The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-12-10
DEPEw,s ADDRESS AT CHARLES.
TON


exceedingly accomplished and felicitious
after-dinner speaker at h big
spreads in Gotham" AS Senator, he
Is not OF special weight. His ccom
plishments do not lean towards high or
experienced craftsmanship. Hence, his
views are not specially sought or weigh
". Charleston wanted an orator at the
opening OF the South Carolina Inter
State lid West Indian Exposition, so
it sent to New York for the ready, gift
ed. eloquent a~fter-dinner speaker and he
rose equal to the occasion. Our able
contemporary. the News and Courier,
pays a yer. high compliment to his
mastery oratory. 1t is so lifted 1t in
dulges in the following high strain OF
praise:
ITO speak Of the superb eloquence
the thrilling voice, the charming man
ner. the splendid diction. of this world
renown orator is but to repeat what has
been said a thousand times before
Those who heard him yesterday for the
first time realized not only how true
was all they had read about him be-
fore, but how inadequate any descrip-
ton is to 10 full justice to his powers
The honored guests can not object to
that pleasant laudation, and it may
be every word deserved. We are not
concerned with Depew's oratory, but
marvel at his taste. An invited guest
ne selects a topic that if handled most
delicately and cautiously could not fail
to provoke hostile m and to ir-
ritate the more confirmed and sensi-
i've hearers. Whatever his purpose it
seems to US his theme was i~ll-chosen.
It was On Revolution and Evolution'-
comprehend the meaning of the war
Of the overwhelming north upon the
southern Beers, if you please, strug-
Cling. fighting most bravelv for sec
ond independence and their liberties.
He traced the history of the United
States from the beginning, showed
something of tho influence of the Puri-
tan, the Cavalier and the Hugue-not
how the constitution as formed by the
wise men OF the eighteenth century and
adopted finally by the several thirteenI
states, had been gradually changed byl
the Supreme Court decisions-JohnI
Marshall we add setting the early ex-l
ample-and By the direct acts of the,
congress and that finally it was conn.,
pleted in it's vast changes by the force
that direful enemy, we may call it,. of
the people and their sacred liberties.
It has become "a great nation" and isl
now a menace to the world and to-
other peoples who are not strongI
enough to defy 1t.
Mr.. Depew fails altogether to present.
the real signiicancy of the great war
between the south and north. 1t was
not a conflict growing out of mere po-
htical party antagonists. The causes
were deeper and broader. and as old
as Washington's first term, and thence
running through all subsequent admin
istrations. A careful study of the past
will fully justify that statement. He
failed to place the cause of war at the
precise point. There were accumulat-I
ing grievances, serious and most an
noying, but the final cause was the
denial hat the south mad the right to
withdraw from the - the
c~ompact-as New England had threat
ened to do for a quarter of a century.
The News and Courier points out the
defect, the fallacy in the Depew pre-
%sentation. We will quote at some
length:
1.-The story of the conflict between
federalism and states rights is told
with fairness; Mr.. Depew even admit
ting that according to the views of a
lorrA nnoinrftxv 80 49, $4,000 - 49,
constitution the states rights view was
the correct view; that the constitution
was believed by a majority of those
who made 1T to be q compact between
the several states; but, that our general
government, thus intended by it's foun-
derS to be a government of limited
powers. has been changed by judicial
construction and congressional action
Che does not say usurpation.) to a gov
with all the power that any
national government has. This is true
but the defect in Senator Depew's argu
ment is that he implies that all the is
sues between the states rights part,
and the federal partv were issues upol
which the war was fought. The onl,
real issue Of the war was the right of
state to secede. That was the only is
sue submitted by the south to the arbi
trament of the sword. All the rest. tn,
abolition of slavery. the work of recon
struction, the constitutional amentmen
adopted by states, some of whose gov
ernments were unconstitutional. was tn
mere use OF h power of the victor
over the vanquished. The wal wa
not avowedly a war of the republican
party against the democratic party an,
its doctrines. The avowed purpose O
the war was to sustain the MO o
the states in its integrity. and it wa
only the slogan of "The Union f%oreveri'
that rallied the men of the north t,
make war On the men of the SOUTH
The Messenger twice within some tw,
months has shown now the constitu
ton a been violated by presidents
and how the congress sworn to supper
it. had dug under it's very foundations
We venture to predict that the pres
ent congress will violate organic law il
one or more of its acts. We do no
undertake here to go into the real un
DERIVING cause of the war. A careful
reading Of Bledsoe, Davis. Curry AM