The representative., 1897-06-02
WHO SHALL GOVERN 4?
JUSTICE CLARK. OF THE SUPREME
COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA
Points Out the Dangers Which Con-
front the American People,
An Able Document.

From an address delivered by Justice
Clark of the supreme court of North
Carolina, in Richmond, Va, on April 20,
we make the following extracts, which
for elegance of diction depth of thought
and force of expression are rarely
equaled
After an eloquent prerOration the dis
tinguished gentleman proceeded to the
discussion of the topic selected, The
Dangers of Our Republic as follows:
Il would be unmindful of the dutito.,
and opportunities of the occasion were
l to waste your time in rhetorical plati-
tudes or we'll rounded sentences signify
ing nothing. The situation is too grave.
the issues too important, the impending
conflict too certain and the results TOO
great and lasting. If l can say aught
to impress upon you that a great strug
gle, more important far than that of
1861, and as inevitable, is before you,
and that you will be factors of cOnse-
quence in that contest, shall not have
stood before you in vain. At Waterloo,
when for hours the conflict for the mas
tership of Europe had hung in nearly
even balances, and at last as ,the sun
was bending low, victory seemed to in
cline to the French, body of troops
was seen far off toward the north
marching toward the field of battle. On
and on they came. Every glass was
leveled upon them. Leaders and gener-
ais strained their vision to discover to
which side the reinforcement belonged,
for 1T would be cast into the scales. like
the sword Of Brennus If they were
the columns of Grouchy, then once
more, and brighter than ever before
the star OF Napoleon would beam upon
field lost and won; if they were the
leading files of Blucher, then the en-
pre- would pass away like a troubled
dream, and England, England. would
be the cry. On they came, with strides
as steady as fate, as Irresistible as des-
tiny They proved to be Bulow's diyi-
sion OF Bluchers corps, and fortune fled
forever from her spoiled and favorite
chlld. The present generation is en-
gagged in like mOmentous struggle, not
on the narrow battlefield of a Belgium
plain, but on an amphitheater that
reaches to the silent oceans. In The
press, on the hustings, in the close con-
verse of neighbOr with neighbor the
conflict of ideas is going on. 1t is be-
coming more and more intense. The
forces are nearly evenly divided. and
both sides, like the contending armies
at Waterloo, are looking for reinforce
ment to the generation that is arriving
at manhood, for your weight will de-
eide the issue. The arrival of YOUR
cisively end the battle.
What are these contending forces
and what is the true issue? Is it the:
tariff? That is party issue over which
elther side predicts beneficial results if
1t wins and disastrous consequences If it
fails-and alternately one or the other
wins, and with better or worse condi-
tions the country goes on Is it the sill
yer issue. the financial question? That
is nearer the mark, yet that question
is rather an incident, a symptom, a
phase with suggested remedies and moi
the disease itself Nor yet is the con-
fiict between labor and capital. nor the
old, old struggle between states rights
and the centralizing tendencies of the
federal government The vital question
lies deeper than any of these. 1t is that
which the Roman republic had to face.
that which every republican govern
ment has had to determine, and upon
the answer to which it's continued ex-
1stence as republic depends. That
question was very dimly and indistinctly
discerned in the beginning of this great
republic. 1t took on increased impor-
tance after the late civil war. Today it
has become the great underlying ques-
tion upon which men instinctively often
.unconsciously perhaps, are taking sides.
1t is question which in a republic must