The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-02-12

GREAT PROBLEM.
r,od,y , nation pays tribute TO IN"
,.,., day of the greatest character
il, lie history. FURNISHED as are us
pages with the lives n "eeus an"
characters of those who nave ch!ae,Iu
their names in tine uilpeiis
marble of fame. Abraham i"'ie''",
who first saw the iGht OF daE anu
fcl1 n mothers kiss IN the ioS N'oi''
among the hills of Kentucky, mas o'eit
endowed by the generations "hN''
followed him with something more
than human attributes. Sotile''t''e
of the divine, something almost SAINT
IL, has been written into his character.
,l.troct;ny from the plain common
cons. intensely human qualities ana
,u,,c,iral Judgment of the omancipa-
,;,r linroln WAS great because OF
he greatness of his huamn attributes
NOT because of any supernatural en-
duwmcltS. D..
Ills rise from the condition IN
which he was born to the one Whlcii
he occupied when tho assassin s Dull
ln, ended his life, was II thtlfeIN
to his own efforts. his own honesty
and his own talents. He was no moro
gifted of heaven than millions OF ms
follow citizens. He stood out distlnc-
,iy, and conspicuous among them Tor
reasons which We're largely his own
making. The principles which be-
came the fundamentals of govern
man, nolicy were the results of his
practical common sense applied TO
.t-, l,.r l-r,nyN &C VOL rs
he. But while others like Charles
Summer and RevcrendN Johnson ana
Wendell Phillips We're striving Tor !;
solution of the great problem OF the
extension of slavery through rcd tape
and agitation and fanaticisin. l.lncoln
disreuardcd MI these II took II snort
en-, TO The very root of tho question,
which found expression in n oil ms
torso gems of statccraft hat the ma
tion could not exist half slave and hait
free. Blu with that great prlnclpie
i'm mind he assumed the duties oil OF
flee with the belief that he had no
nower under the constitution TO ms
~;arfcre with slavery in the states in
which it existed. He quoted from his
own previously published speeches in
his first inaugural as follows:
II have no purpose, directly or in
directly. TO interfere with the institu-
ton of slavery in the states where it
exists. l believe ] have no lawful
right to do and l have no inclination
tn do So"
Following his quotation from his
prediction speeches he said, those
who nominated and elected mo did so
with full KNOWLEDGE that l had made
NANNY similar declarations and had
NOT rccanted hem
There seems to he 4 conflict of hes
lief in these two ideas that would
place Lincoln in the light of Il trim
MGR and vacillating politician. Hut
this d~cducation is not correct. lie
knew that the conflict between the
slave and free states had reached the
point where n clash was inevitable.
1t had been tcrnporizod with and its
extension had been adjusted by means
of compromises, such as h Kansas
Nebraska bill, which only intensified
the bitterness and b~roadened the gap
between the two sections. He knew
that undcr the conflict between the
partisans of slavery and anti-slaNery
in the nation must be rent
i'll twain. That was the result that
he foresaw. Others ranted about tho
h%ideousness of slavery and painted its
horrows in words of livid fire. They
were the Missionaries of the times, im-
practical and guarded by fanaticism
rather than common sense. They de-
manded that slavery be struck a blow
hut when asked how h. blow should
lie dealt they were without an an
swcr.
Thc great problem which confront
cd Lincoln when he assumed the pres
idency vas to preserve undivided the
nation which he declared could not
exist half slave and half free. and yet
do so without violating the letter or
the spirit of the constitution which
he believed did not give him the pow
err to NEEDLE with tho institution in
the states in which it already existed.
That he accomplished the task with
out violating either his principles of
polity or his understanding Of the
constitutional limitations against him
marks him as the greatest executive
of the nation and the peer of any in
the history of human cndeavor.
When he freed the slaves it was
AS a military necessity and was done
under and by virtue of his power as
commander-in-chief of the army and
navy, and under his military rather
than his civil power.
No greater evidence of a construc-
tive statesman a be found in the
annals of the nation: no better appli-
cation of common sense to the honest
solution of Il great problem can he
produced.
= This qualification of Lincoln was
the result of the working out of his
W destiny as a man. He had met
and conquered obstacles from the
time he as a boy had accidentally
damaged the first book he had Dor.
: rowed to read and worked for the
> owner to recompense him for the
loss. 1t was the same method by
which he had as a lawyer confound.
ed the witness in a great trial by re.
, futing his testimony with an almanac
There was nothing supernatural about
:. any of them. 1t was hard common
sense applied to unvarnished facts
He v sought to be spectacular OF
dramatic or fanatic. He was the
cool. deliberative statesman looking
with clear and u~nprejudiced vision
upon the problems he had to solve
n once the solution was at hand to
apply it without fear of consequence.
and with a determination as strong