The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-05-21

Below is the full text of the speech de-
liyered last night in New York city at
the banquet of the North Carolina Society
by Governor Aycock of North Carolina:
"Mr. Toast Master and Gentlemen Of the
North Carolina Society:
Il have been invited by you to respond
to the toast What is North Carolina Doing
to Meet the Changed Conditions Brought
About by the War | read the other day,
with some. amusement, an account of my
proposed speech in which the editor was
kind enough to give your club the advice
to call me down, for that l was to speak
in defence Of Secession. l have never
had any intention of speaking on this
subject There are two subjects upon
which take it there can be no debate
that the States had a right to secede in
1861 and have no longer that right. This
Union is our Union and there is no one
in North Carolina to dispute this asser-
ton. In the War Between the United
States and Spain, it was both the sorrow
and the pleasure of North Carolina to
spill the first blood in evidence of our
devotion to the Union. When Worth
Bagley died for the cause of the United
States we felt that for all time our fidel-
ity to the Union had been established.
We shall, therefore, make no apologies
for what has passed in our lives and no
promises for the future. We love the
heroic deeds of those who have gone be-
fore us and who have demonstrated the
strength of Southern character We can
not forget, and will not, their sufferings,
their trials and their fidelity. We do not
stop to ask whether they were right or
No inu hnI
bear themselves when the hour of peril
came and when we make this enquiry we
are proud of the glorious men who made
the charge at Gettysburg and laid down
their arms at AppomattoX.
North Carolina has recently been the
subject of much thought in the United
States. The newspapers and magazines
have devoted considerable space to what
she has done Some of this space has been
given to abuse and I am here tonight to
tell you the things which we have done
in order that you may set us forth before
the world as we are. No one shall, unan-
swered, attack the good State from whence
you came or in whose institutions you
learned the lessons Of life which have
made you what you are. Why should any
one attack the old North State? 1t was
English parentage was born, named Vir-
ginia Dare; it was in North Carolina that
the first stand was made against British
tyranny when the men of Alamance taught
Governor Tryon that the love of liberty
was Unborn in North Carolinians and
could not be trampled upon without re-
sistance; it was in this good State that
the first Declaration OF independence was
af no do
Of May, IT'S, and if there be among you
those who doubt that. declaration, the
resolutions of the 31st of May, 1875, can
not be questioned 1t was in this State
that the first victory was won over Brit
ish arms in the long struggle for free
dom. At Moore's Creek, in Fender County,
the Colonial soldiers taught the British
that they could gain no foothold in that
colony, and gave peace to our people for
years and enabled them to swell the army
which was fighting for liberty. 1t was
North Carolina that stayed in the Union
in 1861 until she was compelled to make
choice between fighting against her neigh
bors or against those who dwelt apart,
but when she had made choice, as did
Robert e. Lee. he of the Hall of Fame,
the greatest soldier in all the world we
and laid down more guns at Appomattox
than any other Southern State. 1t was
North Carolina who sent to the front more
men in proportion to her voters than any
other State on either side, who lost more
men in killed and wounded and who suf-
fered most by reason of their loss. | was
in my cradle when the war began and
nine-tenths Of my life has been spent in
the Union / love the Union and it's flag;
this country is my country am a North
Carolinian and you dwell in New York
but we are all citizens of the United
States-glorious country, great flag, the
emblem of all that we are and hope to
be--our protection in war, our guardian
in peace, our hope al all times, but Meth
err you nor others will expect of me to
forget the deeds of those who served the
South. I care not whether we were right
or wrong, though on this point | have
convictions; the emily thing that concerns
me is how did they bear themselves. In
matters political, in the Interpretation of
the Constitution, We care not so much
whether one is right or wrong as we care
how he conducts himself and how he
maintains his convictions. If other test
than this were made | should find my
self unable to respect those who differ
from me in politics 1t is not in political
matters what one believes, but with what
sincerity he believes it that gives us faith
in him and makes of him a hero. l do
not agree with many of the views of
President Lincoln and yet | believe him a
great and good man, whose death was
calamity to the South no less than to the
entire Union. l do not agree with the
political principles of President Grant,
but do not forget that he was great
soldier and generous to that man who
was, and is, the idol of the South. | do
not agree with the President of the Uni
ted States, his policies but / do believe
that he is the President of the whole
country and is a patriot. BY this test
the men of North Carolina are entitled to
stand in the front ranks of the heroes of
the world. They suffered much, they
endured all things, they lost what they
had, they pledged their lives. their for
tunes and their sacred honor to the cause
of the Southern Confederacy and redeemed
the pledge. They offered their lives freely,
they lost all their fortune, they came
out of the contest with nothing save
honor.
When the soldiers who surren-