BUST OF DR STUART

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26633, 2 December 1947, Page 8

BUST OF DR STUART

Sir.—The further news regarding the possibly serious damage done to the bust of Dr Stuart in the grounds® of Knox Church gives cause for serious thought. All right-minded citizens, whether or not they are members of Knox Church, will join in expressing their condemnation of such a barbarious act of vandalism, and it is to be hoped that the offenders will be brought to book. Is nothing sacred in this materialistic age? One perhaps hesitates to give a political twist to the affair, but was the use of red paint significant? The act was all the more shocking in that the statue, apart from its value as a sacred ornament, was a distinct con-; tribution to Dunedin’s public monuments, which are not all (unfortunately) of the . high artistic merit of the bust of Dr' Stuart. To be seen at its best I believe the monument must be viewed from the opposite corner of the intersection, where it stands in splendid symmetry between the pillars of the gate. 1 May I be permitted to make a respectful suggestion to the elders of the church? It is merely that the tree just. inside the gate should be removed. It is a pleasant enough tree, but the statue would be thrown into greater relief if the': tree were removed. This act would also make it possible for further busts of great:' spiritual leaders of Otago to be placed inv the ground, as a further adornment .of ~ our fair city.—l am, etc.. Vox PopulL