The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1909-09-10
UNVEILED SEWARD
STATUE
SON ATTENDS CEREMONIES IN
SEATTLE TODAY AND PAID
TRIBUTE TO THE SAGACITY
OF HIS FATHER.

Seattle, Sept. 10.-The bronze
statue of former Secretary of State
w. H. Seward, father of Alaska, who
bought for a trifling sum the rich
est colonial possessions of Russia,
was unveiled this afternoon on the
lawn in front of the New York build
ing. After music and prayer, Judge
Thomas Burke introduced Gen. VIM.
H. Seward, of Auburn, N. Y, to pay
tribute to his father.
Judge Seward said in part:
ut is hardly necessary to say that
have listened with interest and
qualification to what has been said
here today. Let me assure you of
my deep and heartfelt appreciation
OF the great tribute to my fathers
memory. 1t was a frequent remark
Of his during life, that however much
he might be misrepresented or mis-
understood by his contemporaries he
intended that his public acts should
be such as would stand the test of
time and the verdict of posterity
This gathering, nearly 40 years after
his death, attests that his faith and
confidence in the ultimate sound
judgment of the American people.
was not mistaken nor misplaced.
when Alaska presented herself at
the door of our national domain
there was an outburst of objections
to her admittance. First, she was
too far away. Next she was too cold
Finally she was too poor.
THAT she is not very far away is
shown by the fact that We are nearer
to her, here today, than We are to
Chicago, Omaha or San Francisco
That she is not very cold is amply
proven by the heaped up wealth of
vegetation from forest, field and
farm that surround us at this ex-
position. That she is not very poor
is attested by the millions that she
Is pouring into the national treasury.
as well as into the pockets Of the
seekers for wealth. Yet there are
some of us here who remember the
days when grave statesmen stood
upon the floor of congress to declare
that there was not pound of min
~,
and that its products consisted chief
ly of icebergs and polar bears.
"The public spirited men who have
planned and organized this expesi-
ton are entitled to the thanks and
gratitude, not only of Alaska and
the Pacific coast, but of the whole
American people-for by it they
have rendered valuable service to
the nation The civilized world is
indebted to them for the instruction
here given. 1t shows what a vast
and rich field for varied enterprise
lies open at the northwest for all
who choose to seek 1t.
Still another development of Al
aska begins to loom up in the future.
Railway systems and modern civil
ization are steadily pushing up tow
ards Bering Strait, both in the east
ern and western hemispheres. When
they meet it's shores. it will be
found that America and Russia are
separated only by the same distance
that separates England and France.
Trade and travel will inevitably open
communication between them, and
Alaska may ultimately be destined
to become a thoroughfare between
the old world and the new.
During the last year of Stewards
life, he was visited at Auburn by
Frank Carpenter who painted the
historic picture of The Emancipation
Proclamation The artist asked
him:
Governor Seward. which of your
public acts, do you think, will live
longest in the memory of the Amer
lean people?'
Seward replied: The purchase
Of Alaska But he added. 1T will
take another generation to find it
out
THAT was 81 years ago A new
generation has come. and they have
found it out