THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 THE COLLECTION OF 
 NORTH CAROLINIANA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 Mrs, J. Ernest Erwin 
 
 C378 
 UK3 
 
nUiSI M ,?.'' "-^ " ="*PEL HIU 
 
 1 
 
 00039136568 
 
 FOR USE ONLY IN 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION 
 
Digitized by tlie Internet Arcliive 
 
 in 2010 witli funding from 
 
 University of Nortli Carolina at Chapel Hil 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/obligationsofculOObout 
 
[For the Press. Not to be released untill Wednesday 
 P. M,, May 31st] 
 
 The Obligations of Culture 
 To Democracy 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 HENRY SHERMAN BOUTELL 
 
 AT THE 
 
 ONE HUNDRED AND TENTH ANNUAL 
 COMiMENCEMENT OF 
 
 The University of xNorth Carolina 
 
 CHAPEL HILL, N. C. 
 MAY 31st, 1905 
 
 Washington. D. C. 
 
 GLOBE PRINTING COMPANY 
 
 1906 
 
Mr. President, Your Excellency, Officers and Members of the 
 
 University of North Carolina, Ladies am,d Gentlemen : 
 
 Something over forty years ago my father, in company with cer- 
 tain other gentlemen from the North, came without invitation, to 
 your State and was given a warm reception by the people of North 
 Carolina. In this way it came about that my first acquaintance with 
 your State began while I listened, as a boy, to the reading by my 
 mother of the letters sent by my father from Newbern in 1862. It 
 gives me therefore a peculiar pleasure to renew my acquaintance 
 with the people of North Carolina as the guest of your famous State 
 University on this happy occasion amid these inspiring sur- 
 roundings. Once more, Mr. President, let me thank you 
 for the honor conferred upon me in asking me to partici- 
 pate in these dignified ceremonies of your annual commencement ; 
 and let me also take this opportunity to express to the people of the 
 Old North State my gratitude for what they did not do to my father 
 and for the cordial welcome which they have accorded to me. Truly, 
 with the people of North Carolina, the hospitalities of peace are no 
 less sincere and far more attractive to the stranger than the hospitali- 
 ties of war. 
 
 Many of you can now recall the sad desolation that reigned 
 throughout the South forty years ago in this beautiful month of May. 
 Here the doors of your beloved University were closed, for her sons 
 were among the first to go to the front, and of those who returned 
 they were among the last. Their Alma Mater does M'ell to erect a 
 lasting memorial to those who 
 
 "Lived as mothers wish their sons to live 
 And died as fathers wi.sh their sons to die.'' 
 
 Almost within sound of your bell had just been enacted one of 
 the last scenes of our great national tragedy. Your homes and plan- 
 tations had been laid waste, your young men had perished, your 
 women were bowed down by a grief too bitter for tears ; despair was 
 storming the last stronghold of hope in the hearts of your bravest. 
 
5 
 
 Rut you ncvor ixuvc uj). To-day liow f,'l()ri(>us is tlie transformation 
 that your i)ati('ii((' and coniaj^c have wroufflit! Prosix'rity reigns 
 triuin])lianl llii'oujilioiit tlic Sontli. Von of North ('arolina have cap- 
 liH'cd tiic mills of the Xortii aii'' 'trought them to your cotton fields 
 and forests. In tliis reawakening and industrial regeneration of the 
 South let me assure you that no one rejoices more heartily than do 
 your brethren of the North. Must we not all now feel, you of the 
 South and we of the North, that, through the fiery ordeal of civil 
 strife we were reunited as a Nation, and strengthened and purified to 
 fit us for the fulfilment of the gi-and destiny that has been marked 
 out for us by the God of Nations? 
 
 A few weeks ago the graves of the soldiers of the CJonfederaey, 
 and yesterday the graves of the soldiers of the Union, brightened and 
 blos.somed once more with the tokens of love and emblems of immor- 
 tality ; and on many occasions during the past month those who of old 
 had worn the gray joined with those who wore the blue in honoring 
 their beloved dead. I hope that it is not too late for me to lay a 
 wreath of flowers from the State of Grant and Lincoln upon the 
 graves of those on whom your State has bestowed the proud title of 
 "First at Bethel, farthest at Gettysburg, last at Appomattox." 
 
 While I was casting about for the right topic for our considera- 
 tion to-day, I began to refresh my recollection of the early history 
 of your State, and I am afraid that I was tempted to select a subject 
 more in harmony with my own inclinations than in keeping with the 
 dignity of this occasion, for I soon found myself drifting pleasantly 
 through the purple mists of old romance. I had not gone far into the 
 old records l>efore I became convinced that North Carolina, in the 
 annals of the first two centuries of her life especially, invited the poet, 
 the novelist, the historian and the biographer into beautiful fields of 
 wonderful, ungarnered riches. Poets make many of our national 
 heroes ; and Massachusetts, my native State, has furnished the Nation 
 with most of our Revolutionary heroes; not because North Carolina 
 and the other States of the Old Thirteen had no heroes, but because 
 Massachusetts had the poets. I am afraid that there are New Eng- 
 landers who would feel offended if they should be told that Virginia 
 Dare was born in North ( 'arolina a generation before Peregrine 
 
White and Oc-e.inHS Hopkins saw the light of day in the cabin of the 
 Mayflower; or that the batth' of Moore's Creek Bridge was a far 
 more important engagement from a military point of view than the 
 battle of Lexington or the battle of Bunker Ilill. If the shot fired by 
 the "embattled farmers" at Ix^xingtou was "heard round the world" 
 surely the shots fired by Lillington and Caswell ought to have been 
 heard in Massachusetts. And yet only a few years ago a distin- 
 guished and scholarly Senator from Massachusetts confessed on the 
 floor of the Senate that he had never heard of the battle of Moore's 
 Creek Bridge. In the course of a century and more the sound of 
 those shots that won the first distinct victory of the revolutionists 
 over the tories had died away, because they had no Emerson to per- 
 petuate their music. 
 
