The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1905-10-28

Nebraska City, Neb., Oct. rs
The statue of j. Sterling Morton.
secretary of agriculture in C1eve-
lands cabinet, was unveiled today.
Grover Cleveland made the prin-
cipal address.
Mr.. Cleveland said in part:
q have not come to the surviv-
ing family of j. Sterling Morton,
and to those who were his intimate
friends and neighbors, for the pur-
pose of bringing from afar super
iuous recital of his virtues and mem
tai 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, con-
slant friendship, and you, his i'm
mediate fellow-citizens, who have
been stirred to admiration and at
tachment of his unselfsh and eff
fective labor in behalf of those with
whom his lot was cast, need no words
of mine to arouse in your minds the
sentiments which befit this commem-
orntive occasion. Even though all
were silent. the beautiful monument
here erected would itself eloquent
ly signify the love and friendship
and admiration which are today
vived by the recollection of an az
fectionate, dutiful and useful life
eBut I am not here without a
mission. would fain interpret this
monuments message to mt, as 1t
recalls my close companionship and
cooperation, in the discharge of the
highest public duty, with the man
we honor. I am here to give evil
dence concerning the things he re-
vealed to me in the light Of that
companiouship and cooperation.
This is but to testify to his lofty
civic righteousness, his simple and
sure standards of public morality,
his stern insistence on official hon
esty, his sturdy adherence to opin-
ions deliberately and con%scientiously
adopted, his generous concession to
Others of every result of their efforts
and his passionate desire to serve
the best interests in his fellow-coun-
trymen.
81 nm not required, for the sake
of exaggerated tribute, to insist that
in the mere possession of these vir-
tues II friend was distinguished
above all others But it must be
said that ne stood out from amidst
a vast congregation of Others who
believed and knew the right. ecausc
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 social existence. but
in thes6ercer, deadlierz amFdtheatr
of public life. He believed thNt the
| same care and good faith eXacted by
n trust undertaken for an lnd1vld-
nal were due to the people from
those who assumed official response
| biIities: and he believed that waste
, in public expenditure was sin. These
| beliefs were not in his mind mere
! comfortable sentiments, mildly
| stimulating to sclf-righteousness.
but we're active incentives to battle.
The noxious atmosphere of govern
| mental extravaganza could not blind
his eyes: nor could the ridicule OF
those who had learned to scott at Of
fetal economy. or the threats OF
those who pcrfdiously contrived to
appropriate public 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 Reformation, who
cried ont to his tormentors: i
cannot and will not retract any
thing: for to act against conscience
is unsafe and unholv.'
"Thus it was that our friends
fine moral perception and his love
of rectitude shed a bright and IN
w~nvering light on the path Of Of
! fetal obligation and thus did his
clear d%iscernment of duty lend i'm
pr-essivcness to his efforts towards
the highest usefulness in public Of
fee. Tt was, however, his keen IN
t~cllironce and his worldly wisdom
that taught him that an effective
equipment for the best public ser,
vice needed a large admixture OF
stcrner stuff and there was never q
servant of the people. who, II, their
cause, met misrepresentation and IN
lust accusation with more forttude'
or saw the submergeuce OF friendly
relations with more resignation. OF
EL ard