The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-03-08
BUST OF RANSOM
INSTATEC CAPITOL
His Senatorial Life Was C0nse'
Grated TO Reconcile a Once
Divided People


The committee that recently uhuei
took to secure the funds to place ths
bust of General Matt WILKINSON IL
The State Capitol have met with Hull
announcement. There have been con
+rjbutions from a number and there i
no doubt hat the fund Will De SUN
cient. The committee hopes that ON
ers will desire to make q contributor
to his fund. 1t is desired that, III
stead of large contributions from q
few. there shall be contributions from
= large number. The committee mas
obtained from the family photographs
Of General Ransom, the death MASK
which friends had the foresight 70
have taken SO that a perfect likeness
may be secured. 1t is hoped TO nave
it completed and unveiled within the
mex year,
The greatest speech the late Sen
ator Ransom made during his long
term III the Senate was delivered IN
the Senate on the seventeenth day OF
February, 1875, on the subject, the
South Faithful to Her Duties The
Immediate question before the Senate
was the admission of p. B. S. Pinch
beck as Senator from Louisiana. He
had been elected by the negro and
carpet-bag Legislature, chosen under
the coercion of Federal arms, and the
contest over the seat in the Senate
lpaya1 Tisr7Iccfnu nf conditions
throughout the Southern States. Ger
tain Northern Senators had, in the de-
bate, declared that the South vas as
much opposed to the Union as during
the war, that the only peace was a
peace preserved by fear OF Federal
troops, and that it intended to destroy
the results of the victory by the Fed
eraI troops. h debate was at times
acrimonious and bitter. The most dis
tinguished gift that General Ransom
possessed-and he was s~ingularly gift
ed-was his genius at diplomacy. He
was a brave soldier, an eloquent ora
tor, and master leader Of men, out if
his life and abilities had been moulded
in the diplomatic service he had the
genius to nave ranked with the most
ilfustrious diplomats the world has
now 1t was after he had attained
the three scores n ten that he was
Ambassador TO Mexico-his only di-
plomatic post-but i'll that short ser
vice be displayed the gift that was his
crowning endowment.
IN the Senatorial debate Of 1875
General Ransom made his master eff
fort in defense of the South. He be-
gan by saying Il came from the true
State OF North Carolina to the Senate
Of the United States with q sacred
purpose to reconcile the once divided
people Of my country, to harmonic
all sectional differences and disputes
to bury in oblivion every bitter recof-
lection of Val, II TO convince tht
people Of the North hat our people
Of the South sincerely desired to live
with them in concord under the com
mon protection Of a constitutional ant
united government. Before this great
est and best desire of my life. the de
sire of having q part in restoring tn
Union OF the States firmly in tn,
hearts of all our people, all other pas
sions sank into insignihcance. This wa
the great object of my political exis
tence.' Continuing, Senator Ransom
said:
II accomplish it, no sacrifice seem
Cd too dear, except the dishonor o
my State and the South. I knew thi