The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-05-11

dustrial College has recently inaugu-
rated a series Of historical publica-
ions which. judged by the standard
set by the one now considered. should
render a valuable service 10 the people
OF the state. In appearance and me
chanicai execution. the publication IS
attractive and the college is to be con-
graduated upon an suspicious begin
ming.
Mr.. Robert ID. W. Connor, Secretary
or the North Carolina Historical Com
mission, is lecturer in North Carolina
History to the college. and the present
volume consists of his lectures deliv-
cred there in the spring of 1914. Mr..
name Oh a title page has
come to mean something very definite
in North Carolina; it always promises
contents worth while, scholarly. accu-
rate, interesting, and genuinely inter
pretive. This volume admirably full
fills every such promise.
Four Great Leaders.
As ante-bellum builders who were
typical. and yet more char typical. Mr..
Connor has selected the four great
leaders who were chiefly responsible
for the transformation of North Caro-
n from the unprOgreSsive. ii indeed
not retrOgrading. State of 1910 which
Jagged at the bottom in almost every
list of the States, save in that OF nat
ural resources and opportunity ito the
highly prosperous, genuinely progress
SlVe commonwealth of 1850. These
four are Archibald D.. Murphey. leader
of the first great agitation for internal
improvements and for public schools;
David l.. Swain, TO whose tact and
wisdom the West owed its victory in
1898, which made the execution of
MurpheyS plans a possibility: Calvin
Fl. Wiley. whose Skill as an organizer
a nd ont ~ SIC ~, for 4h0 49, 90 o11-
cation made the public choOl law of
1885 effective; and John NJ. Morehead,
the architect and builder of the great
transportation systems of the State.
AS Mr.. COnnOr says: This is a group
of constructive statesmen whose
craftsmanship is an instructive subject
G for study, whose achievements lie at
the foundations of our social and eco
f nomic life of today. and whose char
acters are an honor to our common
+ wealth."
The sketches of these men are no
biographical in the usual sense OF thu
word. In a better sense they are dis
tinctly SO. The author takes tn.
e larger significance of each life in re
d lation to its time and describes. dis
e cusses and emphasizes that, but give
only a mere outline of the othe
events which entered into the caree
of his subject.
h We thus have here -four interpreta
he lions, each definitely related to tn
IS others. the whole making whit is i
Ell effect a connected study of one Of tn
n most constructive periods in the his
r tory of North Carolina.
s; Archibald ID. Murphey.
I'd Archibald D.. Murphey, greatest G
re the four in intellect, in vision, and i
"a what we call natural ability, was Dor
lg too soon to be a builder in the na1
III rover meaning of the term. Few
lg however, would deny to him a place
DIS and an important one, among the chic
- of the architects of material and ir
80 tellectual North Carolina Denied til
z opportunity for much practical WOr
in construction. he was in vision til
first and greatest of the prophet
whose voice cried in the WILDERNESS
Of his native state, foretelling a ne
era and a new diSpensatiOn. His VIZ
the task Of enlightening his people (
1T to their wonderful opportunities,
~. arOusing them from the lethargy
"a their Indifference and self-depreci;
go ton, of inspiring them with ccafden'
tn in themselves and in their country,
Az awakening their pride and kindli
he fires of their ambition. To the a
complishment of this task, it is no e
aggeration to say that he brought
p more thorough comprehension of Il
natural resources of the : State,
.us clearer insight into her possibiliti
for development, a better understan
ing of her conditions and needs,
lge holder and more phllosophic grasp
ats the policies necessary tor her relief,
more abiding confidence in the grea
m ness Of her destiny, than any 9th
'or man of his generation
Murphey has the distinction
q standing As a creator in the first IA
both in respect to education and i
he ternal improvements His was no or
in sided. biased view. He did not I
~ lieve that a people could become gre
'oo from mere wealth without intellect
development: not did he believe TT
as wealth and material progress col
luit come without education. The TT
~ foundations of national prosperity a
naai rrm = Inaner;aI Inr