"Something more original and more ornate might have been conceived at the outset or might now be designed, but there are abundant fields for the exhibition of advanced art in other parts of the country, if not here. This Monument and its design will date back to the time of its inception, and will make no pretensions to illustrate the arts of 1880. It was not undertaken to illustrate the fine arts of any period, but to commemorate the foremost man of all ages. Indeed, it will date back in its form and in its proportions to a remote antiquity. It is a most interesting fact communicated to us in the letters, hereto appended, of our accomplished American minister at Rome, the Hon. George P. Marsh, as the result of his own researches, that the proportions of this Monument, as now designed, are precisely those of all the best-known Egyptian obelisks. The height of those monuments is ascertained by him to have been uniformly and almost precisely ten times the dimensions of the base, and _this proportion_ has now been decided on for our own Monument to Washington, the measurements of the base being fifty-five feet, and projected elevation five hundred and fifty feet. * * * It seems to the undersigned sufficient respectfully to suggest that the question before Congress at this moment is not whether the original plans might not have been improved to advantage, but whether this long-delayed work shall be finished within any reasonable period or be left still longer as a subject for competition among designers and constructors. * * * * * "By the adoption of the recommendations of the Commissioners and Engineer the work may be completed within the next four years. * * * While the structure would make no appeal to a close and critical inspection as a mere work of art, it would give a crowning finish to the grand public buildings of the Capital, would add a unique feature to the surrounding landscape, and would attract the admiring gaze of the most distant observers in the wide range over which it would be visible. It would be eminently a monument for the appreciation of the many, if not of the few, and would thus verify the designation originally given it, of 'The People's Monument to their most illustrious Benefactor.'" In a letter to the chairman of the committee of the Society by Colonel Casey, dated April 19, 1887, he stated: "The base of the Monument is 55 feet square, the top will be 34 feet 6 inches square, and it will be crowned with a pyramidion, or roof, 50 feet in height. The proportions of the parts of this obelisk are in exact accordance with the classic proportions of parts of this style of architecture, as determined after careful research by the Hon. George P. Marsh, American Minister at Rome."