The Evergreens Cemetery

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THE EVERGREENS CEMETERY.—

What puzzles us in connection with the proceedings in regard to this Cemetery, is that all the outcry against the management comes from the lot owners and not from the bond holders. Were we a lot owner, we should feel very little more interest in the affair than as an outsider; for the law guarantees beyond the possibility of alienation, the sanctity and inviolability of the lots once mapped and purchased. The bonds issued by the Trustees, if legally issued (of which there is the gravest doubt,) are no lien on the lots, nor can the lot-owners be held to any liability therefor. But the poor bond holders—that is, such of them as are not Trustees—we sincerely pity. Mr. Roswell Graves, we understand, disposed of his pile some time since for valuable considerations—but what chance will the holders ever have of chasing them? The bonds are a lien only on half the Company's income—an income that hitherto has been insufficient to cover expenses, and which does not seem likely ever to improve. While the lots are being sold, the expenses of improving the land and paying salaries seem to swallow up the receipts; and when the lots are all sold, where is the money for redeeming the bonds to come from? We should feel the liveliest interest in these queries, if, like some gentlemen we could name, we had bought bonds of the Trustees nearly at par. One bond holder informed us that shortly previous to the present developments he had an offer for his bonds at little below par; now he would be very glad indeed to get 20 cents per dollar for them. Nevertheless, strange to say, the bond holders thus deeply interested seem to remain quiescent, while the lot owners, who have only a nominal, if any concern, in the value of the bonds, display the greatest anxiety on the subject.

By the way, it appears that Mr. Graves has retired from the Cemetery altogether. As that gentleman was the principal agent in surveying, buying, and re-selling the lands, it would be well for the present Trustees to let the public know how far they shared in, and how far they approved of Mr. Graves's action; and also, for what reasons and under what circumstances he withdrew from the Trusteeship and the Association. We have an idea that the best way for Messrs. Johnson and Copland to clear their skirts, would be to reveal the extent and nature of their relations with their quondam colleague.