 What rich and unused material awaits the imaginative artist in 
 the voyages to Pamlico Sound of Raleigh's adventurers; in the birth, 
 baptism and mysterious disappearance of the White Fawn of the 
 Roanoke; in Governor White's return to Roanoke to find his col- 
 onists vanished foi-ever, leaving only a single word carved on the 
 trunk of a tree ; in the pathetic experiences of the Palatines, driven 
 from their ancient city of Heidelberg by fire and sword, wandering 
 down the Rhine, finding an asylum in the outskirts of London and 
 finally taken by de Grafifenreid with his Swiss colonists to found the 
 city of New Bern on the edge of the wilderness ; in the trials and 
 triumphs of the Hugenots fleeing from persecution and finding 
 peace here; in the migrations of the Scotch Covenanters, the Mora- 
 vians, the dissenters from Virginia and New England, seeking and 
 finding freedom of conscience in the colony of North Carolina. 
 
 In the realm of history North Carolina seemed to me to be 
 as generous as she was in the field of romance. 
 
 The historian of our national development will do well to fol- 
 low the course of events in North Carolina that led up to the move- 
 ment for independence. 
 
 He will be stimulated by the accurate work already done by 
 Clark, Battle, Raper, Haywood, Clewell and other special investiga- 
 tors. There are some features in the history of North Carolina of un- 
 usual interest, and a popular trustworthy history of your State would 
 
9 
 
 be a valuable text-book in all our scliools and colleges. On the soil of 
 North Caroliuu were planted the first En<j;lish colonies on this con- 
 tinent; here the first English child was born; hither came in the 
 early days of the colony repi^'sentatives of many stronj; races, all 
 seekinji' and williiifi to t1};ht for freedom. North Carolina furnishes 
 illustrations of the workiujis of liotli the proprietary ^ovei-nment and 
 the crown jiovernment. The first armed opposition to the unjust ex- 
 actions of the representatives of the tory government took place here, 
 although as Haywood and others have pointed out the Regulation 
 movement was in no sense an attempt to overthrow the existing gov- 
 ernment. North Carolina was the first colony to instruct her dele- 
 gates in the Continental Congress to vote for independence, and many 
 important engagements of the war were fought within her borders. 
 The people of North Carolina were firm and outspoken in their op- 
 position to the Stamp Act and other encroachments of the crown, and 
 they warmly sympathized with the suffering patriots in Boston. I 
 wonder if the Massachusetts Senator who never heard of the battle 
 of Moore's Creek Bridge ever heard of the generous aid which the 
 people of Cape Fear and Edenton sent to the citizens of Boston in 
 1774, and of the cordial letters of thanks that were sent by the com- 
 mittee of which John Hancock and Samuel Adams were members? 
 
 The difl'erence of opinion among North Carolinians respecting 
 one event in the history of your State baffles the efforts of the out- 
 side seeker after historic truth. Unless some historian recovers that 
 missing copy of the Cape Fear Mercury, or finds a diary of Waight- 
 still Avery for the year 1775, as full and accurate as the enter- 
 taining record of his experiences in the year 1767, or discovers 
 some hitherto unknown letters from Joseph Hewes to his friend 
 James Iredell enclosing a copy of the document that Captain Jack 
 delivered to him in Philadelphia in June, 1775, it must remain 
 for the autlior of Wallannah or some other writer of the 
 great historical novel of your State to quiet all doubts 
 as to just what did happen in Charlotte during the last 
 thirteen days of May one hundred and thirty years ago But 
 whether the brave men of Mecklenburg met on tbe twentieth or the 
 thirty-first of May or on both days, whether thev adopted a Decla- 
 
11 
 
 ration or IJesolvcs or both, one thinfj is certain, both the men and 
 women of Mecklenburg, by their zeal for Independence in peace 
 and in war, well earned for their county the title of Hornets' Neat 
 which Cornwallis was stung into bestowing unon that patriotic 
 community. 
 
 To the biographer North Carolina offers many inspiring sub- 
 jects. What noble examples of brave, virtuous, useful living are 
 shown to the youth of our land in the lives of such men as Joseph 
 Hewes, the merchant-patriot, who gladly sacrificed his personal 
 interests, his health and finally his life in the cause of independ- 
 ence; James Iredell, the great lawyer and elocjuent advocate of the 
 Constitution, whose pamphlet on the causes of disaffection in the 
 Colonies, written when he was only twenty-five, deserves to be 
 ranked with the best literature of the Revolutionary period; Wil- 
 liam Richardsou Davie, one of the greatest men in an age of great 
 men — soldier, scholar, statesman, lawyer, philanthropist and 
 patron of learning. In reading his life I have been constantly re- 
 minded of the inscription on the tomb of Alexander Hamilton, 
 whose career Davie paralleled in many ways, "The Soldier of ap- 
 proved valor, the Statesman of consummate wisdom, the Patriot of 
 incorruptible integrity." The distinguished North Carolinians have^ 
 not all been included as yet in Pee^s excellent collection. 
 
 I became so interested in some of the half-forgotten portions 
 of the history of your State, that I had about made up my mind to 
 use this hour in recalling some of its romantic and heroic incidents, 
 when I chanced upon a book that changed the entire current of my 
 thoughts. It was a small, sheep-bound volume, with covers deco- 
 rated with dark blotches as if they had been made by a thumb 
 dipped in ink. It was printed at Edenton in 1789, by Hodge & 
 Wills, "Printers to the State," and is entitled "Proceedings and De- 
 bates of the Convention of North Carolina convened at Hillsbor- 
 ough on Monday, the 21st Day of July, 1788, for the purpose of 
 deliberating and determining on the Constitution recommended 
 by the General Convention at Philadelphia the 17th day of Sep- 
 tember, 1787." I had been familiar in a general way with the 
 attitude of North Carolina respecting the adoption of the Consti- 
 
