Proceedings and addresses of the fifteenth annual session of the State Literary and Historical Association of North Carolina |
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ixj)le+i^ -no.tf? PROCEEDINGS and ADDRESSES OF THE FIFTEENTH ANNUAL SESSION OF THE State Literary and Historical Association of North Carolina RALEIGH December 1-2, 1914 Compiled by R. D. W. CONNOR Secretary RALEIGH Edwards & Broughton Printing Co. State Printers 1915 The North Carolina Historical Commission J. Bryan Grimes, Chairman, Raleigh. W. J. Peele, Raleigh. M. C. S. Noble, Chapel Hill. Thomas M. Pittman, Henderson. ' D. H. Hill, Raleigh. R. D. W. Connor, Secretary, Raleigh. Officers of the State Literary and Historical Association 1914. President Archibald Henderson, Chapel Hill. First Vice-President Miss Mary Shannon Smith, Raleigh. Second Vice-President Frank Nash, Hillsboro. Third Vice-President W. B. McKoy, Wilmington. Secretary-Treasurer R. D. W. Connor, Raleigh. Executive Committee. W. K. Boyd, Durham. Clarence Poe, Raleigh. James F. Royster, Chapel Hill. Maurice G. Fulton, Davidson. Mrs. Margaret Busbee Shipp, Raleigh. 1915. President Clarence Poe, Raleigh. First Vice-President Miss Minnie W. Leatherman, Raleigh. Second Vice-President J. G. de R. Hamilton, Chapel Hill. Third Vice-President S. A. Ashe, Raleigh, N. C. Secretary-Treasurer R. D. W. Connor, Raleigh. Executive Committee. John F. Bruton, Wilson. Howard Rondthaler, Winston-Salem. A. W. McLean, Lumberton. T. M. Pittman, Henderson. J. L. Chambers, Charlotte. PURPOSES OF THE STATE LITERARY AND HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. "The collection, preservation, production, and dissemination of our State literature and history; "The encouragement of public and school libraries; "The establishment of an historical museum; "The inculcation of a literary spirit among our people; "The correction of printed misrepresentations concerning North Carolina; and — "The engendering of an intelligent, healthy State pride in the rising generations." ELIGIBILITY TO MEMBERSHIP—MEMBERSHIP DUES. All persons interested in its purposes are invited to become members of the Association. There are two classes of members: "Regular Members," paying one dollar a year, and "Sustaining Members," paying five dollars a year. RECORD OF THE STATE LITERARY AND HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. (Organized October, 1900.) Fiscal Paid up Years. Presidents. Secretaries. Membership. 1900-1901 Walter Clark Alex. J. Feild 150 1901-1902 Henry G. Connor Alex. J. Feild 139 1902-1903 W. L. Poteat George S. Fraps 73 1903-1904 C. Alphonso Smith Clarence Poe 127 1904-1905 Robert W. Winston '.Clarence Poe 109 1905-1906 Charles B. Aycock Clarence Poe 185 1906-1907 W. D. Pruden Clarence Poe 301 1907-1908 Robert Bingham Clarence Poe 273 1908-1909 Junius Davis Clarence Poe 311 1909-1910 Platt D. Walker Clarence Poe 440 1910-1911 Edward K. Graham Clarence Poe 425 1911-1912 R. D. W. Connor Clarence Poe 479 1912-1913 W. P. Few R. D. W. Connor 476 1913-1914 Archibald Henderson R. D. W. Connor 435 AWARDS OF THE PATTERSON MEMORIAL CUR 1905 John Charles McNeill, for poems later reprinted in book form as "Songs, Merry and Sad." (Presentation by Theodore Roosevelt.) 1906 Edwin Mims, for "Life of Sidney Lanier." (Presentation by Fabius H. Busbee.) 1907 — Kemp Plummer Battle, for "History of the University of North Caro-lina." (Presentation by Francis D. Winston.) 1908 Samuel A'Court Ashe, for "History of North Carolina." (Presenta-tion by Thomas Nelson Page.) 1909 Clarence Poe, for "A Southerner in Europe." (Presentation by Am-bassador James Bryce.) 1910—R. D. W. Connor, for "Cornelius Harnett: An Essay in North Carolina History." (Presentation by T. W. Bickett.) 1911 Archibald Henderson, for "George Bernard Shaw: His Life and Works." (Presentation by Lee S. Overman.) 1912 Clarence Poe, for "Where Half the World is Waking Up." (Presenta-tion by Walter H. Page.) 1913 Horace Kephart, for "Our Southern Highlanders." (Presentation by Maurice G. Fulton.) 1914—J. G. de R. Hamilton, for "Reconstruction in North Carolina." Pres-entation by W. K. Boyd.) WHAT THE ASSOCIATION HAS ACCOMPLISHED FOR THE STATE-SUCCESSFUL MOVEMENTS INAUGURATED BY IT. 1. Rural libraries. 2. "North Carolina Day" in the schools. 3. The North Carolina Historical Commission. 4. Vance statue in Statuary Hall (to be erected soon). 5. Fire-proof State Library Building and Hall of Records. 6. Civil War battlefields marked to show North Carolina's record. 7. North Carolina's war record defended and war claims vindicated. 8. The Patterson Memorial Cup. 9. Lecture Extension Work started in leading cities and towns. 10. A program of Library Extension Work begun. CONTENTS PAGE Minutes of the Fifteenth Annual Session 7 General Session: The New North State. By Archibald Henderson 15 Some Argentine Ideas. By R. S. Naon 26 Conference on County History: Opening Remarks. By Archibald Henderson 39 A New Type of County History. By W. K. Boyd 41 The Vital Study of a County. By E. C. Branson 50 How Can We Secure the Writing of County Histories. By Miss Adelaide Fries 54 How Can We Secure the Writing of County Histories. By W. C. Jackson. 56 Conference on North Carolina Literature: The Projected History of North Carolina Literature. By Archibald Henderson 59 Henry Jerome Stockard. By J. Y. Joyner 61 The North Carolina Historians. By Stephen B. Weeks 71 North Carolina Fiction. By T. P. Harrison 87 Ballad-Literature in North Carolina. By Frank C. Brown 92 North Carolina Poetry. By Ernest L. Starr 103 North Carolina Oratory. By J. M. McConnell Ill North Carolina Bibliography for the Year. By Miss Minnie W. Leatherman 116 Presentation of Gifts to the State. By Archibald Henderson 122 O. Henry Evening: O. Henry. By C. Alphonso Smith 126 Presentation of the O. Henry Memorial to the State. By Archibald Henderson 139 Acceptance of O. Henry Memorial. By Governor Locke Craig 141 Members, 1914-1915 142 MINUTES Proceedings and Addresses of the Fifteenth Annual Session of the State Literary and Historical Association of North Carolina RALEIGH, DECEMBER 1-2, 1914 Tuesday, December 1 — Afternoon Session. The Fifteenth Annual Session of the State Literary and Historical Association of North Carolina was called to order in the Hall of the House of Kepresentatives, Tuesday afternoon, December 1, 1914, at 3 :30 o'clock, with President Henderson in the chair. President Hen-derson, after brief opening remarks, announced that the program for the afternoon session was a Conference on County History. The pro-gram as carried out was as follows: 1. Opening Address, by Archibald Henderson. 2. "A New Type of County History," by W. K. Boyd. 3. "The Vital Study of the County," by E. C. Branson. 4. "How to Secure the Writing of County Histories." Discussions by W. C. Jackson, Miss Adelaide Fries, and T. M. Pittman. At the conclusion of these papers there was a general discussion in which several members participated. Hon. Francis D. Winston thereupon offered the following resolutions which, after debate, were adopted : Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the President of this Association to memorialize the General Assembly at its coming session to make an annual appropriation of not less than $2,500, to be expended under the direction of the North Carolina Historical Commission in the work of advising with municipal and county officials relative to the proper care, arrangement and preservation of the public archives and records in their charge, and of making such records and archives accessible for historical purposes. Resolved, That the Executive Committee take immediate steps to organize County Historical Societies, and that they enlist the cooperation of the De-partment of History in the University and in the colleges of the State in arranging a plan for securing a history of each county in North Carolina. Tuesday, December 1 — Evening Session. The session was called to order by President Henderson at 8 o'clock in the auditorium of Meredith College. President Henderson delivered his inaugural address on "The New ISTorth State," at the conclusion of 8 Fifteenth Annual Session which lie presented Governor Craig, who introduced the next speaker as follows: We have the honor this evening of having as our guest a statesman who, though young in years, has made a world-impression in history. He is a thinker and a scholar. He has done great things for his country, and I hope that he may continue to guide his great nation. He has not only ren-dered great service to his own people, but he has rendered great service to this nation which entitles him to our everlasting gratitude, for he was one of the arbitrators which kept this nation at peace with Mexico and at peace with all. He comes from the greatest nation that has ever existed in South America. In this hemisphere there are two great republics, one on the Northern con-tinent and one on the Southern. His nation stands among the foremost for peace, progress, and civilization. The destiny of the United States and South America is indissoluble. The friendly relations between the republics of North and South America not only means the finest of commercial advantage, but it means the finest de-velopment that has come to the human race. The day is coming when the Latin people of the South and the Anglo-Saxon of the North will realize that their destiny is one to be worked out in brotherhood between these countries. The distinguished statesman is the foremost representative of the Latin republics. I have the honor of presenting the Ambassador of the greatest Southern republic to the greatest Northern republic. The topic of Ambassador JsTaon's address was "Some Argentine Ideas." At the conclusion of Dr. Naon's address he was unanimously elected an honorary member of the Literary and Historical Association. President Henderson then presented Dr. W. K. Boyd who had been selected to announce the award of the William Houston Patterson Me-morial Cup for 1914, saying: The feature which concludes our program this evening has come to be a classic event in the North Carolina year. This is the award of the William Houston Patterson Memorial Cup, the beautifully conceived memorial in honor of her father, by Mrs. J. Lindsay Patterson, of Winston-Salem. In past years, the award of this cup has called national attention to the works of literature being produced in the State of North Carolina. This cup is awarded each year to that resident of the State who, during the twelve months from September 1st of the previous year to September 1st of the year of the award, has displayed, either in prose or poetry, without regard to its length, the greatest excellence and the highest literary skill and genius. I take pleasure in calling upon the distinguished historical student, Dr. William K. Boyd, of Trinity College, who, as representative of the Committee will make the announcement of the award. In announcing the award Dr. Boyd said : Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen: Every man of letters in North Carolina who makes local conditions the subject of his art is in a double sense a benefactor; first, for consecrating his gifts to immortalizing Tar Heeldom; second, for carrying out his work State Literary and Historical Association. 9 under the adverse conditions referred to in the presidential address. There-fore the half dozen authors who have in the past year written books about North Carolina deserve the laurels of patriots, and on behalf of the Patter-son Memorial Cup Committee and the Literary and Historical Association I wish to express our appreciation of their efforts. Under the adverse conditions referred to by the President, it was indeed gracious of Mrs. Patterson to establish the Patterson Memorial Cup. Her patronage insures a careful examination of all books written by residents of the State and publicity to at least one of them. Before announcing the award, may I relate a bit of academic history? Higher education in the United States has been revolutionized since the year 1870. Professional schools of arts and sciences have been organized and large universities have come into existence. About the year 1875 an old aristocratic college in the city of New York felt the new impulse. It established a chair of Political Science and Constitutional Law. To fill it was called a man who was Southern by birth, but who had received his col-legiate education in New England and his professional training in Germany. He brought to this country those conceptions of the State and of sovereignty which characterize the political science of modern Germany. According to his theories sovereignty in the United States has always been in the people; the nation is older than the States, and manifestations of State rights senti-ments in our history have been entirely without constitutional warrant. A more national interpretation of our history can hardly be conceived. After a few years a young man from New Jersey applied at the college for a higher degree. His essay was on the Constitution during the Civil War and Reconstruction. In it he maintained that during the conflict the Con-stitution was not only violated by executive and legislative measures, but that it was superseded by war powers, and that during Reconstruction cer-tain principles of constitutional law were also ignored. In other words, in establishing nationality, its written charter was violated. There was a memorable examination; the Dean found fault, and even demanded that a new edition of the essay be published with corrections. The man from New Jersey stood his ground, and won the day. For there was academic liberty in the institution. A few years later that student was called to his alma mater to teach political theory, then history. As the institution grew into a great university he offered graduate instruc-tion in the period of the Civil War and Reconstruction. This was about the time that the sons of those who fought in the gray line and the blue were arriving at maturity. A number of them were attracted by the new field of historical investigation opened up. Two results followed. One was that the history department of Columbia became a clearing house for men of opposite persuasions, a twilight zone in which the most ultra-nationalists and the most unreconstructed rebels found a mutual human interest and sympathy. The other result has been the publication of a series of volumes on the Reconstruction Period in the South; a history of Reconstruction in Mississippi, one of Georgia during the period, and similar studies of Ala-bama, Texas, and Florida. These are not essays but stout volumes. They make the largest contribution to any one period of Southern history. Thirteen years ago there joined the Columbia group a graduate of the Uni-versity of the South, with tar on his heels. After the first year he began the 10 Fifteenth Annual Session investigation of his native State during the Reconstruction period. For twelve years he has given his best efforts to the task and last summer he published his results entitled, "Reconstruction in North Carolina." His work is notable for the following qualities: In point of style it is equaled in our historical literature only by the work of Dr. Hawks, who wrote prior to the war. In selection and organization of material it is modern in tone, combining the topical and the chronological methods. It is also a contribution to national as well as State history, for it treats of constitutional, economic, and political movements that were not confined to North Carolina. His volume also belongs to a notable series, the "Columbia University Studies in Economics, History, and Public Law." And now, as the author is too Roman in his modesty to appear on this stage, I announce that the Patterson Cup this year is awarded to Dr. J. G. de R. Hamilton for his excellent book, "Reconstruction in North Carolina." The President then declared the meeting adjourned. Following the regular session the members of the Association and their guests were tendered a reception in the parlors of Meredith Col-lege, by the Woman's Club of Raleigh. Wednesday, Decembek 2 — Morning Session. The session was called to order in the Hall of the House of Repre-sentatives by President Henderson, at ten o'clock. The President an-nounced that the subject of the program for this session was "North Carolina Literature." Papers were read on the following subjects : 1. "Projected History of North Carolina Literature," by Archibald Hen-derson. 2. "Henry Jerome Stockard; An Appreciation," by J. Y. Joyner. 3. "North Carolina Historical Writings," by Stephen B. Weeks. 4. "North Carolina Fiction," by Thomas P. Harrison. 5. "North Carolina Ballads," by Frank C. Brown. 6. "North Carolina Poetry," by Ernest Starr. Dr. Maurice G. Fulton announced that Dr. J. M. McConnell, who had prepared a paper on "JNTorth Carolina Oratory," had been un-avoidably prevented from attending the meeting, and moved that Dr. McConnell's paper be published in the Proceedings. The motion was carried. President Henderson then presented several gifts to the Association. His address in making these presentations has been printed elsewhere in the Proceedings. At the conclusion of President Henderson's address the following resolutions were offered and unanimously adopted : Resolved, That the State Literary and Historical Association of North Carolina extend, through the Secretary, grateful thanks in token of their State Literary and Historical Association. 11 appreciation of the following gifts of literary memorials to the Hall of History: 1. To Mrs. Henry Jerome Stockard for the autograph poem, signed, by the late Henry Jerome Stockard, it being the poem dedicated to the Women of the Confederacy; 2. To Mr. W. L. McNeill, of Wagram, N. C, for the autograph poem, "Told On," of his brother, John Charles McNeill; 3. To Mrs. William Sidney Porter, for the portrait of William Sidney Porter. 4. To Mr. Arthur W. Page, Editor of The World's Work, for some sheets of the original manuscript of one of O. Henry's stories. 5. To Miss Van Vleck, of Winston-Salem, for a letter, and to Miss Marshall for an autograph poem, of John Henry Boner. 6. To the Misses Margaret J. and Martha A. Steele, of Carlisle, for the let-ters of Elizabeth Maxwell Steele. Whereas, The North Carolina Library Commission has rendered great service to the schools and rural population of the State by the operation of traveling, debate and other package libraries, therefore, be it Resolved, That the State Literary and Historical Association commend the work of the Library Commission and aid it through its Legislative Committee in securing a larger appropriation for the extension of its service along these lines. Whereas, The American Peace Conference agreed at its session in Rich-mond last December that each State should establish some memorial to mark the Century of Peace among the English-speaking peoples under the Treaty of Ghent, And, Whereas, Sir Walter Raleigh was selected as the most suitable char-acter for this purpose in North Carolina, Therefore, be it resolved by this Association, That we heartily commend Senator Lee S. Overman for his timely introduction of a bill into the United States Senate, for an appropriation for a statue of Sir Walter Raleigh to be erected in this city; and we will gratefully appreciate his efforts to secure its passage during the coming session of Congress, so that we can, at least, lay the corner-stone in 1915. And Resolved, That our senior Senator and all Congressmen from North Carolina are hereby requested and urged to support this measure. Resolved, That this Association heartily endorse Senate Bill No. 2545, in-troduced into the "United States Senate by Senator Overman, it being a bill for the execution of a suitable and creditable painting, depicting the baptism of Virginia Dare, the first known celebration of a Protestant Christian sacra-ment on American soil; and urge our Senators and Representatives in Con-gress to support the same. Whereas, The members of this Association have heard with sincerest sor-row of the illness at his home in Wilson of Hon. F. A. Woodard, who, during the fifteen years of the history of the Literary and Historical Association, has never before been absent from its annual session, and has at all times displayed an earnest, unselfish and wise interest in its work, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Secretary be requested to express to Mr. Woodard our regret at his absence, our sympathy in his illness, and our sincere hopes for the speedy recovery of his health. 12 Fifteenth Annual Session Resolved, That the Secretary be requested to extend to the Trustees and Faculty of Meredith College the thanks and appreciation of the State Liter-ary and Historical Association for the use of the auditorium of Meredith College for its evening sessions; and to express to the Woman's Club of Raleigh its appreciation of their courtesy in tendering a reception to its members and guests. The following reports of the Guilford County Historical Society and of the Randolph Historical Society were then presented to the Associa-tion by Mrs. E. E. Moffitt : GUILFORD COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. The Guilford County Historical Association has had no meeting again this year. Two papers have been prepared and we have received some valuable old letters, also a most interesting banner which was presented to the Greens-boro Guards by the ladies of the town in 1839, the presentation being re-corded in the Patriot of that day. The Greensboro Public Library, in which the collection of the society is kept, has been most fortunate this year in a gift of four portraits, all emi-nent citizens of Guilford whose descendants have made this very generous donation to the home of their fathers: Colonel Julius A. Gray, Governor John M. Morehead, Governor Jonathan Worth, and Governor A. M. Scales. The homes of Governor Morehead and Governor Scales are still standing in Greensboro. Governor Worth's early life was all spent in Guilford, though he was elected Governor from Randolph, where he settled in 1824. These four portraits were unveiled in the library with appropriate exercises on the evening of June 6, 1914. The banner of 1839 was displayed at the time by the Guilford Historical Association with two other political Greensboro banners of 1840, making an exhibit of especial interest, since all three were used in the memorable cam-paign of Morehead and Harrison in 1840. The society contemplates a revival of its work during the next year. RANDOLPH COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. On the 30th of May, 1914, a dozen or more people met in the County Super-intendent's office, and organized a society to be known as The Randolph County Historical Society. It elected for its President, Mrs. Numa A. Thorn-burg, and Hon. W. C. Hammer, Vice-President; T. F. Bulla, Secretary; Miss Linnie Shamburger, Historian, and Mrs. S. L. Hayworth, Treasurer. It was decided at this meeting to meet annually, and discuss historical events rela-tive to Randolph County. A great deal of interest was manifested in this meeting, and the outlook is good for interesting discussions in the future. It was also decided to collect old books, and manuscripts of any nature, and deposit them in a room in the courthouse known as the Historical Room. So far, we have a membership of over thirty-five, and by strong effort it can be increased considerably. The membership fee is fifty cents. At the meeting held last May, Dr. F. E. Asbury read a paper on the birth-place of Andrew Jackson. A paper was read prepared by Dr. S. E. Henley before he died, giving at some length the history of the old plank road, built three-quarters of a century ago. State Literary and Historical Association. 