The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-06
AN APrEAL ro rHE crTY.

The Advertiser makes an earnest appeM to the municipal authorities of Montgom- cry in behalf of our cemetery. It is not what it ought to be. It Is not cared for as 1t should be. It is not a credit to the city or to an enlightened people like ours. It is not what a Christian people should be satisfied with.
 To thousands of people in Montgomery the cemetery Is the most sacred spot on earth. In it have bean laid to rest the dear ones whose faces. will be seen no more on earth and whose voices are stilled forever The cold earth covers them and keeps them in its bosom till the great day comes when the graves shah give up their dead.
 That was a fine old conceit which spoke of the cemetery as Gods Acre" for 1t should be as sacred as the church. Ours Is not so for it is not cared for and pro- tected. The flowers which loving hands lay on the last resting place of loved ones are stolen or destroyed. The enclosures themselves are trampled by cows which Sraze on the green grass and trample the flowers planted by tender hands and wa tered by the tears of the stricken-hearted mourners. Nothing is secure from desc cration
 Must this continue? Appeals have been made before this but they have been in vain. The condition of our cemetery is not only discreditable to Montgomery but t discredits us in the eyes of visitors. Strangers who visit the homes of our dead notice its neglected condition. They go away with an unfavorable impression of Tour people. They see ill-kept walks, trampled enclosures and untidy grounds. Should we not. for our good reputation. as well as for the love and veneration we have for our own, make our cemetery beautiful and creditable place? | Montgomery spends much money on her streets and sidewalks and it is well spent. but e little of it should be turned aside for the homes of the dead as well as the living Some means can be adopted to prevent cattle from trespassing on the grounds Fences and walls and gates can be erected which will afford protection as easily as citizens can protect their flower 
 yards. The police force of our city is not as large as 1t should be but such addl- tions can and should be made as will be sufficient to prevent the desecration of our burial places.
 We may be told that all citizens should look out for their own lots, but that is no argument Many are buried in Oakwood who have no relatives here. Many others there are whose relatives are not able to either beautify or protect their lots. It is not private duty to care for the cem- etery but public one. It is duty which the city owes to the living and to the dead. It is duty which the city cannot neglect with credit to itself or to our people. It is a duty for the neglect of which there is no valid excuse.
 The Advertiser appeals to the city au- thorities ip the name of humanity, in the name of our civic pride. and in the name of religion itself. It appeals in the name of the living and by the memory of the sacred dead that there be an end put to the conditions now existing in the Mont gomery cemetery. The city is able to do this, it has the power to do it and it ought to do 1t. Will the appeal go unheeded?