The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-06-07
A NORTHERN MANS Sinking AID
MISSION

General Francis a. walker u Nid9S'
chusetts. contributes an article TO the
June number Of the Forum on "The
Growth of American Nationality when
contains a good deal thatsls noteworthy
He says. for instance:
"No matter how strongly any man
NAV have held the doctrine OF secession
under the Constitution. as 1t was oi1cf-
cd 10 the States and by the States rdu-
fed. he cannot. if an intelligent student
Of political hosiery to-day deny our COM
nlete nationality. Having attempted seces-
sion and failed i'm it. having made the APP
neal to arms and been defeated, ms at
ccntance of the result is a matter of or
binary political sense: and. for one, be-
lieva that the vast majority OF the south-
ern people rejoice that the decision was
reached in favor Of an indissoluDle unior
Of indestructible States. The latter view
was presented with singular clearness
and force by the Honorable J. Randolph
Tucker, Of Virginia. at the meeting of the
American Social Science Association, at
SARATOGA. I'm 1917. TO that decree said
Mr. Tucker the seeding states bowed as
fnal. as law, whether they coDcurred'in
its righteousness or not. They had sub
mitted TO the jurisdiction of the tribunal
Of war; they joined issue In its forum
the decision adverse. and from it
there was no appeal; and they have sub
mitted TO its irreversible result The same
view is adopted by not a few OF our
northern people. Dr. Albion w. Small. in
his tract on The Beginnings Of Amer
lean Nationality makes the following
statement.
" The people OF the United States sim
ply lodged the responsibility of forrnu-
lating their will upon the distinct subject
Of national sovereignty until the legisla-
ton of the sword began in 1861
$50 far relates 20 the failure Of the
convention Of 1857 to decide the question
Of national unity. am disposed to agree
with DR.. Small. / have always had a
certain feeling that in the great debate
over the charters Of our liberties and in
stitutions the southerners had a little the
better Of H."
General Walker is one Of, the foremost
publcsts and writer's on economical
questions In the northern States. This adj
mission by him is therefore one of i'm
mense significance. And. If II be true, how
can the northern people Justify themselves
for the cruel war Of invasion ana con-
quest which they waged asairst us? II.
under the Constitution we had a right to
secede from the Union. what right mad
they TO make war upon us TO prevent ms
from exercising our right of secession?
We are not repining at the result. we
agreed 10 the terms on which the Union
was Reconstructed after the war, and the
whole South is perfectly content The
South feels that her interests ali lie IN
the direction Of union. and any attempt
TO dissolve the Union would meet with as
stubborn OPPOSITION in the South as in
any part Of the country. But It is graf
ifying to us to be able to point 10 ut
terances like these Of distinguished pubic
men of the North. when foolish partsans
there talk to us about rebellion" and
treason"
In discussing the elements that con-
tributed to building up a>natioral senti-
ment in the early years of the nation.
General Walker makes the following re-
marks:
"Chlef among them. helieve-laIeely
IS the result Of receTt thinking On the
scbjcct-was the personality CT George
Washington. Conscious Of a distinctly
grudgng disposition H. respect to the in
fiucnce Of great men upon the political
development Of peoples, perhaps even
subject 70 a depreciatory spirit respect
ing their very greatness itself, / yet ind
myself more and more turning 10 regard
the first President OF the United States
as in no inconsiderable degree the maker
Of the nation In the experiment author
lied and undertaken by the Constitution
Of l7M-'S9. not only his transcendent au-
thority among his countrymen. derived
from his personal character and from his
services in achieving independence, but
his lofty bearing in office his impartiality
as between antagOnistic sections and
competing interests. his prescience re-
specting the evils of foreign alliances
and affiliations. and his fervent Ameri-
canism. were far more TO the future OF
the country than the fact that the Phil
adeiphia Convention had used the phrase
We. the people of the United States.
In the preamble of the Constitution. he
was 10 the plastic elements OF the coun-
try in the outset Of that great political
experiment.. more than all other states
men put toge Their. In securing conapara-
tive peace between the angry factions OF
that day, In holding the reton, as no
other man could have done. out OF the
giant struggle between France and Eng
land: In lmpressing respect for law. for
public credit, and for the forms OF the
new government end In silently. but