A Journal devoted to the discussion of political t-nii'/tr
, j . , _ , . . .
FOUNDED nu . e - * * *
ponnnmln and sociological minst-lnna. . 1 BY J. STERLING MORTON.
Entered at the postfffflce at Nebraska City , Neb. , as Second Class Matter , July 29 , 1803.
VOL IV. NEBRASKA CITY , NEBRASKA , MAY 29 , 1902. FINAL NUMBER.
VALEDI < 3& > RY/ :
* ss * . v
This is the last Conservative. The
paper has furnished occupation for four
years to a great man , who had the wel
fare of his countrymen very much at
heart. It was his last work. What
good he has done with it , and what he
would have accomplished in another
ten years , it is for others to estimate.
To those friends who have encouraged
and supported him in this undertaking ,
his assistants who have worked near
him return thanks for their friendship.
J. STERLING MORTON.
[ By Dr. George L. Miller. Written in 1901. ]
Nebraska was distinguished in its
early life , by which is meant the first
settlement , by the high character of the
young men who came to the new land
in search of home and fortune , and to
assist in laying the foundations of social
order and civilized government. The
Indian still occupied the soil ; he had
parted with his title under treaty with
the United States , but was still here in
the wild plenitude of his aboriginal
character and habits. These young
men , in striking majority , brought with
them intellectual cultivation and social
refinement. In the midst of the chaos
which existed here in 1854 , they did not
forget to cherish the moral and religious
elements as the main foundations for the
superstructure which they were about
to erect. They were representatives of
families who fostered the best in their
sons. Typical among these young men ,
J. Sterling Morton , the peer of all in
manly strength and ambitions , and the
one who , perhaps , was foremost in the
rolling years in impressing his person
ality and influence upon the new com
munity , was on the threshold of man
hood. He was a strong and original
character. It may be said that he dif
fered in a wide degree from others who
were on the firing lines of leadership in
the conquests that were to be made here ,
in many of his characteristics. His
reputation for mental power , incorrupt
ible integrity of conviction , clear-out
mentality , and moral courage in the
maintenance of his views , long since
passed beyond the boundaries of the
state , and even before he entered the
cabinet of President Cleveland , his
name was known the wide world over
by his most important achievement ,
the invention and establishment of
"Arbor Day , " which has won for him
enduring fame.
On his arrival in Nebraska , and under
the lead of Acting-Governor Thomas B.
Cniniug , who became governor of the
new territory in 1854 , on the death of
Governor Bnrt , Mr. Morton instantly
took his position as a powerful person
ality and political factor and force in
the development of this new country.
Associated with Wilbur F. Story in his
boyhood , and while still at school at the
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor ,
as a contributor to Mr. Story's paper ,
the Detroit Free Press , his pen marked
the bent of the ambitions that were born
in him. He had thus early developed
the qualities which made him a natural
leader of men , which by no means ex
cluded the desire for political distinc
tion , as the record will show. His ideals
concentrated his sympathies and efforts
upon the home , and upon an ardent de
sire to make his mark upon the social
and material development of the young
and growing country. He now ranks
among the distinguished men of the
United States as a publicist , and as a
profound student of the economics of
government and of the great principles
of political and commercial liberty
which underlie , and which can alone
conserve , the welfare of the Republic.
In politics Mr. Morton was always a
democrat , deserting the political al
liances of his father at an early age and
adopting , from principle , the Jeffersou-
iau doctrines. As a political economist
of the first rank , Mr. Morton early saw
that this was an agricultural country
or that it was nothing. He knew even
then that the basis of all wealth is land ,
and that the true groundwork of mod
ern life and progress is found in intelli
gent labor devoted to its cultivation.
As a writer his style , like his character ,
is of marked originality and strength.
His contributions to the Detroit Free
Press , which were among his first edi
torial writings , attracted the attention
of Lewis Gass , the great statesman of
Michigan. These articles so pleased
General Cass that he took pains to make
inquiry about the author , whose first
V
essays in political/life were against the
organization of ' ' '
/ 'Know-Nothings ,
which had become a dangerous political
force in the country at that time. Mr.
Morton was highly complimented by
General Oass for his bold attack upon
secret societies as being antagonistic tea
a republican form of government. His
whole life has been in consistent line
with his early espousal of that political
faith which is known , to the country as
democratic , and nothing could swerve
him from the support of the principles
that underlie it. In this new country
he has , from the beginning , largely de
voted himself to the press and to literary
work , in the form of essays , upon the
great practical subjects which concern
the people. He began with contri
butions to the "Palladium , " the first
paper published in Nebraska , at Belle -
vue , and upon settling at Nebraska City
he became the editor of the "News" at
that place , which was founded by the
Nebraska City Town Site Company.
Mr. Morton's devotion to all homes , as
well as his own , is one of the most beau
tiful traits of his character. He has
written more poems , not in versification ,
but in paragraphs , in editorial columns ,
and in public addresses , on the subject
of home , poems of beautiful sentiment
and far-reaching power , than any other
man in my acquaintance. Arbor Day
is the crowning expression of his de
votion to the beautiful in nature , and
there is ample warrant for saying that
no other man has done so much to cover
this barren laud with trees , which in
young forests are now spreading out
over the whole state , as J. Sterling
Morton.
In the discussion of public questions
which relate to finance and the tariff ,
Mr. Morton's arguments are always
strong , logical and clear. From the be
ginning of civilized , life in Nebraska he
lias maintained the 'doctrines of sound
money , houes idniinistration , low tax
ation and economy in every branch of
the federal , stat&'efnjl local governments
as being essential to the safety and wel
fare of the people. CL-tfpon all these
questions through the stormy periods of
nearly half a century u * has been ag
gressive , courageous ana xfrue in the
face of the most violent opposition. He
has maintained his position through
good and evil report , never flinching ,
. .tws1