The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-01-25

o4C ottdSIOI, CdlIIll9 IL
"~beehlns," and justified himself by the
argument that if M-a-c-o-n spelled
b-a-c-o-n spelled "beek-
ms. We are not told that the argu-
ment was convincing.
A short time alter his wife's death
Mr. Macon entered upon hat public
service III which he was to win en-
during tame, and a larger measure
OF aflectlonate regard than falls TO
the lot OF most public men. At the
opening OF the first session of the Sec
ono Congress, on October %, 1871, he
COOK his seat as a member from the
warren district. At that time the
~Federalists were in oWe and already
committed to the open door theory
of constitutional Interpretation and to
the doctrine of implied powers Against
these Mr.. Macon was unalterably set.
The gentle Huguenot blood on the one
side with traditions Of kingly false
hood and Oppression; the hardy
pioneer strain on the other, with its
records of hardships and dangers
overcome, were a heritage of prepara-
ton for a life cast in herioc mould.
In 1864 that portion OF IN
which he lived had been cut off and
erected into the county of Butte. Here
his boykood witnessed the agitation
NSIiASil piS >SNoo liiS
from his very door went the Serious
address to the inhabitants of Can
ville," Only a little wa off at Hills
horo were the stirring events OF the
Regulation. From his own. Butte, by
the hand Of Thomas Person., went the
petition of his kinsmen and ~neighhors.
When, after years at the feet ii
Witherspoon where enthusiasm was
tempered by knowledge, he returned
70 i0;o - ~ rtr,,roIa Of jic / in -y1 - :
for liberty in the county of Butte
where there were no Tories" he
found at the head of the Committee
of Safety his old ~preceptor, Patillo.
and associated with him the man 0f
his own family-Ransom, Aston,
Hawkins. Greene, SeaWell, Johnston
and Jones. About him were men who
had conquered stream and mountain
and forest. who had established homes
Of virtue and industry and thrift,
who. in the Colonial Assemblies. had
proved themselves the equals Of tho
English governors sent to rule over
them, and who. upon this Sac"ad
ground and q hundred other battle
fields had shown their manhood IN
the face Of the hest soldiers Of Eu-
rope. Could a man born and reared
under such circumstances and AMONG
such men doubt thair canac1ty tor
sci oI lOOh Will q hS-
gree of patience upon the ACQUISITION
of power by %trickery in the interpret
tatiOn of the Constitution Not Ma
con. at any rate.
AS a member Of the minority, Mr..
Macon had little opportunity to pro
mote any important legislation IN
Congress, but here, as in the State
Legislature, he received early recog-
milton. His course was marked by
sound Judgment and industry, and by
a strict adherence to the Constitution.
His first real opportunity came in
the great political contest of 1893
1900, which ended in the fnal defeat
of the Federalist party. Judge Story
in his notable address on Marshall
gives this account of that struggle:
1.-The session of Congress in the win
ter of 1898 and 1900 will be forever
memorable in our political annals. 1t
was the moment of the final struggle
for power between the two great
political parties, which then divided
the country, and ended as is we'll
KNOWN. in the overthrow of the Fed
eral administration. Men Of the high
est talents and Influence were there
assembled and arrayed in hostility to
| each other. and were excited by an
the strongest motives which can rouse
the human mind, the pride of power,
the hope Of victory, the sense OF re-
sDcnsihility, the devotion to princi-
piles deemed vital, and the bonds of
| long political attachment and action.
Under such circumstances Gas might
naturally be expected) every impor-
tant measure of the administration
| was asraiied with a bold and vehe-
ment criticism, and was defended with
| nntiring zeal and frmnnss. Nc man
came ont Of this etru"e1n with Wo~n
distinction than Mr.. Macon. It left
him the recognized leader of his party
in the House of REPRESENTATIVES, and
Sneaker. He held this position during
three terms with entire Independence.
| and vet with satisfaction to all par
ties. His sickness and absence from
| MA &c prevented his further election.
In Mr.. Nacnn's Congressional career
| he was attentive and prompt in meet
ir~ every dutv. We may unote a few
instances Of the part he played AND
-. -s--,- Ln- nvA~ocCA1s