13 It is our hope to build up a strong society in Randolph County, and we would be glad to cooperate with the State Historical Society. We would be glad to have any suggestions that will aid us in the future. W. C. Hammer, editor of the Asheboro Courier, is collecting data for a future history of the county. Wednesday, December 2 — Evening Session. The session was called to order at eight o'clock, in the auditorium of Meredith College, by the President who presented Miss Minnie W. Leatherman who read a report of North Carolina Bibliography for the year. At the conclusion of Miss Leatherman's paper President Hender-son presented Dr. C. Alphonso Smith in the following words: Ladies and Gentlemen: We are gathered here tonight to memorialize in deathless bronze a great literary genius of the New North State. In this hour of the sublimation of State pride, of the vast awakening of national consciousness in our commonwealth, an episode typical of this new era is the erection of a national memorial, executed by a great national sculptor, Lorado Taft, in honor of William Sidney Porter, endeared to all North Caro-linians, world-renowned, under the nom-de-guerre of "O. Henry." In the literary and cultural history of North Carolina the occasion is epochal—for now, for the first time in all our history, have the people of our State united in the patriotic task of honoring, in enduring form at the capital of the commonwealth, native artistic and literary genius. I venture now to ex-press the fervent hope that this event may prove the forerunner of many similar tributes to the artistic and literary genius of our people. May there come to us, as the years flee forward, a communal consciousness that cul-ture must march hand in hand with agriculture, art with industry, litera-ture with science in the perfected civilization of the future. There is something finely and touchingly apposite in this ceremony here tonight. This memorial is to be accepted in behalf of the State by her chief executive, a citizen of the very town and county, Asheville and Bun-combe, where William Sidney Porter sleeps forever in the cool, enfolding arms of death. And the genius of ''0. Henry" is to be celebrated by a fellow native of the very town and county of his own nativity, Greensboro and Guilford. I rejoice in the opportunity to present to you a great son of North Caro-lina, distinguished man of letters,—a scholar who as academic ambassador has borne the message of American culture to the great German empire, the official biographer of O. Henry, the lifelong friend of William Sidney Porter—Charles Alphonso Smith. At the conclusion of Dr. Smith's address the President called for the report of the Nominating Committee, who reported the following nomi-nations for 1914-15: President Clarence Poe First Vice-president Miss Minnie W. Leatherman Second Vice-president J. G. de R. Hamilton Third Vice-president S. A. Ashe Secretary-treasurer. R. D. W. Connor 14 Fifteenth Annual Session The nominations were confirmed. The session then adjourned to the rooms of the North Carolina Historical Commission, where the exer-cises in connection with the presentation of the "O. Henry Memorial" were held. The Memorial was presented to the State, in behalf of the State Literary and Historical Association, by President Henderson. At the conclusion of his speech the tablet was unveiled by Miss Mar-garet Porter, after which it was accepted, in behalf of the State, by Governor Locke Craig. The President then announced that the session of the Literary and Historical Association for 1914 was adjourned sine die. After the adjournment the members of the Association attended a reception in the rooms of the North Carolina Historical Commission. State Literary and Historical Association. 15 GENERAL SESSION The New North State By Archibald Henderson, President of the State Literary and Historical Association, Raleigh, on the Evening of December 1, 1914. In his notorious "History of the Dividing Line Betwixt Virginia and North Carolina/' which was run in the year 1728, the witty Wil-liam Byrd of Westover hazarded the ironical query: "Considering how fortune delights in bringing great things out of small, who knows but Carolina may, one time or another, come to be the seat of some great empire?" As I glance back over the two tumultuous centuries which have elapsed since Byrd ventured that ironical query, and think of the long, long way we have traveled since that primitive, barren time, I cannot but conclude that "William Byrd, all unwittingly, was something more than "the idle singer of an empty day." That "great empire," of which he so ironically spoke—has indeed found its seat in this ancient commonwealth of Carolina. It is in the new time that Carolina has come to be the seat of a great empire of democracy— a democracy of culture and of the human spirit. In the strange, sad epic of the silent South, North Carolina can justly claim the authority that springs from the motherhood of American liberty. At the very moment when Byrd was running that dividing line betwixt North Carolina and Virginia, the borderers were eager to be included within the bounds of North Carolina, "as there they paid no tribute to God or Caesar." Those epic ships of Raleigh, sailing west- Ward over unknown seas 2nd beaching at last their keels upon the golden sands of Roanoke, bore in their bosoms a breed of men fired with the divine spark which in that England of the spacious days of Elizabeth flamed up in rugged prose and in soaring, immortal verse. The breed of men who settled here bore in their right hand a genius for civiliza-tion and an indomitable pride of race; and in their left hand an in-flexible steadfastness and a common sense as firm as adamant. In the struggle for existence which they were compelled to wage, the taming of nature, the conquest of a savage foe, there was bred in them a mighty resourcefulness and the grim hardihood of self-reliance. Our legacy from a century of pioneers is a passion for successful self-expression, for efficiency, and for creative conquest. How shorn of a great measure of distinction and greatness would be this American nation, in its pio-neer days and crude beginnings, if bereft of the pioneering genius of 16 Fifteenth Annual Session Daniel Boone, the love of liberty of the eloquent William Hooper, the prophetic insight of that herald of culture, William R. Davie, the legal wisdom of James Iredell, the granite conservatism of Nathaniel Macon, the flaming patriotism of Andrew Jackson, the new Americanism of Thomas Hart Benton. How impoverished would be the early annals of our country if there were blotted out the memory of Moore's Creek Bridge, of Guilford Court House, of Kings Mountain ; of the resistance to the Stamp Act at Wilmington, the patriotism of Mecklenburg, the statesmanship at Halifax, the definitive salvation of the vast trans- Alleghany region by the pioneers of Transylvania. Out of North Caro-lina, the fountain source of American liberty, welled up the streams of creative contribution which have helped to make this nation great the inflexible spirit which knows no compromise, the passionate belief in liberty and democracy, and the unchanging faith in the worth and dignity of average humanity. Midway in her career—a career memorable for national statesman-ship, continental thinking and purity of thought in public service — a dark disaster fell upon the South. Following that tragic national crisis, when the South in the dimness of anguish beheld the loss of wealth, the abolition of property, the violation of the very sanctities of her civilization, this people sternly set themselves to the task of re-pairing those fallen fortunes and rebuilding that civilization upon broader and more universal outlines. In the era since the War between the States the South has achieved a reasonable prosperity distinguished by its universal diffusion, and has devoted its energies to the education of the common man to the tasks of leadership in all the avenues of an advancing civilization. It was in the earlier grim stages of that era of civilization-rebuild-ing— the era of the slow emergence of the average man from the pres-sure of economic necessity and the blight of arrested cultural develop-ment— that the South temporarily relaxed her hold upon the reins of national government. Only a decade ago the late Charles B. Aycock though belying the statement in his own brilliant, tragic career—re-gretfully acknowledged that at that moment the people of the South "had less effect upon the thought and action of the nation than at any period of our history." At that time it was almost literally true that Southern men wielded but slight influence in the final settlement of the graver problems of our national destiny. The thinking of the South was not an appreciable factor in the councils of the nation. The old aristocracy, with its transcendant leadership of individualism, had passed forever from the national stage; and the new democracy, fumb-ling with the complex tools of a newer communism, had not yet wrought out completely the figures of national leadership. State Literary and Historical Association. 17 The election of Woodrow Wilson and the quindeeennial anniversary of Gettysburg marked the transit of an era. "A complete change/' as Mr. George Harvey recently said, "involving after many years the resto-ration to power in large measure of this great section has been effected without causing so much as a ripple of apprehension. Surely it is a fact of mighty significance that the South resumes virtual control of the United States after barely fifty years, without evoking from the most rabid partisan so much as a suspicion of the patriotism or fidelity of any one of her statesmen." Surely it is a fact of almost miraculous fitness that, in this dramatic resumption by the South of the control of our national destinies, North Carolina should play a predominant role. It is with a sense of conscious elation, no less profound that it is sub-dued, that we, the citizens of this ancient commonwealth, reflect that American history can furnish no authentic parallel to the present epo-chal contribution of North Carolina to the life of the nation. In this great era of national responsibility and national peril the country breathes in safety with Josephus Daniels maintaining North Carolina's great traditions in the navy established by Branch, Badger, Graham, and Dobbin; with Houston setting new standards of business efficiency and practical statesmanship for national agriculture; with Simmons the leader of a Senate; Kitchin the destined floor-leader of the House; and native and adopted sons like Claxton and Holmes and Osborn effectively ministering to the educational, industrial, and financial needs of a nation. In this, North Carolina's hour—the reward of traditional fidelity to principle in public life, of enlarging social sympathy, and of invincible faith in democracy—there seems to operate a noble species of compensatory justice. The nation once more turns for guidance to the venerable commonwealth of North Carolina, and to the South, the ancient mother of national leadership. Do you then realize that this, the age in which we live — today—heralds the golden age of North Carolina and the South ? As we stand upon the threshold of this new era, there must come to all of us a sense of joyous elation, a leaping of the blood, that it is given to us to live at such a time and in such a country. While our sister republic of Mexico is racked with the dire dissensions of civil strife, which the unselfish devo-tions of this nation have watchfully and patiently sought to allay; while Europe is a cosmic holocaust of flame and blood and steel ; while the commerce of belligerent nations is suffering from partial paralysis and the voice of famine utters to our heeding ears its grim and tragic petition—America stands firm for peace, for progress, for civilization, for humanity. Supreme engineering genius has cleft in twain giant Culebra and recalcitrant Panama ; and today the lock gates at Gatun, 18 Fifteenth Annual Session Pedro Miguel, and Miraflores hospitably fling wide the giant portals of the isthmus to the argosies of commerce, to the trade of the South, the nation, and the world. As President Wilson said in his memorable address at Mobile : "I wonder if you realize, I wonder if your imagina-tions have been filled with the significance of the tides of commerce. These great tides which have been running along parallels of latitude will now swing Southward athwart parallels of longitude, and that open-ing gate of the Isthmus of Panama will open to the world a commerce she has never known before—a commerce of intelligence, of thought and sympathy between North and South, and the Latin-American States which, to their disadvantage, have been cut off the main lines will now be on the main lines.7 ' The section sure to receive the greatest develop-ment as the result of the opening of the canal is the section east of the Rocky Mountains. The steamer which leaves the South Atlantic sea-board or a gulf port will steer a straight course from the Panama Canal to all of the countries on the west coast of South America, The saving in time, distance, and cost of transportation assures a vastly stimulated commerce and the interchange of all commodities between the South and the countries on the Western and Southern coasts of South America. A happy augury of the increasing reciprocal friendliness and expanding intercommunication of trade between North and South America is the presence of our honored guest of this evening, his Excellency, Romulo S. Naon, the Ambassador of the great republic of Argentina. The South is America's present land of promise. Here upon our own soil will be undertaken the next supreme experiment in the life of the nation. This will be the scene of the next great act in the American drama of industrial expansion. The thought which gives me comfort, when I reflect upon the future of the South, is the consciousness that in this era of expanding wealth and; a pervasive industrialism, the Southern people still tenaciously hold to those high yet simple realities which, throughout our history, have won the confidence and the faith of a nation. In the hearts of all of us, I dare say, there is a deep, abiding affec-tion and reverence for the virtues of a people who, throughout an his-toric past, have given to North Carolina the rich, mellow name of the Old North State. I sense those ancient virtues as a fragrant breath from some distant garden of old-fashioned flowers—a full-blooded pa-rochialism redeemed by the abiding love of Christian faith, of family, of fireside ; an inflexible integrity which put love of the truth and pas-sion for the making of men above love of place and passion for the making of money; a rugged provincialism which had its roots firmly fixed in a love of naturalness and a scorn for all pretense; a granite State Literary and Historical Association. 19 conservatism which cherished tradition and ever looked with stern dis-favor upon the new and the empiric. This is the Old North State — always fighting for her rights while neglecting her interests; generous, reckless, romantic, improvident, unpretentious, chivalrous, "brave. In our hearts is enshrined the figure of this most venerable, this most American of all the sisterhood of American commonwealths—the un-pretentious, homespun, yet infinitely lovable Kip Van Winkle of the States. Tonight, my friends, I give you the New North State. From out our past have come the old Eoman virtues ; into our future shall go the new American virtues of the new age—an enlarged communal conscious-ness; a deeper sense of local pride which expresses itself, not in voicing a glorification of the past, but in putting the shoulder hard to the wheel of civic progress ; a strenuous common effort for the attainment of a new freedom, individual, political, and social—for women as well as for men ; and a passionate, a relentless eagerness for the building of a new and higher civilization. "We are meeting within the very week simply eloquent in its title, Community-service Week—a type of the seven labors of the new Hercules of an aroused civic consciousness the prophetic vision of that splendid type of the new social publicist, Edward K. Graham; aided by the practical wisdom of an agricultural sociologist, the popular leader, Clarence Poe; and happily legislated into permanence through the fiat of a progressive, forward-looking Governor, Locke Craig. Only a few weeks ago patriotic, liberty-loving women of North Carolina appropriately met in the precincts of Meck-lenburg to write the political charter of a new declaration of inde-pendence. Out of the fullness of our new life here have gone to other nations the heralds of American culture. The first Southern scholar selected to go as Roosevelt Professor, as academic ambassador of cul-ture, to the German nation, is the distinguished orator of tomorrow night, Charles Alphonso Smith; and when President Wilson needed a man big enough for the biggest diplomatic post in the country's gift, he called upon a great publisher and the editor of our most distinctively national magazine, Walter H. Page, who is now enjoying the confidence and winning the plaudits of all in his dexterous management of the innumerable complex issues evoked by the problems of a titanic Euro-pean war. Last year we memorialized here North Carolina's first man of letters of large calibre, whose "Poe's Cottage at Eordham" is part of the immortal heritage of American and English song, John Henry Boner; tomorrow morning is to be memorialized the lamented Henry Jerome Stockard, loved citizen of Raleigh so recently passed away a poet whose powerful pseans of praise of his section won for him the 20 Fifteenth Annual Session enviable title of "The Voice of North Carolina." Tomorrow night we shall gather again in this hall to pay the perfect tribute of art and praise to North Carolina's first great figure in world-literature — after Poe and Hawthorne the greatest master of the short-story America has ever produced—William Sidney Porter, affectionately cherished in the hearts and memories of millions under the quaint pseudonym of "O. Henry." Indeed, when I reflect upon the richness, variety and texture of the gifts of this New North State to America and to the world, I am driven to paraphrase the impressive words of Milton : "Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant State rous-ing herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks; as an eagle renewing her mighty youth, and kindling her un-dazzled eyes at the full midday beam, while the whole noise of timor-ous and flocking birds, with those also that love the twilight, flutter about, amazed at what she means." I would not have you think. that, in this chorus of praise, there is no room in my mind for reservations or for the acknowledgment of grave deficiencies in our artistic and literary culture. Indeed, the latest re-searches of science compel the belief that genius is not the result of the evolution of the masses of the people, but is a giant variation from the common level of our species. Whether or not we acknowledge that genius is a spontaneous giant variation, a sporadic birth of energy not built up from the simple to the complex, certainly it must be recognized that art, as a factor of civilization, is an incomparable means of widening intellectual and spiritual horizons and promoting the cause of culture. It cannot be denied that the measure of a people's advance in the fine arts is the measure of their distance from the brutes. Art is not merely an aux-iliary to civilization; art is almost synonymous with civilization itself. "Life without art," as Kuskin says, "is mere brutality." And no matter how remarkable have been the "spontaneous, giant variations from the common level of our species," it behooves us to take account of that precious "common level" which, in a true sense, is the measure of civili-zation in a democracy. "What is the problem of culture?" asks the remarkable artist and astute philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. His answer is unimpeachable : "To live and to work is the noblest strivings of one's nation and of humanity. Not only, therefore, to receive and to learn, but to live. To free one's age and people from wrong tendencies, to have one's ideal before one's eyes." Much as I regret to admit it, long and patient observation compels me to acknowledge that here in the South of the past, here in North Caro- State Literary and Historical Association. 