The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902, May 29, 1902, Page 8, Image 8
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