The Loyalist Monument – Mr. Dole Corrects a Notice of His Remarks.

Year
1882
Month
8
Day
17
Article Title
The Loyalist Monument – Mr. Dole Corrects a Notice of His Remarks.
Author
W. P. Dole
Page Number
3
Article Type
Language
Article Contents
The Loyalist Monument – Mr. Dole Corrects a Notice of His Remarks. SIR: The report which appeared in your paper of this morning as a report of the proceedings of a public meeting, held in the Mechanics’ Institute last evening, is, in several respects, inaccurate, more especially as it relates to remarks made by myself. The part I took in the affair is represented by this paragraph: -- Mr. W. P. Dole ridiculed the signers of the memorial which had been placed before the Council, and objected to anything being said in honor of the men who fought in the war of 1812 to defend Canada from invasion. He spoke at great length in support of this view of the matter. It would hardly be possible, I think, to crowd into any half a dozen lines a greater amount of palpable misrepresentation and falsity than this quotation contains. I did not say a single word in ridicule of the respectable gentlemen who signed the memorial recently presented to the Common Council. Nor did I object to “anything being said in honor of men who fought in the war of 1812 to defend Canada from invasion.” And I feel sure that those who know me will never believe that I could do either one of those so senseless or unbecoming things. What I did urge upon the attention of the meeting, on these points, was simply that the signers of the memorial alluded to had obviously signed it conditionally, and had asked for an obelisk, on the supposition or assumption that other schemes for honoring the memory of the Loyalists had failed; and that it was improper and inexpedient to introduce into any scheme for the celebration of the Centennial anniversary of the foundation of the city and province, a proposal to celebrate the military achievements or heroic deeds, however honorable, of a later generation of men who had no direct part in the whole work of our Loyalist forefathers. In another part of your report Mr. D. S. Kerr is represented as having made some observations in regard to myself, which, if they were made at all, were certainly not heard by me, or by any of the gentlemen who sat near me. But, even supposing that they were spoken out somewhere and at some time, such remarks, I assure you, affect me very little, and they are still less concern to the public. I am, your obedient servant, W. P. DOLE. St. John, 16th August, 1882. [The reporter did not so understand Mr. Dole on some of the points raised.]