The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-01-11
WHY CALHOUN WAS REpUD1 ATED

WHY CALHOUN WAS REPUDI ATED.
Compared with Calhoun, he
was conservative, and 80 were all
other leaders. 1t was the extremity 10
which the Carolinian went, the bril-.
liant illustration. he gave Of his princi-
Piles, the stern truth OF his expression,
that has caused his reputation, He
worked out results from his premise,
with the precision of q mathematician.
Calhoun began his political life at
Yale College. He was then an ardent
Republican and defender of the tenets
of Jefferson. He was the Virginia
stateman's most promising pupil, and
when the old mastor died there was
none to dispute supremacy with Cal
houn. For unflnching devotion to
an idea his example Is probably unsur-
passed tn the annals of any nation.
Whence came his idea, and what was
lit? It came from the opposition to
Washington, Hamilton, Adams and the
genius Of the consti tuition, impelled by
the mad spirit ofi the French revolu-
tion, and incarnated in Thomas Jeffer-
son. Ss,f
JACKSON NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. RE
NoUNcED.
1t was to impair federal au.
thority by localizing the power OF
government. AS the originator OF
this idea, or the first to make practi-
cal application Of it, Jefferson is vener.
ated as itsIgreatest exponent, Calhoun
| is renounced. He gave it a too liberal
development. The recompense OF his
labor Is that he exposed its fallacy. II
| is nevertheless still adherenti to.
With some modification it is the. last
national platform Of the party launched
by the hand of Jefferson and controls
| ed by Calhoun. It is not so promi-
nent now as it was up to Lincoln's
day, but Is used as counteractfnR
force. The aim Is to retard the drift
toward Capitalization, which the ma.
tiot's growth makes indispensable.
| In the Democratic declaration Of prin
ciples OF 1895 is q paragraph that
embodies as protest against federal
interference, and it Is printed In the
campaign book under that appellation
+. STATES RIGHTS.
The man who edited the. United
Staes article for Appleton's Encyclo-
pedit heads the same paragraph estate
Rights That's the old name, ano
with no one else Is 1t 80 intimately as
sociated as with Calhoun. 1t is made
to designate g living issue, while te
! the mention of his name all lips arr
sealed. Men and themes die, bu
principles live on. That Is the history
of humanity. 1t is compressed In the
record of Calhoun, state rights ane
slavery. Calhoun Is gone and enamel
patton was lcng since proclaimed
But it would not have been announced
except in efutation of the paramount
|privileges of states. The precept sur
wives the man and the measure. It'll!
now, however, reduced to q protest
TARIFF AND. SLAVERY cAIHouN's
- PROPS. ,'85
All of Calhoun's blows were directed
to the center. By what appears an in
tuitive vision he seized without haltint
upon the leading questions. The!
were the tariff and slavery. On tn
first he became eminent, and on th'
latter dominant. These were the
props, the visible agencies by whict
he rose. Back of them was his sim
ple political theory. In analyzinl
Calhoun the complex is no where seen
His first and absorbing idea WAS Il
lreipn, and reign through the instru
men tality of his state. When tina
availed him not he would put fortl
the power of bis state In its own be
half. That was his bequest. For thi
4 purpose he abandoned the tariff as In
sufficient and massed his energies or
the right to hold slaves, which wa
overwhelmingly affirmed In the cleo
ton of Pierce. Then reaction set IN
which swept away this issue foreve
It was brought about to thwart the de
ign and reprove the audacity Of tn
party that had been so long triumph
ant through the statemanship of Cal
houn. To this Buchanan made som
con tribution, and when he ran TO
President the ranks of his supporter
had perceptibly thinned. A, might!
uOSU WAS SdlDcIluS III ORpOolV1oh w VI
old party. Calhoun was then deat
six years, but not yet repudiated and
had Mcclellan beaten Lincoln hi
name would have had some veneratiol
now, for in that event the utter fulfill
ty of his doctrines would not hav
been made manifest. a'
CALHOUN PLAYED A LOSING GAME
Calhoun played a losing game, as al
, wrong-headed men must, and becaus
of this is maligned, when remember
ed as the instigator of a world of woe
He probably played the part he assign
ed himself better than it could hav
been done by anybody else 1t wa
s, not his fault, as charged, that th
! "issue," as he called it, was not soone
.. forced. The odds were too great fo
any one to successfully conten
!. against. When it was forced
|, severed his party and reused such
q sentiment against it that its contre
has never since been regained. An
: the disposition to hold in harmon
r the elements of q growing natior
by conveyance of it's energies, it sti
cambats, as it did in the days of Jeffel
o son and Calhoun. J. q. L.