21 lina, so far as art and literature are concerned, we have not lived and worked in the noblest strivings of one's nation and of humanity. In lit-erature and art, for more than a century, we have received; even in a sense we have learned ; but we have not lived. There be much truth in the witty definition that penury is the wages of the pen. And at the Annual Banquet in London of the Royal Literary Fund for the Relief of Necessitous Authors, Mr. Walter Page recently evoked a chorus of dissent to his statement : "From the viewpoint of mere barnyard gumption it is absurd for anybody to start to spend his life writing. Gambling is more likely to yield a steady income. It is an absurd career and a foolish foolhardy business. No man has a right to take it up who can avoid doing so." In making these observations, which must be taken with a liberal pinch of salt, Mr. Page was undoubtedly making a humorous personal confession. I may go even further and hazard the guess that he was thinking of North Carolina. It is a re-markable commentary upon our civilization that, so far as my knowl-edge goes, no man or woman in North Carolina, with the omission of journalists, has ever succeeded in earning, or even attempted to earn, a livelihood solely through the medium of the pen of the literary artist. Thus far in our history we have produced no distinguished painter, no great sculptor, no famous dramatist. In his study on "The Geo-graphical Distribution of American Genius," published during the pres-ent year, Professor Scott Nearing does not even consider the State of North Carolina as a separate geographical unit; and concludes that, of persons of eminence in the United States today, "an overwhelming proportion seem to have been born in that section of the northeastern United States bounded by the Mason and Dixon line on the South, the Mississippi-Missouri River on the West." I never think of the litera-ture of my native State that I do not recall the mournful threnody of that famous bard of our sister Carolina, J. Gordon Coogler : Alas for the South! Her books have grown fewer; She never was much given to literature. I greatly fear that we do not care very much for reading and for books in North Carolina—not even for encyclopaedias. I heard not long ago of an agent who asked a farmer in one of our rural districts if he didn't want to buy an encyclopaedia, to which the conservative old farmer re-plied: "Naw, I don't take much stock in them new-fangled machines. In this neck of the woods we still stick to the old-fashioned horse and buggy." Many of you have seen upon University Heights in New York City a noble structure of gleaming white marble, an enduring monument to 22 Fifteenth Annual Session American genius, the Hall of Fame. Of the fifty-one tablets thus far placed upon its ^alls, only one bears the name of a native of Xorth Carolina, the soldier-statesman, Andrew Jackson; and through the patronage of Willie and Allen Jones, and the guardianship of Joseph Hewes, !N"orth Carolina can lay a secondary claim to but one other name among those of foreign birth, the man whom Benjamin Franklin dubbed the "Xorth Carolina midshipman," the greatest naval hero in our annals, John Paul Jones. A soldier-statesman and a sailor—but no man or woman of literary genius. In the Hall of Fame, the South is represented by soldiers, sailors, statesmen, jurists, scientists—but by only one distinctively literary genius—a man of English parentage who happened to be born in Boston, Massachusetts—Edgar Allan Poe. For many years I have searched deeply into the causes for the com-parative dearth of literary and artistic productivity in the South and for that genial Southern indifference to publication—the rock upon which literary fame is founded. Tonight I shall dispense with all ex-planation, apology, or excuse. The thrill of the new time tempts one less to pathetic retrospection than to buoyant prophecy. Xevertheless, I must voice my solemn conclusion that we cannot build up here a great civilization—a civilization as great in art and letters, in culture and taste, as it is great in material resources, statesmanlike ideals, and an aroused social consciousness—unless we do live and work in the noblest strivings of our nation and of humanity. Investigation has convinced me that Xorth Carolina is lamentably backward, woefully deficient, in her activity and representation in the great national or-ganizations making for the development of art, literature, drama, and all the multifarious influences for artistic culture in a democracy. I have studied the records of these national organizations for the present year in the effort to record, faithfully and justly, the part actually played by Xorth Carolina in the life and work of national culture. I find that Xorth Carolina is not represented at all in the Xational Academy of Arts and Letters, or in the much larger body of the Xa-tional Institute of Arts and Letters; nor has she any official represen-tation, in the form of elected officers, president or vice-presidents, in the American Historical Association, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Pageant Association, the Drama League of America, the American Folk-Lore Societv, the Poetrv Societv of America, and the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Little if any attention need be paid to those of sectional bias who point out that no scholar or man of letters, so long as he remains in the South, ever wins large recognition in the national societies. Such a narrow charge, even though resting upon indisputable facts, might arise State Literary and Historical Association. 23 from a complete misinterpretation of those facts ; and in any case can-not serve as a valid excuse for our supineness and indifference. In science, pure and applied, North Carolina is nationally and interna-tionally recognized. In this great branch of knowledge and research, no Southern State, I dare say, is her equal. But in the arts—litera-ture, painting, sculpture, drama—North Carolina is not living and working today in the noblest strivings of the nation and of humanity. As I have studied the cultural problems of our life here and sought to make of this association a more constructive instrument for minister-ing to our cultural wants, I have come to the conclusion that we have three vital and immediate needs. The program of the meetings of the Association for this year have been especially designed to meet these needs. No people can form a just estimate of their history, or feel legiti-mate pride in it, until they know what that history really is. No com-prehensive and complete history of North Carolina will ever be written until the contribution of the individual units, whose integrated life have largely constituted that history, are studied and bodied forth with completeness and detail. The county is the unit of the State; the his-tory of the county must furnish the nucleus for the history of the State. North Carolina has exactly one hundred counties; it is a regrettable fact that histories, of reasonable adequacy, have been written of only about a dozen out of these hundred counties. I earnestly desire to identify this Association with the duty and the task of stimulating, in-spiring and directing the writing of the industrial, social, economic, institutional histories of every single county in North Carolina. The accomplishment of this great work will prepare the way for the writing of the true and definitive history of North Carolina—the moving story of the life of a great people. In like manner, I desire to see our people acquire a decent and ade-quate knowledge of the literary contributions of North Carolina for the past one hundred and twenty-five years. Nietzsche defines man as a something to be surpassed. And surely we can never rise above our-selves to ourselves in literature until we really feel and know what North Carolina has contributed in letters to the thought and conscious-ness of the American people. As the county is the unit of the State, so the State is the unit of the nation. In the noteworthy words of the South's greatest living novelist, James Lane Allen: There must in time and in the natural course of events come about a com-plete marshaling of the American commonwealths, especially of the older American commonwealths, attended each by its women and men of letters; with the final result that the entire pageant of our literary creativeness as 24 Fifteenth Annual Session a people will thus be exhibited and reviewed within those barriers and divisions which from the beginning have constituted the peculiar genius of our civilization. When this has been done, when the States have severally made their pro-foundly significant showing, when the evidence up to some century mark or half-century mark is all presented, then for the first time we, as a reading and thoughtful self-studying people, may be advanced to the position of beginning to understand what as a whole our cis-Atlantic branch of English literature really is. It has been my great ambition to have this Association take account in an orderly way of the manifold sides of our State literature—his-tory, poetry, fiction, oratory and folk-lore. Out of the fundamental principle of our government and institutions, the principle that the country is a nation of States, there comes the recognition that our literature, with all its humanity and its provinciality, is a national literature made up of the contributions of the individual States. This explanation of our American literature lies at the basis of our whole democratic civilization. Lastly, I have one recommendation to make to this Association and to the people of North Carolina. It is to no Brahmin caste of scholars, to no occupants of the ivory tower of literary seclusion, that I would make this recommendation. I appeal to the communal consciousness of a people—a people who, individually and collectively, need to be in-spired with a deep sense of historic tradition and the passion of a great faith in the destiny of our commonwealth. I desire to see spread be-fore our people the entire pageant of our historic creativeness—as I have seen great pageants of the history of Oxford University and of the development of the martial power of the British Empire, now so terribly taxed upon the battlefields of Europe. Pageantry has been defined as poetry for the masses. We deeply need to see created in North Carolina, through the common efforts of our leading citizens, a fine art for the people. The elemental instinct for democratic art in our midst needs to be educated, developed, refined, by means of popular pageantry, into a mighty agency for civilization. I recommend that, during the coming year, historic episodes of State and national interest be presented by common effort in communities throughout the State. May I suggest, among others, for Wilmington the revolt against the Stamp Act; for Edenton, the Ladies' Tea Party; for New Bern, the Settlement of the Palatines; for Winston-Salem, the founding of the Academy; for Charlotte, the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence; for Salisbury, incidents from the careers of Daniel Boone and the pioneers; for Greensboro, the Battle of Guilford Court House. Next year, during Community-service Week, all of these episodes which State Literary and Historical Association. 25 have been locally presented and perhaps others should then be linked together in a great State Historical Pageant here in Raleigh, the capital of the commonwealth—arranged in chronological order and designed to give a poetic and romantic picture of the historic evolution of the life of a people. Through this happy wedding of art and history may be brought home to our consciousness a profoundly moving realiza-tion of a glorious past and a quickening of our desires and hopes and labors for an even more glorious future. In conclusion, let me remind you that we celebrate here tonight the fifteenth anniversary of the founding of the State Literary and His-torical Association of North Carolina. In an address delivered at the University of North Carolina exactly seventy-five years ago, the elo-quent Hugh McQueen used these prophetic words: "No association of practical service to the interests of Literature and Science now exists in the State of North Carolina ; no public-spirited Society, which might serve to hedge in by its active and beneficent care the sensitive and fragrant flowers of genius which spring up within our borders ; which might serve to incite matured intelligence to active operation for the public good, which might stimulate youthful talent to essay the strength of its own pinions; which might preserve from oblivion many interest-ing facts and productions which are occasionally exhibited in the inter-course and operations of life, and which might disseminate extensively among the people, such literary documents and productions as would renovate the aspect of letters in this department of the Union, and convert our present dreary surface into a Literary Arcadia." Sixty years after these striking words were uttered, there was founded here this remarkable Association which has already fulfilled many of the functions so sedulously set forth by the cultured McQueen. If it has not, as yet, wholly succeeded in converting our present dreary surface into a Literary Arcadia, certainly it has helped to arouse the cultural consciousness of the State as it has never been aroused before in our history. And let us hope that through the stimulation and encourage-ment of the fine arts, the influence which emanates so effectively from this already distinguished Association, we may look in the future for the growth of a national and international spirit of culture which shall enable us the more effectively to live and work in the noblest strivings of the nation and of humanity. 26 Fifteenth Annual Session Some Argentine Ideas By Hon. R. S. Naon, Argentine Ambassador to the United States. I know of no occasion where it would be more timely for me to speak on my country than on this, so kindly tendered to me by your associa-tion, and there is no subject I consider more appropriate for reaffirming our characteristic as a people of ideals than that which I have chosen for my address to you today: "Some Argentine Ideas." It is not my aim to treat this subject from the standpoint of a doc-trinarian in constitutional law, but rather to present to you as clearly and comprehensively as time and circumstances will permit, the senti-ments, the principles and the ideas which underlie the formation and development of the political entity called "The Argentine Republic." These sentiments, these principles and these ideas have continued to be maintained and have inspired and assured our progress through all the vicissitudes .of our organic life. They were the permanent aspira-tion of the Argentine people until they became crystallized into the pre-cepts of our wise constitution, into the system of legislation which rules the regular life of the Republic, into the characteristics of our social life and of our civic activity, and, finally, into the action of profound liberalism which has always distinguished our international political conduct. The Argentine citizen lives his life under the domination of a senti-ment of national pride and self-esteem which he cannot overcome and which some might consider and have already considered as a manifesta-tion of hypertrophy of personality. I beg of you to excuse this weak-ness, if you note it in me, when I say that I entertain the hope that when I conclude my brief exposition you will find justification for the aspiration which every Argentine citizen entertains when he believes as a national conviction that it is our manifest destiny to make of the country, by the endeavor of her sons and the moral cooperation of man-kind, a democracy of the highest social and political distinction. The Argentine Constitution was the product of hardships extending over a long period and it has, therefore, consecrated all the social ideals which agitated the Argentine spirit from the moment the idea of our political emancipation was born. We cannot begin the development of the subject without first taking up the preamble of that Constitution. It dominates and embraces, giving utterance thereto with eloquent simplicity, all those hardships which have not yet disappeared in spite of our achievements and which State Literary and Historical Association". 27 maintain in the national spirit the eager desire to realize the aspirations which have not yet been fulfilled, or to improve to the utmost what are already a part of our national qualities. This preamble represents the most authentic expression of our aspira-tions to form an organic social entity, and makes of our Constitution rather than a body of more or less strict rules of conduct, a body of principles, an enunciation of political ideals. Its elasticity and, there-fore, its capacity of evolution is so great as to enable it to satisfy all the social tendencies which appear to have been imposed by mankind upon the political organization of modern nations. All the exigencies of good government, all the necessities of a wise and fruitful social administra-tion, are to be found there directing the organic national life with the irresistible force always encountered in principles for peoples who live of, by and for them. All the impositions of the social moment and all the demands of the spirit of the times find there also a possibility of adaptation to those principles applied to the development of the activi-ties of a people with sufficient moral and intellectual capacity to under-stand them, to interpret them and to practice them. We have already lived for seventy years under the guidance of our Constitution and have formed in its observance our political habits, and have inspired in the spirit of its provisions the achievement of our civic ideals. But the long and arduous road traveled has served solely to strengthen it and cause it to continue to be as at the beginning, with the same in-tensity, the highest and most perfect source of our patriotism, as well as the instrument for the adequate working out of all problems affecting our political life. It might also be said that for an Argentine does not exist the moral possibility of applying his activity as a citizen in the life of the nation, without bearing in mind the idea of the Constitution and of its prin-ciples, which impose themselves on his understanding and on his will as the beginning and as the end of his action. By this I mean to say that as a matter of fact the first sentiment of an Argentine, the highest expression of his patriotism, is respect for the Constitution, a respect which is almost fanatical and which forms in his mind the notion of a wrong when its principles are violated. This notion, when extended to all citizens, produces as a result a national civic morality in the masses which prompts them to make any personal sacrifice for the moral prestige of the country. This sentiment is so predominant that even in the course of our international life has it spontaneously appeared. It also produces a constant demand of the people upon the government, and becomes a permanent control of public 28 Fifteenth Annual Session opinion upon all public officials as well as upon the action and conduct of their statesmen. Hence it has become a characteristic, even more, a need, of the Argentine "Public Man" to sound the very depths of the-national conscience in order to adjust to its dictates his directing con-duct in public life. It is for this reason that the Argentine "Public Man" is, wherever he may be exercising his activities and in spite of the physical distance which separates him from his country, an instrument of his people for the realization of the organic aspirations which dominate them and is an interpreter of their capacities and collective desires. His individual personality does not exist. His personal aspirations are submerged in his devotion to his country. His obsession is to reflect the national per-sonality which he feels in himself as a citizen and as a public official. Hence, also this other sentiment which dominates the "Public Man" as a necessity of his life, namely, forgetfulness of self, which our great "Public Men" have practiced to the utmost, seeking to make them-selves worthy of harboring the only absorbing passion of which their moral conscience is capable, the pride of recognizing in themselves a genuine Argentine incarnation. Both sentiments, that of collective Argentinism which characterizes our masses and that which distinguishes and determines the life and action of our "Public Man" have been embraced in the Constitution, and especially in its preamble, in the recognition of the fact of a "na-tional entity," an "Argentine people," and the necessity of the "Public Man" to interpret that people, and to fulfill its precepts in creating for that purpose the idea of political representation. The preamble of our Constitution begins with the following words which are full of meaning to one acquainted with the historical development of our Republic : ""We the representatives of the people of the Argentine nation," that is to say, "We who are vested with authority emanating from the only sover-eign entity constituted by the 'People' of the Nation.' " Observe, gen-tlemen, the preexisting notion of a "Nation" ; the notion and the senti-ment of an "Argentine people"; the notion and the sentiment of a col-lective entity with an organic life which manifests itself through that other personal entity "We," that is to say, the "Public Man," an in-stitution created in our democracy as a consequence and as an organ of the representative system, and whose dignity and importance and whose authority are based on that other entity, the sovereign entity "People"—the "Public Man" who devotes himself without reservation to the service and the glory of the "People." The touchstone which we have had in order to bring to ourselves the realization of the virtues of our Constitution has always been that State Literaky and Historical Association. 