13 
 
 tiition and had jilaiiccd tliroiifjh tli»^ procpcdinca of hpr conventions 
 in Elliot's Dcbalcs, but somf'thinj; pc^rliaps in the yellow time- 
 worn pa<;es and (]naiiit, old-fashioned type of this little volume 
 led me to read the I'roceedinfifs with great care. These Proceedings 
 ought to be used as a text book in every high school in North Caro- 
 lina, and every scholar ouglit to commit to memory Iredell's open- 
 ing plea for freedom of discussion, his eloquent and scholarly dis- 
 course on religious liberty, and Davie's opening argument in favor 
 of the adoption of the Constitution. I was greatly impressed by 
 the breadth, earnestness and penetration of the views of Johnston, 
 Iredell, Maclaine, Davie and the other statesmen who took part in 
 these discussions. They had firm, well-defined convictions respect- 
 ing the rights of the people, the functions of government, and the 
 distribution of powers between the people and the State and Fed- 
 eral governments. Then I was led, naturally, to compare the 
 present with the past and to note by comparison certain changes 
 that have taken place since the establishment of the Federal Gov- 
 ernment in our fundamental laws and constitutions. With these 
 thoughts in my mind it seemed to me that it would comport well 
 with the character of this anniversary if we should devote the time 
 at our disposal to a consideration of some of the more important of 
 these changes, noting those that have resulted from positive enact- 
 ment and those that have been the result of gradual evolution, 
 resting entirely in the popular interpretation of written laws. We 
 may then consider whither this tendency towards change will lead 
 us, and what are the duties and responsibilities imposed upon us 
 in view of new and changing conditions. 
 
 I know of no better audience in this country for such a discus- 
 sion than the people of North Carolina. You are the direct descend- 
 ants, without any admixture of alien blood, of the founders of our 
 government. Here, if anywhere, have been preserved inviolate the 
 traditions and principles of the patriots of '76. More than ninety- 
 nine per cent, of your people can boast of direct lineage through 
 North Carolinian forefathers. The State of North Carolina there- 
 fore occupies toward the other States of the Union, if I may be per- 
 mitted to coin a phrase, the proud, the uuique position of contempo- 
 
15 
 
 ranpons ancestry. If, tlicrcfore, the cliau^t's that Jiave taken place in 
 our principles of government meet with vour approval, then we may 
 feel reasonably confident, that if the men who met at Ilillhorouf^h in 
 1788 could return they too would approve the changes ami hold that 
 they were demanded by chanfjed conditions. If, however, some of 
 these changes meet with your disfavor tlien we may well reflect with 
 care whether we have gained or lost liy departing from the principles 
 of the Founders. 
 
 I know that in these days of rapid national development there 
 are sonie statesmen who sneer at the wisdom of our ancestors and 
 rush toward an uncertain future with the words of Edmund Burke 
 on their lips: "Applaud us when we run, console us when we fall, 
 cheer us when we recover, but let us pass on, for God's sake let us 
 pass on!" But in my opinion we can not revert too often nor too 
 humbly to the teachings of those wise men of old who fashioned this 
 Republic for the perpetual preservation of liberty sanctified by law. 
 To the young men of this Univei-sity, especially to the members of 
 the graduating class, let me say that you Avill find no safer guides to 
 right living and useful citizenship than the lives and teachings of 
 those men who wrought nut independence and statehood for North 
 Carolina. 
 
 Let us now consider in detail some of the changes that have 
 taken place affecting our institutions and the rights and privileges 
 of the people. In the first place then, there has been a great change 
 in the relation of the people to the government resulting from a 
 gradual removal of the ancient restrictions surrounding the tenure 
 of public oflice and the exercise of the franchise. By those who 
 framed and approved the Declaration of Independence, the privilege 
 of voting and the privilege of holding office were not regarded as 
 among the natural and inalienable rights of man. 
 
 The first Constitution of North Carolina, for example, adopted 
 in 1776, provides that no one shall hold a civil office in the State who 
 does not believe in the Protestant religion. All the principal officers 
 in the State must be landholders. The Governor must possess a free- 
 hold of over one thousand pounds. Senators must own three hundred 
 acres in freehold, and members of the House of Commons one hun- 
 
17 
 
 (Ircd acres. No ono could vote for State Senators who was not pos- 
 sessed of tiftj' acres in freehold, and those votin}^ for members of the 
 House of Connnous must be tax-payers. It is worthy of note that 
 North Carolina had no franchise restrictions based on race or color. 
 In Illinois on the coiilrary, pri(ir (o tlic adoption of the Constitution 
 of 1S70, only white men could vote. 
 
 After the Civil War many of the States, North and South, 
 adopted new Constitutions and through these constitutions and 
 throufiii amendments to the constitutions of other States there was a 
 •general broadenin};- of the franchise throufihout the entire country. 
 In some States the franchise has been conferred upon women and 
 in a few it has been extended to foreigners who have declared their 
 intention to become citizens. The question has often been discussed 
 of late years whether unrestricted suffrage has been productive of 
 unmixed good. 
 
 In some States of the South and in some of the larger cities of 
 the North universal suffrage has seemed to be responsible for much 
 deplorable misgovernment. ^lany of the States of the Union have 
 now returned to a policy of restricting the franchise, but by educa- 
 tional instead of by the old property qualifications. One of the 
 gravest problems that now confronts the people of this country is the 
 problem of securing good government in our large cities. There are 
 thoughtful students of this problem who think that the Southern 
 States have set an example which should be followed by our north- 
 ern cities, and that in municipal elections the franchise should be 
 limited to those who pay taxes. Inasmuch as our municipal, govern- 
 ments are organized for the purpose of raising revenues to be ex- 
 pended for the common good, much can be said in favor of limiting 
 the right to select those who shall spend the money, to those who con- 
 tribute to the fund. The American people, however, in theory at 
 least, believe in the principles of pure democracy and the present 
 tendency among us is to regard tenure of office and the exercise of 
 the franchise as rights and not as privileges. In the ideal democracy 
 all citizens enjoy equal rights and equal privileges, but in the 
 ideal democracy there are no ignorant citizens. Universal education 
 therefore should go hand in hand with universal suffrage. The duty 
 
19 
 
 of the State is manifest. It should i)rovicle ample educational facili- 
 ties free to all, prohibit child labor and make primary education 
 compulsory. 
 
