The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-28
JAMES L. PUGH

| session or the I0lrLy-SlxIn congress. I | will take the liberty to quote:
 ''The Northern theory Is that the | Constitution of the United States is the | cffspring of the numerical power of
 fcs he wnoDe pe1niie That Une mai IG l vidual allegiance to the State is merged | in the general mass of allegiance to the pcwers of Congress were not delegated, but surrendered, abandoned, by the States and consolidated in the su-
 nrsmei mena is hse not Federai. but @ national, and | that parties, patriotism, and allegiance i are national Also that the people of every State and section are homogen-- eous, with harmonious interests and pursuits and if homogeneous, with har-' monious interests and pursuits, 1t IS claimed that the power of ultimate de-
 general mass. Another is that the popular will of this general mass should preside over the actions of the govern Inent and determine what Is the gem promote It. Such is the political phil osophy of those who strike down State sovereignty and State rights ana and the establishment of Northern su- premacy.
 "In opposition to this theory, the South contends that the constitution
 of the people of each State by virtue of their sovereignty and independence' that 1t passed the ordeal of nine con ventions, each of which had absolute l ton of it's adoption or rejection. The constitution is the offspring of thirteen concurrent sovereignties. It's distinc- cies consist in the checking power or minorities. The concurrence of separ- ate. independent, majorities in produc- ing results is the predicate of the whole system of checks and balances, and imparts to the republic all its l elasticity and power of expansion" MT. Pugh held that there were two governments in the Federal establish rnent, created by conflicting construc-
 iions of the constitution of the United States. The Northern construction government Is nation. The Southern construction was that 1t Is federal republic of delegated and restricted MT. Pugh and every other secessionist held that 1t was impossible for the union to exist except in perpetual strife confiiot in the same government He, therefore, advocated secession, and he never dreamed but that 1t would be peaceable. Few men North or South looked for war, and fewer still desired 1t. R. M. T. Hunter. one of the most 1 enlightened statesmen of that epoch, said that war was too expensive to be angtg sh9qggh that would oest the the South. and he did not believe the stronger section would go to the ex- pense. Three years later the North was expending $6o0.oe0.o0o per annum
 And yet the war was nearly averted. Had Seward been President there Had not the south struck the first lick. there would have been no war. It was the work of fate--the whole thing. with drew from Congress. He became q private in the confederate army, and while serving as such was elected to war he practiced law, aud in 1874, he presided over the memoraDle State convention when the white people of would no longer be ruled by carpet baggers, scalawags and negroes. There was excitement; there was violence; there was bloodshed; but the white ever since. In 1875, MT. Pugh was member of the convention that formed a new State constitution. and hisA sage counsel was stamped on many of the sections of that instrument. In 1878, Governor Houston beat MT. Pugh for United States senator. but died after that MT. Pugh was chosen to succeed him and held the seat until 1897, period of seventeen years.
 Ii would require a volume to do justice to MT Pugh's services in the Senate. He was one of the very great borious. He became chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, a position that had been held by Thur heid SRo SR Hoar Station that iS0n is h Sg
 in the profession as Is the office of Attorney General of the United States or justice of the Supreme Court first Cleveland administration our country and Great Britain had row over the fisheries dispute. There was sidered in open Senate. I have been a visitor in Senate galleries for long
 time. but never before or since did witness such .a-twisting of the Brit
 ish lions tail" as during that debate
 Tn those days the Democrats were
 Anglomaniacs, and the Republicans
 issue at the time, and many good Re-
 publicans were ready to swear that
 they had personal knowledge of the
 fact that the only use England had changed. The Republicans are Anglo
 maniacs and the Democrats Anglo
 will swear that they were personally present and eyewitnesses to the trans action when England bribed the Amer of '7S" ~ f '0 '''''
 On this occasion-the fisheries dis pute-the debate was able and fierce.
 John James Ingalls, twisted the old
 beasts tail with furious vigor and
 savage cruelty, even for him. MT. Pugh defended the Democratic admin istration with great learning and skill and sent a Roland fo~ every Oliver, but before a vote was Ard. MT. Cleve- land withdrew the treaty
 One of the greatest State papers of the past forty years Is Pugh's report on the tenure-o office act, when the Republican Senate of the Forty-ninth Congress was not quite sure that 1t would permit Grover. Cleveland to be President of the United States. Hoar, Evarts and spooner all directed their ument, child of the brain Hf James l.
 Pugh. Later, when Harrison was President, the sedate, deliberate. judi cial debate in the Senate defeated the force bill of the Fifty-frst Congrss. George F. Hoar declared 1t would not and James L. Pugh did as much to ,orvinco the Senate that it was bad law and worse policy as any other senator.
 five, is vet with us, residing in Wash ington. He Is delightful old man. full of reminiscence, guileless as a child, Democratic as a hunting shirt. hon est as the sun. His mind Is all 1t ever was. his memory ,g6S1G Sa,,V a well spring of any sphere, and I make no doubt he would have been as great as Forrest on the stage.
 lite; on the contrary there Is every chance of gaining a friend.