29 drafted by the great framers of your Constitution of 1787, and when-ever we wish to show clearly in the analysis of ours this idea of a pre-existing "National Personality/' we place beside those opening words of our preamble the words of the preamble of the American Constitu-tion : "We, the people of the United States." Note the difference. In both is present the collective idea : the existence of a people ; but in one of them the "Public Man"—"We the representatives"—acts, discharging the representation of the "People" who have previously at a constituent convention designated them to organize the forms of the government which was to rule thereafter the organic life of a "Nation" which had been in existence ever since independence had been attained. In the other, the people of the States are those who act, they them-selves framing the Constitution inasmuch as its force is subject to their approval, and the "People" not of an existing "Nation," but of sov-ereign States which sought to establish a closer union. The former or-ganize a "Nation" which had already existed through the organ of their "Public Men," vested originally with the "national sentiment" which inspires them, in their patriotic labor, with the recollection of glories and hardships experienced during the period of forty years of "national" sacrifices. The latter, the plenipotentiaries of autonomous entities, seek a constitution not inspired by a "national" sentiment, which did not exist, but to form a "union" later to be converted, not-withstanding any local sentiment, into a "national" entity by the strengthening of the "more perfect union" which the sanction of the Constitution assured. Both Constitutions conformed to the political necessities of each people, and the words of the two preambles reflect the diversity of those necessities : "We, the representatives of the people of the Argentine nation," and "We, the people of the United States" ; and both at the same time that they express two different political sentiments, also ex-press two constitutional ideas which are likewise different. The Argentine Constitution expresses in the words quoted the senti-ment of the "Nationality" which has always maintained in all minds, even during periods of internal dissension, the constitutional idea of national unity. On the other hand the American Constitution expresses in the words quoted, not the sentiment of a "nationality," but the senti-ment of the locality, the sentiment of the local state which was at the same time the constitutional idea on which its federalism was based. And so two federal republics like that of the United States and that of Argentina show their different origin, one evolving by the union of its different entities toward "national consolidation," and the other evolv- 30 Fifteenth Annual Session ing toward the organization of the local governments, in order to satisfy the regional exigencies of the constitutional idea of "national unity." The political sociologist will find another essential sentiment which has always constituted one of the most fundamental and characteristic principles of our national organization. I refer to a profound liberalism which has always been reflected and has become a constitutional idea and an Argentine principle of legislation. It has also prompted, aside from the manifestations of internal organic life, the broad and generous Argentine international policy closely observed even at times and under circumstances which tended little to the preservation of a disinterested and altruistic policy. This sentiment is expressed in the same preamble when in setting forth the purposes of the representatives of the people in enacting the Constitution, it says : "To constitute the national union, guarantee jus-tice, assure internal peace, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and assure the benefits of liberty for ourselves, for our posterity and for all men of the world who wish to live on Argentine soil." This was without doubt a clear expression of the social tendencies of our revolution of independence which established from the first moment, together with the abolition of slavery, the principle of political equality of all men born in our territory, that of equality of civil rights for all inhabitants, whether natives or foreigners. There is no constitution which establishes as a fundamental principle that humanitarian ten-dency for the entire system of legislation more broadly than the Argen-tine Constitution. The exercise of the activity of a man and his . liberty when the achievement of his own welfare and aspirations is involved, is limited only by the exercise of the activities and the liberty of others without any distinction other than that emanating from the difference in their personal capacities. This humanitarian sentiment has always prevailed in our tendencies, in our customs and in our laws. At the same time that it recognizes and practices that all men are created equal, it makes of the consideration and respect arising from this equality a sentiment of human fraternity, which in turn gives rise to that real social and political democracy that makes all also equal in benefiting by oppor-tunities in proportion to the capacities and virtues of each, and likewise the country as a whole as the result of the free and fertile activities of those individual capacities and of those virtues. Such is the nature and character of the Argentine democracy, of that Argentine democracy which is not only a principle of our internal politi-cal organization, but also an inborn sentiment in our life as an inter- State Literary and Historical Association. 31 national entity, a sentiment which instills in us a feeling of absolute equality in our relations with all the nations of the world, and, conse-quently, the consciousness of our duties in the work of civilization and human progress. It is for this that in the same manner that the principle of democracy is the foundation of our political organization, the sentiment of inter-national democracy is the foundation of our international policy. This principle is so closely associated with our personal activity as citizens and our international activities as a sovereign people, that even a casual observer could easily note it even in the most inconsequential mani-festations of our individual or collective life. The sentiment of political equality and of social equality of an Argentine citizen in his relations with others is like the sentiment of international equality of the Argen-tine Republic, a sentiment which does not admit either of neglect or indifference, not to speak of ignorance thereof. It is a sentiment under permanent tension, an aggressive sentiment whose powerful dynamic force characterizes and defines the entire movement and development of our system of legislation and all the pride of our national character which is as intense as our respect for the rights of other peoples and the generosity and altruism characteristic of our foreign policy. This sentiment is responsible, furthermore, for the spirit of optimism which characterizes our people, instilling in them the firm conviction that there is nothing which cannot be overcome by our efforts, that there is no ideal which cannot be attained by our will. This principle of our activity as citizens was expressed, long before the enactment of our Constitution, by our greatest political sociologist, the author of the "Socialistic Dogma of the Revolution of May," in these words, which before their enunciation were an instinct of the civic action of every Argentine, and afterwards a gospel, the feeling for and observance of which constantly grew : "Men have no real value in politics except as artisans for the production or realization of social ideas. We do not conceive any progress for the country except under the condition that the initiative in thought and social action be taken by the best and most capable; and by the best and most capable we understand those who represent the purest virtues and the highest in-telligence." Together with these instincts of moral eminence which characterize the permanent ideal of an Argentine as a citizen, there springs the pro-found knowledge of our national greatness which has also been an in-born patrimony of our thought and was expressed with the same candid conviction when we came to independent life, or when we were succeed-ing in the struggle for national organization, or at the present moment 32 Fifteenth Annual Session when we feel a personality already vested with attributes of all kinds to act in the front rank with the most advanced in the struggle of civili-zation. In brief, I might affirm that the essential idea, the basic idea of our political life, the principal Argentine constitutional idea, is "Democ-racy." Democracy founded on an unshaken conviction of equality and civic fraternity and of equality and international fraternity, and de-veloped upon a representative system of government which at the same time that it recognizes the superior existence of a "People" with aspira-tions and a "National" consciousness, form also a basic element, the Argentine "Public Man," representing all the moral ideas of that "People," developing his directive action as an interpreter of the popu-lar conscience and exigencies, the visionary of a glory which only the patriot and the democrat can feel, the glory of achieving a name, no matter how modest, in the history of the progress of his country. This essential idea rests likewise on the basis of a preexisting col-lective instinct, the instinct of nationality, but stimulated by the neces-sity of individual realization which animates our constitutive elements determining the conscience of the citizen, and by the necessity of par-tial collective realization, which led to denning, more and more, after our independence, the life of the local entity of our Argentine provinces. The sentiment of local autonomy which underlay the internal struggle for its recognition and which after becoming defined and strengthened during 40 years of efforts and untold hardships, was recognized by the framers of our fundamental charter, was as a matter of fact the origin of this other constitutional idea—Argentine federalism—which was affirmed as the principle on which our politico-administrative organi-zation was to be based. This other Argentine constitutional idea was adopted not as the result of a capricious and theoretical speculation, but as the result of a popular sentiment which had overcome all pre-vious efforts at organization that had failed to recognize it. There can be no democracy where ignorance reigns, ignorance not being compatible with the morality and the ideals which are essential elements of democracy. Nor can there be a democracy, or at least it cannot produce the organic political activity indispensable in the stimu-lation of national life, when civic indifference prevails, diverting the citizen from his interest in public affairs or keeping him from the polls where the powers of the government are organized and the scope of its action fixed as called for by the national interest. Hence, two more constitutional ideas : compulsory primary education and the compulsory vote. They have not been in fact literally prescribed by the fundamental State Literary and Historical Association. 33 charter, but they have been imposed by it in principle, and fully regu-lated and defined by special legislation. Compulsory primary education seeks to equalize as far as possible the mental capacity of our citizens in order to place them in such posi-tion that the civic life of the country may not be turned over to the blind passion of more or less self-interested bosses, but may develop rather as a consequence of a direct consideration of the problems con-cerning the life of the nation by the average mental capacity of the masses. By the adoption of the compulsory vote it has been sought to remove the dangers of civic atony. Among us compulsory common education has always prepared our citizens for the struggle of life, giving them the means of obtaining a more or less broad understanding of the gen-eral notions essential in modern society to efficient action. The com-pulsory vote is impressing upon them the need of familiarizing them-selves with the principles which personify national "Public Men," with the exigencies of the policy and administration of the country. In this way they are able to influence the action of those "Public Men," com-pelling them, either to define their principles by discussion in the elec-toral campaigns, or to apply them in official positions, and enabling them to control the action and correct the errors of the government by an intelligent and patriotic opposition. These principles are supplemented : compulsory education, by the re-moval of every religious influence from the public primary school, thus leaving the work of forming and developing a religious sentiment to the family and home ; the compulsory vote, by providing for a secret ballot in order to avoid the corruption which might result from weakness of character in the voter. Our Constitution has recognized to such a degree the impossibility of attaining our democracy except upon the basis of the mental prepara-tion of the citizen, that it has provided in one of its provisions relating to the political existence of the "Federal States," the requirement that their local constitutions assure administration of justice, municipal gov-ernment and primary instruction therein as a condition precedent to guaranteeing them the enjoyment and the exercise of their institutions. All these antecedents are the result of a sentiment of fruitful liberal-ism which has always controlled the development of our organic life. It has injected into every constituent or legislative act a principle of activity and progress so intense in its nature that more than once it has brought us to the point of considering respect for the administrative or political traditions as contrary to the interests of the nation. It might also be asserted that the only tradition which persists in the 3 34 Fifteenth Annual Session Argentine mind as a force of permanent inspiration, and which cannot be overcome, is the tradition of the glories and ideals of the revolution and of the principles which gave them birth. Perhaps an explanation of this peculiar circumstance may also be found in the fact that that revolution put an end to the non-political existence of the people and to a public administration organized upon the principle of the absolute power of kings. The revolution created a new state of affairs which did not find in that previous situation a single base for expansion. Tradition, therefore, instead of constituting for us the starting point for subsequent progress, signified rather a nega-tion of the principles of the revolution which was based on liberty and equality of men and of peoples, that is to say, upon the new principle of the revolutionary democracy, which, as our great sociologist says : "Leveling all conditions, it tells us that there are no other differences than those established by the law for the government of society; that the magistrate, outside of the place he discharges his functions, is merged with other citizens; that the priest, the soldier, the lawyer, the merchant, the artisan, the rich and the poor are all alike; that the lowest of the masses is a man equal in rights to others and carries im-pressed on his forehead the dignity of his origin; that only probity, work, talent and genius produce superiority; that one engaged in the smallest industry, if he have capacity and virtues, is no less than the priest, the lawyer or any other who devotes his faculties to some other occupation; and, in brief, that in a democratic society the only ones worthy, wise and virtuous and entitled to consideration are those who contribute with their natural efforts to the welfare and prosperity of the country." We had been living for three centuries under the dead weight of an almost religious respect for tradition and of the infallible authority which the old political doctrines imposed; while the moment called for the application of the forces which have gone to make up the strength of democracy as a political principle. They called for a continuous action of reform, for the exercise of all the mental and physical activi-ties of man, because, as a matter of fact, movement in every aspect of social life is the essence and the reason of democracy. Hence, there-fore, this sentiment of profound liberalism which has always character-ized our organic life, a sentiment which spontaneously exerts its influ-ence throughout our social activity. It finds its reflection not only in our internal legislation wherein are established all the broadest doc-trines which human thought has evolved in the matter of individual rights, but also in its strengthening of the principles of liberty and equality. State Literary and Historical Association. 35 A consequence of this essential principle is found in the fact that Argentine life develops and has always developed looking about and to the future, rather than back to the past, and in the midst of the strug-gle which leads to triumph, rather than to the consideration of what has already been attained. The individual rights corresponding to the Argentine liberalism con-stitute in reality the patrimony of every citizen, and a democratic or-ganization like ours could not but adopt them in the broadest form and assure their exercise with the integrity necessary to produce the favorable social effects which spring from free and salutary individual action. It is for this reason that the principle which establishes the political equality of all citizens and the civil equality of all inhabitants, as well as the guarantees thereof, has found scrupulous expression in our fundamental laws and regulations. This idea has been incorporated as a principle in the Argentine Con-stitution. It prescribes that all inhabitants of the nation enjoy the following rights subject to the laws which govern their exercise, namely : To work and engage in any lawful occupation; to navigate and engage in commerce ; to petition the authorities ; to enter, sojourn in, pass through and leave the territory ; to publish their ideas through the press without previous censorship; to use and enjoy their property; to asso-ciate for useful ends ; freely to profess their religion ; to teach and to learn ; and as a guarantee of the exercise of these rights the same Con-stitution has proscribed all prerogatives based on blood or birth as well as the existence of special privileges or titles of nobility, and has pro-claimed equality as the basis of taxation and public charges ; it has pro-claimed the inviolability of property; it has guaranteed to the author and inventor the exclusive ownership of his work, invention or discovery for a reasonable time commensurate with the general interests; it has proscribed forever from the Argentine penal system the confiscation of property; it has established that no armed body can make requisitions nor demand aid of any kind; it has established that no inhabitant of the nation can be punished without previous trial in pursuance with a law antedating the act for which he is tried, nor be tried by special com-missions, nor be removed from the jurisdiction of the judges designated to try him by a law antedating the act, nor be compelled to testify against himself, nor be arrested except on the written order of a com-petent authority. It has proclaimed the inviolability of the defense in court of persons and rights, as well as the inviolability of domicile and of correspondence and private papers; it has abolished forever the penalty of death for political causes, and as to its penal institutions it has recorded as a constitutional principle the idea that the jails of the 36 Fifteenth Annual Session nation must be sanitary and clean and be used for the custody of and not for punishing the unfortunate inmates thereof, holding the judge who authorizes them responsible for any measures which, under the pre-text of caution, tend to mortify them beyond the requirements of such custody. And, finally, it has assured the absolute moral independence of all its inhabitants, guaranteeing the principle that the private acts of men which in no wise offend order or public morals, nor prejudice third persons, are reserved solely to God and exempt from the authority of magistrates. Beside the principle of equality of rights and as a correlative thereof, it has always been an Argentine idea that every citizen bears the re-sponsibility of the national defense, and, therefore, that it is his duty to take up arms in its behalf. This constitutional idea has been guar-anteed by the enactment of laws which establish the principle of com-pulsory military service for the organization of the national army and navy, constituting, in conjunction with the principles of compulsory primary education and compulsory universal suffrage, the three corner-stones upon which the entire structure of Argentine democracy rests, that is to say, the mental and moral vigor, together with the civic ca-pacity and the defensive strength which constitute combined the guar-anty of the organization, the practice and the maintenance of demo-cratic institutions. I have already said that another of the great Argentine ideas, consti-tutional in fact because it has its existence in the ground-work of our national system as well as in the mind itself of the Argentine people, is that which springs from the humanitarianism peculiar thereto. It strengthens and develops to the utmost the sentiment of our national personality, and recognizes and respects as well the principle of the sov-ereign equality of other nations, practicing, not for the sake of con-venience which never determined the action of privileged organisms, but on account of the moral necessity which dominates our life, the principle of international democracy which has at every moment of our history inspired our foreign policy. This principle has not been only recognized by its enunciation in the preamble of the Constitution, when it assures the benefits of liberty to all men of the world who desire to inhabit Argentine soil, as well as to ourselves as to our posterity. It has also inspired the Argentine policy respecting the foreigner, whether manifested either in the enactment of positive law, in international relations, or in the negotiation of treaties and conventions. The Constitution and the laws have declared the principle that foreigners enjoy in the territory of the nation all the civil rights of a citizen; it has likewise recognized the principle that State Literary and Historical Association. 