The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-03-04
THE. NORTH CAROLINA SPIRIT
Address of Former Lieutenant Governor Francis ID.
Winston at Banquet Last Night.

There Is A North Carolina spirit
and the reason for il Is plain. North
Carolina has been since 1884 and Is
today purely A~nglo-Saxon. Less than
one-half OF one per cent OF our popu-
purest Anglo-Saxon community on the
lation is foreign born. 1t Is the
globe; and here we may expect to hnd
in the North Carolina spirit, the great
spirit, the great spirit Of the Anglo
saxon race. strong, unchanged, write
and Fundamental. 1t is even SO. From
the earliest settlement until this hour,
and may il be 80 forever the North
Carolina spirit has been. love OF lib
erty, with common sense to kno" IL
and courage TO III It.
STANDARD devotion TO liberty EaS
been the watch word OF our people
in all generations. 1t is n Key
that unlocks every puzzle III our his
tory. 1t explains the Regulators ana
the Hornets Nests, the ku klux Khan
and the Red Shirts. the amendments
20 the Federal Constitution guarantee
ing personal liberty and States rights,
the careers Of MAI Macon, Zeb Vance
and Charley Aycock and the recent
overwhelming Democratic majority
for Locke Craig and Woodrow Will
son In Colonial times it was our
rule, rat her than our exception, 10
resist and defy the eXactions and OPP
p~ressions Of our Colonial governors.
one of these officials after a hasty
departure from our borders. stopping
for rest and refreshment i'll the more
Ioval n hospitable colony Of VIZ
GINA. wrote To the Colonial office III
London that the people Of North
Carolina haVe run out 50 many C"!ch-
ial governors that they now really be-
iieve that they have a right to run
them out. At one time for a period
of six years the people of our eastern
counties. led by Bertic county. paid
no taxes. attended no courts. and rec
ognized no Colonial officials; but their
lives and industries went on peacefully
and grew and proSi,eied. IL they
could not have free government, they
would have none, but would govern
themselves in each community ac-
cording to the Fundamental rules Of
horse sense an1 fair pla. They
are still the basic rules OF Mort
Carolina government. The Mechlen-
burg Declaration. the Battle of Ala
nance, the E.lenton and Cane Fear
tea parties. were hat natural and
necessary c~ulfnination Of the North
Carolina spirit working andfermenting
through q century of resistance to OPP
preston. and finally exploding.
philosophic student Of history follow
ing events in North Carolina from
100 to 1870 would nave said within
the mex five years these people who
rave detied and resisted and driven
out SO many governors. who have re-
fused 10 pay unjust taxes. who have
driven judges from the co~urthouses
and held mock courts themselves
these people within five years will defy
Great Britain, will refuse to pay
taxes levied by the British Parlia.
ment. will fight the Battle OF Ala.
nance, and will proclaim to tht
world the M~ecklcnburg Declaration o
Independence. There is not hing won
derful nor incredible, nor impossible
about any Of these events. The OIl.
wonder is that they did not happei
sooner. The fact is they did happier
oOner they had been happening 70
fifty years in other forms. shapes an
guises The spirit that produce,
them the North Carolina spirit. wa
there all along and was manifestin!
itself all alonn in whatever was mos
effective. 1t was this same spirit tina
refused to enter the American Unto,
until guarant ees were given of .th
adoption of personal liberty an