Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-15
ATTACKS ROOT IDEA
Lawyer Criticises Secretary's
Capitalization Doctrine.
CONSTITUTION SUFFICIENT
San Francisco School Trouble Question
for the State.
CITIZENS RIGHTS UNCHANGED
President Wilson of Princeton, An
other Speaker at Southern Dinner
-Assails Administration.
CITIZENS RIGHTS UNCHANGED

NEW YORK, December ia South
Carolina lawyer William A. Barber, stirred
up the Southern Society and it's guests last
night at the annual dinner at the Waldorf
Astoria by attacking Elihu Root on the
score of the Capitalization speech delivered
by the Secretary of State last Wednesday
night before the Pennsylvanians. The
South Carolinian took little fling at Presi
dent Roosevelt besides,
There was wild applause from some sec
tons of the grand ballroom, but there were
silent spots also. Apparently all of the
diners were not in accord with Mr.. Barber.
In making the formal toast to the head
of the nation Mr.. Verdery used the words:
Now let us drink to the long life, the
health. and happiness of the President of
the United States
No Presidents Health.
Il won't do it, exclaimed man who
was sitting near the front of the room.
The POSTMASTER locked apprehensively to-
ward the man, who was sitting. while
others stood. Several of the mans friends
beckoned to him, and he finally aros7. but
did not drink. Those who were with him
or near him declined to disclose his iden
tity, and he left the dinner while the night
was yet young.
President Woodrow Wilson of Princeton
was the principal speaker at the banquet,
responding to the toast, "Patriotism, in
which he expressed the opinion that not
more laws are nec~ea but a smaller re-
gard for persons in the administration of
the laws we have. The address of the
president of Princeton was received with
marked approval and warm applause. He
criticised member of the favori!e policy
plan of President Roosevelt.
Question of Greatness.
DIR. Wilson said in part:
You know that seem sometimes reck-
lessly to construe our adjectives COM
parison. We speak of great men, different
sorts of men as great. We say that they
are great sometimes without regard to
whether they possess eminent moral quail
ity or not.
"A man may be great and yet misuse his
power he may be great in capacity even
when he is selfish in employing that
capacity.
But there is one adjective we usually
preserve for d particular type of men-that
is the splendid adjective of noble We
never speak of man as noble who spends
his energies upon his own selfish interests
alone and, in looking around for text on
which to preach, it seemed to me that 1
could not find anywhere lone that better
sets forth the ideals than certain lines of
Tenryson:
"a nation still.the ruler and the ruled;
Some sense of duty, something of faith,
Some reverence for the law ourselves have made,
Some patient force to change them when we will,
Some civic manhood, firm against the crowd
And every line seems to me text preg
nant with the matter of which L would
speak tonight: a nation still, the rulers
and the ruled. Patriotism first discovers
the way to set the common man upon
statesmanlike thinking. The first among
nations, we expected every hing of our
selves and of others in the maintenance of
public government and in the advancement
of public policy"
Mr.. BARRIERS Speech.
Mr.. Barber spoke next on "The Old
South" and he wasted little time on pre-
liminary remarks. He said in part:
1T seems fashionable nowadays to dis
cuss constitutional questions around the
dinner table. Only two nights ago, on an
occasion Ike this the distinguished Secre-
tary of State, speaking in this banquet hall.
gave his hearers enough constitutional law
to give some people Indigestion. 1t is pleas
ing to be reminded that since our ConStitu-
ton was adopted our country has grown
from a narrow strip of land until it stretches
from ocean to ocean. and embraces some
S5,ooo,000 population But with the con-
cluSiOn that this increase in area and pop
ulation and this close business Intercourse
demand either modification new con-
struction of the Constitution We cannot
agree. We believe that the rights of citi-
ZenS today are the same as the rights of
the citizens of the smaller country of 1877.
I'VE believe these rights are, and will
conti-ue 10 be. hest preserved by an in
exorable enforcement of the old Constitu-
ton. If it be true. as there is a growing
impression, that the executive rights are
to control the court. and, perhaps. get the
new construction of the Constitution that
is wanted. invoke the warning of Chief
Justice Marshall that the very safety of
The republic requires the legislative and
Judicial; rrTers to remain forever separate
AID distinct.
Power of States.
although we are told that we are NOV
ing forward IN development of business
and social life, which tends more and more
to the obliteration of state lines and the
decrease of state power, as compared with
the rational power we will still teach our
children that the nation is divided into SOW
eraign states II. our schools we may see a
few syllabies reformed out of our spelling,
but we will Tot see state lines reformed out
of our geography.
And too some of us believe that the
fixing of qualifications for admission to the
public schools is among the powers reserved
to the state and the Old Constitution will
not admit the army and navy of the United
States to the deliberations of our school
boards; and again not only because we be-
lieve such matters are reserved to the states,
but because we are a peaceable people, pre-
ferring the reader to the rife, and the spell
ing book to the shotgun we respectfully OPP
pose the strenuous suggestion that the
power of the Congress be used to add shoot
ing galleries to our public schools.
Gen. Porter responded to the toast, The
Reunited Country Augustus Thomas dis
cussed 1.-The South as a Custodian" and
William A. Barber oncluded with the "Old
South"
President Verdery in his opening speech
said that the society existed solely for the
welfare of the community, and hoped that
its members would never be carried away
by any ideas of m 1icipal ownership, but
by desire for dc -ent and clean govern
ment Clean business methods and pure
politics had always been the boast of south
ern men, he said.
President Verdery paid a tribute to the
memory of the late Samuel Spencer presi
dent of The Southern road, and said the
whole south mourned his death.
The dinner the twenty-firSt of the
New York Society, and the most elaborate.
perhaps, in its Il story. There We're present
more than COO members and their guests.
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