37 the navigation of the inland waters of the nation is open to all flags; it has prescribed the obligation of the federal government to cement its relations of peace and commerce with foreign powers by treaties con-forming to the principles of onr public law; and, finally, it has thrown open the doors of all our moral and material activities to the foreigner without further restrictions than those called for for the exigencies of our social preservation, in establishing as an obligation of the federal government the promotion of European immigration and in forbidding it to adopt any measure tending to restrict, limit or encumber with any tax whatsoever the entrance into Argentine territory of foreigners who come with the purpose of tilling the soil, improving industries or in-troducing and teaching the arts and sciences. It is unnecessary to tell you that an evidence of the faithful applica-tion of these principles is shown by the hundreds of thousands of men who annually come from all civilized nations to our shores to establish their homes among us and to take advantage of the opportunities of-fered by our natural wealth and our laws to men of good will. This liberalism, which has always been an essential factor in the development of our organic life and has always determined our legis-lation and our policy, has not found expression solely in the precepts of our Constitution or in the provisions of our laws. It also characterizes each period of our diplomatic history in so eloquent and so efficient a form that it constitutes one of the most certain elements of judgment for the study of the tendencies and characteristics of the Argentine people. This history shows that the Argentine people is an organically pacifist people, a people which as an element of civilization and of progress has the powerful intuition that only with the prevalence of peace and good will among men, and peace and good will among nations, is it possible for their ideals and aims to be maintained. Resort to arms has never attracted their predilections, and if they have more than once been compelled to accept it as an inexorable and inevitable necessity, they have not done so either to seek a benefit or to procure an advantage, because they have never conceived any benefit or advantage which could spring from the misfortune or from the pros-tration which war entails. It is only the unavoidable exigencies of the national dignity or the integrity of our institutions which could compel it to accept the calamities and consequences of a war. But war itself has served to reaffirm how intense and deep is our liberalism. Another manifestation of our liberalism may be found in the propa-ganda which our country has been conducting for international arbitra-tion as a means of settling disputes between nations, adopting a formula which is at the present time the highest perfection of that system. One 38 Fifteenth Annual Session of the most illustrious statesmen of my country thus had occasion in 1880, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, to affirm that arbitration had al-ways been a noble and constant aim of our people, and that "the Argen-tine government can show its adherence for a long time to that prin-ciple which wisely considers both the interests of justice and the altru-istic requirements of humanity." In fact, since 1856, when the Argen-tine Republic concluded with Chile her first arbitration treaty for the settlement of boundary questions pending at that time and such others as might thereafter arise, our efforts to bind ourselves with all other countries of the world through compulsory arbitration, have not ceased for a single day. I cherish the belief—perhaps in my pride as an Argentine—that it is the recognition of the moral conscience of my country, rather than her enormous economic vitality that now and always has won for her the esteem and respect of the civilized world. Gentlemen, I must now conclude, but not without taking this oppor-tunity to thank you for the honor you have bestowed upon me in in-viting me to address you, and to express the admiration we feel for the illustrious founders of the American Union. From them our heroes got the most profound political inspiration. They became for us an example and a model of republican virtues and democratic ideals, and the Constitution they framed guided in great measure the glorious ex-pansion of our forces in this strenuous march towards the highest pos-sible culminations, a fatiguing but steady march but to which we are forced by the record of our past, the vigorous achievements of our present, and the energy of our aspirations for the future. State Literary and Historical Association. 39 CONFERENCE ON COUNTY HISTORY Opening Remarks By President Archibald Henderson. Ladies and Gentlemen: I welcome you here today most heartily. I feel that we are assembled to consider what I regard as the most vital and immediate problem in historical investigation now confronting our people. No people can form a just estimate of their own history, or feel legitimate pride in it, until they know what that history is. And I venture the assertion that no comprehensive or complete history of North Carolina up to any given point in time will ever be written until the contributions of the individual units, whose integrated life have constituted that history, are studied and bodied forth with completeness and detail. The county is the unit of the State; the history of the county must furnish the nucleus for the history of the State. There are three phases in the study of the county history which should, I think, be considered today. First and foremost, we must endeavor to arouse historic interest in every county of the State, and further the efforts of local investigators and local historical organizations to secure, while there is yet time, or at least to locate and catalogue, such material of historic interest as may be in private hands—diaries, letters, papers, documents, manuscripts, etc. I would point to my own native county of Rowan which has re-organized the Rowan County Historical Society; its quarters will be in the great new community center, the historic courthouse, now handsomely remodeled. An elaborate history of the county is now pre-paring; and it is probable that a new and greatly enlarged edition of Rumple's "Rowan" will also be published in the near future. The second problem is the task of the examination and calendaring of the public records in every county in the State. For this purpose legislative appropriations, running over a series of years, will be re-quired to cover the cost of a trained historical expert. Such an his-torical expert would examine every record book and every bundle of manuscripts in every county courthouse, make a card catalogue of all materials which deserve to be catalogued, and eventually collate all such card catalogues in publishing a full calendar of all the county records in the State. A duty no less important than that of cataloguing materials would be the preparation of a report on the way in which the records are kept, and a recommendation of some uniform method for 40 Fifteenth Annual Session indexing the records and keeping them on file in such a way as to be easy of access to historical students. The third problem is the very pressing and vital problem : What type of county history do we really want here in North Carolina ? The most scientific and exhaustive history of any county I have seen, of the modern type, is the "History of Lake County, Illinois/' by Prof. John J. Halsey, of Lake Forest University, whose people, by the way, lived in Chowan for more than a century until his grandfather moved away from Edenton in 1806. I have brought this county history, a quarto volume, here with me; its length, 872 pages, will show you how much may be said—and how well it may be said—about a county. My own feel-ing is that our new county histories should be brief, concise, yet com-prehensive in scope. On February 10, 1857, Governor Swain sent out a circular letter in which he said : "To attain uniformity in the series of county histories—perhaps a better plan cannot be suggested than to make 'Wheeler's Sketches of North Carolina' available to the purpose." Today the effort should be made to get away from the old type of genea-logical, political and martial county history, with its glorification of family, its accentuation of the military record, and its dreary catalogue of officials with corresponding dates of service. What is needed today, I would venture to suggest, is a new type of county history, which tells in brief, concise and readable form the story of the life of the people— industrial, racial, social, economic, institutional; one which ruthlessly omits umbrageous family trees, and reduces the political and martial phases of county history to the true scale of proportion in the picture. I would suggest that a board of editors, with authority to act, should be appointed by this body, whose function it shall be to stimulate the writing of histories in every county in the State, and to furnish a model guide for a county history. State Literary and Historical Association. 41 A New Type of County History By William K. Boyd, Ph.D., Peofessor of History in Trinity College, County history has a twofold interest. One is purely local, the con-cern of a family in its genealogy, of a raconteur in notable events of the neighborhood, and of citizens in the political, social, and intellectual antecedents of their environment. The other interest of the subject is derived from its relation to state or region, the way in which it may illustrate and visualize the evolution of that unit of which the county is only a digit. The first of these interests has dominated the writing of county history from the days of Wheeler to the present,1 yet I feel safe in saying that even from the purely local point of view, in no in-stance has the history of any county been exhaustively treated. The second phase of county history, its integration in the life of a section or of a state, is more difficult to comprehend and to portray. It has not been done, with the exception of a few incomplete contributions. Believing that a combination of the two interests, the local and the state or regional, is possible, I take the liberty of saying a few words concerning the content of a county history written with such a purpose, some of the sources which are available, and some ways in which such kind of investigation may be encouraged. I. Mr. Nash has well said that Orange County in its genesis was "with-out form and void." 2 Consequently the first task of a county historian is to describe the resources of the county, its geological formation, soils, fauna and flora, minerals, and drainage, pointing out the influence of these earthy factors on the life of the inhabitants. A most helpful guide to the information for such a chapter is Laney and Wood's Bibli-ography of North Carolina Geology, Mineralogy and Geography.3 This opening chapter should be followed by a discussion of the origin of the county, with full particulars of the causes and process by which it was chartered. At the very inception of the county its integration with general political history begins; recollect, for instance, the con-troversy in colonial days between the Governor and the Assembly con-cerning the right of incorporation, the significance of an expanding frontier, and the sectional controversy of the east and the west. These have been powerful factors in the organization of our counties; unfor-iWheeler: Historical Sketches of North Carolina (Philadelphia, 1851). 2Nash: History of Orange County, Part I (N. C. Booklet, X, No. 2). 3Bulletin of the North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey (Raleigh, 1909). 42 Fifteenth Anistuae Session tunately the information about their relation to the incorporation of specific counties is hidden away in the colonial records, the legislative journals, and the manuscript archives of the State. Logically there should follow an account of the early inhabitants, the Indians and the whites. The early settlements should be analyzed, showing the racial origins and the influence of racial traits upon later history. Nor should the matter of genealogy be neglected, for it is of far greater than local importance. I dare say that every person in North Carolina who is in any way identified with local history has re-ceived many letters of inquiry from people in other states who are anxious to trace their North Carolina ancestry. Most of these in-quiries are in vain, because the gentle art of genealogy is almost un-known among us. Therefore the county historian should give an ex-tended list of the early settlers, let us say down to the year 1815, when the migration to the southwest and the northwest was well under way. The significance of such a genealogical survey is realized when we recall that in the early days of Georgia and Alabama the first political cleavage was not so much over political principles as the rivalry of the elements of their population, notably between the North Carolinians and the Virginians in Georgia. The local historians of the southwestern states tell us in just what regions the Carolinians and the Virginians settled; but who can say which sections of North Carolina furnished most of the immigrants? True, Iredell County gave to the far west a Kit Carson, to Tennessee Hugh L. White, while from Mecklenburg and Wake went James K. Polk and Andrew Johnson to Tennessee. Alabama is indebted to Sampson for William R. King, to Mecklenburg for Israel Pickens, to Robeson for John Murphy, to Stokes for Gabriel Moore. Georgia acquired John Clarke from Wake, Jared Irwin from Mecklenburg, and William Robinson from Halifax. But which coun-ties, rather which section of the State, furnished most of the supporters of Governor Clarke in his memorable campaigns against Troup and the Virginians living in Georgia? Moreover, why did so many North Carolinians leave the State of their nativity? What was the effect of this migration on progress and leadership at home? Somewhere and somehow our county records should tell ; yet the only investigation of this phase of the history of a single county, so far as I know, has been made by a resident of Alabama.4 There are other possibilities in the analysis of population that have not been realized. For instance, one of the leading pacifists of the country has recently declared that in the Civil War the best physical and mental types of manhood in the South were lost, that the hard task of industrial and intellectual recuperation was left to a generation far 4Mamiscript by Hon. Thomas M. Owen, Montgomery, Ala. State Literary and Historical Association. 43 inferior in quality to that which was living in 1860. The facts on which he bases this conclusion are derived from a study of two counties in Virginia and one in Georgia. 5 I wonder if a conscientious county historian in North Carolina, unbiased by pacifist ideals, would come to a similar conclusion? From the population it is natural to turn to some of the forces that shape the life of a community. The one most slightly treated in the average county history is religion. Perhaps the historian is unduly impressed with denominational jealousies and theological controversies, and deems reticence on the matter of church history the only way to be optimistic. However, he should not fail to realize that religion in its origin is closely related to the social instinct, the desire of mankind for companionship. It is therefore not accidental that in the settle-ment of this country the church existed long before the day of the schoolhouse, the lodge, the Farmers Union, or the modern club. More-over, the rules of the churches reflect the attitude of the community on such matters as marriage between members of different denomina-tions, traffic in slaves, Masonry, dress, and amusements. Therefore the church records of the county should be diligently sought and ex-amined. They will reveal standards of conduct and thought that have passed away, and will suggest many traits of mind and character of the early inhabitants. Moreover, some of the significant movements in the history of religion in the South began in North Carolina, such as the first educational movement, the first periodical, and the first camp meet-ing among the Methodists. James O'Kelly, the earliest champion of individualism in religion in the South, was born and died in Chatham County. The rise of the Missionary Baptists is of more than state or county significance, while the leaven of Calvinism did much to estab-lish academies and colleges. Who can tell to what extent county history might add to our knowledge of these forces, important in the history of Christianity in the South as well as the State? Economic conditions have also been a powerful factor in shaping the life of a people. North Carolina has always been notable for the va-riety of its industrial activities, the absence of any solidarity of eco-nomic interests, and a resulting lack of unity in political sentiment. Yet economic development has received slight account in our county histories; in none of them have all the available sources been used. I therefore take the liberty of making the following suggestions for the treatment of the economic development of a county. There were four stages in the economic evolution of a pioneer com-munity, represented by four types of inhabitants : the hunter or trapper, the hog ranger, the farmer, and the miller and manufacturer. If pos- 5Jordan: War's Aftermath. 44 Fifteenth Annual Session sible the course of these stages of development in the history of the county should be traced. Here written records are apt to fail but land-marks often tell the story. The old trails may show the course of the retiring trapper, the names hog run, horse pocosin, etc., the grazing ground of the herdsman, while land grants and deeds indicate the advent of the farmer. Visualization of these processes in the settlement of our country is always helpful to those interested in state or national history ; it also adds color and value to the narrative for those interested in purely local affairs. Much more detailed information may be had and is desirable con-cerning the last stages of industrial development, the agricultural and manufacturing. From the angle of state and national, as well as purely local affairs, studies of the following topics would be of in-estimable value: the average size of farms in various epochs of the county's history, the number of slaves and the nature of white tenancy prior to 1860, the products and the method of marketing them, and the agricultural changes since 1865. Likewise the rise of manufactures should be traced from the grist and lumber mills to the modern factory. The whole subject of economic history, county by county, is full of possibilities, for the economists and the sociologists are more and more deserting their theories for the study of industrial transformations in small communities or units. Yet in none of our county histories can there be found an analysis of the ante-bellum plantation system or docu-ments illustrating plantation life. In fact, the only documents illus-trative of agricultural conditions in the South prior to 1860 and the only study of the agricultural transformation since 1865 have been pub-lished by students of general or of state history residing beyond the confines of North Carolina. 6 The topics thus outlined do not by any means cover the field of county history but they do illustrate the blending of state or regional and local interests. However, they must be treated cross-sectionally, for the history of a county must follow the grand divisions of national his-tory, the Colonial, the Eevolutionary, the Federal, the Civil War, the Reconstruction and the contemporary periods. To make more concrete and definite my conception of county investigation, I take the liberty of outlining in detail one cross-section, the period of Reconstruction. The history of the county from 1865 to 1876 should discuss the follow-ing subjects : I. Economic Conditions. A. Loss of men and property during the war, based on censuses of 1860, 1870, 1880 and local sources; shifting of population. 6Phillips: Plantation and Frontier, Vols. I and II of Documentary History of American Indus-trial Society. Brooks: The Agrarian Revolution in Georgia, 1865-1912 (University of Wisconsin). State Literary and Historical Association. 45 B. Break up of the plantation system, as shown by the census and local records, the rise of white and colored tenancy, the resulting change in products, debts and mortgages, and if possible the influ-ence of the Freedmen's Bureau and the legislation of 1866 on labor. C. The rise of manufactures to 1880; pointing out the nature of manufactures in 1860, 1870, 1880, the new industries, influence of foreign capital if any; the rise of new towns; the number, sex and wages of the employees. D. Transportation: The railways in 1860, 1870, 1880; if any in-crease, the method by which attained. E. White and negro population, 1860, 1870, 1880. II. The Churches During Reconstruction. A. The number, denomination, and membership in 1860. B. Membership during the war and during Reconstruction; changes in customs. C. Separation of the races; rise of the negro church. III. Educational Development. A. Public and private schools in 1860. B. Appropriation for schools during the war ; fate of the iacademies ; collapse of the ante-bellum school system. C. The revival of the public school. D. Academies since the war. E. Rise of the negro school, public and private. IV. County Government. A. The Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions from the opening of the war until its abolition in 1868. B. Special governing boards, if any. C. Rise of the modern form of county government under the Con-stitution of 1868. D. The advent of city charters. E. State courts and military courts during Reconstruction. V. Secret Organizations. A. Background ; the Ereedmen's Bureau ; military government ; eco-nomic and social changes. B. The Red Strings and the war societies. C. The Union League. D. The Ku Klux. E. Operations of the societies; methods, political activities; riots or outrages ; investigations ; decadence. 46 Fifteenth Annual Session VI. Political Development. A. Party alignment in 1860 and 1861. B. Political activity during the war; legislative, gubernatorial and Confederate elections. C. The Convention of 1865, the gubernatorial and legislative elec-tions of 1865. D. Parties and elections of 1867. E. The county in the Convention of 1868. P. Politics, 1868-1876. VII. Sketches of Leadeks in Politics and Industry. This outline for the Reconstruction period of county history is more than experimental and tentative. It has been used with good results at the University of Mississippi and at Trinity College in this State. 