The Tupelo journal., 1909-06-11
NO sEcTIoNALlsM IN NAVY
LIEUT.. COMMANDER MCCORMICK
MAKES HAPPY SPEECH.
Owing to Heavy Seas the Silver Ser
vice Was Presented to B~attleship
1T Pascagoula-Gov. Noel,
Mrs. Lockwood and Others
Make Addresses.

Biloxi, Miss.-In one burning sen
tence, Lieutenant Commander McCor
mick Tuesday morning focused the scat.
tered rays of patriotism and good sense
which have flashed internationally, North
and South, since the origin of the con-
troyersy over inscription of the Missis.
sippi silver service with the name and
portrait of Jefferson Davis, and kindled
in the hearts of those who heard him
a fire that will spread until it consumes
the last vestige of the r~odomontade and
folly which opportunists have sought to
base upon the incident.
"We have our codes for the determine.
tion of what is permissible and what is
proper in matters like this" he said in
the course of his speech accepting the
silver service on behalf of the battle.
ship. "Our civil codes, our moral codes,
our ethical codes, and when these fail
we may still resort to the great tri.
bunal of public opinion, which is SO
rarely wrong in the aggregate. But,
even when that fails US, we still have an
example of our enlightenment, the great
est example of all time, the example
of our Great Master. When his enemies
sought to entrap him we are told they
brought him a penny inscribed with the
name of Caesar, and they asked whether
it was lawful thus to honor Caesar
He told them simply render unto Caesar
things that are Caesars and l say tc
you all, render to Jefferson Davis the
things that are his" 90
The applause that followed shook the
.heater, until the lieutenant-commander
recognizing that he had struck so deep
ly into the heart of his audience that
another word would be sacrilege, bowed
and sat down amid a storm of hand
slapping and cheers.
The people of Mississippi themselves
feel, and they feel that their sentiments
will be shared by the unprejudiced every
where, hat he has said the final word
in this matter. His utterance was the
climax fttingly dramatic to the long
and uninterrupted series of happy incl
dents and timely words which have
marked the visit of the great battleship
to her sponsor state, and which have
welded at white heat the patriotic SYM
pathies of the people of Mississippi and
those of the crew of the war vessel
that bears her name.
The rough weather rendered it impos-
sible to carry out the original program.
The waters of the gulf were too rough,
it is alleged, to permit boarding the
battleship off Horn Island. So Capt.
Fremont, by wireless telegraphy, ordered
his lieutenant-commander to act in his
stead at the formal presentation, which
was by the same order transferred from
the quarterback of the battleship Mis-
sissippi to the Casino theater, in Pas
cagoula.
The honor thus delegated fell into diff
fdent, but capable, hands. Lieutenant
Commander Mccormick demonstrated
both his fitness for the trust and his
place in the hearts of the people OF
Mississippi in the response he made to
Mrs. Lockwood's able speech of presen-
tation. The various speakers were in
troduced by Prof. Linwood, of the Scran-
ton high school. After the invocation
by Rev. Father Rainey, chaplain of the
Mississippi, Gov. Noel was gracefully
introduced, and spoke at considerable
length, touching upon the history OF his
state, her war record, her industrial and
commercial and educational history, and,
in particular, upon the history OF the
movement to present the silver service
to the battleship. He spoke in unquali-
fed praise of the efficient patriotism
of Mrs. Lockwood, the lady member OF
the commission appointed to raise the
fund for the purchase of the service.
Mrs. Lockwood, declared Gov. Noel, had
not only raised most of the money by
her own efforts, but she had, up to this
time, paid all her W travelling and
other expenses incurred in the work.
There was one little matter which
Gov. Noel emphasized. When it came
to choosing the citizen of Mississippi
most distinguished in the history OF his
state and the building most thoroughly
characteristic of Mississippi, the COM
mission, the male portion of it, threw
I'D its hands. The choice was delegated
to Mrs. Lockwood and to Mrs. William
Yerger, representing the U. d. c. OF
Mississippi. At their suggestion, JEFF
ferson Davis was selected as the citi-
zen whose name and portrait should
adorn the silver service as most cred
liable of all the public men OF Missis-