New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-07-01
THE SOUTH WAS WRONG
PROFESSOR BURGESS's CONTRIBUTION
TO THE AMERICAN HISTORY
SERIES"
rHE MIDDLE rERIop. lN7-.s.s lThe Amerlcan


mans Pr xvi b. Charles Sc!ibncEs Sons.
Professor burgess has not written this book
merely TO add another volume to the growing
library Of American history. lie has emphatic
opinions as to the way in which the events OF
what he calls the Middle Period should he de-
scribcd and rs to the attitude which the MS
;orian should take toward the long controversy
between North and Soith. AS rule, he thihks
the discussion has beer carried on in the wrong
way hitherto: and 50 IT is time to re'le" Inc
whole period in order to bring about better I'M
Outstanding between ,he sections which q genera
tion ago were in deadly strife because their fan
IRE to comprehend each other us an evcr-present
menace to the welfare Of both sections ana OF the
entire nation" The principle from when ne
starts is that the North was right and the Sou'h
wrong in 1S61. He conccives that nothing put
damage can accrue from any other vie" oil 'he
contest The error of the men who attempted 10
,-.ro,, tho Union should he frankly achnowl-
edged on the other hand, the attempt TO "NaHe
tho confession Of n righteous defeat is 'unman-
"" Z bitter false and dangerous consolation'
ard above ALL "a qualification" Of men who at
their hest were the heroes Of the South. hu'
,hese very plain words do not warrant the antici-
nation that Professor Burgess may In the course
NJ his narrative take sides with the extremists
., tho North He holds that secession was abom-
Unable and that slavery was great evil Iu'
,, estimate Of the men and events Of the era or
o,,rro,niee Is not one that would have pleased
,vordeu pbilllps or William Lloyd Garrison. lie
&c tho legitimate successor of the constitutional
,ou.,ors who thought beforehand that war should
T., avoided and that it could be avoided II the
e.ru~ale with slavery were prolonged ana III inc
same time mitigated in every possible way lie
occupies n position not unlike that "i 'o''so
T,cknor Curtis "a to constitutional questions,
while in respect to popular agitation MS ideai
man IS Eli Thayer. and his imporsonauon OF HI
evil IS John Brown. Of Ossawattome'
A. the beginning Of the period which he treats
II was not New England. but inc "ou'"' "''
Daniel Webster. hut John c. Calhoun that che'-
ishod National ideals. Nothing - more reihaIhd-
lilo in this book than the transformation "h'h
the mind Of Calhoun underwent In lNl' ne WAS
tho worry embodiment Of the National lceilhb
,,o,, ,,.os tho inevitable result of foreign war.
rita u.or had been supported by his party ana
.,,aosoa nv the Fcdcralst~ who had formerly
haor tho cxnoncnts Of tho Union as against the
states The President Of that day Ma'Soi' VINO
ha o,ce hccn n ctatc-rights man ana III "1a1
,,,jso had caused the troublesome virginia reso-
Intions Of 1913 was now. consciously or "hcon'
sclore,v as fond Of Capitalization MS any "dy'
This only illustrates n patent fact In Nm H.
can hstory-that party WELDING -
.ional power has always perf"rce p'eh y"
t,onal Even the dislntcgratng administra'
ton Of jefferson was capahI" ~ '"'
om,s,o,a purchase. an almost incredible
stretch Of Federal provocative Hut M'''7'"'
rrdor the stimulus Of recent war. urged the In
orooso and better organization II the Army and
Navy. the enlargement of the Military Academy
,b,s with n tlngc Of scctlonallsm I'm tn" propose!
- have similar schools in different paris 81 the
oour.,v--the creation q a National currency
tho foundiu, Of a National university, ana mo
making of roads and canals AT the National
expense. ..,,
some decades later such programme ""u'i
have been enough to give the party ~ Jehc's"n
and Madison ST asms Of terror AZ the eh'ro'cH-
monts Of Federal power. But they were not All
alarmed I'm 1916. on the contrary. they pro-
cooccd 70 create the United states Bank. ana -
sin Of sins. from the modern Democratic point
~ view-,o contrlye tari0 for protection h'th
those bills. the most characteristic legislation ~
tho time were Southern measures. 'dihpu"
,ror the chairman Of the committee that re-
rortoa the Bank act ard all his COMPANIONS
,rere couthcrncrs but two The ill was. there
fore n Southern proposition. II was not n nov
eltv The subject had been under discussion
and is bearings on the relation Of the general
Government 10 the states were well under
etood But the war had opened mcnssyes. Tor
tho moment at least to the fact that the coun-
,rv was more likely TO suffer from lack Of Ma
,ioual mower than from the excess Of II. II
there had been any usurpation in the matter ~
tho currency. Calhoun said that 1t was on the
mar. Of the states which had emitted bills ~
credit contrary to the express words OF inc
Constitutions According to him. the whole
monetary system Of the Nation was constitu-
ionally under the control Of Congress. ON the
other hand Webster was duly alarmed at the
provisions OF the bill. and showed hlms"II rs
far from his later sublime Inionism as 'al-
houn was from his subsequent peitiogsihB
scheme Of notification. Clay, however. had al
ready passed the contradictory phases or his
career Five years before he had denied th'
mower Of the general Government to create
hank Now he was for the measure with all ms
strength OF the three, Calhoun, perhaps, was
the only one who had to explain his position
then to his adhercnts in later years. tut Tor
the time being he National leader not
ONLY on this bank question. but also on the
tariff. He defended the tariff measure OF the
day. not in detail, but broadly on the ground
that II embodied n policy necessary National
and American. on the contrary. the New-Eng-
landers had misgivlngs about their shipping. ana
Webster was not among those who voted for
the bill
Apparcntly Nationalsm was growing too fast
for the people 1t must he remembered that tho
remnant Of the Federal party. In violation "f
its own history, opposed the Tarim hll, ana
disappeared IN defeat. Now. If these conscrVa-
lives Of an earlier time hcsitated, what must
have been the sec md thought Of the Red i'"puh-
leans. whose war enthusiasm had carried the'n
so far Calhoun received an unwclcome hint ~
the future in the next session Of Congress when
he advocated far-reaching system Of Internal
improvements. the expense OF which was to be
betrayed year after year from the Govern
,nnnf,s shnrc n the profits " thc tnlicd States