The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1889-07-05


sacrifice and heroism of those houS. we
are bound in closer, tcnderer sylnpathes
TO Onr fellOWS-We love our race better
We beileve more in its kinship to God, our
own lives become broader and deeper a.,
talth and love grow within And as a
generous public. unsolicited. pourS its
thousands and millions of dollars into the
desolate valley, each dollar baptized in
tears and sanctified with prayer, we thank
God anew for the blessings of Christian
civilization 1t is hard to see through
tears, but if the stricken ones can only
look up, Jesus stands near.
THOMAS DIXON, JR.
THE UNIVERSITY.
Prof. Alex. McIver Writes of 1t Under
Reconstruction.
Especial Cor. STATE CHRONICLE
PTrTsBoRO, N. G., June 10, 1889. In
your notice of the centennial proceedings
of the University published June 9th, YOU
quote that part of the address of Hon.
Paul G. Cameron delivered in Memorial
Hall June 3, 1885, which purports to give
the history OF the University under recon
struction. This extract was published by
the U. S. Bureau of Education in circu-
lar of Information, No. 2, 19S8 | may
add that it contains in condensed and
mild form statements made by the public
press for the last twenty years or more,
and 1t WILL therefore, probably be accept
ed as part OF the history of the University
must beg you, however, to give
THE OTHER SIDE A HEARING.
| was connected with the University
during the greater part of the period re
ferred to, first, as Professor of Mathemat-
les, second, as Secretary of the Board of
Trustees and of the State Board of Educa-
tion by virtue Of the office of State Super
intendent of Public instruction, which |
then held | had possession of the seal
and all the records OF the University. |
attended all the meetings Of the Board of
Trustees and know everything that was
done relating to the University and the
intent with which it was done. | can
therefore speak that which do know and
testify to that which | have seen
When the Trustees who were elected
under the constitution of 1868 took pos
session of the University they found that
its funds were lost, that its patronage was
gone, that its most popular professors had
resigned and sought other employments,
tnat the remaining members of the facul-
ty, conscious of their loss of patronage
and want of funds, had rendered their
resignation to the former trustees, mort
{, '
of the University, including its buildings
and grounds to secure the payment of
large debts improvdently made to the
amount of ninety thousand dollars or
more: the land scrip which had been
transferred 20 the University by the Leg
islature had been sold at half its value
fifty cents an acre, which in the other
States it had been sold at dollar an acre,
or more, and ten per cent. Of the price
received had been used
What could the trustees do? They
could do nothing unless they could first
undo what the former board had done.
They first decided to set aside the sale of
the land scrip. In this they failed They
next attempted to set aside the mortgage
They employed Mr. Ed. Graham Haywood
to bring suit in the Federal Court for
this purpose. This suit remained on the
docket four or five years. Mr.. b. F.
Moore, trustee for the creditors under the
mortgage, brought suit to purchase the
mortgage and sell the property Well do
l remember when by the order OF the
Board of Trustees, | employed Judge
Fowle to resist the order of sale The or
der, however, was made and an appeal
was taken to the Supreme Court of the
United States. Treasurer Jenkins and
myself signing the appeal bond. Well do
L TcntUlUcI dlSO utu, DIT tuc IAN term
1874 of the Federal Court in Raleigh
Chief Justice Waite rendered the decision
in the case brought by Mr.. Haywood and
| made decree setting aside the mortgage
This decree was the first light that
dawned upon the University after the
dark night brought upon it by the man
agement of the former Trustees.
If, as Mr. Cameron so eloquently eX-
presses it, the shadows of dark night
were falling around President Swain and
| his faculty, and the object of their care,
and preparing for them a painful exile
| from homes, honors, offices and affairs, the
shadows of that night fell from Mr.. Cam
eron and his management and not from
| that of the new Board of Trustees
| But who constituted the new boardl If
you examine the list you will find in it
! the names of Chief Justice Pearson. JUS
tices Reade, Rodman, Dick, Settle, Bux-
ton, Tod r. Caldwell, Bynum, Barringer
| and others of no less honor in North Car
| olina. These are the men that rescued the
| property of the University from the grasp
| Of it's creditors. These are the men that
Mr.. Cameron, in his address, has been
pleased to call ''UNKNOWN MEN" These
are the men from whose control the Uni
versity was taken in 1874 by an amend
| ment of the State constitution, and re-
turned to MI Cameron ana his present
Board of Trustees, called in the address
referred to, ''the true sons of North Car
OLA" No tablet in Memorial Hall perpet-
yates the memory Of their services. No
| cup Of honor was poured for them at the
recent centennial But they are all good
and true men-as true to the best inter
ests of North Carolina rs ever drew the
breath of life.
1t may not be proper for me to alludt
to the faculty elected in 1869 as | was one
of them. l will, however, say that they
were good men and true, as well qualified
for their respective positions as gentle
men usually are who are elected to fill
similar positions. 1t was not their want
of the proper qualifications that kept pat
ronage from them. They believed with
the trustees who appointed them, that il
was wisest and best for the people oI
North Carolina to conform themselves tC
the policy of the general government a;
set forth in the Constitution Of the United
States and the reconstruction acts ol
Congress. Their offending hath this eX
| tent no more.
In conclusion, | may ask if it would not
be better for the University and for the
whole State if the spirit of liberation anC
| Justice toward all men and malice towarC
none should be taught and practiced NOR,
| in the future than it has been in the past
ALEX MCIvER.