The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1905-11-09
TRIBUTE TO MO TON.
Ex-President Cleveland Eulogizes II
Secretary Of A rricul ura

Ex-President Cleveland EulogiZes His
Secretary of Agricul. ure.
In the presence of 5000 persons, and
with elaborate ceremony, statue of j..
Sterling Morton. Secretary of Agricul-
ture in the last Cleveland cabinet, and
founder of Arbor day, was unveiled at
Nebraska City, Neb. Principal of those
present at the ceremony were former
President Grover Cleveland. former Vice
President Adlai E. Stevenson. Gov.
Mickey, Hilary A. Herbert, David K.
Francis and others associated with Mr..
Morton during his term of Office. There
were six addresses, principal of which
was that of Mr.. Cleveland, which was a
touching eulogy of his former cabinet
officer and personal friend. Mr.. Cleve-
land said in part:
This Is but to testify to his lofty civic
righteousness. his simple and sure standards
of public morality, his stern insistence on
official honesty, his sturdy adherence to
opinions deliberately and conscientiously
adopted, his generous concession to oilers
of every result of their efforts, and his pas.
sionate desire to serve the best interests OF
his fellow countrymep.
He believed that the same care and good
faith exacted by trust undertaken for an
individual were due to the people from
.,
and he believed that waste in public ex-
~penditure was sin.
The noxious atmosphere Of governmental
extravaganza could not blind his eyes, nor
to scott at official economy, or the threats
Of those who perfdiously contrived to APP
propriate public funds to private gain,
drive him to compromise with wrong.
Thus Ii was that our friends fine moral
perception and his love of rectitude shed a
| bright and unwavering light on the path of
official obligation; and thus did his clear
discernment Of duty lend impressiveness TO
/ his efforts towards the highest usefulness
in public Office.
| Our friend loved nature with constancy
and delight; and through nature he was led
TO reverent love of the maker of the uni
verse. He served the purposes of God on
earth and taught his fellow-countrymen to
/ realize their relationship to nature and the
father Of all created things, when he es-
tablished the planting of trees as custom
or general observance among our people.
No beautiful crest or elaborate coat of
arms would so well illustrate his grand
simplicity or typify the spirit in which this
| project had its rise and completion as its
sym1olization by growing tree surmount-
| ing the homely legend. Plant trees
None of US should go from this place
untouched by the lesson which this statue
teaches. Here we should learn that char
acter, interrupted by the conta gion of IL.
noble things and unweakened by the zorro
sion Of sOrdidness and money madness. Is
the corner stone of every truly useful life
and OF every genuinely noble achievement
we have fallen upon days when oui
people are more than ever turning away
from their old faith In the saving grace
OF character and focking to the worshin ~
money making idols Daily and hourly IN
the light OF investigation and exposure
characterless lives are seen in appalling
numbers, without chart or compass. crowd
ed upon the rocks and shoals of faithless
ness and breach of trust. How I'M have
| these wrecked lives exchanged the safe
| course and the harbor of honor and useful
ness which character and rectitude poIn,
out for wild and headlong rush over nm
known seas In consuming search for
pef.
IL our people ever return again to thei,
trust In character as a steadying force In
our restless enterprise and immense mate
rial growth It will be when they take tc
heart the full significance of such a com
memoration as this. We memorialize 3
man who not only earned the lasting homo,
OF his countrymen, but whose life. I'm All
things worthy of high endeavor, was abund
antly successful