7 The possibilities of county history in other periods might be sketched, as, for instance, in that profound industrial and social transformation since 1876. However, as this chapter borders on the domain of that newest and most fascinating of the social sciences, Rural Economics and Sociology, I refrain, and pass on to the next division of my remarks, the question of bibliography for county history. II. The principal sources may be classified as manuscript and printed. Each group deserves some consideration. A. Manuscript. I. The county archives, consisting of the proceedings of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions and its successor, the board of county commissioners ; the deeds in the register's office ; the wills filed by the clerk ; the tax lists on the sheriff's books, etc. These have been compared by Mr. ISTash to the dry bones in the incomparable vision of Ezekiel, which the "historian's enlightened but restrained imagination" may clothe "with sinews and flesh and life." They are of inestimable value to the genealogist and the biographer ; they also indicate the section of a county first settled, the intellectual and economic character of the settlers, the course of roads, the construction of bridges and mills, litigation, and the growth of wealth, the truth or falsity of traditions, and numerous facts unexpected and undreamed of by the searcher after truth. How little have they been used ! A gentleman actively engaged in county in-vestigation ventures the assertion that "not in an old county of the State has every record been perused from its establishment to 1850." One of the paramount needs is a manual of methodology for county archives 7See Publications of the Mississippi State Historical Society, Vols. XI, XII; Papers of the Trinity College Historical Society, Series X. State Literacy and Historical Association. 47 which will give a summary of the kind of material that one may ex-pect to find in each class of archives, the best manner of taking notes and making cross-references, and the relation of the archives of the county to those of the county or counties from which it was formed, and other pertinent matters. II. The legislative, executive and judicial archives, the manuscript records in Kaleigh in the' offices of the Governor, the executive officers and the Supreme Court,—a vast array of petitions, rejected bills, official communications, letters, account books, military rosters and court records, which have never been classified or indexed. Some day, let us hope, the State will realize their value and have them arranged and calendared. Until then every investigator, whether of county or general state history, must fish in troubled waters. III. Records of churches, institutions, and societies. These are of course of miscellaneous character and vary from county to county. A search must be made for them. Let me illustrate the danger of over-looking them. Several years ago the history of a county was written in which there were a few remarks about its anti-slavery sentiment. Un-known to the writer there existed in that county the minutes of one of the most remarkable anti-slavery organizations in the entire South, containing enough material to make a chapter in themselves. But they were unknown to the author, and that chapter in the county's history remained to be written. IV. Private correspondence; diaries, account books, plantation records, etc. How often are these destroyed. A few years ago the per-sonal effects of one of the contractors who helped to build an important railway in IsTorth Carolina were sold by his executors. A fine chest of drawers was bought; the purchaser, finding it full of papers and let-ters, emptied the contents on the ground and burned them. Who can tell the loss thus sustained to the history of Rowan County? B. Printed Sources. I. Laws of North Carolina, sessional. These contain a vast amount of information that has never been thoroughly explored. For example, in the private acts can be found the licenses to build roads and bridges, the charters of academies, manufacturing companies and Masonic lodges, provisions for local government, taxation, patrols and care of the poor, the foundation of libraries, the holding of courts, and numer-ous other matters which interpret life in the past. A complete file of the laws is rare, hardly to be found except in our larger libraries. Moreover there is no general index to them. Some patriotic citizen with an antiquarian taste could place all local historians under a lasting 48 Fifteenth Annual Session debt of gratitude by publishing a calendar of the material for county history in the public and private laws. II. The Public Documents of North Carolina are also a Yast store-house of information, the publication of which was begun in 1836. They contain the reports of the State Treasurer and Comptroller, mes-sages of the Governors, reports of railway and plank road companies, and of committees. In the Comptroller's reports can be found the amount of taxes paid by each county, in 1854 the value of lands county by county, in 1856 and after the amount of local taxes, and in 1863 the first valuation of slave property. The appropriations for public schools and the condition of the banks are also given in the Comptroller's Re-ports. A complete check list of the contents of the public documents relating to counties is, I think, impossible ; but there is a valuable help to their use in Bowker's "State Publications." III. The Journals of the Legislature are also important, for in them can be traced the attitude of the county's representatives on such im-portant measures as railroad bills, public appropriations, resolutions concerning State's rights and slavery, personal liberty and constitutional questions during the war, as well as purely local matters. The same may be said for the journals of constitutional conventions. IV. Records of church bodies, churches, lodges, commercial organi-zations and societies of various kinds. V. Publications of the United States Government, notably the Census, the "War of the Rebellion Records, the Ku Klux Report, the Report of the Reconstruction Committee, and the reports of the en-gineers, which contain a vast amount of information relating to eco-nomic, social, military and political history. VI. Newspapers. A file of a county newspaper, when available, bears to the historian the same relation that a rich vein does to the miner of gold. Unfortunately files are rare, there being few in the State Library prior to 1880. I wish that some librarian with an anti-quarian interest would make a check list of the North Carolina news-papers in the libraries of the State, of educational institutions, and of in-dividuals, and also those in the great collections of the North and West. Let me add that some of the national papers in the old days contain valuable information regarding local affairs in North Carolina, notably Niles' Register. III. Finally, how can the cause of county history be aided? Let us re-member, first of all, that the historical, like the literary impulse, cannot be grown by hothouse methods ; it obeys no law, and like the wind, it blows where it listeth. I will go further and assert that history is a State Literary and Historical Association. 49 branch of literature, one of the arts as much as poetry and fiction. It has, however, this distinction, that while it is an art in its purpose, its method is scientific. Herein lies the opportunity of an organization like the State Literary and Historical Society to be of service; it may furnish an outline and guide for gathering and organizing material; in other words, we can formulate a method for county history work, which, we may hope, will attract now and then the genius of the literary artist. I therefore suggest that this Society appoint a com-mittee to prepare a guide for the study and writing of county history in North Carolina. Such a work, when made accessible to classes in American history, literary clubs, libraries and individuals, may, in the providence of the muses, bring results in more numerous and more comprehensive county histories. In one other way can this organiza-tion be of service. It can give, each year, right of way in its program to studies in county history. Such a policy will assure recognition for investigators of county history; it will also give a permanent and solid value to the society's publications. 50 Fifteenth Annual Session The Vital Study of a County By E. C. Branson, Peofessoe of Rueal Economics and Sociology in the Uniyeesity of Noeth Carolina. In prefatory way, I desire to congratulate the State Literary and Historical Society upon the rare vision and wisdom of its plan to as-semble, interpret, and preserve in worthful, literary form the history of North Carolina, county by county. The consciousness of well characterized group-personality is strong in North Carolinians ; so strong that it is strange and astonishing to people in New England, Minnesota, Illinois and other States where our annual Carolina Day and Community-service Week have so greatly challenged attention and comment. It is less strange in California, Kansas, Kentucky or Virginia, where a similar pride in the home State has always been an informing force in individual and civic development. Love of State is not a childish, trivial something; it is an indispensable factor in the building of character. Denmark is a conspicuous modern instance of local patriotism as a national asset. The thing that most impresses a visitor in the Danish Folkschulen is not the agriculture or the home economics, but the local folk-lore, the home-bred myth, song, and story, the chronicles of Danish heroism, patriotism and achievement that fill the teaching of literature and history to overflowing. Denmark is recited and sung in every class every day. Her agricul-ture is wonderful, but her blazing national consciousness goes further toward explaining her rise into greatness in the last half century. Dan-ish patriotism is not narrowly parochial and provincial. It is intense, but it is broadly intelligent. The Carolina Day exercises in our schools impress visitors from other States in quite the same way. "I am sorry to say there is nothing like this in my home State," said a New Englander in North Carolina on the fourth of last December. Be it said to the honor of North Carolina, there never was a time when a North Carolinian could be a gentleman and be ignorant of the history of his mother State. Familiar, loving acquaintance with the home county and the home State is a necessary foundation for effective citizenship. THE REAEWAED LOOK. The vital study of a county is the study of what is vital in a county. It is a study of the big, main things, the causal, significant, conse- State Literary and Historical Association. 51 quential things in community life. Things that are trivial and super-ficial, incidental and inconsequential have small place in such a study. If so be they indicate the characteristic mood, humor or temper of a people, they have a very large place in an interpretative study; but not otherwise. First of all, it ought to begin with the rearward look. What the county was day before yesterday is related to what it will be day after tomorrow. What lasts on and on in any community grows straight out of the nature of human nature in that community. An understanding of the economic, social, and civic life of a county or a country calls for acquaintance with the historical background; with origins, resources, advantages, obstacles, occupations and indus-tries, racial strains, noteworthy events and achievements, localities and memorials, with community-building leaders, with notable, noble per-sonages and their contributions to the industrial or spiritual wealth of the county. The field under survey ought not to be cluttered up with trifles light as air, however interesting or appealing to family pride. A county history now on my desk well illustrates what a county his-tory ought not to be. It is big and bulky, exhaustive and exhausting. It is descriptive merely. It is crowded with trivialties that signify nothing; with names and places, items and details that were not worth recording. They confuse one's sense of values. They lead into no con-clusions large or small. It is occasionally interesting and charming. It is full of things curious, fantastic, and bizarre; but hardly worth one's while for instruction or inspiration. It is, I may say, one of the many histories of the New England Berkshires. THE round-about and the forward look. But the vital study of a county also calls for the round-about and the forward look. It is a homespun study of community forces, agen-cies and influences, tendencies, drifts and movements that have made the history we study today and that fatefully are making the history our children will be studying tomorrow. It is examining the economic and social forces that operate in the small, familiar area of the home county. They are forces that have something like the steady, fateful pull and power of gravitation or any other natural law. They are creating opportunities or obstacles. They are making or marring community life. They need to be definitely known and to be harnessed for beneficent uses, as we harness electricity for traction, light and warmth. It means a study of community resources and their development; of populations and occupati
Object Description
Description
Title | Proceedings and addresses of the fifteenth annual session of the State Literary and Historical Association of North Carolina |
Other Title | Proceedings and addresses of the 15th annual session of the State Literary and Historical Association of North Carolina |
Date | 1915 |
Table Of Contents | Includes proceedings from the Conferences on County History and North Carolina Literature, as well as an O. Henry Evening. |
Digital Characteristics-A | 163 p.; 13.2 MB |
Series | Publications of the North Carolina Historical Commission; Bulletin no. 18 of the North Carolina Historical Commission |
Pres File Name-M | pubs_slnc_serial_minutesncliterary1914.pdf; publicationsofno1912nort.pdf |
Pres Local File Path-M | Preservation_content\StatePubs\pubs_slnc\images_master |
Full Text | ixj)le+i^ -no.tf? PROCEEDINGS and ADDRESSES OF THE FIFTEENTH ANNUAL SESSION OF THE State Literary and Historical Association of North Carolina RALEIGH December 1-2, 1914 Compiled by R. D. W. CONNOR Secretary RALEIGH Edwards & Broughton Printing Co. State Printers 1915 The North Carolina Historical Commission J. Bryan Grimes, Chairman, Raleigh. W. J. Peele, Raleigh. M. C. S. Noble, Chapel Hill. Thomas M. Pittman, Henderson. ' D. H. Hill, Raleigh. R. D. W. Connor, Secretary, Raleigh. Officers of the State Literary and Historical Association 1914. President Archibald Henderson, Chapel Hill. First Vice-President Miss Mary Shannon Smith, Raleigh. Second Vice-President Frank Nash, Hillsboro. Third Vice-President W. B. McKoy, Wilmington. Secretary-Treasurer R. D. W. Connor, Raleigh. Executive Committee. W. K. Boyd, Durham. Clarence Poe, Raleigh. James F. Royster, Chapel Hill. Maurice G. Fulton, Davidson. Mrs. Margaret Busbee Shipp, Raleigh. 1915. President Clarence Poe, Raleigh. First Vice-President Miss Minnie W. Leatherman, Raleigh. Second Vice-President J. G. de R. Hamilton, Chapel Hill. Third Vice-President S. A. Ashe, Raleigh, N. C. Secretary-Treasurer R. D. W. Connor, Raleigh. Executive Committee. John F. Bruton, Wilson. Howard Rondthaler, Winston-Salem. A. W. McLean, Lumberton. T. M. Pittman, Henderson. J. L. Chambers, Charlotte. PURPOSES OF THE STATE LITERARY AND HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. "The collection, preservation, production, and dissemination of our State literature and history; "The encouragement of public and school libraries; "The establishment of an historical museum; "The inculcation of a literary spirit among our people; "The correction of printed misrepresentations concerning North Carolina; and — "The engendering of an intelligent, healthy State pride in the rising generations." ELIGIBILITY TO MEMBERSHIP—MEMBERSHIP DUES. All persons interested in its purposes are invited to become members of the Association. There are two classes of members: "Regular Members," paying one dollar a year, and "Sustaining Members," paying five dollars a year. RECORD OF THE STATE LITERARY AND HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. (Organized October, 1900.) Fiscal Paid up Years. Presidents. Secretaries. Membership. 1900-1901 Walter Clark Alex. J. Feild 150 1901-1902 Henry G. Connor Alex. J. Feild 139 1902-1903 W. L. Poteat George S. Fraps 73 1903-1904 C. Alphonso Smith Clarence Poe 127 1904-1905 Robert W. Winston '.Clarence Poe 109 1905-1906 Charles B. Aycock Clarence Poe 185 1906-1907 W. D. Pruden Clarence Poe 301 1907-1908 Robert Bingham Clarence Poe 273 1908-1909 Junius Davis Clarence Poe 311 1909-1910 Platt D. Walker Clarence Poe 440 1910-1911 Edward K. Graham Clarence Poe 425 1911-1912 R. D. W. Connor Clarence Poe 479 1912-1913 W. P. Few R. D. W. Connor 476 1913-1914 Archibald Henderson R. D. W. Connor 435 AWARDS OF THE PATTERSON MEMORIAL CUR 1905 John Charles McNeill, for poems later reprinted in book form as "Songs, Merry and Sad." (Presentation by Theodore Roosevelt.) 1906 Edwin Mims, for "Life of Sidney Lanier." (Presentation by Fabius H. Busbee.) 1907 — Kemp Plummer Battle, for "History of the University of North Caro-lina." (Presentation by Francis D. Winston.) 1908 Samuel A'Court Ashe, for "History of North Carolina." (Presenta-tion by Thomas Nelson Page.) 1909 Clarence Poe, for "A Southerner in Europe." (Presentation by Am-bassador James Bryce.) 1910—R. D. W. Connor, for "Cornelius Harnett: An Essay in North Carolina History." (Presentation by T. W. Bickett.) 1911 Archibald Henderson, for "George Bernard Shaw: His Life and Works." (Presentation by Lee S. Overman.) 1912 Clarence Poe, for "Where Half the World is Waking Up." (Presenta-tion by Walter H. Page.) 1913 Horace Kephart, for "Our Southern Highlanders." (Presentation by Maurice G. Fulton.) 1914—J. G. de R. Hamilton, for "Reconstruction in North Carolina." Pres-entation by W. K. Boyd.) WHAT THE ASSOCIATION HAS ACCOMPLISHED FOR THE STATE-SUCCESSFUL MOVEMENTS INAUGURATED BY IT. 1. Rural libraries. 2. "North Carolina Day" in the schools. 3. The North Carolina Historical Commission. 4. Vance statue in Statuary Hall (to be erected soon). 5. Fire-proof State Library Building and Hall of Records. 6. Civil War battlefields marked to show North Carolina's record. 7. North Carolina's war record defended and war claims vindicated. 8. The Patterson Memorial Cup. 9. Lecture Extension Work started in leading cities and towns. 10. A program of Library Extension Work begun. CONTENTS PAGE Minutes of the Fifteenth Annual Session 7 General Session: The New North State. By Archibald Henderson 15 Some Argentine Ideas. By R. S. Naon 26 Conference on County History: Opening Remarks. By Archibald Henderson 39 A New Type of County History. By W. K. Boyd 41 The Vital Study of a County. By E. C. Branson 50 How Can We Secure the Writing of County Histories. By Miss Adelaide Fries 54 How Can We Secure the Writing of County Histories. By W. C. Jackson. 56 Conference on North Carolina Literature: The Projected History of North Carolina Literature. By Archibald Henderson 59 Henry Jerome Stockard. By J. Y. Joyner 61 The North Carolina Historians. By Stephen B. Weeks 71 North Carolina Fiction. By T. P. Harrison 87 Ballad-Literature in North Carolina. By Frank C. Brown 92 North Carolina Poetry. By Ernest L. Starr 103 North Carolina Oratory. By J. M. McConnell Ill North Carolina Bibliography for the Year. By Miss Minnie W. Leatherman 116 Presentation of Gifts to the State. By Archibald Henderson 122 O. Henry Evening: O. Henry. By C. Alphonso Smith 126 Presentation of the O. Henry Memorial to the State. By Archibald Henderson 139 Acceptance of O. Henry Memorial. By Governor Locke Craig 141 Members, 1914-1915 142 MINUTES Proceedings and Addresses of the Fifteenth Annual Session of the State Literary and Historical Association of North Carolina RALEIGH, DECEMBER 1-2, 1914 Tuesday, December 1 — Afternoon Session. The Fifteenth Annual Session of the State Literary and Historical Association of North Carolina was called to order in the Hall of the House of Kepresentatives, Tuesday afternoon, December 1, 1914, at 3 :30 o'clock, with President Henderson in the chair. President Hen-derson, after brief opening remarks, announced that the program for the afternoon session was a Conference on County History. The pro-gram as carried out was as follows: 1. Opening Address, by Archibald Henderson. 2. "A New Type of County History," by W. K. Boyd. 3. "The Vital Study of the County," by E. C. Branson. 