New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-04
FOR SOUTH CAROLINA.
A STUDY OF THE EPISODE OF NULL1F1'
CATION.

The episode Of notification Will always De
romantic and interesting phase IN America" ms
tory. Theoretically the device was 50 iosoa''
practically II was such an utter ialiure' 'h"l '
historical incident ought to be proVeroiai nus
tration for future ages Of defective scho'as''o's
ann,,ed 70 constitutional law. In his admiraoie
contribution TO the Harvard Historical STUDIES
Professor Houston treats the subject from the
inner side setting forth the case as II appeareo
70 the peope and to the political leaders OF oou'n
Carolina That is certainly the best way 10 hnu
out how II was that a man as sane Us 'oi'' "
Calhoun could have mistaken something utterly
impracticable for n thing pracucai anu s,"p'.
and easy Of attainment. PROBABLY III Sp'e "
Professor Houston's protest, the WORTH win .'
Time TO look on Calhoun as the emoooiihe"' Va
the whole chapter Of null!hcation. But Ills "oiN
will at least make II clear that the iuea ""
Calhoun defended was no mere artlhce vi '
~, r,,nd hu, the due result of processes that in
yolyed the life OF State III ne IL Iisn' !" -"
.ccourt ~ the methods by which the state OF
south Carolina reached its conclusions ana Ca'-
hun reached his, then he has really iiius.ra'ea
It,. Coz. IN mental science one that Locke
and Leibnitz puzzled themselves o'i
has never been explained
In the first place 1t Is to be observed '""' '''
oo,rss ~ the people Of South Carolina was con-
sstent from, first TO last This is not the Same DIS
.ay,nc that Il was right but merely that given
lin. a, conduct once adopted was persstentiy ioi-
$500 nerbaps without any conscious forecast
~ tho outcome. Possibly consistency in THIS case
uas duo solely to the fact that within the STATE
social and material conditions remained pract-
col,v inst what they had been at the outset "hie
hevond the borders Of the State the changes iiau
been enormous At any rate there never WAS
time when South Carolina had to be coh'er'eu
70 free trade: she started with IT as one oi '"e
nxioms OF her public policy. She hao eVerS'h,"e
to buy and only one crop to sell; she mao one NM
Of enterprise, and the labor that was SUM-" ~
q. she did not want merchants or manufacturers
she was pleased with the KIND OF men she was
nroduc;ng and so there was no occasion TOT hei
70 change her manner Of life or MODE OF Thought
Her attitude toward the tarins or carry '''He'
and indeed toward the general Government "a'
somewhat romantic Out of pure PATRIOTISM sne
was giving up something for the sooo oi '"e
whole country This was not the way 'iie mate
WAS viewed by the controlling forces OF 'ie ieo'
Of the country. The Nation was growing wiz.
unexampled rapidity. and those VINO "'..".'
,his Growth svmpathetically felt that every STATE
could share the prosperity II II chose' ~ SUI
C,rornians the manufacturers of the North ana
eft
Professor Houston discreetly echoes this OPINION
As time went on South Carolina fell pehihu III
the race for wealth. The products which she had
, +, call foil In nrce as competition increased. She
Ala MT blame her own lack of resource1ulhess'
hr, ebe hogan 10 resent with more and more pit-
..,r.ss the vav people had Of getting on WIZ
-. ~, hound down TO cotton and negro siaV-
~ 10 tho rest of the United <Dltes would look
., thu matter as she did there would De no
trouh,e But she liked the kind OF CIVILIZATION
,rb,ch she had and she was going TO retain IT,
pence she was first, last and all the tiine ioi q"
tariff for revenue only.
Meanwhile the outside worid was press''e
more heavily year by year against her oou'u
ries The men of talent VINO were her Pi"e
when they left their palmetto paraoise ioi a"'nie
70 sit in the halls If Congress came oacN Win
notions different from those when theF "eie
expected 10 entertain. AT first TINS cha"s III
them was not observed. South Carohna hau ho'
then discovered that It's peculiar ciV'''~a''o''
was inconsistent with any Interpretation Hne''
20 be put upon the Constitution But aS '''"e
went on she learned that even the views VI
Jefferson and Madison had to be restrlc'ea III
order TO fit her conception OF statehooo anu 'ne
Union Her consistency vas indeeo marvellous
Int il began to look to outsiders very ike mo
tionless conservatism. 1t was TINS lfhihopHi's
with which Calhoun had TO deal lie was d man
nj high ambition. capable of broader views thah
he gets credit for with men who think OF MIN
&c an onnonent of National unity and National
rrogress In Professor Houston's pages he IS
denicted as a man who studied deeply the writ
,nqs Of the fathers of the Republic, and VINO
aimed to carry on the political traditions which
they left But in his young days there had Deen
no strain on the bond Of union, ana no rear
test OF the points where the powers reserved 10
tho States and those definitely assigned by the
Constitution TO the general Government were 10
come in conflict. Professor Houston does no'
attempt TO fix the date narrowly when Calhoun
changed from protectOnist TO free trader
from q liberal cOnstructiOnist TO strict con-
structionist. from prosressionist TO an oo-
structionist" but he makes 1t plain that the
change occurred. and that it was to the fuH as
revolutionary these words imply
Up to 1924 Calhoun held that the most inpor-
,ant contribution to the science Of government
made by Americans lay in the way power was
distributed between the States and the general
Government. Hitherto free States had to be
,r,ou and weak. Henceforth no limit could be
put to their expansion He denied the posi-
nifty NJ q rigid Interpretation of Inc Constitu-
ton, and maintained tndt an! ""N"'i"' POi
OF that document must be construct o| i'seii
In reference to the true meaning and intent or
the trainers" For his own acts, as member of
Congress. he appealed TO the example OF JeHer-
son. Madison and Monroe He was accused of
advocating the power Of Congress 70 incorporate
g National bank" But Madison and Jefferson
had either literally or practically approved the
hill for which he voted, Again he was censured
q. q friend to the system OF internal improve
ments. But here he insisted that all three-Jef-
ferson. Madison and Monroe-had approved over
and over again the kind OF bills for which he
voted He did not even think II necessary In
such matters 70 look narrowly al the Constitu-
ton. But while he had never asserted the right
under the Constitution Of appropriating money
without the consent of the States or individuals
affected he believed that the power existed
ALI these were points that were soon TO be dls-