The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-10-29
FOR THE RIGHT, TO
FIGHT AND SUFFER
A Splendid Tribute by
Cleveland to Morton.
MONUMENT UNVEILED
Before Five Thousand People CIeve.
land EuIogizes in Touching Words
The Life and Character of His
Friend and Former Member
of His Cabinet.
(By the Associated Press. }

(By the Associated Press.)
Nebraska City, Neb., Oct, 2S.-In
the presence of 5000 persons and
with elaborate ceremony a statue of
j. Sterling Morton, Secretary of Agri-
culture. in the last Cleveland cabinet.
and founder of Arbor Day. was UNI
yelled at Morton Park this afternoon.
Among those present were Grover
Cleveland, Adlai E. Stevenson, Gov
ernor Mickey, Hilary A. Herbert
David II. Francis and others assoc
GATED with Mr.. Morton during his
term of office. Sterling Morton,
trdndson OF the secretary, drew aside
the curtain which exposed the statue
10 view. There were six addresses
principal of which was that of Mr..
Cleveland, which was touching eulo-
gy of his former cabinet officer and
personal friend.
nave not come to the surviving
family of j.. Sterling Morton, and to
those VINO were his intimate friends
and neighbors, for the purpose of
bringing from affair superfluous recital
OF his virtues and mental endowments
You who, within the sacred precincts
OF his home, knew the warmth of his
love, you, who daily found cheer and
delight in the sunlight of his steady,
constant friendship, and you, his inn
mediate fellow citizens, who have been
stirred to admiration and attachment
of his unselfish and effective labor
In Dehalf OIL those with whom his lot
was cast, need no words of mine to
arouse III your minds the sentiments
which beflt this commemorative oc-
casion. Even though all were silent
the beautiful monument here erected
would itself eloqucntly signify the
love and friendship and admiration
which are today revived by the recol-
lection of an aftectionate, dutifui and
useful life
But l am not here without a mis-
sion. j would fain interpret this mon
uments message to me. al ii re-
calls my close companionship ara
cooperation, in the discharge of the
highest public duty with the man we
honor. l am here to give evidence
concerning the things he revealed to
me in the light of that companions
ship and cooperation. This is but
to testify to his lofty civic righteous
ness. his simple and sure standards
of public morality. his stern insstence
on official honesty, his sturdy adher-
ence to opinions deliberately and con-
scientiously adopted, his generous
concessions to others of every result
of their efforts. and his passionate de-
1elloW-country,Een.
| am not required for the sake OF
exaggerated tribute to insist that in
the mere possession of these virtues
our friend was distinguished above all
others. But it must be said that he
stood out from amidst vast con-
Eregation OF others who believed and
LneW the right, because in defense
of the right as he believed and knew
it, he was willing to fight and suffer,
not only in a small arena of private
and socias existence, but in the
liercer, deadlier amphitheatre of pub
Tic life He believed that the same
care and good faith exacted by a
trust undertAken for an individual
were due to the people from those who
assumed official responsibilities; aud
he believed that waste in public ex-
penditure was sin. These beliefs
were not in his mind mere comfort
able sentiments mildly stimulating
to self-righteOuSnesS but were active
incentives to battle The noxious at
mosphere of governmental extrava-
gance could not blind his eyes; nor
could the ridicule of those who had
learned to scott at official economy,
or the threats of those who perfid-
iousy contrived to appropriate pub
lie funds to private gain, drive him to
compromise with wrong. Bold and
defiant in the midst of it all, he took
brave counsel of conscience, as did
the dauntless Father of the Reforma-
ton, who cried out to his torn entorS:
Il cannot and will not retract any
thing; for to act against conscience
is unsafe and unholy."
Thus it was that our friends fine
moral perception and his love of rec
titude shed a bright and unwavering
light on the path of official obliga-
ton; and thus did his clear discern
ment of duty fend impressiveness TO
his efforts towards the highest useful
ness in public office. 1t was. how
ever. his keen intelligence and his
worldly wisdom that taught him that
an effective equipment for the best
pubic service needed a large admlX-
lure of sterner stuff; and there was
never servant of the people who, in
thelf cause, met misrepresentation
ana unjust accusation With more for
titude, or saw the submergence of
Friendly relations with more resg
nation. or dealt harder blows to dis
honesty and wrong. whether lurking
with friends or foes.
AS a pioneer among the settlers
or the great west. he eSpouSed with
aHecuonate zeal every movement or
interest that promised its develop
ment and prosperity: but even this
he did with such strict standardization
to the commands of conscience and
with such courageous reliance upon
the strength that comes of clear CON
Viction. that in advocating his beliefs
on economic ard financial topics. he
did not hesitate to attack the epin-
ions and preJudices of those with
whom he had made his home. There