THE BURNS STATUE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1571, 30 May 1887, Page 3

THE BURNS STATUE

(Civil io the " Otago Witness ) Barm aits enthroned at last m the Rdina of the South, and we have only no * to reflect on our singular merit m paying thjfl homage to his genius— and our elngalar temerity In neglecting to pay the balance of the little bill. That ugly unpaid balance— £2so or thereabouts— how the soul of Barns woald scorn a people (that set np a statue to him whilst unable or trawilllngfto meet the just claim of the orafttmr n that made it ! Sooner or later we shall meet that claim, no doubt, if only io prevent a bailifi taking Burns m ezeontion ; In the meantime the Committee who " unveiled" him to-day would do only ft wise and proper thing if they veiled him np again to-morrow m a stout tarpaulin, resolved to keep him m that eclipsed condition until tho Otego publlo should pay the uttermost fai thing, and they could exhibit Sir John Stefile'o receipt In foil We are growing dreadfully familiar m New £ca T and with debts and loans. Oar oharobes are In pawn, oar private dwellings, oar harbors, our railways ; the very coil we tread is hypothecated to the foreign oreditor. But a ataf ue with a debt on it— bb if it were a church — ii s new thing under the son. There hasbeennothingllfre it till now, even In this great loan land, where everything the inhabitants possess, orgeem to poßsesß, "la praotioally "up the spout." What concern have we with statues if we can't pay for them ? A gigantic collection box •toocMn front of the pedestal during Tuoaday's ceremonial, from which, when the veil was lifted, Barns was perceived to be steadily averting his gem. Poor Barns I Want o' siiler was his bane during life, and pursues him even m his fmmottality. Better drop the voil again, and cover him up unt'l wo oaa look m his hones^aoly face wHk, some seme ci uel£fOlJWvt