Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1869-10-29

The straightforward and dignifed report O
Mr.. Pomeroy, for the Committee on the sutiec
Of the Statue to Ethan Allen, presented to tn
Legislature, AMI printed in cur columns TIT
other day, has created an unexpected excite
ment ia Montpelier. and mas been made the oc
casion Of a coarse and unjust attack on the mo-
tives Of the committee. In the arti-
Gle ALLUDED to. the subject was treated, not as a
matter Of State interest, as it rs, but rather as
petty souabbe between two towns for a block
of marble; and the suggestions AMI arguments
Of the committee were met, not by fair consii-
GRAFTON and counter argument, bu, by low ap-
peals TO local prejudice.
In the absence Of any rel Under from the com
mittee who, as We infer from their silence, 10
not propose to notice an attack made in such a
spirit, it seems to Us that there are one or two
pertinent considerations in the case.
In the first place, then. it was the dutg Of the
committee to make the report. The subscribers
to the fund hal a right TO the information and
while giving the facts, the committee exceeded
none Of their poRers in making the respectful
suggestion of a proper use for the money in
their hands
Their proposal was made in The interest Of the
state and with no such narrow and petty purpose
as that imputed to them. or any desire to benefit
one rilce. to the detrim5ut Of another Their
main idea was that it was desirable for the
State TO avoid the appearance Of undue partiali-
ty 10 erecting fro expensive monuments 20 one
Of The WORTHLESS Of our early history, while
others deserving Of Ike concentration re-
main not thus hanorel and we do them the jus
tee TO believe tbe, they would has looked at
the subject in tn, same light, if The column and
the Statue had been III Bla,tleb1ro and 81. Al
bans, or in aug other two towns Of the State,
in,telI Of at Burlington aud Montpelier.
Again, it will do our Legislators 10 harm to
remember. that the Sia'e undertook to erect a
suitable monument over the grave Of Ethan
Alien, and did erect granite column, which
remains. ineampIete.-the statue designed to
surmouut it (and as pedestal for which the
column was des-nel) never having been placed
upon it, Furthermore, that the statue now in
the porch Of the State House was never de-
signed by its author for that place, or ordered
by the Legislature as an ornament for the Cap
itoI Il is not likeness O. Ethan Allen but
is purely an Imaginative statue, Of a size larger
than life, AMI intended by the artist 10 be seen
at an elevation Of some forty feet. The APP
preparation for il was secured, as We were in
formed by Mr.. Dorr Bradley Of bnttleb1ro, in
the interest Of his young townsman, the scu'p-
tor. and he expressly stated TO one O, the COM
mitiee, that the bIil making the appropriation
50 Was got up for the benefit Of Ny. Meli, and
that the statue, if he succeeded, might 90 to
Burlington or elsewhere" The State, when the
statue appeared at Montpelier, was much in the
condition Of the man who drew the elephant in
a lottery. The quand,ry. what TO DO with it, or
where to put it, was finally settled by placing it
where it stands, behind a pillar, whore no
point Of view for it can be obtained,
aud where as many think, its room would be
better than its company. The tomb of Allen is
now regular point Of pilgrimage for the /
Of travellers and tourists that pass
through Burlington, and the statue would |
doubtless be seen and admired by many more /
people there, than in its present position
The citizens Of Burlington, doubtless, feel an
interest in thus matter and have right to, for
hey contributed larger portion Of the fund in
he hands Of the committee than ali the rest Of
he State beside. But they have not in any way
the action Of the committee in the
natter, nor do they desire anything done ex-
ept what impartial judges would say the inter
sts Of the State demand. They make no re
quest Of the Legislature. Neither does the COM
nittee make any request. They simply tender
0 the State the fund in their hands for the pur-
'ose of removing the statue, if the State shall
ee fit to remove il, to the pedestal for which it
7as originally designed and Of surrounding it
18th suitable enclosure The offer, respect
lly made, is worthy, it strikes US, Of respect
Il consideration.