore null and void; that this Board, being by virtue of the Constitution of the Washington National Monument Society, the existing Board of Managers, and as such charged with a trust of the most solemn character, in behalf of the American people cannot voluntarily surrender the same; that the above resolutions be communicated to the gentlemen claiming under the election of the 22d instant, and that we propose that an amicable suit be instituted for the purpose of testing the rights of the two parties."
Replying to a transmitted copy of these resolutions, the "Know-Nothing" board adopted resolutions not admitting any right in "the late Board of Managers" to participate in the "administration of this Society other than as members thereof," and appointed a committee of three persons "to confer with those gentlemen in response to the resolutions received from them to-day, and that they report to the next meeting of this Board."
The two committees met on the 3d of March, but were unable to agree on terms of arrangement, the committee of the "Know-Nothing" board adhering to a refusal to submit the dispute to judicial decision.
The Superintendent in charge of the Monument, William Dougherty, declining to recognize the authority of the pretended board or to surrender possession of any of the buildings on the Monument grounds to the new superintendent appointed by it, on the evening of the 9th of March these buildings were forcibly taken possession of in its name, and the "new" superintendent was installed in place. Thereafter, for several years, the Society had no further communication with the "Know-Nothing" board, and published in the daily press a full account of the controversy, which demonstrated the illegality of the organization of the board in usurped possession. Arrangements were also made to secure a decision by the courts in the premises. The Society's agents were also advised of the existing conditions. Being bonded, no moneys collected by them were paid to the treasurer of the "Know-Nothing" board, which board shortly issued the following address, thereby stamping its character:
"Brethren of the American Party:
"For twenty years past a voluntary association has existed in this city, formed for the purpose of raising funds to erect a monument to Washington. It was founded on the scheme of voluntary contributions among the people of the United States, in such sums as would enable every citizen to contribute towards it. After years of patient waiting, a sufficient amount was accumulated to justify them in adopting a plan and beginning the work. A plan was adopted of a single shaft of white marble, of four equal sides, having a base 55 feet square, and rising to the height of 600 feet, diminishing gradually from base to top, and to be 33 feet square at the top. The base is to be a pantheon, surrounded by columns and ornamented by statues. The interior of the Monument is a square chamber: the walls, 15 feet in thickness, are composed of the solid blue stone of the Potomac in large masses, faced on the outside with white marble 18 inches thick, firmly bonded at every course into the blue stone. The corner-stone was laid on the 4th of July, 1848. The structure has reached the height of 170 feet at a cost of upward of $230,000. And it appears to be firm as the materials of which it is composed.