Typed document, black text on white paper.

WAR DEPARTMENT GETTYSBURG NATIONAL PARK COMMISSION GETTYSBURG, PA. February 7 1912 General L. L. Lomax Dear General: Mr. Van Amringe has placed in my hands the Inscription which is to be cut upon the Pedestal of the Virginia Memorial at Gettysburg, and states the same is to be approved by the State Commission. Now I take the liberty of calling to your attention to the fact that the approval of this Inscription by the War Department is doubtful. The law under which we are acting provides that Inscriptions should be without “censure, praise or blame”. That “they fought for the faith of their fathers” may be a fact, but it certainly opens the inscription to not a little adverse criticism. Moreover, to my mind, it weakens the Memorial tribute. I enclose two suggestions for you to think over, the simplicity of which would appeal to every soldier, North and South, and with such modification as you might choose to make it more dignified. There is no use, to my mind, of opening the doors of criticism. Let us go forward in the proper spirit and agree to a fact and not to an opinion. Yours truly John P. Nicholson Chairman 1 Enclosure