Memorial delayed

The exceedingly sparse attendance at the meeting held in Burns Hall last night to discuss the question of the erection of a suitable memorial to the fallen soldiers is somewhat difficult to account for. Whatever be the explanation this apparent apathy on the part of the great body of citizens in regard to what must be adjudged a sacred duty and solemn responsibility should serve the purpose of determining the committee who have the matter and hand to proceed with the project without waiting for any further public mandate. The proposal for a soldiers’ memorial must now be regarded as having the tacit — if silent — consent of the great body of the people. It is now the plain duty of the committee to exert themselves to the utmost to overcome the technical difficulties which stand in the way of the selection of the most suitable site. The people of Dunedin may be accused of slackness in their attendance at public meetings, but they have the reputation of promptness and generosity when called upon to subscribe to a worthy object, and no cause is so likely to bring out their highest qualities in this regard as the proposed soldiers’ memorial. We counsel the committee, therefore, to waste no more time in calling meetings to ascertain the desires of the public, but to get to work without delay and prepare a definite plan, complete as far as possible in all its details.