REPORT.

To the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee:

The undersigned were appointed commissioners to superintend the erection of a marble or granite base for the equestrian statue of Gen. Andrew Jackson, the sum of $2,000 being appropriated for that purpose by the thirtieth section of an Act of Assembly passed the 6th day of April, 1881.

The money was not drawn from the treasury, and the execution of this trust was intentionally delayed in the hope that the last General Assembly would enlarge the appropriation, the presumption being that $2,000 was a sum inadequate to remove and replace the statue, and, also, in addition, defray other costs and charges necessarily attendant upon the substitution of another pedestal. This expectation was not realized, and, though the wooden structure showed no signs of decay, and might for some years ha ve sustained the incumbent weight, upon a conference held by the undersigned commissioners, it was resolved that we should proceed with such means as were at our disposal in the discharge of the trust with which we had been honored. On the 6th day of October, 1883, a contract was entered into with Mr. P. Swan, of the city of Nashville, who, for the sum of $2,000, agreed to remove and replace the statue, build foundation, furnish all labor and materials, and erect a marble base according to a design presented by him and acceptable to the commissioners. The contract, and also the receipt of said Swan for the money, accompany this report in a separate paper marked " exhibit A," and are herewith presented to

your honorable body. An examination of the agreement will show that the payment of the money and the acceptance of the work by the commissioners do not immediately release the contractor from liability in case time should disclose any defective workmanship, there being a stipulation which operates as a continuing guaranty, that the pedestal shall remain firm and stable, and possess a durability equal to the base under a similar statue standing on the capitol grounds in the city of Washington. The height and width of pedestal, length and breadth of marble slab on top, and other dimensions correspond almost entirely with the dimensions of the base on which rests the statue of equal weight in Washington.

The contract was, in our opinion, faithfully carried out, except in one small instance, which does not in any degree affect the strength or durability of the work-the letters which compose the name Jackson should have been carved on one single piece of marble as was expressly specified in the contract. In consideration, however, of the excellent manner in which the work, with this exception, was performed, we did not consider that this inadvertence or oversight on the part of the contractor was cause sufficient to justify or require us to withhold any part of the price agreed to be paid, especially as the contract was barely remunerative and involved a heavy responsibility, the penalty for any damage being stipulated at the sum of $10,000. There was a necessity, of course, to separate the figures into their original segments, a most difficult and delicate labor, in the performance of which our home mechanics had hitherto had no experience, but, we are glad to report, the task was successfully accomplished, and the segments afterwards rejoined, neither figure sustaining any injury or damage whatsoever.

Allow us to say, in conclusion, that upon a view of the pedestal, after all the work had been completed, we rather felicitated ourselves that the appropriation had not been of any greater magnitude. The work is plain but substantial, and sufficiently massive; not subject to criticism, because there is no attempt to display, while, had larger means been at our disposal, the ornamentation might have been excessive, or, perhaps, conceived in bad taste. The statue as a work of art has incurred some measure of criticism; whether justly or unjustly matters not to the people of Tennessee, who will look upon this conception of the artist as an effort to symbolize the greatness of one who was no less distinguished in peace than in war.

"Recorded honors" shall gather around the tomb of Jackson, and his name and fame will live in history, when any structures or monuments in bronze or marble sacred to his memory, shall have crumbled into dust.

This article of agreement witnesseth :

WHEREAS, the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee appropriated the sum of $2,000 for the purpose of erecting a marble or granite base for the statue of General Jackson upon the capitol grounds, reference to which act of appropriation, being the thirtieth section of an Act passed the 6th day of April, 1881, is hereby made, the same to be considered as a part of this instrument.

Now, the undersigned, P. Swan, agrees at his own cost and charge to erect or build said base within the next six months, the dimensions thereof to be of size, etc., as indicated on a paper hereto annexed, marked Exhibit A, to be also taken as a part of this agreement. The said Swan agrees to take down the statue, build foundation for the base sufficiently strong to sustain the superstructure and the statue thereon, to replace the statue on the pedestal, and all this work to be done in a manner as substantial as the work, and to be of as great permanence, as the base on which the Jackson statue in Washington rests. He further covenants that he will take down and replace the statue without any damage to it, or, in other words, guarantees that no damage shall happen to it during the progress of the work, and that the base shall be sufficiently strong to sustain the statue for an indefinite time, or, for instance, in the way and

manner that the statue at Washington has been for so long, and is now, sustained by the base placed there, binding himself for the performance of these covenants in the sum of $10,000.

[A paper marked Exhibit B is made a part of this instrument.] When all the work is satisfactorily done, the undersigned, T. W. Dick Bullock, Chairman of the committee, agrees to pay said Swan $2,000, and for any failure on the part of Swan to perform the aforesaid covenants, suit may be brought by said Bullock as Chairman for the use of the State of Tennessee.

Witness our hands, October 20, 1883.

P. SWAN.

T. W. DICK BULLOCK,

Chairman of the committee appointed by the Legislature.

EXHIBIT A TO CONTRACT.

Dated 20th October, 1883, between P. Swan and T. W. Dick Bullock, Chairman.

Mr. John M. Lea:

NASHVILLE, TENN., October 15, 1883.

DEAR SIR-I will complete pedestal for Jackson statue of Knoxville mable as per sample in your office as per design shown, and of the following dimensions:

Lower base..............15 ft. 4 in. x 9 ft. 6 in. x 1 ft. 4 in.

Will build suitable foundation for pedestal; will also guarantee

the safe transfer of statue from present pedestal to marble one and complete the whole work in a good and workmanlike manner for the sum of $2,000.

P. SWAN.