 But let us not delude ourselves into the belief that all the 
 enemies of the State are illiterates, or that those who cross the line 
 by which statisticians separate the illiterates from the literates, put 
 on at once the <:jarments of personal virtue and the robes of civic 
 purity. There can be no question, however, that education is the 
 haudmaiden of virtue and that vice consorts chiefly with ignorance. 
 We are justly proud of our free schools, but they are not free to those 
 who are kept away from them by the necessities of bread-winning. 
 Let me suggest to those who are interested in the cause of public 
 education that it is well within the functions of the State to provide 
 scholarships which will enable young men of exceptional talents, Avho 
 otherwise would be unable to complete their education, to attend the 
 high schools and the universit}'. It should be the prime object of all 
 our schools and colleges to cultivate in the minds of their pupils 
 lofty ideals of citizenship, reverence for the laws, respect for the con- 
 stituted authorities, and a spirit of devotion to the Republic like 
 that which animated the noble-minded Hewes when he wrote, in fail- 
 ing health, from his post of duty to his friend Iredell, "My country 
 is entitled to my services, and I shall not shrinlv from her cause, 
 even though it should cost me my life." 
 
 Our seminaries of learning should take a fearless stand against 
 the rising tide of cynicism and materialism and should fight the 
 prevalent disregard of the laws and contempt for our national tradi- 
 tions with all the weapons that culture can command. 
 
 You young men who are about to enter the ranks of active citi- 
 zenship, remember your debt to your fathers and your obligations to 
 posterity, and so live that you may transmit your fatherland not only 
 not less, but greater and l>etter than it was transmitted to you. 
 
 Let us now consider some of the deviations from the original 
 scheme of government that have resulted, not from actual changes 
 in the form of our fundamental laws, but from the interpretation and 
 execution of certain provisions of our constitutions. One of the most 
 familiar examples of departure from the original design of the 
 
21 
 
 framers of tlio Federal roristitntion is tho prosont mothod of elect- 
 iufi' the I'rcsidciil and Vicc-l'n'sidcnt of the United States. It was 
 supposed tiiat, iiiidcr (lie provision of the Constitution respecting 
 presidential eieclions, even as altered \)\ tlie Twelfth Amendment, the 
 electors should exercise their individual judgments in voting for 
 Pi'csident and Vice-President. In the debates concerning the adopt- 
 ion of the Constittuion it was urged in favor of the provisions for the 
 election of the Executive that as the electors would be representative 
 men of wisdom and experience, and as no elector would kijow for 
 whom the others would vote, the man who received the majority of 
 the votes would certainly be the one best fitted to discharge the duties 
 of the high office for which he had been chosen by the free vote of 
 representative men from the various States. This delegation by the 
 people to a body of select men of the power to choose executive and 
 other officers was a familiar feature in the early State constitutions. 
 To take another illustration from North Carolina, your Constitution 
 of 1776 provided that the General Assembly should elect by joint 
 ballot the Governor, judges and attorney-general. The tendency dur- 
 ing the past hundred years has been to do away with this delegation 
 of power and to place the selection of all officers in the hands of the 
 people. The people wished to vote directly for President and they ac- 
 complished their jjurpose without any change in the language of the 
 Constitution, by the simple device of nominating President and elec- 
 tors by party convention.s. The duties of the electors are now purely 
 formal and consist in registering the will of the people expressed in 
 these conventions. 
 
 This disposition on the part of the people to resume their right 
 to choose all officers directly has led to changes in the method of 
 selecting judicial officers in most of the States. In the older States 
 the judges were originally appointed by the Governor or chosen by 
 the Legislature for life. This was true in North Carolina, and even 
 (he justices of the peace were appointed bv the Governor for life. 
 In the majority of the States now the judicial officers are elected 
 by the people for a term of years. At the present time there are 
 many who advocate an amendment to the Federal Constitution so 
 that the judges of the United States Courts may be chosen for 
 limited terms by popular vote. 
 
23 
 
 It is worth while to rfcali tiiat even .Tefffrson and the meniberR 
 of his school of political tlion}:;ht regarded the life tenure of the 
 judiciary as essential to the stability of the State and National 
 {loveruinents. In spcakluj; of the Federal judiciary Jefferson said: 
 "This is a body which if rendered independent and ke|)t strictly to 
 their own department, merits great confidence for their learning 
 and integrity. In fact, what degree of confidence would be too 
 much for a body composed of such men as Wythe, Blair and Pendle- 
 ton? t)n characters like these the ^civium ardor praia juhcntium'' 
 would make no impression." In his draft of a constitution for the 
 State of A'irginia Jefferson provided for a life tenure for all judi- 
 cial oflticers. In July, 1776, he wrote to George Wythe : "The dignity 
 and stability of government in all its branches, the morals of the 
 people and every blessing of society depends so much upon an up- 
 righi and skillful administration of justice that the juidicial power 
 ought to be distinct from both the legislative and executive and 
 independent of both, that so it may be a check upon both as both 
 should be checks upon that. The judges therefore should always be 
 men of learning and experience in the laws, of exemplary morals, 
 great patience, calmness and attention; their minds should not be 
 distracted with jarring interests, they should not be dependent 
 upon any man or body of men. To these ends they should hold 
 estates for life in their offices. Or, in other words, their commis- 
 sioas should be during good behavior." 
 
 If Davie, Madison, Fisher Ames, Alexander Hamilton and the 
 other great Federalist leaders could revisit the scenes of their la- 
 bors and triumphs they would marvel of course at the magnitude 
 and strength of the mighty nation that has developed out of the lit- 
 tle Republic which they founded, but our national instinct would 
 come to their aid and they would quickly accustom themselves to 
 our mere bigness. A few things however we mav be sure would 
 continue to surprise them. It would be difficult for them to com- 
 prehend the great increase in the power exercised by the Federal 
 Government in all its departments, not only in extent but in char- 
 acter, and the corresponding diminution in the influence and 
 dignity of the State governments. The feature of the change that 
 
wimld be most dinicnlt fur lliciii to iiiidcrstaiKl would be the ap- 
 parently abnormal influence of tlie United States Senate as a body 
 and the present attitude of the senators towards the lejjislatures 
 that elected them. If they could read in the papers that the Senate 
 had recently failed to act upon a measure that had been recom- 
 mended by the President, had passed the House of Kepresentatives, 
 and had been endorsed by many of the State Legislatures, they 
 would rub their eyes in bewildeniient. Ames would recall with 
 Tonsternation his speech in the Massachusetts Convention on the 
 functions and powers of the Senate, and Davie would repeat in 
 confusion his words spoken in the North Carolina Convention, "The 
 confidence of the people acquired by a wise and virtuous conduct, 
 is the only Influence the members of the Federal Government can 
 ever have." 
 
