Conservative *
From Louis R. Ehrich , Colorado Springs.
Your father was the wisest man I
ever knew. His eyes pierced sham and
pretense by intuitive force , and his
whole nature was over on the side of
the deep and gomiiuo realities of exist-
once. His character combined the will
and the strength of the most powerful
of men with the tenderness and sweet
ness of a child. His predominating
characteristic was that rugged inde
pendence which came from the heroic
mold of his nature , and which com
pelled respect because it bore its own
stamp of individuality and of sincerity.
From Gen. Grenville M. Dodge , New York.
No one appreciates more fully than I
do the great loss sustained by Nebraska
and our entire country. I became
acquainted with him when he first came
to Nebraska , and have been an admirer
of his from that day to this , and I think
our friendship has been mutual. I sup
pose there is nobody who can judge
better than I can the great work ho has
done for Nebraska. When I first trav
eled that country in the early fifties ,
almost from the Missouri river to Den
ver and the mountains without seeing
a tree , and when I was exploring the
country north of the usual traveled
routes , it was very oppressive to me ,
and I used to think what a great bless
ing it would be if trees could be planted
and made to grow. I can remember
, the first efforts along up the Platte
Valley , and how rapidly they grow
' j after your father took hold of it , and I
i do not know of a singlf act that has
been of more benefit than this one of
your father's.
From Henry Strong , Santa Barbara , Cal.
f Your father was a remarkable man ,
of the most elevated views of private
life and public duty. His influence was
always on the side of justice and right ,
I * ' and will be an abiding and most val
h | uable heritage to his family. * * *
Half a century has passed since we sat
i together in the college class. Our col
lege rooms were across the hall from
t
each other. I well remember the first
essay or thesis he read. He cared more
for the college library than for the text
books , and in that he chose wisely. He
was not a student , but was a careful
reader , of undoubted literary ability.
From Dr. E. W. Schirmer , Nebraska City.
The "curriculum vitao" of J. Ster
ling Morton is known to all men ; on
its pages are written the words :
Statesman , scholar , tree-planter , help
ing hand. And while nation and
state mourn , tomorrow after
the last rites are performed ,
our own people with tearful eye and
with sad and subdued voice will
respond :
"Avo cara'auima ! ' '
From Wm. B. Strong , Beloit , Wis.
His mental powers and many per
sonal charms , with his well-known in
tegrity of purpose in every relation of
life , niado him a favorite with friends
and associates ; generally loved , and
most by those who know him best.
From Gen. Walter Wyman , Washington.
Both General Long and myself became -
came very much attached to him , and
wo deplore his loss from a public stand
point and feel a sense of personal deprivation -
privation in the loss of a very dear
friend.
EDWAUD ROSEWATER , Omaha. Mr.
Morton was without question the best
platform writer in the state. His tren
chant pen could do this work better than
anyone else. For twenty-five years he
wrote the state platforms for Nebraska
democrats. Time after time he accepted
nominations for offices when there was
no show of winning.
JUDGE W. D. McHuon , Omaha. You
can say of Morton that while he ran for
office a great many times , he never
made a campaign but that campaign
was the means of furthering the theories
he believed in. He never sought an
office for the sake of the office. He
never applied his office to gain of pop
ularity. He was a big man.
GENERAL VICTOR VIFQUAIN , Lincoln.
At the moment of learning of the death
of my life-long friend , I cannot find
words adequate to express my sorrow.
One of Nebraska's pioneers , he has done
grand work for the state and will be
remembered well and long.
A. J. SAWYER , Lincoln. I cannot ex
press my sorrow. Mr. Morton was my
best friend. He was one of the founders
of the commonwealth. His influence
for good was all-powerful.
EX-GOVERNOR JAMES E. BOYD , Oma
ha. He was a most brilliant and cap
able man of strong character. We had
our political quarrels ; but as he once
said to me , "Life is too short for quar
rels , " and they did not lessen my respect
for him or last very long.
J. F. THOMPSON , Eureka , Cal. He
lived long enough to see the state he
loved , and for which he did so much ,
redeemed from Populism. But he died
as he lived , a plain , honest , consistent
Democrat a man whom threats could
not terrify ; whose armor of honesty the
darts of calumny and the shafts of
vituperation could not pierce. A noble
man has quit the world , and has left a
grand monument to posterity in the
work he did for his country.
B. D. HOLBROOK , Ouawa , la. Ho
chose his own straightforward way and
followed it , regardless of the follies of
today or the defeats of tomorrow. Ho
believed what he believed , and spoke
what ho believed , and acted what he
believed , and it was this utter honesty
of thought and word and deed which
made him so truly ropresoutativo of
that glorious West , in the midst of
which he finds his honored rest today.
ALBERT F. NASH , Sioux City , la. Mr.
Morton was a man of great versatility.
A lawyer by profession , he was long at
the head of the Burlington and Mis
souri legal department ; but he was also a
farmer. He understood , before many
other men did , the difference in condi
tions and possibilities of the agriculture
of the West and that of regions farther
east. So , while many newcomers to the
West were failing because they tried to
transplant eastern methods to western
conditions , he was devoting himself to
developing a western system of farming ,
adapted to western conditions. In this
was his greatest service , I think.
JOHN T. BELL , Oakland , Oal. In the
death , Sunday , of J. Sterling Morton ,
of Nebraska , a notable man passed
away. In respect of usefulness to the
human race , on thoroughly practical
lines , Mr. Morton had few equals. In
his own city and state , with those who
knew him as citizen , husband , father
and warm-hearted friend , his passing
into the world beyond is a keen , per
sonal bereavement.
WALT MASON , Beatrice , Nob. There
is an aching void in Nebraska , now that
J. Sterling Morton is dead. He has
seemed a part of Nebraska for half a
century , and now that he is gone he
will be sadly missed. Seldom has the
death of a man caused such widespread
sorrow and regret ; people of all parties
and faiths deplored the event , and Mon
day was a dark day in Nebraska.
O. H. REEVE , Plymouth , Ind. His
convictions were the result of philo
sophical reasoning , based upon existing
facts as they really are , including our
whole Environment , and with those
convictions , he had the patriotism and
moral courage to express them regard
less of any personal consequences to
himself. Such men as Mr. Morton and
Mr. Cleveland , with true perception of
right and wrong of judicious and of
vicious policies in government , with the
courage to expose and combat the
wrong and the vicious , are all too few
in public life ; and when one of thorn
passes on to the unknown beyond , the
loss to the public is the loss of a great
man , a public benefactor.
EDWARD L. MERRITT , Springfield , 111.
Much has been said truly as to the great
worth of Secretary Morton as a public
man and a valuable citizen ; worthy of
all the eulogies that have been written
or spoken by those familiar with his
career. But , knowing him as I did in
most friendly personal relation , to mo
his pure and beautiful private life was
