THE PARK OF VERSAILLES DESTROYED

The New York Herald makes, in its issue of today, a very interesting contribution to the thesis that we support on the works that Mr. Chaussemiche is having carried out in the park of Versailles: it is an official statement of the intentions of Mr. J. D. Rockefeller on the use that should be made of his generosity. This statement is found in a letter written last September by Colonel Arthur Woods, representing Mr. Rockefeller, to Mr. Welles Bosworth, American architect, secretary of the Franco-American committee charged with ensuring the execution of the donation.

Mr. Rockefeller desires that his donation be used in cooperation with the works that the French government is doing or wants to do itself. He considers that it is not necessary to repair and restore a single building at a time before moving on to another. His method would consist in taking care of a whole category of necessary repairs and carrying them out simultaneously in all the buildings and constructions. These categories of work would be placed in the following order: repair of ironwork, then of stonework exposed to the elements, either in buildings or in gardens; finally, restoration of the interior, statues, trellises and fountains throughout the park.

The commission charged with administering the donation - and which consists of Messrs. Jusserand, French Ambassador to Washington, Maurice Paléologue, French Ambassador, President of the Society of Friends of Versailles, G. Hanotaux, of the French Academy, President of the France-America Committee, Colonel H. H. Harjes, of the House of Morgan, Harjes and Co., and Welles Bosworth, pointed out, in its meeting yesterday, that "none of Mr. Rockefeller's instructions could be interpreted as authorizing or tending to authorize the destruction of any of the famous trees or of any landscape of Versailles".

We are pleased to record this statement which gives our protest the most authoritative and valuable support.