 During- the first three-quarters of a century of our national life 
 the governorship of the smallest of the States was considered an 
 ofilice of more dignity and influence than the senatorship from the 
 largest State. Perhaps the best evidence of the relative importance 
 that was popularly attached to these offices, is the opinion, ex- 
 pressed in the most emphatic manner possible, by many incum- 
 bents of the two positions. Prior to 18fi5 many Senators showed 
 the estimation in which they held the office to which they had been 
 chosen by resigning, some to make the race for Governor, others to 
 accept what their successors in the Senate at this dav would term 
 minor offices. In the first Congress Senator Paterson, of Xew 
 Jersey, resigned to become Governor of his State, and Senator 
 Johnson, of Connecticut, to become President of Columbia College. 
 Josiah Bartlett, of New Hampshire, one of the signers of the Dec- 
 laration of Independence, declined eletcion as United States 
 Senator in the first Congress in order that he might become 
 President of New Hampshire. Harrison Gray Otis, and John 
 Davis, of Massachusetts, Robert Y. Hayne, of South Carolina, Wil- 
 liam L. Marcy and Martin Van Buren, of New York, Alexander 
 Mouton, of Louisiana, and others left the Senate for the Governor- 
 ship of their respective States. William Cary Nicholas, of Vir- 
 ginia, resigned from the Senate to become collector of the port of 
 
27 
 
 Norfolk; David Stone, of North Carolina, to betomc judge of his 
 State Supreme Court; Richard E. Parker, of Virginia, to become 
 judge of the Court of Appeals of his State; Asa Briggs, of North 
 Carolina, to become United States District Judge; the famous 
 Charles Carroll, of CarroUton, to become a State Senator; James 
 Watson, of New York, to accept the post of United States Navy 
 Agent, and Theodorus Bailey, New York, to accept the position of 
 postmaster at New York City. John Taylor, of South Carolina, 
 showed his understanding of which was the lower house of Con- 
 gress by resigning from the Senate to take a seat in the House of 
 Representatives. One of the most striking illustrations of the 
 comparative estimate placed upon the senatorship and the gover- 
 norship is offered by the action of the two Senators from Missis- 
 sippi in 1851. In that year Jefferson Davis and Henry Stuart Foote 
 both resigned from the Senate to canvass their State as rival can- 
 didates for the governorship. 
 
 As a final illustration we may take the case of N. P. Tallmadge, 
 of New York. In 1844 he gave up his seat in the United States 
 Senate from the Empire State to accept from President Tyler the 
 Governorship of the Territory of Wisconsin. If you wish to realize 
 fully the extent of this change that we have been considering try 
 to picture to yourselves the spectacle of a Senator from New York 
 at the present day resigning his seat in the most powerful legis- 
 lative chamber in the world to become Governor of Alaska or 
 Oklahoma. During the last forty years few Senators of the United 
 States have resigned and not one has left the Senate to become a 
 Governor. Formerly the Senatorship was regarded politically as 
 a stepping-stone to the Governorship; of late years the Governor- 
 ship has been looked upon merely as a stepping-stone to the Senate. 
 There have been many instances where Governors have left their 
 offices to step into the Senate. Wisconsin and Tennessee have fur- 
 
 E' ed such an illustration within the past few months. 
 Side by side with this increase in the power and influence of the 
 ite there has developed a radical change in the relations between 
 
 the individual Senators and the Legislatures that elected them. In 
 the opinion of the framers of the Federal Constitution the Senators 
 
29 
 
 wero to rrprcsciit in tlio national <i()V('nuii(Mit tlio interests of sover- 
 ei<;n States. They stood for tlie States, and stainlinj^- for tlie States, 
 they wiTe to j^uard af;ainst eneroaclnnents hy (lie ^^'de^al n|)on the 
 States fioverniuents. They were referred to as anibassadoi-s hy even 
 sueli an ardent Federalist as Ames. Senator Tazewell, of Vir- 
 ginia, havinf^ heen offered a seat in the (Cabinet of President Jackson, 
 said in reference to his refusal of the offer: "Having been elected a 
 Senator, I would as soon thiidc of taking a i>lace under George IV if 
 I was sent as minister to his court, as I would to take a jilace in the 
 Cabinet." 
 
 While this view of the senatorial ottice ])revailed it was not un- 
 common for a State legislature to express its wishes to its Senators 
 in Congress by instructions or directions which the Senators were ex- 
 pected to comply with. If for any reason they were unwilling Vi 
 comply it was customary for them to resign. It Mas a difference of 
 opinion between Senator Tyler and the Legislatures of Virginia 
 that led to the Senator's resignation in 1836. 
 
 North Carolina has furnished a most interesting example of the 
 relation that formerly existed between the State government and its 
 representatives in the United States Senate. As no connected narra- 
 tion of the incident has been published, so far as I am aware, I can 
 not refrain fi'om giving in detail the documentary history of the case 
 as I have been able to gather it from an old file of the North Carolina 
 Standard. In 1838 Robert Strange and Bedford Brown were the 
 United States Senators from North Carolina. They had voted to ex- 
 punge the resolutions of the Senate censuring President Jackson. 
 On December 1, 1838, these resolutions were passed by the General 
 Assembly of North Carolina : 
 
 Whereas, we believe that a great crisis has arrived in the politi- 
 cal history of our country, on the issue of which we conceive the safety 
 of our free institutions to depend; and whereas, we consider it our 
 bounden duty, as the representatives of the Freemen of North Caro- 
 lina, to express in calm, and dispassionate language, our opinions on 
 the great questions, which have been for some time, and some of 
 which still are agitating the public mind : 
 
 Resolved, therefore. That this General Assembly do condemn in 
 the most decided manner, the act of the Senate of the United States 
 
31 
 
 <^xpun}iinf;- tlic n-conls of llial liody, as a i»ali)alil(' violafioii of tlu» 
 plain letter of the Constitution, and as an act of party servility, cal- 
 culated to dejirade the character of the Weiiate. 
 
 Ursolrcd, That resolutions ouj;ht to he passed hy the Senate of 
 the United States, condemnatory of that act, and rescindinf;- the reso- 
 lutions authorizinf'' it to he done. 
 
