The National tribune., 1910-03-17
THE STATUE OF JOHN C. CALHOUN.

/
While John C. Calhoun was the au-
thor of the secession dogma and the
chief promoter OF the effort to destroy
the Union. the installation OF his statue
| in Statuary Hall is not nearly so objec-
uonable as that of Robert E. Lee. Cal
houn was a man of the highest ability
and he rendered great service to the
! country in various capacities. the bene-
| ut Of which remains. Upon his en-
trance into public life Calhoun was dis
tinctIy Nationalistic,- and for many
years labored hard and effectively to
build up the whole Nation. He was In
favor of National Bank. strongly sup
ported strengthening the Navy. and was
an earnest advocate of internal i'm
provementS for the purpose or binding
the Nation together. He also advocated
a protective tariff as q means to that
end by building up our home manu-
fdctures and making us self-supporting
! He reorRanized the War Department,
/ and put il on the basis which it has
since maintained. In 1920 he favored
the Missouri Compromise for the pur-
pose of holding the Union together.
! Therefore, we can accept his statue with
come grace in remembrance OF what he
l. did during those earlier and better
years. Calhoun's quarrel with Andrew
jackson started him on the wrong road,
which he pursued afterward with in
tense energy and entirely too much
success As the strongest intellect in
the South at that time. he furnished the
| arguments and the logic for all that led
to the arrogance of klavery and dissoiu-
! ton of the Union. Prior to his turning
lin 1924 all Of the leading Southerners
had been more or less strongly opposed
! to slavery. They regretted its existence
! in this country. and were looking for
ways III which il could he safely eradi-
Gated. Under Ca!houn's teachings the
advocates Of slavery became naughty
and aggressive. He taught that it was
IrelatiOns between the two races for the
benefit Of both. Seeing with keen vision
that the North was soon to overmatch
| the South in the control of the Govern
ment. he formulated the idea of bring
! ing about the separation which would
leave the Southern section Independent
! of the control of the North. Therefore.
he counseled his followers, and they
obeyed him implicitly, to foment strife
and hatred. He urged that slavery
abandon its defensive attitude and be-
come insolentiy aggressive in order to
drive the Northern people into hostility
| to the shareholders. He formulated the
notification doctrine, and carried It to
such an extreme as to make civil war
| imminent. Inheriting a keenly logical
| argumcntative mind from his Scotch
/ Irish Presbyterian ancestors. he fur
nished his followers the arguments with
which they supported their secession
0verturcs and their demand for the cx-
| tension Of slavery all over the country.
He was chiefly instrumental in bringing
about the annexation of Texas. not for
the aggrandizement of the whole coun-
| try, but in order to extend slave terri
tory and strengthen the South for the
irreprcssibIc conflict. He became so
extreme in his views and 50 determined
/ ~ y! OSDlNt Il tpAllSicI liEdt III 1ott ne
urged a convention of Southern States
to prevent Northern commerce enter
ing their ports unless the discussion of
the slavery question was prohibited, and
! two years later he urged convention
of the Southern States to consider the
grievances" Of the South and take steps
, toward "dissolving the partnership"
with the North unless these "griev-
ances" were rcmedied
Altho Calhoun furnished the greater
part of the intellectual capital for the
secession movement, he differs from
Cen. Lee in the fact that he never
actually struck in arms at United States
sovereignty and never led troops in bat
tie to kill and wound those who were
fighting for the perpetuity of the Ma
ton. This is a distinction TO be kept in
mind.