The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-09-28
Stirring Tribute to
 Memory Of Admiral

ter regaining his strength served in an important command of the naval batteries during the siege otvera Cruz He was then relieved from duty in the navy at his own request. was attached to the stan of General Worth as an aide de camp and served during the brilliant campaign of General Scott to part in the splendid victory of Cerro Gordo, in the rapid march to Pueblo. In the fierce engagements of Contre- ras. Churbursco. Moline del Rev and l Chepultepec, then marched with Worth's columns to the storming of Garita San Cosme and saw his. coun- l try's flag hoisted in triumph over the halls of the Montezumas. At the close | of the war he resumed his place in the navy. and with renewed energy and | enlarged experience applied himself to | the study of naval strategy and inter- national law. For his brilliant anl meritorious services during the Mexi- can war, he twice received the thanks | of the people of Maryland by joint
 resolution of its Legislature.
 Tn 1855 he was promoted to the grade of commander, served on the
 lighthouse board in several capacities. | colaborated with Mathew F. Maury ir l charting the winds and currents Of | every sea and ocean, and Simplifying l the science of navigation to the under
 standing of the most ordinary seaman. "1n 1861. when Alabama withdraw from the Federal Union, he promptly rendered his resignation as an officer | of the United States Navy and offered | his sword, his genius and his life to
 the service of the newborn Confed- eracy.
 Here, the narrative may pause for
 moment while we consider the prin- | ciples that impelled Admiral Semmes to withdraw from service to which he was devoted and which he had en- nobled by the highest professional ex- cellence. Southern statesman and ju- rists contended that our Federal form | of government was a voluntary union of sovereign States, having the, gen. eral government, called the United States, as the common agent of all. for certain well-defined purposes. which were expressed in a written constitu- | ton. Their theory was, that among sovereignties there were no interiors | that all were equal-that having vol untarily entered the Union. any one of | these sovereignties could withdraw whenever the common agent failed to accomplish the purposes for which it
 was constituted, and, of this failure, the | State was the sole and final judge. 1 They further held, that there was no
 such thing as citizenship of the United l States, but that being a citizen of a | State, a man owed his paramount alle- | glance to that State. and a secondary allegiance to the United States as long as his State continued in the Union. All the departments of the general government and of most of the States.
 recognized this theory as the true in- | depreciation of the constitution up tV | the time of Mir. Lincoln's election. In | fact, there were but few and feeble | dissents to the doctrine of State sov- l ereignty and a strict construction of | the organic law; and not until the war l was fragrant was its eoundness ser:- | ously called In question. Even since | the close of the war its correctness has been vindicated by the ratification o' the fourteenth amendment, which rad. ically changed the ancient rule as un- l derstood by three generations of states | men. By this amendment our para | mount allegiance is made due to the | United States. because 1t makes us, | first. citizens of the United States and, secondly, of any State in which we may choose to reside. If the old doc- | Urine was wrong and unsound, surely there was no need to change 1t by an l amendment so drastic and radical | | Southern officers of the army and navy acted upon the constit ntional principle | as 1t was understood and expounded prior to 1881. and not upon the reversal of that interpretation that was brought
 about in 1868 by the fourteenth amend l ment.
 High AttainMents.
 '1n addition to the highest profes- sional attainmentsi Admiral Semmes !, was Q profound constitutional lawyer, and the deliberate reflection of life- l time led him to the conclusion that his adopted State, Alabama, was in fact
 and law his sovereign, and to her he owed his first allegiance, He would
 have resisted to the utmost the sur
 render of any one of her prerogatIves of sovereignty, and, if living now, his political philosophy would be shocked
 at the thoughtless eagerness with which politicians of this day seek to enlarge and centralize the powers ot the general government at the expense of the States, until there will be but ldttle left for the States to do beyond educating the children in the public
 schools. trying culprits in the criminal courts and paying the salaries of care
 free ofice-holders. His soul would
 sicken at the wild vagaries of popu.
 usm, socialism and Anarchy that of
 late years have been masQuerading un- der ancient party names: and his pro-
 phetic eye would see our impending
 doom as c republic, unlesg tyrannical
 majorities can be restrained by consti-
 tutional power from destroying the
 natural rights of minorities.
 ."On reaching Montgomery, then the
 Capital of the Confectionery he was ap-
 pointed commander in the navy Of the
 Confederate States of America, and
 sent on a mission to the Northern cit
 les to purchase war supplies of all
 kinds and, if possible, to procure suit
 able steamers for putting into prac-
 tice his own strategy of destroying the
 perfect faith in his ability and integ-
 rIty of character-conhded to him the
 most important secrets of the new gov
 ernment and entrusted him with the
 weightiest responsibilities. He sue.
 ceeded in obtaining large supplies of
 arms, ammunition and other necessary
 war stores but failed to ind ships suit.
 able for his purposes.
 soon after his return, he accidental
 ly heard of a little steamer then lying
 at New Orleans, called Habana, and
 requested Mir. Mallory, the Secretary
 of the Navy. to purchase and equip her
 as vessel of war. This was promptly
 done and the command of her given to
 Semmes. Under his vigorous adminis-
 tration she was soon ready for sea
 service and on the S0th of June, 1861,
 == ssase--yul