 Rcsolrcd, That this (Jeneral Asseiuhly do condemn the sub- 
 treasury system, which the administration is endeavoring to estab- 
 lish, as another item in that series of fatal experiments, of this and 
 the past administration, which are the main source of that derange- 
 ment in the currency, and prostration of commercial credit, which 
 have been so severely felt of late in every branch of industry — and 
 which if sutTered to become a law, will, by its tendency to augment 
 executive power, to unite the purse and the sword in the hands of the 
 executive, and to destroy the credit system, by the exaction of specie 
 in the Government dues, ultimately change the real character of our 
 Government, and place in peril the liberties of our country. 
 
 Resolved, That we consider the public lands of the United States, 
 as the common property of all the States, and that we therefore con- 
 demn the late act of Congress, allowing settlers on the public lands 
 the right of preemption at the minimum price, as an act of gross in- 
 justice to the old States, who originally ceded them, or who con- 
 tributed to a common fund for their purchase. 
 
 Kesolred, That we believe that the ju-oper and equitable disposi- 
 tion of the public domain, is, to divide the proceeds arising from their 
 sales, among the several States of the Ihiion, according to the ratio 
 of their Federal population. 
 
 Resolved, That we do most solemnly protest against the wasteful 
 extravagance of the present administration, and their profligate ex- 
 penditure of the public money, which not only creates a demand for 
 heavy taxation, in order to meet the exorbitant appropriations of the 
 General Government, but which tends to the corruption of public 
 morals and the degradation of the national character. 
 
 Resolved, That the power and patronage of the executive depart- 
 ment of the Federal (Jovernment, have increased to an alarming ex- 
 tent, and ought to be diminished. 
 
 Resolved, That our Senators in Congress, will represent the 
 wishes of a majority of the people of this State, by voting to carrv out 
 the foregoing resolutions. 
 
 Resolved, That the Governor of this State be requested to for- 
 ward a copy of these resolutions to each of our Senators in Congress, 
 with a request that they lay them before the Senate of the United 
 
33 
 
 States, and ono to oach of the Oovcrnors of tlio spv(>ral States of tlie 
 Union, with a request that (hey hiy tlieiii before their resi)ective h^gis- 
 latures. 
 
 A few weeks after the i)assage of tliese resolutions this letter was 
 laid before the (Jeneral Assenil)Iy: 
 
 ]\'ashiii(;toii ( 'iti/, Decemher ■31st, 18,iH. 
 To the Honorable the (Jeneral Asseitihli/ of North Carolina. 
 Oentlemen : 
 
 Having learned from unoffieial sources, which, however, leave 
 no doubt upon our minds of the correctness of their information, that 
 certain resolutions have passed your honorable bodies, expressive of 
 the opinions of a majority of each of them upon political matters, 
 some of which have been and others still are pending before the coun- 
 try, we have been induced to anticipate their coming to hand, and 
 respectfully address yon concerning them. In thus anticipating the 
 reception of a copy of the resolutions through an official channel, 
 we trust that an apology will be found in the information we have 
 received of the intention of the Legislature to adjourn at ap early day. 
 The resolutions do not expressly instruct us to carry into effect the 
 opinions expressed therein, nor are we able to perceive in them im- 
 pliedly any authoritative command such as instructions convey. We 
 are therefore left to infer that it was the intention of the General As- 
 sembly not to assert or exercise the right of instruction, from the 
 absence of the mandatory terms heretofore used, when the General 
 Assembly of North Carolina has thought proper to resort to it. The 
 ground heretofore occupied by us, is wholly unchanged and scarcely 
 needs recapitulation ; we have publicly declared that whenever in- 
 structions are given us by the Legislature, we will either obey them, 
 or resign. 
 
 We therefore respectfully ask of your honorable bodies, if we are 
 wrong in our construction of the resolutions, that we may be set right 
 in time to act as becomes the position in which we stand. With a 
 view to prevent any misinterpretation of our motives, we disclaim 
 any intention of disrespect to the Legislature, considering it not only 
 a duty to ourselves, thus respectfully to make this request, but that 
 we owe it to the people of the State of North Carolina, whose inter- 
 ests have been confided to us in the Senate of the United States. 
 
 We have the honor to be, with great respect. 
 Your ob't servants, 
 
 ROBERT STRANGE, 
 BEDFORD BROWN. 
 
35 
 
 This lotter from (lie Senators liroufjlit forth the following reso- 
 Intion which was passed bv tlie Legislature on January 5, 1839 : 
 
 -' RcHolrrd, That the resolutions passed by the CJeneral Assembly, 
 and transmittenl to our Senators in Congress, are suflfioiently plain 
 and intelligible to be <'omprehended by any one desirous of under- 
 standing them, that we believe this eommunieation antieipating the 
 reception of said resolutions, and making inquiry as to their mean- 
 ing, is not in good faith, and that it would be inconsistent with the 
 self-respect of this General Assembly, to make any reply to it. W 
 
 The Senators, after full consideration, were doubtless satisfied 
 that the legislature was in earnest and that the resolutions were 
 intended to be mandatory instructions, for in the following year 
 they resigned. 
 
 There has been no recent instance of a State Legislature is- 
 suing mandatory instructions to its United States Senators and 
 offering them the choice of compliance or resignation. On the con- 
 trary there is in some States a growing tendency on the part of the 
 Legislature to follow the instructions of the Senators. This reversal 
 of the relations that formerly existed betw^een the State Govern- 
 ments and the United States Senators has come about without any 
 amendment to theGonstitution or other legislation. The States have 
 gradually but voluntarily relinquished their ancient prerogatives. 
 And now, as a logical outcome of this renunciation by the States, 
 comes the demand from many quarters for the election of United 
 States Senators by popular vote. In the Massachusetts Conven- 
 tion of 1788, Fisher Ames, ardent Federalist though he was, char- 
 acterized the election of United States Senators by the people as 
 an absurdity, repugnant to the Federal principle of the Consti- 
 tution. If Senators ceased to represent their State Legislatures 
 "what,'' he asked, "would become of the State Governments, or on 
 whom would devolve the duty of defending them from the encroach- 
 ments of the Federal Government?" He gave his own answer. "A 
 consolidation of the States would ensue, which it is conceded, would 
 subvert the new Constitution." To-day the truth of the contention 
 of Ames is apparent, but the people in many States do not seem to 
 fear the result of the destruction of the federal principle. The 
 Legislatures of fifteen States, including North Carolina, have 
 
37 
 
 passed resolutions favorinj; an amondnicnt to the Federal Constitii 
 tion to provide for the choice of United States Senators by popular 
 vote. This proposition passed the Tlouse of Kepresentatives in the 
 tifty-sixtli (\)n<;ress bv a lar<;e majority, tiie delegation from North 
 Carolina votinji unanimously in its favor. 
 
