A MONUMENTAL DISGRACE

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 8, Issue 477, 31 October 1919, Page 2

A MONUMENTAL DISGRACE

FROM time to time complaints are made in respect to the condition of the Seddon Memorial, at the upper end of King Street. As a rule, one needs to take complaints with a grain of salt, bin an examination of the *tate of the Seddon Memorial and its surroundings is enough to convince one that there is just cause for grumbling. At the unveiling ceremony some years ago, in the presence of ">OO people, the Ri. Hon. Sir Joseph Ward and the Rt. Hon. W. F. Massey being on the dais, the memorial was duly handed over to the cave of the local authority. But the " care " of this concrete tribute to the memory of a great leader of our people seems to have been nominal only. On the northern side stands a dirty old horse trough with its inevitable accompaniment of a pool of dirty water ; grass, weeds, and broken bottles form the southern margin ; a heap of boulders covered with accumulated dust and dirt " adorns " the eastern face, while a sink of about three feel deep, containing some old kerosene tins forms the western " attraction." This latter is covered with a piece of sheet metal, which has been bent downwards by cattle traffic, and constitutes a danger to horses. The pedestal is in a dilapidated condition; the photo of the late Rt. Hon. Richard John Seddon on the plinth is covered in mud, and some vandal in grate has even scratched out part of the inscription ! The railings, once resplendent in black and gold, are now rusty and repulsive looking, and one of the lamps at the top of the edifice is broken. Truly, the whole thing is a disgrace, not merely to the local governing body, but to the residents of Pukekohe. Not only have they been faithless to the memory of the man whom they once acknowledged as one to whom honour and homage were due, but they have also treated with contempt the many people in the surrounding districts, from as far out as Glenbrook, who subscribed towards the cost of the inomimeu\ [f the residents have any sense of decency left, the spectacle is enough to make them hanji their heads in shame

Passing from comment on the odious state of the monument, we wish to support the contention I hat, in any event, its position is such that it is at 'Mice a hindrance and a menace to traffic. At times, vehicles meet at what is known as Dell's corner, coming from north, south, east, and west, and in these days of motor traffic the space there is altogether too narrow for safety, which position will become more acute as the town grows. It is. therefore, time that the monument was removed to a less inconvenient position, and the sooner this is done the better for the public. We have reason to believe that the agitation for the removal of the monument, and the improvement of upper King Street will become more and more insistent until that portion of the town's main thoroughfare is brought into harmony with the greater part of King Street, and reflects credit instead of discredit on the Borough, an object with which, it is hardly necessary to mention, we are in full accord.