The Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 1907. THE SEDDON MEMORIAL.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLI, Issue 61, 13 March 1907, Page 4

The Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 1907. THE SEDDON MEMORIAL.

That the proposal to erect a national memorial to the late Mr Seddon at Wellington should have met with so poor a response is not susceptible of any satisfactory explanation. There is no doubt that in all such cases the iron should be struck while it is hot. If the committee in Wellington had made an active canvass of the people in the weeks immediately succeeding the date of Mr Seddon's death, many thousands of pounds would have been collected. ; But, the chance was allowed to slip by, the reason given now being that the promoters were waiting to see .what the Government would .do. But Ministers had already embarked upon another undertaking which, they must have probably even then guessed, would not command the unanimous assent of Parliament-, and which, indeed, had to be considerably modified in the end. We mean, of course, the grant to the family of the deceased statesman. There can be little doubt that when the nature of the -Cabinet's intention leaked out the public ardour became suddenly damp. A gift of the Ministerial residence, an annuity of a thousand pounds, and a lump sum of £20,000—such were the items of the proposal that was never avowed and

never denied, and we think one of the causes of the ebb in public enthusiasm is to be found in that proposal. All that the Wellington citizens poured into the memorial fund during something like eight months was £100, which has now been increased by a few pounds more. However, now that a fresh appeal is to be made, we may hope that the people, in responding, will consider, nofc the

peculiar circumstances with which the project was invested shortly after its inception, but only the greatness of the man whose memory it is proposed to perpetuate. The late Premier deserved well of his country; he gave the best years of his life to her service, he devoted all his great talents to the promotion of her welfare, and he left a splendid example for those who come after. Wellington has decided that a technical college is beyond its means, and intends to erect a statue. We hope it; will be a statue worthy of the man and of the.city.