 Public sentiment is driftin}>- rapidly away from the old prin- 
 ciple of a federal union of locally independent democracies, and 
 towards the establishment of one absolute national democracy. 
 It is sifiniticant of the strenyih of this current of popular opinion 
 that the movement in favor of the destruction of the most charac- 
 teristic feature of the federal system, should receive its greatest 
 impetus in those States that formerly were the most zealous in up- 
 holding the dignity of the State Governments. 
 
 Let us now pass to the consideration of the exercise of the* 
 Federal Government of powers not expressly granted to it by the 
 Federal Constitution nor contemplated by the framers of that in- 
 strument. The most striking illustration of the exercise by Con- 
 gress of unexpressed power is the imposition of excises or internal 
 taxes for other than revenue purposes. The excise was the most 
 unpopular form of taxation with our ancestors. Many statesmen 
 among them thought that this source of revenue should not be 
 given to Congress. The first armed insurrection against the Federal 
 Government grew out of opposition to the first internal revenue 
 tax. As late as 1811 Jefferson in discussing the excise said, "I hope 
 the death blow to that most vexatious and unproductive of all 
 taxes was given at the commencement of my administration, and 
 believe its revival would give the death blow to any administratiou 
 whatever." In the North Carolina Convention Spencer said: "I 
 would give to Congress the power to lay and collect excises, but I 
 confess that this is a kind of tax so odious to a free people that I 
 would with great reluctance agree to its exercise." What would 
 these gentlemen think had come over the spirit of their country- 
 men if they could now see them accepting calmly, indifferently 
 even, internal taxes imposed, not for the purpose of raising reve- 
 nue, but for the purpose of vesting in the National Government the 
 regulation and control of the manufactures, trade and commerce 
 
39 
 
 of the country with the intoiitiou of upbuildiny some iudiistries and 
 destroying others? And yet such is tlie i-haracter of many laws 
 i^cently enacted by roujiress. On their face they are revenue 
 measures, in reality they are trade reuulations. The oleomargarine 
 tax was avowedly designed to destroy one domestic industry for 
 the benefit of a competitor. 
 
 The Supreme Court having sanctioned and the people having 
 approved this use of the taxing power by the Federal Government 
 we may expect to see it rapidly extended. By the use of this power 
 Congress may, under the guise of raising revenue, destroy an in- 
 dustry expressly authorized by one of the States. If this power had 
 been granted in express terms by the Federal Constitution that 
 instrument would have been promptly rejected by the conventions 
 of all the States. If Davie had suggested to the North Carolina 
 ratifying convention that such a power could be inferred from the 
 language of the Constitution, Spencer could have led a unanimous 
 vote against its adoption. Now, however, a majority of the people 
 of the United States has approved, through its representatives 
 in Congress, the use by the Federal Crovernmeut of the power of 
 internal taxation for other than revenue purposes. To what extent 
 will this power be used in the future? It may be invoked to aid or 
 to ruin an industry, for regulating corporations and for the super- 
 vision of manufactures. It can, by nice discriminations in taxes, 
 build up an Industry in one State and annihilate it in another. In 
 the last Congress a bill was introduced imposing a nominal tax on 
 domestic wines of a certain grade, and a heavy tax on domestic 
 wines of other grades. The passage and enforcement of this meas- 
 ure would give to one State a monopoly of the wine culture of the 
 country and destroy the value of the vineyards in the other States. 
 It has been suggested that a tax of ten cents a gallon on petroleum 
 combined with a repeal of the present tax on alcohol would meet 
 with popular favor; that it would give the people a cleaner, safer 
 fuel and would destroy the oil monopoly; that if it did not the tax 
 could be increased until it did; that such a measure would also add 
 enormously to the riches of the grain-growing States. Putting aside 
 all question as to the worthiness of the objects now attained or that 
 
41 
 
 iiiiiy Itt" a((()in|)lisli(Ml in ilic rutiirc h.v this sort of Federal lojrisla- 
 tion, we may well ask whctlicr tliis extension of the powers of tbe 
 National (iovernnieni is not a wide departure from the desif^n of 
 tlie franiers of the Constitution, lias not Congress assumed the 
 exercise of powers that (»nr fatiiers tlioniiht could be exercised 
 more wisely and more safely by the State (iovernmeuts? They 
 (lioujilit that a nmjority of the people of all the States should in- 
 terfere as seldom as j)ossible witb tbe wisiies of a majority of the 
 people in any single State. Now, the wishes of a majority or even of 
 all of the people in one State fjive little concern to the majority of 
 the people of all the States acting through Congress. Before this 
 principle shall have received further extension let us take counsel 
 together and ask ourselves whether in this matter we are wiser 
 than the fathers. 
 
 Looking, for a moment, into the future, we can see that, if the 
 present agitation in favor of government ownership and operation of 
 railways and other public utilities, shall result in the apprcjval of 
 such a policy by the people, the walls of independent statehood will 
 rapidly be lowered. Can the Nation profit by a further circumscrib- 
 ing of the powers of the State governments? The doctrine of State 
 sovereignty as it was understood fifty years ago, never had a secure 
 place in the creed of the founders of our National Union, and for- 
 tunately it has now passed forever out of our calculations. But it 
 is as unfortunate as it was unnecessary that, in the passing of this 
 doctrine, the States should have renounced any of their ancient pre- 
 rogatives, or lost one whit of the influence and dignity which they 
 formerly possessed as equal, independent democracies in a Federal 
 Union whose health, vigor and permanency must depend upon the 
 conservation of the health and vigor of these separate democracies. 
 It was Fisher Ames, the New England Federalist, who said "Tbe 
 State governments represent the wishes, the feelings and local in- 
 terests of tbe people. They are tbe safeguards and ornament of the 
 Constitution, they will protract tbe i)eriod of our liberties, they will 
 afford a shelter against the abuse of power, and will be the natural 
 avenger of our violated rights." And it was Davie, the North Caro- 
 lina Nationalist, who said, *'If there were any seeds in this Consti- 
 