4. "How to Secure the Writing of County Histories." Discussions by W. C. Jackson, Miss Adelaide Fries, and T. M. Pittman. At the conclusion of these papers there was a general discussion in which several members participated. Hon. Francis D. Winston thereupon offered the following resolutions which, after debate, were adopted : Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the President of this Association to memorialize the General Assembly at its coming session to make an annual appropriation of not less than $2,500, to be expended under the direction of the North Carolina Historical Commission in the work of advising with municipal and county officials relative to the proper care, arrangement and preservation of the public archives and records in their charge, and of making such records and archives accessible for historical purposes. Resolved, That the Executive Committee take immediate steps to organize County Historical Societies, and that they enlist the cooperation of the De-partment of History in the University and in the colleges of the State in arranging a plan for securing a history of each county in North Carolina. Tuesday, December 1 — Evening Session. The session was called to order by President Henderson at 8 o'clock in the auditorium of Meredith College. President Henderson delivered his inaugural address on "The New ISTorth State," at the conclusion of 8 Fifteenth Annual Session which lie presented Governor Craig, who introduced the next speaker as follows: We have the honor this evening of having as our guest a statesman who, though young in years, has made a world-impression in history. He is a thinker and a scholar. He has done great things for his country, and I hope that he may continue to guide his great nation. He has not only ren-dered great service to his own people, but he has rendered great service to this nation which entitles him to our everlasting gratitude, for he was one of the arbitrators which kept this nation at peace with Mexico and at peace with all. He comes from the greatest nation that has ever existed in South America. In this hemisphere there are two great republics, one on the Northern con-tinent and one on the Southern. His nation stands among the foremost for peace, progress, and civilization. The destiny of the United States and South America is indissoluble. The friendly relations between the republics of North and South America not only means the finest of commercial advantage, but it means the finest de-velopment that has come to the human race. The day is coming when the Latin people of the South and the Anglo-Saxon of the North will realize that their destiny is one to be worked out in brotherhood between these countries. The distinguished statesman is the foremost representative of the Latin republics. I have the honor of presenting the Ambassador of the greatest Southern republic to the greatest Northern republic. The topic of Ambassador JsTaon's address was "Some Argentine Ideas." At the conclusion of Dr. Naon's address he was unanimously elected an honorary member of the Literary and Historical Association. President Henderson then presented Dr. W. K. Boyd who had been selected to announce the award of the William Houston Patterson Me-morial Cup for 1914, saying: The feature which concludes our program this evening has come to be a classic event in the North Carolina year. This is the award of the William Houston Patterson Memorial Cup, the beautifully conceived memorial in honor of her father, by Mrs. J. Lindsay Patterson, of Winston-Salem. In past years, the award of this cup has called national attention to the works of literature being produced in the State of North Carolina. This cup is awarded each year to that resident of the State who, during the twelve months from September 1st of the previous year to September 1st of the year of the award, has displayed, either in prose or poetry, without regard to its length, the greatest excellence and the highest literary skill and genius. I take pleasure in calling upon the distinguished historical student, Dr. William K. Boyd, of Trinity College, who, as representative of the Committee will make the announcement of the award. In announcing the award Dr. Boyd said : Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen: Every man of letters in North Carolina who makes local conditions the subject of his art is in a double sense a benefactor; first, for consecrating his gifts to immortalizing Tar Heeldom; second, for carrying out his work State Literary and Historical Association. 9 under the adverse conditions referred to in the presidential address. There-fore the half dozen authors who have in the past year written books about North Carolina deserve the laurels of patriots, and on behalf of the Patter-son Memorial Cup Committee and the Literary and Historical Association I wish to express our appreciation of their efforts. Under the adverse conditions referred to by the President, it was indeed gracious of Mrs. Patterson to establish the Patterson Memorial Cup. Her patronage insures a careful examination of all books written by residents of the State and publicity to at least one of them. Before announcing the award, may I relate a bit of academic history? Higher education in the United States has been revolutionized since the year 1870. Professional schools of arts and sciences have been organized and large universities have come into existence. About the year 1875 an old aristocratic college in the city of New York felt the new impulse. It established a chair of Political Science and Constitutional Law. To fill it was called a man who was Southern by birth, but who had received his col-legiate education in New England and his professional training in Germany. He brought to this country those conceptions of the State and of sovereignty which characterize the political science of modern Germany. According to his theories sovereignty in the United States has always been in the people; the nation is older than the States, and manifestations of State rights senti-ments in our history have been entirely without constitutional warrant. A more national interpretation of our history can hardly be conceived. After a few years a young man from New Jersey applied at the college for a higher degree. His essay was on the Constitution during the Civil War and Reconstruction. In it he maintained that during the conflict the Con-stitution was not only violated by executive and legislative measures, but that it was superseded by war powers, and that during Reconstruction cer-tain principles of constitutional law were also ignored. In other words, in establishing nationality, its written charter was violated. There was a memorable examination; the Dean found fault, and even demanded that a new edition of the essay be published with corrections. The man from New Jersey stood his ground, and won the day. For there was academic liberty in the institution. A few years later that student was called to his alma mater to teach political theory, then history. As the institution grew into a great university he offered graduate instruc-tion in the period of the Civil War and Reconstruction. This was about the time that the sons of those who fought in the gray line and the blue were arriving at maturity. A number of them were attracted by the new field of historical investigation opened up. Two results followed. One was that the history department of Columbia became a clearing house for men of opposite persuasions, a twilight zone in which the most ultra-nationalists and the most unreconstructed rebels found a mutual human interest and sympathy. The other result has been the publication of a series of volumes on the Reconstruction Period in the South; a history of Reconstruction in Mississippi, one of Georgia during the period, and similar studies of Ala-bama, Texas, and Florida. These are not essays but stout volumes. They make the largest contribution to any one period of Southern history. Thirteen years ago there joined the Columbia group a graduate of the Uni-versity of the South, with tar on his heels. After the first year he began the 10 Fifteenth Annual Session investigation of his native State during the Reconstruction period. For twelve years he has given his best efforts to the task and last summer he published his results entitled, "Reconstruction in North Carolina." His work is notable for the following qualities: In point of style it is equaled in our historical literature only by the work of Dr. Hawks, who wrote prior to the war. In selection and organization of material it is modern in tone, combining the topical and the chronological methods. It is also a contribution to national as well as State history, for it treats of constitutional, economic, and political movements that were not confined to North Carolina. His volume also belongs to a notable series, the "Columbia University Studies in Economics, History, and Public Law." And now, as the author is too Roman in his modesty to appear on this stage, I announce that the Patterson Cup this year is awarded to Dr. J. G. de R. Hamilton for his excellent book, "Reconstruction in North Carolina." The President then declared the meeting adjourned. Following the regular session the members of the Association and their guests were tendered a reception in the parlors of Meredith Col-lege, by the Woman's Club of Raleigh. Wednesday, Decembek 2 — Morning Session. The session was called to order in the Hall of the House of Repre-sentatives by President Henderson, at ten o'clock. The President an-nounced that the subject of the program for this session was "North Carolina Literature." Papers were read on the following subjects : 1. "Projected History of North Carolina Literature," by Archibald Hen-derson. 2. "Henry Jerome Stockard; An Appreciation," by J. Y. Joyner. 3. "North Carolina Historical Writings," by Stephen B. Weeks. 4. "North Carolina Fiction," by Thomas P. Harrison. 5. "North Carolina Ballads," by Frank C. Brown. 6. "North Carolina Poetry," by Ernest Starr. Dr. Maurice G. Fulton announced that Dr. J. M. McConnell, who had prepared a paper on "JNTorth Carolina Oratory," had been un-avoidably prevented from attending the meeting, and moved that Dr. McConnell's paper be published in the Proceedings. The motion was carried. President Henderson then presented several gifts to the Association. His address in making these presentations has been printed elsewhere in the Proceedings. At the conclusion of President Henderson's address the following resolutions were offered and unanimously adopted : Resolved, That the State Literary and Historical Association of North Carolina extend, through the Secretary, grateful thanks in token of their State Literary and Historical Association. 11 appreciation of the following gifts of literary memorials to the Hall of History: 1. To Mrs. Henry Jerome Stockard for the autograph poem, signed, by the late Henry Jerome Stockard, it being the poem dedicated to the Women of the Confederacy; 2. To Mr. W. L. McNeill, of Wagram, N. C, for the autograph poem, "Told On," of his brother, John Charles McNeill; 3. To Mrs. William Sidney Porter, for the portrait of William Sidney Porter. 4. To Mr. Arthur W. Page, Editor of The World's Work, for some sheets of the original manuscript of one of O. Henry's stories. 5. To Miss Van Vleck, of Winston-Salem, for a letter, and to Miss Marshall for an autograph poem, of John Henry Boner. 6. To the Misses Margaret J. and Martha A. Steele, of Carlisle, for the let-ters of Elizabeth Maxwell Steele. Whereas, The North Carolina Library Commission has rendered great service to the schools and rural population of the State by the operation of traveling, debate and other package libraries, therefore, be it Resolved, That the State Literary and Historical Association commend the work of the Library Commission and aid it through its Legislative Committee in securing a larger appropriation for the extension of its service along these lines. Whereas, The American Peace Conference agreed at its session in Rich-mond last December that each State should establish some memorial to mark the Century of Peace among the English-speaking peoples under the Treaty of Ghent, And, Whereas, Sir Walter Raleigh was selected as the most suitable char-acter for this purpose in North Carolina, Therefore, be it resolved by this Association, That we heartily commend Senator Lee S. Overman for his timely introduction of a bill into the United States Senate, for an appropriation for a statue of Sir Walter Raleigh to be erected in this city; and we will gratefully appreciate his efforts to secure its passage during the coming session of Congress, so that we can, at least, lay the corner-stone in 1915. And Resolved, That our senior Senator and all Congressmen from North Carolina are hereby requested and urged to support this measure. Resolved, That this Association heartily endorse Senate Bill No. 2545, in-troduced into the "United States Senate by Senator Overman, it being a bill for the execution of a suitable and creditable painting, depicting the baptism of Virginia Dare, the first known celebration of a Protestant Christian sacra-ment on American soil; and urge our Senators and Representatives in Con-gress to support the same. Whereas, The members of this Association have heard with sincerest sor-row of the illness at his home in Wilson of Hon. F. A. Woodard, who, during the fifteen years of the history of the Literary and Historical Association, has never before been absent from its annual session, and has at all times displayed an earnest, unselfish and wise interest in its work, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Secretary be requested to express to Mr. Woodard our regret at his absence, our sympathy in his illness, and our sincere hopes for the speedy recovery of his health. 12 Fifteenth Annual Session Resolved, That the Secretary be requested to extend to the Trustees and Faculty of Meredith College the thanks and appreciation of the State Liter-ary and Historical Association for the use of the auditorium of Meredith College for its evening sessions; and to express to the Woman's Club of Raleigh its appreciation of their courtesy in tendering a reception to its members and guests. The following reports of the Guilford County Historical Society and of the Randolph Historical Society were then presented to the Associa-tion by Mrs. E. E. Moffitt : GUILFORD COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. The Guilford County Historical Association has had no meeting again this year. Two papers have been prepared and we have received some valuable old letters, also a most interesting banner which was presented to the Greens-boro Guards by the ladies of the town in 1839, the presentation being re-corded in the Patriot of that day. The Greensboro Public Library, in which the collection of the society is kept, has been most fortunate this year in a gift of four portraits, all emi-nent citizens of Guilford whose descendants have made this very generous donation to the home of their fathers: Colonel Julius A. Gray, Governor John M. Morehead, Governor Jonathan Worth, and Governor A. M. Scales. The homes of Governor Morehead and Governor Scales are still standing in Greensboro. Governor Worth's early life was all spent in Guilford, though he was elected Governor from Randolph, where he settled in 1824. These four portraits were unveiled in the library with appropriate exercises on the evening of June 6, 1914. The banner of 1839 was displayed at the time by the Guilford Historical Association with two other political Greensboro banners of 1840, making an exhibit of especial interest, since all three were used in the memorable cam-paign of Morehead and Harrison in 1840. The society contemplates a revival of its work during the next year. RANDOLPH COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. On the 30th of May, 1914, a dozen or more people met in the County Super-intendent's office, and organized a society to be known as The Randolph County Historical Society. It elected for its President, Mrs. Numa A. Thorn-burg, and Hon. W. C. Hammer, Vice-President; T. F. Bulla, Secretary; Miss Linnie Shamburger, Historian, and Mrs. S. L. Hayworth, Treasurer. It was decided at this meeting to meet annually, and discuss historical events rela-tive to Randolph County. A great deal of interest was manifested in this meeting, and the outlook is good for interesting discussions in the future. It was also decided to collect old books, and manuscripts of any nature, and deposit them in a room in the courthouse known as the Historical Room. So far, we have a membership of over thirty-five, and by strong effort it can be increased considerably. The membership fee is fifty cents. At the meeting held last May, Dr. F. E. Asbury read a paper on the birth-place of Andrew Jackson. A paper was read prepared by Dr. S. E. Henley before he died, giving at some length the history of the old plank road, built three-quarters of a century ago. State Literary and Historical Association. 13 It is our hope to build up a strong society in Randolph County, and we would be glad to cooperate with the State Historical Society. We would be glad to have any suggestions that will aid us in the future. W. C. Hammer, editor of the Asheboro Courier, is collecting data for a future history of the county. Wednesday, December 2 — Evening Session. The session was called to order at eight o'clock, in the auditorium of Meredith College, by the President who presented Miss Minnie W. Leatherman who read a report of North Carolina Bibliography for the year. At the conclusion of Miss Leatherman's paper President Hender-son presented Dr. C. Alphonso Smith in the following words: Ladies and Gentlemen: We are gathered here tonight to memorialize in deathless bronze a great literary genius of the New North State. In this hour of the sublimation of State pride, of the vast awakening of national consciousness in our commonwealth, an episode typical of this new era is the erection of a national memorial, executed by a great national sculptor, Lorado Taft, in honor of William Sidney Porter, endeared to all North Caro-linians, world-renowned, under the nom-de-guerre of "O. Henry." In the literary and cultural history of North Carolina the occasion is epochal—for now, for the first time in all our history, have the people of our State united in the patriotic task of honoring, in enduring form at the capital of the commonwealth, native artistic and literary genius. I venture now to ex-press the fervent hope that this event may prove the forerunner of many similar tributes to the artistic and literary genius of our people. May there come to us, as the years flee forward, a communal consciousness that cul-ture must march hand in hand with agriculture, art with industry, litera-ture with science in the perfected civilization of the future. There is something finely and touchingly apposite in this ceremony here tonight. This memorial is to be accepted in behalf of the State by her chief executive, a citizen of the very town and county, Asheville and Bun-combe, where William Sidney Porter sleeps forever in the cool, enfolding arms of death. And the genius of ''0. Henry" is to be celebrated by a fellow native of the very town and county of his own nativity, Greensboro and Guilford. I rejoice in the opportunity to present to you a great son of North Caro-lina, distinguished man of letters,—a scholar who as academic ambassador has borne the message of American culture to the great German empire, the official biographer of O. Henry, the lifelong friend of William Sidney Porter—Charles Alphonso Smith. At the conclusion of Dr. Smith's address the President called for the report of the Nominating Committee, who reported the following nomi-nations for 1914-15: President Clarence Poe First Vice-president Miss Minnie W. Leatherman Second Vice-president J. G. de R. Hamilton Third Vice-president S. A. Ashe Secretary-treasurer. R. D. W. Connor 14 Fifteenth Annual Session The nominations were confirmed. The session then adjourned to the rooms of the North Carolina Historical Commission, where the exer-cises in connection with the presentation of the "O. Henry Memorial" were held. The Memorial was presented to the State, in behalf of the State Literary and Historical Association, by President Henderson. At the conclusion of his speech the tablet was unveiled by Miss Mar-garet Porter, after which it was accepted, in behalf of the State, by Governor Locke Craig. The President then announced that the session of the Literary and Historical Association for 1914 was adjourned sine die. After the adjournment the members of the Association attended a reception in the rooms of the North Carolina Historical Commission. State Literary and Historical Association. 15 GENERAL SESSION The New North State By Archibald Henderson, President of the State Literary and Historical Association, Raleigh, on the Evening of December 1, 1914. In his notorious "History of the Dividing Line Betwixt Virginia and North Carolina/' which was run in the year 1728, the witty Wil-liam Byrd of Westover hazarded the ironical query: "Considering how fortune delights in bringing great things out of small, who knows but Carolina may, one time or another, come to be the seat of some great empire?" As I glance back over the two tumultuous centuries which have elapsed since Byrd ventured that ironical query, and think of the long, long way we have traveled since that primitive, barren time, I cannot but conclude that "William Byrd, all unwittingly, was something more than "the idle singer of an empty day." That "great empire," of which he so ironically spoke—has indeed found its seat in this ancient commonwealth of Carolina. It is in the new time that Carolina has come to be the seat of a great empire of democracy— a democracy of culture and of the human spirit. In the strange, sad epic of the silent South, North Carolina can justly claim the authority that springs from the motherhood of American liberty. At the very moment when Byrd was running that dividing line betwixt North Carolina and Virginia, the borderers were eager to be included within the bounds of North Carolina, "as there they paid no tribute to God or Caesar." Those epic ships of Raleigh, sailing west- Ward over unknown seas 2nd beaching at last their keels upon the golden sands of Roanoke, bore in their bosoms a breed of men fired with the divine spark which in that England of the spacious days of Elizabeth flamed up in rugged prose and in soaring, immortal verse. The breed of men who settled here bore in their right hand a genius for civiliza-tion and an indomitable pride of race; and in their left hand an in-flexible steadfastness and a common sense as firm as adamant. In the struggle for existence which they were compelled to wage, the taming of nature, the conquest of a savage foe, there was bred in them a mighty resourcefulness and the grim hardihood of self-reliance. Our legacy from a century of pioneers is a passion for successful self-expression, for efficiency, and for creative conquest. How shorn of a great measure of distinction and greatness would be this American nation, in its pio-neer days and crude beginnings, if bereft of the pioneering genius of 16 Fifteenth Annual Session Daniel Boone, the love of liberty of the eloquent William Hooper, the prophetic insight of that herald of culture, William R. Davie, the legal wisdom of James Iredell, the granite conservatism of Nathaniel Macon, the flaming patriotism of Andrew Jackson, the new Americanism of Thomas Hart Benton. How impoverished would be the early annals of our country if there were blotted out the memory of Moore's Creek Bridge, of Guilford Court House, of Kings Mountain ; of the resistance to the Stamp Act at Wilmington, the patriotism of Mecklenburg, the statesmanship at Halifax, the definitive salvation of the vast trans- Alleghany region by the pioneers of Transylvania. Out of North Caro-lina, the fountain source of American liberty, welled up the streams of creative contribution which have helped to make this nation great the inflexible spirit which knows no compromise, the passionate belief in liberty and democracy, and the unchanging faith in the worth and dignity of average humanity. Midway in her career—a career memorable for national statesman-ship, continental thinking and purity of thought in public service — a dark disaster fell upon the South. Following that tragic national crisis, when the South in the dimness of anguish beheld the loss of wealth, the abolition of property, the violation of the very sanctities of her civilization, this people sternly set themselves to the task of re-pairing those fallen fortunes and rebuilding that civilization upon broader and more universal outlines. In the era since the War between the States the South has achieved a reasonable prosperity distinguished by its universal diffusion, and has devoted its energies to the education of the common man to the tasks of leadership in all the avenues of an advancing civilization. It was in the earlier grim stages of that era of civilization-rebuild-ing— the era of the slow emergence of the average man from the pres-sure of economic necessity and the blight of arrested cultural develop-ment— that the South temporarily relaxed her hold upon the reins of national government. Only a decade ago the late Charles B. Aycock though belying the statement in his own brilliant, tragic career—re-gretfully acknowledged that at that moment the people of the South "had less effect upon the thought and action of the nation than at any period of our history." At that time it was almost literally true that Southern men wielded but slight influence in the final settlement of the graver problems of our national destiny. The thinking of the South was not an appreciable factor in the councils of the nation. The old aristocracy, with its transcendant leadership of individualism, had passed forever from the national stage; and the new democracy, fumb-ling with the complex tools of a newer communism, had not yet wrought out completely the figures of national leadership. State Literary and Historical Association. 