The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-15

l.. 1851. tie news -.Js flashed over ths
! country that Fort Sumter had been Fl el
upon. On April D. tC tclegi 3phcd q .
/ President offering 10000 men for service
in behalf ~ the Union 1t was the fl Il
tender OF volunteer troops which zane TO
Abraham Lincoln.
Under the leadership Of Governor MGR
ton Indiana was orr OF he first States
10 put her soldiers in the field. Al g is
1 time there was less than $4,000 in tie
state treasury. and after our first quota
of troops had been supplied with inferior
arms and equipments, We were practically
without arms supplies or munitions Cf
any kind yet on the 2oth of April fore
seeing the future needs of the Govern
meHt Governor Morton teegraphed the
Secretary of War Offering six additional
regiments. which he had already begun o
organize and equip Receiving no r, ply,
or April .3 he sent special messenger
to Washington to renew the offer From
that day until the close OF the war. the e
was not 4 time in which he was not urg-
ing an increase Of our forces. or that Re
was not organizing and equipping regi-
ments in Indiana. in Anticipation of ad-
ditioual demands. During the war In
diana sent over euS000 soldiers to the
front. a larger per capita representation in
the field. il is said than that OF any other
Northen State"
In conclusion. Mr. steele said. He was
at the time Of his death but flfty-fOur
years of age. Indiana lost her most
eminent statesmen. the country one Ct IFS
wisest counselors and most devoted patfi-
ots, and the Republican party OF our State
its greatest leader-uOne has yet ar sen to
fully fll his place. As citizens cf Indiara.
we are proud 10 know that in the years to
come, the statue Of Oliver p Morton will
stand In that great hail. among thos cf
the eminent men OF other States-an evil
dence Of our supreme appreciation e his
great and glorious service 20 the State and
nation. Ie was Courageous patriot a
loyal friend. an honest man"
Nr. Miers' Address.
Mr.. Steele was followed by Mr. Miers OF
Indiana, who said in part:
As a Representative of the state Of
Indiana. / take pleasure in adding my
voice TO those raised in reverential COM
memoration Of the man whom my State
has by honoring. hOnOred herself and the
nation Of which she is a part The ,oice-
less marble now placed in Statuary Hall
viii honor that sculptured room as did the
living being whose form is thus preserved,
honor the upper house of the National
Legislature.
"Oliver Perry Morton was one Of those
men whose conditions and environments
gave the strength which makes them
great. and renders time necessary to bring
out their truly admirable qualities with
out the view being marred by personal or
sectional hatred. Oliver Perry Morton
was great man when living but even a
greater man when viewed by the historian.
His was a life Of turmoils and conflict:
his mind rose superior TO the ravages of ]
disease and the irritation of constant and
eXcruciating pain. Severe lines were
drawn in his face by the pain he suf- I
fered. and men, looking only at the face, /
thought him austere. Those who really (
knew the man, and not only his outward !
sembance. loved him. His heart was big
as his brain and few If any men have
been hlest with grander intellects. His
life was gentle and the elements so mixed .
in him that nature might stand up and
say TO all the wurld-this was a man
Now that sectional hatred has died (
away and the bitter prejudices born of (
the conditions Of the sixties are no longer
felt We can look back upon the life and 4
record of Oliver Perry Morton and while
We regret that the conditions of his time
made him violent in some Of his methods,
yet We can see clearly as could not be
seen i'm those dark days. that when Oliver
Perry Morton's soul left the body which
had 50 long been an encumbrance to il
that one Of the best and greatest men had
passed from the visible present TO the in
visible future. His services to his State
and his nation viii live forever in history.
while the enmities which he engendered
have already been buried
General Grosvenor who met Governor
Morton first az the convention held at In
dianapolis in 1854. where Morton publicly
announced his departure from the Demo
craticparty said he held Morton TO be the I
most available forcible. and effective
stump speaker in the country. and in the
days OF the birth and triumph Of the Re
publican party doing more than any other
man to shape the policy Of the party.
Messrs. Cannon Of Illinois and Alexander I
Of New York. who had spent part Of their
lives in Indiana the latter Of whom was
for a time Governor Morton's secretary. /
also smoke Of the life and character Of
Governor Morton, as did Mr.. Oyerstreet
Al 1886 o'clock the resolution Of accept
ance was agreed 10 and the House ad-
D {