43 
 
 tution whuh niijjlit one day produce a consolidation of the States, it 
 would, sir, with me, he an insuperahle ohjection ; I am so perfectly con- 
 vince<l that so extensive a country as this, can never be managed by 
 one consolidated government. The Federal Convention were as well 
 convinced as the members of this House, that the State governments 
 were absolutely necessary to the existence of the Federal Govern- 
 ment. They considered them as the great massy pillars on which 
 this political fabric was to be extended and supported, and were fully 
 persuaded, that when they were removed or should moulder down by 
 time, the general government must tumble into ruins." 
 
 Since those impressive words were spoken our Nation has ex- 
 tended her domain beyond the hopes and dreams of her founders. She 
 has advanced the outposts of civilization and liberty far beyond the 
 reach of their prophetic vision, planting her standards in the wilder- 
 ness and in the islands of the sea. Through trials which they would 
 not have dared to contemplate she has only added to her strength. 
 She has assumed burdens that have tested the soundness of every 
 liber in her being; and she has stood the test without a quiver. The 
 United States is to-day the most potent influence in the world making 
 for peace among the nations. To all external attacks our Republic 
 is now impregnable. The only present dangers to the Nation are 
 from within. The more obvious of these dangers are, the difficulty 
 of securing honest, efficient government in our large cities ; a certain 
 almost fanatical worship of material wealth and the outward 
 manifestations of its power giving to money an unwholesome in- 
 fluence upon public sentiment, national ideals and the operations of 
 government ; and by far the most threatening of them all, the growing 
 centralization of governmental functions in the National Govern- 
 ment accompanied by a corresponding diminution of the powers of 
 the State governments. 
 
 We may confidently hope that the healing influences of time will 
 soon remedy two of these evils. 
 
 As the population of our great cities becomes more homo- 
 geneous and enlightened we shall solve the problem of municipal gov- 
 ernment without any deviation from the true principles of de- 
 mocracy. 
 
46 
 
 The iiiloration of Mnniinon is as old as the race and is quite 
 cliaractcristic of a new civilization in a country of boundless re- 
 sources. Hut with the spread of culture wealth will assume its 
 proper proportions in the eyes of the peojtie and lose its abnormal 
 influence. Time, however, seems only to strenf^then the tendency to- 
 ward (he concentration of jjovernmental functions. 
 
 In the brief glance that we have taken at some of the more 
 inuminent features in our national evolution we have noticed a 
 siKinji determination on the part of the people to establish in the 
 I States absolute democracies based upon universal suffrage; to con- 
 1 trnl, by popular vote, the choice of all officers, and to limit the ten- 
 II ; I' of all offices to a term of years. While these movements have been 
 lading on the people have allowed the States to lose many of their 
 original privileges. Rights which the States once exercised have 
 liccn lost or assumed by the National Government. There is a strong 
 drift toward the merging of the independent State democracies into 
 one national democracy. To check this tendency should be the aim 
 of every patriotic citizen. We must preserve in all its original purity 
 our Federal representative system, based upon healthy, robust local 
 governments. Upon the vital energy of the principle of local, self- 
 government depends the permanency of the Republic. I wish that 
 we could reach to-day with the words of Ames and Davie all the 
 young men of the Nation, upon whom rest the hopes of the country 
 for the next generation. Let us hope that some of them will hear us 
 and use their best energies in an attempt to restore to the people their 
 old pride and confidence in their local institutions. To. accomplish 
 this result should be looked upon as the first obligation of culture to 
 democracy. 
 
 And now-, in closing, Mr. President, let me assure you of the 
 great pleasure it has given me to meet with you and your co- 
 laborers and take part with you in these anniversary exercises. 
 Your University is known throughout the world by her alumni. 
 From the lives of those whom I have had the honor to meet I know 
 your high standard of character and scholarship. I congratulate 
 you therefore on the results of your work in the past and bespeak 
 for you an auspicious future of increasing usefulness. You and 
 
47 
 
 your associates have been called to a sacred office, for to the teach- 
 ers of our youth it is {jjiven to mould the character of those who 
 may become thf leaders of tlioufiht in our Nation. Of those in your 
 exalted calling it is written: "And the teachers shall shine as the 
 brightness of the fermament, and they that turn many to righteous- 
 ness as the stars for ever and ever.'' 
 
 Your Excellency, may I express to you as the representative 
 of the people of this Commonwealth, the enjoyment that I have had 
 in this visit to your State and the great delight with which I have 
 witnessed on all sides the evidences of prosperity, happiness and 
 progress. Your State is advancing rapidly in wealth. Your an- 
 nual revenues will steadily increase. You are spending liberally for 
 education, but you cannot spend too much. Ignorance never helped 
 an individual or a community. A system of free schools, culmi- 
 nating in a State University, is the best guaranty the State can 
 have of peace, order and stability. The list of the original incorpo- 
 rators of your ancient University is a most distinguished roll of 
 honor. You cannot more surely perpetuate the memory of these 
 great men than by extending the influence of the institution which 
 their wisdom founded. The annual appropriations for your Univer- 
 sity should be limited only by the capacity of the President to util- 
 ize them. May I express the hope that his zeal will be equalled by 
 the generosity of the peoples' representatives, and that the Univer- 
 sity of North Carolina will continue to be in the future what it has 
 been in the past, a tower of strength to the State and to the Nation. 
 
 My last words shall be to the young men of the University. Be 
 true to the noble traditions of your Alma Mater. Cherish always 
 the friends and companions of your youth. Hold fast through life 
 to the love of home, of kindred and of neighbors. Ennoble your 
 simplest tasks by faithful service. Be loyal to vour town, to your 
 State, to your country. Emulate the lives of your fathers, and let 
 the words of Hewes, of North Carolina, be your g-uide. "My country 
 is entitled to my services, and I shall not shrink from her cause, 
 even though it should cost me my life."