Reasonable Facsimile

MANNERS & MORALS

There is probably no more efficient fund-raising device in the U.S. than a clear-eyed, neatly uniformed Boy Scout who is patriotically seeking adult help in doing his daily good turn. Last week, as a result of a campaign by hundreds of Scouts, hollow, eight-foot copper reproductions of the Statue of Liberty-- guaranteed to turn green like the original, except along their soldered joints--were sprouting in the nation's parks.

The statues, which are calculated to "strengthen the arm of liberty" are the brain children of a wealthy and civic-minded Kansas City manufacturer named Jack P. Whitaker. He was first struck with the idea when a patriotic citizen of Spirit Lake, Iowa (pop. 2,161) put up a Statue of Liberty constructed of concrete and chicken wire. It wasn't much of a job, but 3,500 people attended the dedication.

Whitaker got Friedley, Voshardt Co., a Chicago manufacturer of ornamental metal ceilings, to turn out a copy made of 42 soldered copper sections. The firm agreed to sell the copies for $300 apiece, and, at Whitaker's suggestion, Boy Scouts the country over enthusiastically began collecting funds, buying statues and putting them up. Sixty-four statues were already gleaming in the sun by the time the National Sculpture Society began emitting bleats of distress last week.

"The statues are cheaply executed and inadequate," the society complained in a statement aimed at "arresting further use of these bad imitations of the great piece of sculpture which is our symbol of freedom." Pointing out that even the proportions of the statue were wrong, it added: "The [society] feels that the Boy Scouts of America are being falsely led to believe that they are performing a great service to the nation . , ."

Whitaker was not intimidated. "Those sculptors have a racket and they're just sore because they weren't in on the original modeling," he said. "Why, those fellows want $35,000 for an authentic replica; we got our original model for $3,500. See the difference? . . . We're going right ahead with this thing."

The Boy Scouts seemed to agree. So did the ornamental metal ceiling firm--it had orders for 100 more statues.

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