The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-01-20
TRIBUTES PAID
 ID ROBERT E LEE
0r. Woodrow Wilson Honors Memory of Great Chieftain
IS NATIONAL CHARACTER
Robert E. Lee Was Not Only a South erner, Says pr. Wilson, But Was a Son of the Whole Ameri-
 can Nation.

Chapel Hill, N. C., January 1S-'Many gratifying changes have taken place since the great struggle between the states in which General Lee played so conspicuous and distinguished a part, and one of the happiest thoughts of a celebration like this is that General Lee long ago ceased to be regarded as a sectional character; that he has been accepted, the country through, as a great American devoted in the time of his chief distinction to a particular cause"
 Thus spoke Dr. Woodrow Wilson, pres idenI of Princeton university at the Lee s birthday celebration at the University of North Carolina tonight
 The south does not begrudge him to the nation as one of it's great figures" he continued, "but it cherishes as section a particular and ardent affection for the gracious gentleman who led it's armies in the great contest which was fought regarding some of the essential questions of our constitutional life It loves to re- member all the qualities of greatness that were in him, how gentle and magnificent spirit dealt in the great soldier and how great a soldier 1t was who led her armies.
 we do not come together upon his birthday to praise him. 1t is not now necessary to assess and value him. It is rather our privilege and duty to speak of what he means to us in a new generation. We rehearse traits to quicken our own consciences and guide ourselves in times of stress and difficulty. There was no touch of the histronic about General Lee. His modest demeanor upon every field of action seems almost an attempt to with draw himself from sight He was in fact. like every man of supreme force, compact of fire, as Washington was Fire under control is the very emblem of force; uncontrolled it is the emblem of destruction; and this mans perfectly schooled and disciplined power is the model of what men who command should be.
 And so the life of General Lee means for us first, a vision of personal force, expressed not in terms of self-interest, but in terms of service; and, second serv- ice rendered in the spirit of the soldier, not only, but in the spirit of the soldier who is also a thoughtful citizen-a states man in the field.
 We are trying to form national policy concerning many difficult matters. Each political party seems to ask what will be most acceptable Some things are sufficiently plain. It Is plain that prin- ciple is the best for the country, rather than mere expediency; that the mere make-shift of the moment or the measure, which has no principle at it's foundation, will not in the long run eiJner command votes or cement parties. Unless l am greatly mistaken the only permanent prin- ciple of political liberty is the principle of individual responsibility and of indi- vidUal opportunity.
 "In the economic field the old order of work and enterprise has passed ut terly away. We must make use of combinations and of organizations upon a great scale, such as a past genera ton had not dreamed of. There must be governmental control but 1t must take the form rather of a clearing, or dering and policing of the field of in dustry whose object shall be the restor ation of a quality of opportunity, the removal so far as possible of the op- portunity the removal so far as pos sible of the opportunity for monopoly and. above all, a return to the prin- ciples of strict individual responsibil- ity.
 ''If we heed the example of such men as General Lee" said the speaker, in conclusion, i've shall subordinate our wills to a definite principle, serve not A purpose of destruction, not pur- pose of vengeance, but a purpose of conservation. Only by the conscious pursuit of such ideals and the conscious compuIsion of such standards shall we restore an age of liberty. self-respect and hope"