The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1885-06-13
THE BRONZE GODDESS.
Bill Nye Discourses at Length Upon
The Bartholdi Statue.

The BarthoIdi Statue.
Boston Globe.
When Patrick Henry put his old cast
iron spectacles back on the top OF ms
head and whoOped for liberty, he didnot
know that some day we would have
more of it than we know what to do
with. He little dreamed that the time
would come when we would have more
liberty than we could pay for. When
Mr.. Liberty sawed the air and shouted
for liberty or death, l do not believe that
he knew that the time would come when
liberty would stand knee-deep in the
mud of Bedoes Island and yearn for
solid place to stand upon
tt seems to me that we have too much
liberty in this country in some ways
We have more liberty than we have
money. We guarantee that every man
in America shall fill himself up full Of
liberty at our expense, and ohe less cf an
American he is the more liberty he can
have. If he desires to enjoy himself, all
he needs is a slight foreign accent and
willingness to mix with politics as soon
as he can get his baggage off the steam
er- The more ! study American mstltu-
tions the more ! regret that | was rot
born foreigner, 50 that | could have
something to say about the management
of our great land. If ! could b" It for
eigner, | believe ! would prefer to be a
Mormon or an Indian, not taxed.
| am often lei to ask, in the language
Of the poet, is the Caucasian played
out ?" Most everybody can have good
deal of fun in this country except the
American. He seems to be SO busy pay
ing his taxes all the time that he has
very little time to mingIe in the giddy
whirl with the alien That is the reason
that the alien who rides across the JnI-
ted States on the "Iimited Mail and
writes a book about us before breakfast
wonders why we are always in hurry.
That is the reason why We have to throw
our meals into ourselves with duh tIud
and hardly have time to maintain
warm personal friendship with our fam
lies.
We do not care much for wealth, but
we must have freedom, and freedom
costs money. We have advertised to
furnish bunch of freedom to every
man, woman or child who comes to our
shores, and we are going to deliver the
goods. whether we have any left for our
selves or not What would the great
world beyond the seas say to us If some
day the bIue-eyed Mormon, with his
heart full of love for our female semina-
ries and our old women's homes, should
land upon our coasts and find that we
were using all the liberty ourselves
What do we want of liberty, anyhow:
What could we do with it if we had it:
1t takes a man of leisure to enjoy hber-
tv. and we have no leisure whatever. 1t
is a good thing to keep in the house 'fo"
the use of guests only but we don't
need it for ourselves.
Therefore, | am in favor Of Statue of
Liberty Enlightening the World. because
it will show that we keep it on tap win
ter and summer. We want the whole
broad world to remember that when it
gets tired of oppression it can come here
to America and oppress us. We are
used to it, and rather like it. If we don't
like it we can get on steamer and 60
abroad, where we may visit the etfete
monarchics and have high old time.
The sight of the Goddess Of Liberty
standing there in New York harbor night
and day. bathing her feet in the ripping
sea, will be a good thing. 1t will be
first-rate. 1t may also be productive OF
good in a direction that many have not
thought of. rs she stands there day
after day bathing her feet in the broad
Atlantic, perhaps some moss-grown Nor
mon moving toward the far west, con
frmcd victim of the matrimonial habit
may fix the bright picture in his SO
CALLED mind, and remembering how, OF
his arrival in New York, he saw Libert,
bathing her feet with impunity, he ma,
be led in after years to try it on himself