The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-10-29

tell but little of the Atory of the lir' and career of the founder of that da!
 If there were not imperishably inscrioee .pon 1t the words. Pioneer. Statesman And even with all that ha5 been her' builded and inscribed, those who kneV him best and loved him most canno see in the dull, cold efigy any present ment of the father and brother ane the cheeerf llness and mirth which II his hours of relaxation he brought t' his home and fireside. nor the open heartedness and contagious good nunno' which he gave to intimate companioh ship. The monument that recalls thes' features of his heart and soul IS pun on the hallowed ground Of memory And yet none of us should so Iron this place untouched by the lessor which this statue teaches. Here w should learn that character uncor l rupted by the contagion Of ignoni' things and unweakened by the corro' sion of sordidness and money madness Is the cornerstone of every truly use full life, and of every genuinely noDie achievement
 We shall do violence to the mora sense which God has vouchsafed 10 nu- manity if amid the surroundings we close our minds to the truth. that char aCIeT represents tAC took man according to the unalteranie standard of fine gold: and that 1t dif- fers immeasurably from reputation which measures a mans worth by the shifting and untrue standards of mean ambition or successful cupidity. We have fallen upon days when our people are more than ever turning away from their old faith in the say ing grace of character. and hooking to the worship of moneymaking idols Daily and hourly in the light of inves- tigatjon and exposure. characterless lives are seen in appalling numbers without chart or compass crowded up on the rocks and shoals of faithless- ness and breach of trust. How III
 have these wrecked lives exchanged the safe course and the harbor of hon. or and usefulness which character and rectitude point out, for a wild and headlong rush over unknown seas IT a consuming search for pelf.
 If our people ever return again te their trust in character as steadyins force In our restless enterprise anc | immense material growth, 1t will bt
 when they take to heart the full sig | nificance of such commemoration al | this. We memorialiZe a man who no only earned the lasting honor of hii countrymen, but whose life, In al | things worthy of high endevor, wal | abundantly successful.
 Labored to Improve Country. l As a pioneer. who labored to i'm prove the new country of his home. h' l lived to gee 1t blossom as the rose; al
 a scholar he cultivated his own menta powers and acquired knowledge in or
 der that he might be able to instruc
 and benefit others; as a statesmen h. | left the impress of high aspiration up on our citizenship, and ot usefulness l and fidelity upon our public life; ant | as the father of tree-planting he gain ed the grateful remembrance of thu
 old and young of the present genera | tion and that of generations yet un
 born. All these things he wrought ou through the power of a strong. whole some. patriotic and beautiful charac | ter.
 Let those of us who were his fellow citizens and knew his life, heed his ex
 ample, to the end that our work ma! be more unselfish and more loyal t' the purposes of God and the better | ment, of our fellowmen. Let His sons in whom was centered all his worldl! | pride, remember that the only success that Is satisfying and honorable f. | that achieved in their fathers spiri
 and high resolve.
 It is fitting that this monumen | should recall memories that must no die. It Is well that 1t should arous
 the living to noble endeavor. But t.
 the dead 1t avails not. He has reare, his own monument "more durable thai i brass or stone"
 MT Herbert said.
 "The memory of him in whose homo | you now unveil this statue today ha
 nothing to fear from Washington, fo those friends who were closest to him
 they not only loved him best but hon
 ored him most.
 sterling Morton. when he was SC
 lected for a place in MT. Cleveland
 Cabinet, had not filled any office il which he could achieve a national rep utation. He had had no experience q
 the National Capital, hut 1t was under
 stood that he was chosen because O hts known abilities and iHfiexible irteg rity. And absolutely infiexible he prov ed to be. Never iE any Instance did h pander to public opinion, however wide spread 1t might be, nor tolerate meas ure that appeared to him contrary t sound public policy, He presided owe a recently established department tha
 was rapidly growing into popularity
 That popularity, as appeared from thei votes and speeches, was. in the opinio of Congressmen, largely based upon tn wide distribution of garden seed amon farmers.
 Farmers were peculiarly the constit uents of the Secretary of Agriculture This Secretary was himself a farmer and if there was any class to which hi warm heart went out more naturall than to another. 1t was the tillers O the soil. Nevertheless he recommends
 Congress that the distribution of gar
 den seeds be largely discontinued Som
 of the Ccngressmen who could not an
 swer his arguments otherwise calle him a crank. If to be absolutely hon
 est in public life constitutes a crank then Sterling Morton was crank.
 q never knew a better or pure
 man. Sitting near him for four year around the council table of the Presi dent, where matters of great interes
 were continually being discussed. neve did I hear from him an opinion upo any question, foreign or domestic, tha
 was not direct and to the point, an worthy of great consideration; an neither there nor elsewhere did I eve discover in him a spark of jealousy O envy or any other feeling unworth
 of the Christian gentleman that h
 was" @-=--