The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-24
4 Divided Ale glance and Its Com
sequence.

Mr.. CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, in a
notable address delivered at the New
England Society's celebration at Charles
ton on Monday evening and printed in
another column Of this page. went into a
survey of American history and an an
alysis OF the Constitution to demonstrate
that the Civil War was an inevitable con-
sequence Of the divided sovereignty and
allegiance due 10 the loose Union of " i'm
perishable States established by the
Constitution In other words. in the
view Of Mr. ADAMS, a pious fraud was
in i7SS perpetrated on the average Amer
lean and his feet were directed into
path which inevitably led him to the
goal he least designed for his journeys
end"
This is not new doctrine, for in sub
stance it ran through the whole Of the
long debate on the Constitution and the
rights of the States reserved under it
which agitated the Union almost unin-
terruptedly throughout the period ante
cedent to the Civil War. Slavery was
only incidental to the discussion, though,
of course, from the distinction between
Southern and Northern civilization es-
tablished by il came the fire which di-
rectly inAamed the spirit of war
As Mr.. ADAMS says, every State of
the federation became a member Of the
Union with mental reservations" but
1.-THE one thing our ancestry united in
most apprehending was centralized
Government. Accordingly. they as
ereignty, conferred another modicum
on the State Governments and reserved
whatever remained to themselves To
which, then. was the allegiance due?
Mr. ADAMS finds that the record from
l7ss to 1881 still left the question open,
and. in case of direct and insoluble
issue between sovereign State and SOW
ereign Nation, every man was not only
free to decide for himself, but had to
decide for himself; and, whichever way
he decided, he was right"
Such was the situation left by the
compromise of the Constitution. or bv
that contradiction in terms, a divided
sovereignty. As the Gospel tells us in
a passage pertinently quoted by Mr.
ADAMS, no man can serve two masters:
for either he will hate the one and love
the other, or else he will hold to the one
and despise the other" That is, the
Civil War was made inevitable by the
fact Of divided sovereignty the divided
allegiance of the Constitution. The
question Of sovereignty was to be de-
tided, and either side could offer good
ground. historical and legal. for any
attitude taken in regard TO it..
Meantime two distinct civilizations
developed. Under influences climatic
and social, and the system of slave labor,
the Southern States were agricultural,
'n1 like agricultural races and patri-
a.chal communities generally, they chung
closely to their traditions and local in
situations. In the Northern States the
tendency was national But the u,es-
lion Of allegiance was so far undecided
in the minds of the people that, on the
belief OF Mr.. ADAMS, continuation of
States like that of the Southern Con-
federacy would never have failed in
Withdrawing from the Union at any
period In our national history anterior
to the time when the great attempt at
secession was actually made in 1861
Witness the memorable words of JOHN
QUINCY ADAMS, just quoted by his grand
son at Charleston
But in 1851 when the extensively or
ganized attempt at secession was actu-
ally made, new forces had come in and
had changed civilization radically and
strengthened tho tendency to centrali-
zation and the necessity for it, Steam
and electricity rather than argument
than mere military skill and endurance,
settled the issue Of sovereignty and
turned the balance in favor Of nation
atty. The contradiction of divided
sovereignty gave place to national
allegiance.
This is a very interesting view and
unquestionably il has in it many of the
elements of truth. For the first time
in American history this republic, tried
BY the bitter experience of gigantic
civil war, has now become nation with
sovereignty established and indis-
putable. The distraction between South
ern and Northern civilization brought
about by slavery no longer exists. The
distinction between agricultural and
commercial and manufacturing com.
minlties on either side Of a geographical
line is passing away finally. The South.
ern States have become already a great
manufacturing region, whose produc.
tions have been greatly diversified Ir
their general spirit they are becoming in.
dtstinguishable from the Northern States
North and South are retained in the
common speech, but they no longer rep.
resent any broad distinction between two
Civilizations. For the first time the
American people have become homo
gcneous and a nation.
Ia. Il. In