New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-06-25
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
CALHOUN.

In the series of American pohticai pi'e''''
Che life of Calhoun fifty follows close upon inc ii'o
of Hamilton. The New-fork feuerans' vas w
greatest defender of the principle of nationality
- re ,rovod not ONLY the source of our conn
rvs mower but the salvation of lts existence mo
Sortb Carolina nulliher was tho ableSt ana lhosV
consistent advocate of that antaeonisuc principlo
which 50 nearly proved our deStructoh' n
tborouCh review of American politics Will eNhoiV
Calhoun as the typical adversary OF the haH"-
.,;o, school rather than jefferson. who was liam
D,on's personal competitor. DIR. Won Hoist has
handled the subject with great ability. lie traces
tho DEVELOPMENT OF Calhouns constitutional
theorics-for they were developed grauuaIS' nv
formed a priori-with remarkable pelsplcaciN' ""N
in exposing their bearings direct ana rel''o''' I
rho history of the great conflict which divided anu
almost wrecked the Union he shows hiii' 60
the subject and a rare familiarity WIN III, ~
currents of affairs There is 10 literary chaI'n !"
r. noces. his stvle even in his native Uelu'l'
,nnst ho = bad one for it is over-rnetoncal al"
heavily loaded with metaphors and compar 'No"S
tho merit of his book lies IN its depth ana It's co1,
80 II concerns itself very little with detalls
either of Calhoun's private life or of his pohlc'.
history dealing rather with the general outlines VI
his career in a broad and Philosophical hdhnri'
Sometimes this method Of treatment is open 10 o'-
section and the ordinary reader will be driven 10
nortant measures with which Dr. Won Hoist SUD
noses rs 70 lie already acquainted. But Instances
of this detect arc not many
Of the pcrsonal character OF Calhoun, as well rs
NJ his Intellectual force. author expresses inc
bicbc.t op,nion. lie was " the greatest and puTcS'
nc nro.slayarv fanatics" lie made himself the iore
most champion of human slavery in the firm con
viction that slavery not only neceosl'! i"A MS
section but a positive good in ITSELF. lie was u"
ardent lover Of the Union. which he attempted 10
nreservo bv q policy which made disunlon newt
allie lie was sineuiary farslshted statesman
but he pushed the country toward CONCLUSIONS nun
which he would have recocd with horror II ne n'u
rooli,od ,bop. To call Calhoun a Umomst at heart
will seem to many Americans Al absuTdIly' b"'
Dr Won Hoist shows very plainly that he neither
desired separation Of the states nor believed 'hat
tbere would he a separation. The preservation Of
slavery became with him the paramount conSid'r'-
+,on. vet he imagined strangely enough that th"
most cxtrayagant prctensionS OF the slave power
could lie sustained within a Union IN Wh'ch '.e
conflict Of principles and IDEAS OF morality aTe'uS
irreprcssbe, was daily becoming more serious
# il js surprising TO hear Calhoun called n
InoDjst still more surprising Is to discover th"t
at the beginning of his career in Congress ne was
the advocate of n policy and constitutional theory
which his school afterward most vehemeh'y OPP
posed The Fcderalists hardly went 1nltner i1"n
me did in accepting the principle that the United
States constituted a nation, or insisting upon a
liberal construction of constitutional powers lie
advocated national bank and national improve
mcnts. always in harmony with this principle; ana
;tisstiU more remarkable. in view OF the position
ne was soop TO take on the notification question:
that he strongly recommended protective tarll'
for the reason among other considerations tIal INC
announcement OF manufactures was calcma'eu W
"produce an interest strictly American, " 10 plhu
,ocetber more closely our widely spread kepubhc'
and 10 promote the ultimate attainment OF
national strength and the perfection OF our poh'lcu
institutions" Ten twelve years lajef' ""o' TIC
disnntc arose over the tariff of 1S2S, there was
nothing which Calhoun. so much dreaded as INC
binding together more closely OF our widely spread
Republic" The change is 50 great that as d. Won
Hoist saws one is tempted to believe tha1 new
man whom we have mover met before, has stepped
u,on the STAGE Many attempts have been mdue
TO tree him from the charge OF inconsistency ana
some OF his early speeches have been eXpunSed IRON
collections of his works; but II growth Is an evil
dence o. life. why should statesman hesitate 10
admit that his mature judgments differ from ms
vonthful opiniOnsi The truth Is that CaIh' IN Ii'u
given deep thought to the slavery question De
tween 1916 and 1928 he had reached the concur
SION that the preservation of the peculiar inStltu-
staple States: and that idea became thehccior'h
the key TO his politics. leading him on from one
ohsnrdity TO another. 1t IS precisely because MS
conviction was so strong and his character So
honest that he suffered himself to be carried TO sucu
dangerous extrayagances After the change III DIS
oninions had once begun, says Dr. Won Iiolst, " II
went steadily on, without pauSlng for single
moment because he had taken his stand on PT'R-
chile aud followed up the consequences OF 1t Win
mastery logic and fatalistic sternness of purpose"
Our author shows very clearly i'll few compact
,acos how the existence of slavery created perma-
nent antagonsm between North and South on
economic questions Calhoun saw this; but he
was still so much of nationalist that he dlsap-
proved of the proposal for a Congress of the Slave
States in 1929 declaring that any concerted union
between States for interested or sectional objects
was against the spirit of the Constitution. Ever
when he propounded in ms famous Exposition
the doctrine that any one State mad the right u
o vetor q Federal law which it deemed unconstitu
tional he argued that since thrce-fourtifs OF The
States had power to change tie Constitution IT
followed that the veto could be set aside i'll CASE
three-fourths of the States should say that 1t wa
desirable for the Federal Government TO have The
contested mower. He did not see that the practca
effect of this would be 10 enable one-fourth OF the
States to amend Overturn the Constitution a
Measure by merely sustaining State veto. In !
second political manifesto lls3ll he went furthe
and declared that the diversity OF sectional inter
ests among the states was so great that those III
terests could not be subjected to the unchecked
will of a majority of the whole; he treated th
Federal Government the mere agent of the " SOW
ereign" States, and for The veto power he boldly
substituted tho right of qualification" His thlrt
manifesto 1892 took the ground that no sucl
political body as the American people collec
lively had ever existed, and made the final ant
classical exposition of the theory of State SOW