Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-07-30
ALDERMAN pnncan,s Resolution.

At last movement has been started
for the improvement Of the square oil
ground occupied by the abandoned south
/ Broad street cemetery. the resolution
| introduced into tie Council by Alderman
| Duncan relative TO this matter, although
a rather mid one, Will answer the pur-
pose for which it is intended. 1t will
turn public attention TO the unsightly
condition OF the cemetery, and will doubt
less lead the Council TO take some action
Tor its Improvement. Indeed, the Council
may 20 further than to provide for the
improvement of the place. 1t may deter
mine to so change the appearance OF 1t
that nothing will remain to indicate that
it has ever been burying ground.
There is no doubt that public sentiment
will sustain the Council in making the
old cemetery a more attractive place.
Indeed, it is probable that there would
not be much opposition to making it
public square, or even the site OF public
buildings.
That there would not be much, If any,
opposition may be Inferred from the fact
that the cemetery has been wholly neg
lected for years. The tOmbs nave fallen
into decay, the bones Of the dead have
been rudely removed from what was in
tended to be their last resting place, and
briars and underbrush have taken possess
sion of the entire enclosure. Surely If
there were any profound sentiment re-
specting the dead who rest there, the
place would not have been permitted to
gradually fall into its present unsightly
and dilapidated condition. There would
have been protests so vigorous that they
would have been needed, and if the au-
thOrIties could not have been induced to
take action in the matter, those interested
would have sought TO accomplish their
purpose by private subscriptions.
In the Laurel Grove and Bonaventure
cemeteries the graves are cared for, and
it would seem that, IL there is any marked
sentiment respecting the dead in the
South Broad street cemetery, ii would
show itself in keeping the graves there In
an attractive shape, or in removing the
remains TO cemeteries where graves are
cared for.
The Council may, perhaps, meet with
sunni opposition IL II UGClueS 10 OBEY Tue
wish of ne-tenths-perhaps ninety-nine
hundredths-of the people of the city re-
specting the old cemetery, but it will be
justified in inquiring whether the OppOsi-
tion is based on a profound feeling OF re-
spect for the ashes OF ancestors or on the
spirit of obstruction. There are those In
every community who cannot resist the
desire to oppose whatever others propose,
even though the thing proposed is
wholly for the public good. While
respect for the dead OF the
long ago is admirable it should not be per-
mitted to outweigh regard for the inter-
esis Of the living. This the Council, in
dealing with the cemetery question,
should keep in mind, and it should not
permit itself to make the mistake of think
ing that any opposition it may encounter
Is necessarily due to a sentiment for the
| dead rather than desire to obstruct.
| There is another thing 1t might keep in
mind. 1t is that no one has any title to
any of the lots occupied by the tombs or
! graves in the old cemetery. The place
was practically a public burying ground,
and was used as long as there was an I'M
| occupied spot in it,.