The sun., 1893-03-07

mere partisan zeal. for such fitness must be
as much more in quantity among the VIC
torious Democrats as these are more nu-
merous than the vanquished Republicans.
The Literary Style OF Secretary Morton.
We have perused with considerable inter-
est paper on the early history Of Nebraska.
written by Mr.. CLEvELAND's Secretary OF
Agriculture. This paper appears in Volume
8 OF the Transactions and Reports OF the
Nebraska State Historical Society" OF which
Secretary MORTON Is, or was recently. the
President. Tho essay was read to the So
ciety by Mr.. MORTON on Jan. Is. 1891, a little
more than two years ago.
Secretary MoRToN's prose style Is much
more artificial. elegant. and poetic than
that OF his predecessor. Uncle JERRY RUsN.
who uses plain Saxon words for the most
part. and uses them with force IL not al
ways with precision.
The theme OF Mr.. MoRToNs historical
essay is an alleged combination OF corrupt
legislation and accident by which Omaha be-
came the capital OF Nebraska in 1855. instead
Of the village OF Bellevue. in Sarpy county,
ten miles further down the Missouri River
Bellevue Is an Insignificant village which
the gazetteers dispose OF in less than half a
dozen lines. 1t possesses four churches a
high school. and a mandatory of bee
hives. And yet. according to Secretary
MORTON, IL Is the natural gateway to the
great Platte Valley. and but for accident
and scandalous bribery the Pacific Railroad
would have entered Nebraska at that point.
and Bellevue would have become in the
course OF years all that Omaha is
now. The accident was the sudden
death OF FRANCIS BURT. Governor Of the
Territory. who had established his capital
at Bellevue. and intended to convene the
first Territorial Legislature there. The
bribery alleged by Secretary MORTON oc-
CURED when this same Legislature. having
been convened at Omaha by BURTs Terri
torial Secretary. acting as his successor.
voted to make Omaha the political capital.
and thus guaranteed Its supremacy rs tho
commercial metropolis OF the future State.
Listen now to Secretary MoRToN's rehec-
tions on Bellevue's loss and Omaha gain;
the passage gives very good idea of his
best prose style:
How llke the wind the cloud the Of the
moods OF child the building up OF cities and
States and the social and political positions of persons
The death Of man unknown TO fame-merely tho Gov.
OF frontier Territory three hundred miles be.
yond the terminus Of the furtheSt western.reachng
railroadon calm. sunshtny day In October. 1854 at
The old log mission house in Bellevue, changed tho
Of the commerce Of continent from its natural
10 an artificial channel Some Of to contsated and
wel.todo farmers of sarpy county. in tho country
in the vicinity OF Bellevue. would have been mil
honaires today and some Of omaha's milliUnaires
would have been now comfortable and wholesome
farmers upon the very lands which are covered with
pAvements and the beautiful creations OF modern
architecture had Governor BURT only lived few years
longer. Then the blocks Of buildings the paved
Streets the pun Of the engine the music OF the forge
and the glare Of tho furnace and the constant hmm OF
contentsd industry would have embeshed and ami.
mated Bellevue And from Omaha farms tho golden
would have been garnersd. while the hymns OF
| tranquil enjoyment Ascsnded from its rural homes
But history will make record illustrating the nero
ceasng OF BREATH the mere stopping Of the pusa
OF single heart, which made plougnmen of possible
pIutocrAts ~ Bellevue, and plutocrats Of possible
piOughmen at Omaha"
But the remarks OF Secretary MORTON
| concerning this historical episode are not
| confined to its purely sentimental aspects
He sternly demands that the truths Of his
tory shall be written. no matter who Is
hurt and that the scoundrels who corruptly
| deprived Bellevue OF the magnificent
| future which was its natural right. and
who were bribed to lay the foundations for
the fortunes Of the Omaha millionaires.
shall be dragged into the light and pilloried
| before the world:
"iiistory must ignore utterly and absolutely all ideas
ofwhat ought TO have besn and record what was with
cruel aud unrelsnting ndslity II city was located
ESTABLISHED built up bas lyi'atos bribed
the capital OF the Common weHith history should
| state. notwithstanding morasts and mothers have
been teaching for generations that nothing thus
rent
| estates now contested among numerous heirs
Of them Of The highest sociai aHd poeui romasns In
s Uson-origfaasd IN hs price Of corrupt he
fa Territorial Lyasrs Of Es1rassa ju and good history
shos'd sho~ aAd W4Ainas "a. vieiau.JIe'.
History to-day seems at times like hucks,er. His
tory to-day tenders in her imperishable annals too
often the highest places to the lowest menlaI and
moral men. o. d. History seems TO be dealing too
much with reputation. too little with character. too
much with the ideal and too little with real As
the impartial tinges with Its earliest beams the
mountain tops the Atlantic coast and sweeping
the zenith pours At last the full snuigence its
day radiance into all tne remotest valleys gorges
OF the earth, lighting up alike the beautiful aud the
pulsve SO should history. with equal impartiality
light up the good and the bad OF every generation gid
| the blazing truth"
| This is extraordinary rhetoric. Uncle
JERRY RUsK could never have written it.
accomplished as he Ia with the hoe and hay
rake. But what is the name OF the particu-
lar individual whose infamy Mr.. CLEvE-
LANDS Secretary Of Agriculture desires to
| expose In the full glare Of the blazing truth 2
| More than one great fortune has originated