The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-04-08
SENTIMENT OR CASH.
A Case That Calls for the Exercise of
Common Sense,

NOhAiiOA OLlIJSt
An Interesting Letter Respecting the
Old Cemstery-Why Not Settle
Troublesome Matter at Once P-Why
Do the Corporations Wait P-What
Are They Waiting ForP-Are They
Dealing With the Public FrirlyP
Public Sentiment Should Make
Itself Felt.
Savannah, Ga, April 5, 1s94-Dr.
Heathcote Ward, Savannah, My Dear
Doctor: l know how much you have inter
ested yourself in the old cemetery cues
ton in time past aud so appreciate your
letter as well as the very many others /
have received on the subject. I pass by
the cemetery every day and in this way
my attention and interest in it were.
awakened. The sight of the dilapidation
is painful to me, at the same time the
place has degree Of fascination about it
which cannot resist. l take that route
home in preference to any other.
If the place is to be preserved as a
cemetery it should be done at once, in
suitable style. If it is not, if it be a
mere question of a division by the liti-
gants, the sooner that is brought about
the better for all parties, including the
public.
Ny idea is that the litigation is not
prompted on either side by sentiment or
respect for the place as burying ground
If it were, there would be harmony of pur-
pose and the cemetery kept up.
Would two physicians, prompted by
humanity alone, get into tisticuf as to
which one should treat the patient, and
allow him to expire, in full view, while
they fought it out?
The wisdom of Solomon awarded the
baby to the woman who wished its life
spared at the cost of her right of posses
sion, and not to the one who was willing
for it to be divided at the cost Of its life.
He had no difficulty in discerning its real
mother.
But why wait longer? Is it from fear
of public sentiments Is it merely fight
against time? The litigants are both
corporations having perpetual succession.
They will be in existence when you and
7, doctor, are gone They will not get
exhausted in the fight. Neither side will
die and drop out. The race of old Savan-
nahians is fast dying out. The next gen
GRAFTON may not inherit their sentiments,
their loyalty to traditions, their rever-
ence for old landmarks. Then our cor
p0rations still in the flush of perpetual
youth-will have nothing to fear. The
great transaction viii be Consummated.
The division will be mace
Nor has the public any difficulty in de-
termining that neither side in this litiga-
ton IS fighting from any real sentiment,
from any desire to have the cemetery
cared for or for it 10 be preserved accord
ing 70 its original dedication If il were
so they could settle tuat problem in a
ten minutes conference
In fact they are not even fighting Five
year have elapsed since the supreme
court o Georgia, april $, 1889 reinstated
the case Since then il has remained in
a state of noXious desuetude. The sword
o. justice is uplifted, bat motiouless The
baby Is suspended, but it is five years
nearer to becoming a mummy than when
the two mothers first appeared Before
( solomon. IN some countries mummies
are said to be used 10 fire locomotives
They make excellent fuel BY and by our
| litiganJS viii agree that division is the
only thing Left TO be done: it is only a
/ question of proportions. 1t is inevitable
Meanwhile the public must continue to
endure this eycsoce, this blot on civiliza-
tl0n, this eulogy on religion, this tum bling
| down of old walls, this unknown garden
! OF woeds-not buried far away in the
woods, where the eye Of man rarely pene-
trates, as some ancient attachment to a
ruined plantatiou-b here, at your
front door, in the midst of a large and
populous city, and a public burying
ground az that.
"A fixed figure Of the time FOR scorn
To point his slow and moving finger at"
1t is time. indeed. for US to have truce.
to treat this question with little public
common sense. The subject IS a public
one. If the old cemetery is to
be preserved as a cemetery, lot
it be taken care Of as such and without
further delay. If, however, it is eventu-
ally to be divided up between the litigants
and converted into cash, as some suggest,
spare US the present spectacle of dilapida-
tion and neglect.
/ II it were done when tbs done, then 'twere
well It were done quickly.
We would like to see it, as you say, in
our lifetime
think the subject is one of sufficient
Importance TO enter into the next munich
pal campaign. When that momeutous
time arrives, when alone, unaided, IN our
voting booths we shall be puzzled how TO
mark of our Australian ballots, the
shades Of the great Oplethorpe and his
dusty coad utofs will stand at our ell
! bows ana direct our pens. | am, doctor,
/ with high regards, Sincerely yours,
.lyETTT fl'yTurAc