The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1905-10-28

THE SPEAKER
EX-PRESIDENT AT MORTON
MONUMENT UNWILLING
High Tribute Paid Today to the Mem.
ory Of the Founder of Arbor Day
President Cleveland Journeyed to
Nebraska for the Occasion.

Nebraska City, Neb., Oct. zS.-The
monument which the Arbor Day Me-
mortal association has erected in hon
Or OF ]. Sterling Morton, secretary of
agriculture during the last Cleveland
administration and founder of Arbor
Day, was unveiled today in the pres
ence OF thousands OF visitors from all
parts of the state. President Clcye-
land made the principal address, of the
day, eulogizing Mr.. Morton, who died
three years ago. The monument is a
statue of Mr.. Morton, mounted on a
massive pedestal and is considered q
fine work of the sculptors art.
Mrs. Cleveland accompanied her
husband Ex-President Cleveland spoke
as follows: t,. s .s Il 5+
| have not come to the surviving FAM
lily Oh J. Sterling Morton, and to those
who were his intimate friends and
leighbors, for the purpose Of bringing
from afar superf1uous recital of his yir-
tues and mental endowfHerts 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 immediate fell
low citizens, who have been stirred to
admiration and attachment OF his ufl-
selfish and effective 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 commemorative occasion. Even
though all were silent, the beautiful
monument here erected would itself
eloquently signify the love and friend
ship ard admiration which are today
revived by the recollection of an af-
fectionate, dutiful and useful life.
But | am not here without a mission.
/ would fain interpret this monuments
message to me, as il recalls my close
companionship and cooperation, in the
discharge of the highest public duty,
with the man we honor. I am here
to give evidence concerning the things
he revealed to me in the light of that
Hconpanionship 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 honesty, his stur-
dy adherence, to opinions deliberately
and cpnscientiously adopted, his gem
serous concession to others of every re-
suit OF their efforts, and his passionate
desire to serve the best interests of
his fellow countrymen.
4 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 congre-
CATION of Others who believed and
knew 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
social existence, but in the fercer,
:deadlier amphitheatre OF public life.
He believed that the same care and
good faith exacted by a trust UNDER
taken for an individual were due to
the people from those who assumed
official responsibilities; and he believed
that waste in public expenditure was
sin. These beliefs were not iii his
mind mere comfortable sentiments,
mildly stimulating to self-righteous-
ness, but were active Incentives to bat
tie. The floxious atmosphere Of gov
erfmeftal extravagance could not blind
his eyes; nor could the ridicule OF those
who had learned to scoff at official
economy, or the threats OF those who
Hperfdiously contrived 10 appropriate
public funds TO private gain, drive him
TO compromise with wrong. Bold and
defiant in the midst OF it all, lie took
brave counsel OF conscience, as did the
.dauntless father Of the reformation,
who cried out to his tormentors
cannot and viii not retract anything;
for to act against conscience is unsafe
and iinloly.0 Ss
Thus il was that our friends fine
moral perception and his love Of recti-
|tude shed a bright and unwayering
light on the path OF official obligation;
and thus did his clear discernmenf Of
duty lend impressiveness to his efforts
towards the highest usefulness in pub
lie office. # was, however, his keen
intelligence and his worldly wisdom
Continued on Page Six.