17 The election of Woodrow Wilson and the quindeeennial anniversary of Gettysburg marked the transit of an era. "A complete change/' as Mr. George Harvey recently said, "involving after many years the resto-ration to power in large measure of this great section has been effected without causing so much as a ripple of apprehension. Surely it is a fact of mighty significance that the South resumes virtual control of the United States after barely fifty years, without evoking from the most rabid partisan so much as a suspicion of the patriotism or fidelity of any one of her statesmen." Surely it is a fact of almost miraculous fitness that, in this dramatic resumption by the South of the control of our national destinies, North Carolina should play a predominant role. It is with a sense of conscious elation, no less profound that it is sub-dued, that we, the citizens of this ancient commonwealth, reflect that American history can furnish no authentic parallel to the present epo-chal contribution of North Carolina to the life of the nation. In this great era of national responsibility and national peril the country breathes in safety with Josephus Daniels maintaining North Carolina's great traditions in the navy established by Branch, Badger, Graham, and Dobbin; with Houston setting new standards of business efficiency and practical statesmanship for national agriculture; with Simmons the leader of a Senate; Kitchin the destined floor-leader of the House; and native and adopted sons like Claxton and Holmes and Osborn effectively ministering to the educational, industrial, and financial needs of a nation. In this, North Carolina's hour—the reward of traditional fidelity to principle in public life, of enlarging social sympathy, and of invincible faith in democracy—there seems to operate a noble species of compensatory justice. The nation once more turns for guidance to the venerable commonwealth of North Carolina, and to the South, the ancient mother of national leadership. Do you then realize that this, the age in which we live — today—heralds the golden age of North Carolina and the South ? As we stand upon the threshold of this new era, there must come to all of us a sense of joyous elation, a leaping of the blood, that it is given to us to live at such a time and in such a country. While our sister republic of Mexico is racked with the dire dissensions of civil strife, which the unselfish devo-tions of this nation have watchfully and patiently sought to allay; while Europe is a cosmic holocaust of flame and blood and steel ; while the commerce of belligerent nations is suffering from partial paralysis and the voice of famine utters to our heeding ears its grim and tragic petition—America stands firm for peace, for progress, for civilization, for humanity. Supreme engineering genius has cleft in twain giant Culebra and recalcitrant Panama ; and today the lock gates at Gatun, 18 Fifteenth Annual Session Pedro Miguel, and Miraflores hospitably fling wide the giant portals of the isthmus to the argosies of commerce, to the trade of the South, the nation, and the world. As President Wilson said in his memorable address at Mobile : "I wonder if you realize, I wonder if your imagina-tions have been filled with the significance of the tides of commerce. These great tides which have been running along parallels of latitude will now swing Southward athwart parallels of longitude, and that open-ing gate of the Isthmus of Panama will open to the world a commerce she has never known before—a commerce of intelligence, of thought and sympathy between North and South, and the Latin-American States which, to their disadvantage, have been cut off the main lines will now be on the main lines.7 ' The section sure to receive the greatest develop-ment as the result of the opening of the canal is the section east of the Rocky Mountains. The steamer which leaves the South Atlantic sea-board or a gulf port will steer a straight course from the Panama Canal to all of the countries on the west coast of South America, The saving in time, distance, and cost of transportation assures a vastly stimulated commerce and the interchange of all commodities between the South and the countries on the Western and Southern coasts of South America. A happy augury of the increasing reciprocal friendliness and expanding intercommunication of trade between North and South America is the presence of our honored guest of this evening, his Excellency, Romulo S. Naon, the Ambassador of the great republic of Argentina. The South is America's present land of promise. Here upon our own soil will be undertaken the next supreme experiment in the life of the nation. This will be the scene of the next great act in the American drama of industrial expansion. The thought which gives me comfort, when I reflect upon the future of the South, is the consciousness that in this era of expanding wealth and; a pervasive industrialism, the Southern people still tenaciously hold to those high yet simple realities which, throughout our history, have won the confidence and the faith of a nation. In the hearts of all of us, I dare say, there is a deep, abiding affec-tion and reverence for the virtues of a people who, throughout an his-toric past, have given to North Carolina the rich, mellow name of the Old North State. I sense those ancient virtues as a fragrant breath from some distant garden of old-fashioned flowers—a full-blooded pa-rochialism redeemed by the abiding love of Christian faith, of family, of fireside ; an inflexible integrity which put love of the truth and pas-sion for the making of men above love of place and passion for the making of money; a rugged provincialism which had its roots firmly fixed in a love of naturalness and a scorn for all pretense; a granite State Literary and Historical Association. 19 conservatism which cherished tradition and ever looked with stern dis-favor upon the new and the empiric. This is the Old North State — always fighting for her rights while neglecting her interests; generous, reckless, romantic, improvident, unpretentious, chivalrous, "brave. In our hearts is enshrined the figure of this most venerable, this most American of all the sisterhood of American commonwealths—the un-pretentious, homespun, yet infinitely lovable Kip Van Winkle of the States. Tonight, my friends, I give you the New North State. From out our past have come the old Eoman virtues ; into our future shall go the new American virtues of the new age—an enlarged communal conscious-ness; a deeper sense of local pride which expresses itself, not in voicing a glorification of the past, but in putting the shoulder hard to the wheel of civic progress ; a strenuous common effort for the attainment of a new freedom, individual, political, and social—for women as well as for men ; and a passionate, a relentless eagerness for the building of a new and higher civilization. "We are meeting within the very week simply eloquent in its title, Community-service Week—a type of the seven labors of the new Hercules of an aroused civic consciousness the prophetic vision of that splendid type of the new social publicist, Edward K. Graham; aided by the practical wisdom of an agricultural sociologist, the popular leader, Clarence Poe; and happily legislated into permanence through the fiat of a progressive, forward-looking Governor, Locke Craig. Only a few weeks ago patriotic, liberty-loving women of North Carolina appropriately met in the precincts of Meck-lenburg to write the political charter of a new declaration of inde-pendence. Out of the fullness of our new life here have gone to other nations the heralds of American culture. The first Southern scholar selected to go as Roosevelt Professor, as academic ambassador of cul-ture, to the German nation, is the distinguished orator of tomorrow night, Charles Alphonso Smith; and when President Wilson needed a man big enough for the biggest diplomatic post in the country's gift, he called upon a great publisher and the editor of our most distinctively national magazine, Walter H. Page, who is now enjoying the confidence and winning the plaudits of all in his dexterous management of the innumerable complex issues evoked by the problems of a titanic Euro-pean war. Last year we memorialized here North Carolina's first man of letters of large calibre, whose "Poe's Cottage at Eordham" is part of the immortal heritage of American and English song, John Henry Boner; tomorrow morning is to be memorialized the lamented Henry Jerome Stockard, loved citizen of Raleigh so recently passed away a poet whose powerful pseans of praise of his section won for him the 20 Fifteenth Annual Session enviable title of "The Voice of North Carolina." Tomorrow night we shall gather again in this hall to pay the perfect tribute of art and praise to North Carolina's first great figure in world-literature — after Poe and Hawthorne the greatest master of the short-story America has ever produced—William Sidney Porter, affectionately cherished in the hearts and memories of millions under the quaint pseudonym of "O. Henry." Indeed, when I reflect upon the richness, variety and texture of the gifts of this New North State to America and to the world, I am driven to paraphrase the impressive words of Milton : "Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant State rous-ing herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks; as an eagle renewing her mighty youth, and kindling her un-dazzled eyes at the full midday beam, while the whole noise of timor-ous and flocking birds, with those also that love the twilight, flutter about, amazed at what she means." I would not have you think. that, in this chorus of praise, there is no room in my mind for reservations or for the acknowledgment of grave deficiencies in our artistic and literary culture. Indeed, the latest re-searches of science compel the belief that genius is not the result of the evolution of the masses of the people, but is a giant variation from the common level of our species. Whether or not we acknowledge that genius is a spontaneous giant variation, a sporadic birth of energy not built up from the simple to the complex, certainly it must be recognized that art, as a factor of civilization, is an incomparable means of widening intellectual and spiritual horizons and promoting the cause of culture. It cannot be denied that the measure of a people's advance in the fine arts is the measure of their distance from the brutes. Art is not merely an aux-iliary to civilization; art is almost synonymous with civilization itself. "Life without art," as Kuskin says, "is mere brutality." And no matter how remarkable have been the "spontaneous, giant variations from the common level of our species," it behooves us to take account of that precious "common level" which, in a true sense, is the measure of civili-zation in a democracy. "What is the problem of culture?" asks the remarkable artist and astute philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. His answer is unimpeachable : "To live and to work is the noblest strivings of one's nation and of humanity. Not only, therefore, to receive and to learn, but to live. To free one's age and people from wrong tendencies, to have one's ideal before one's eyes." Much as I regret to admit it, long and patient observation compels me to acknowledge that here in the South of the past, here in North Caro- State Literary and Historical Association. 21 lina, so far as art and literature are concerned, we have not lived and worked in the noblest strivings of one's nation and of humanity. In lit-erature and art, for more than a century, we have received; even in a sense we have learned ; but we have not lived. There be much truth in the witty definition that penury is the wages of the pen. And at the Annual Banquet in London of the Royal Literary Fund for the Relief of Necessitous Authors, Mr. Walter Page recently evoked a chorus of dissent to his statement : "From the viewpoint of mere barnyard gumption it is absurd for anybody to start to spend his life writing. Gambling is more likely to yield a steady income. It is an absurd career and a foolish foolhardy business. No man has a right to take it up who can avoid doing so." In making these observations, which must be taken with a liberal pinch of salt, Mr. Page was undoubtedly making a humorous personal confession. I may go even further and hazard the guess that he was thinking of North Carolina. It is a re-markable commentary upon our civilization that, so far as my knowl-edge goes, no man or woman in North Carolina, with the omission of journalists, has ever succeeded in earning, or even attempted to earn, a livelihood solely through the medium of the pen of the literary artist. Thus far in our history we have produced no distinguished painter, no great sculptor, no famous dramatist. In his study on "The Geo-graphical Distribution of American Genius," published during the pres-ent year, Professor Scott Nearing does not even consider the State of North Carolina as a separate geographical unit; and concludes that, of persons of eminence in the United States today, "an overwhelming proportion seem to have been born in that section of the northeastern United States bounded by the Mason and Dixon line on the South, the Mississippi-Missouri River on the West." I never think of the litera-ture of my native State that I do not recall the mournful threnody of that famous bard of our sister Carolina, J. Gordon Coogler : Alas for the South! Her books have grown fewer; She never was much given to literature. I greatly fear that we do not care very much for reading and for books in North Carolina—not even for encyclopaedias. I heard not long ago of an agent who asked a farmer in one of our rural districts if he didn't want to buy an encyclopaedia, to which the conservative old farmer re-plied: "Naw, I don't take much stock in them new-fangled machines. In this neck of the woods we still stick to the old-fashioned horse and buggy." Many of you have seen upon University Heights in New York City a noble structure of gleaming white marble, an enduring monument to 22 Fifteenth Annual Session American genius, the Hall of Fame. Of the fifty-one tablets thus far placed upon its ^alls, only one bears the name of a native of Xorth Carolina, the soldier-statesman, Andrew Jackson; and through the patronage of Willie and Allen Jones, and the guardianship of Joseph Hewes, !N"orth Carolina can lay a secondary claim to but one other name among those of foreign birth, the man whom Benjamin Franklin dubbed the "Xorth Carolina midshipman," the greatest naval hero in our annals, John Paul Jones. A soldier-statesman and a sailor—but no man or woman of literary genius. In the Hall of Fame, the South is represented by soldiers, sailors, statesmen, jurists, scientists—but by only one distinctively literary genius—a man of English parentage who happened to be born in Boston, Massachusetts—Edgar Allan Poe. For many years I have searched deeply into the causes for the com-parative dearth of literary and artistic productivity in the South and for that genial Southern indifference to publication—the rock upon which literary fame is founded. Tonight I shall dispense with all ex-planation, apology, or excuse. The thrill of the new time tempts one less to pathetic retrospection than to buoyant prophecy. Xevertheless, I must voice my solemn conclusion that we cannot build up here a great civilization—a civilization as great in art and letters, in culture and taste, as it is great in material resources, statesmanlike ideals, and an aroused social consciousness—unless we do live and work in the noblest strivings of our nation and of humanity. Investigation has convinced me that Xorth Carolina is lamentably backward, woefully deficient, in her activity and representation in the great national or-ganizations making for the development of art, literature, drama, and all the multifarious influences for artistic culture in a democracy. I have studied the records of these national organizations for the present year in the effort to record, faithfully and justly, the part actually played by Xorth Carolina in the life and work of national culture. I find that Xorth Carolina is not represented at all in the Xational Academy of Arts and Letters, or in the much larger body of the Xa-tional Institute of Arts and Letters; nor has she any official represen-tation, in the form of elected officers, president or vice-presidents, in the American Historical Association, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Pageant Association, the Drama League of America, the American Folk-Lore Societv, the Poetrv Societv of America, and the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Little if any attention need be paid to those of sectional bias who point out that no scholar or man of letters, so long as he remains in the South, ever wins large recognition in the national societies. Such a narrow charge, even though resting upon indisputable facts, might arise State Literary and Historical Association. 23 from a complete misinterpretation of those facts ; and in any case can-not serve as a valid excuse for our supineness and indifference. In science, pure and applied, North Carolina is nationally and interna-tionally recognized. In this great branch of knowledge and research, no Southern State, I dare say, is her equal. But in the arts—litera-ture, painting, sculpture, drama—North Carolina is not living and working today in the noblest strivings of the nation and of humanity. As I have studied the cultural problems of our life here and sought to make of this association a more constructive instrument for minister-ing to our cultural wants, I have come to the conclusion that we have three vital and immediate needs. The program of the meetings of the Association for this year have been especially designed to meet these needs. No people can form a just estimate of their history, or feel legiti-mate pride in it, until they know what that history really is. No com-prehensive and complete history of North Carolina will ever be written until the contribution of the individual units, whose integrated life have largely constituted that history, are studied and bodied forth with completeness and detail. The county is the unit of the State; the his-tory of the county must furnish the nucleus for the history of the State. North Carolina has exactly one hundred counties; it is a regrettable fact that histories, of reasonable adequacy, have been written of only about a dozen out of these hundred counties. I earnestly desire to identify this Association with the duty and the task of stimulating, in-spiring and directing the writing of the industrial, social, economic, institutional histories of every single county in North Carolina. The accomplishment of this great work will prepare the way for the writing of the true and definitive history of North Carolina—the moving story of the life of a great people. In like manner, I desire to see our people acquire a decent and ade-quate knowledge of the literary contributions of North Carolina for the past one hundred and twenty-five years. Nietzsche defines man as a something to be surpassed. And surely we can never rise above our-selves to ourselves in literature until we really feel and know what North Carolina has contributed in letters to the thought and conscious-ness of the American people. As the county is the unit of the State, so the State is the unit of the nation. In the noteworthy words of the South's greatest living novelist, James Lane Allen: There must in time and in the natural course of events come about a com-plete marshaling of the American commonwealths, especially of the older American commonwealths, attended each by its women and men of letters; with the final result that the entire pageant of our literary creativeness as 24 Fifteenth Annual Session a people will thus be exhibited and reviewed within those barriers and divisions which from the beginning have constituted the peculiar genius of our civilization. When this has been done, when the States have severally made their pro-foundly significant showing, when the evidence up to some century mark or half-century mark is all presented, then for the first time we, as a reading and thoughtful self-studying people, may be advanced to the position of beginning to understand what as a whole our cis-Atlantic branch of English literature really is. It has been my great ambition to have this Association take account in an orderly way of the manifold sides of our State literature—his-tory, poetry, fiction, oratory and folk-lore. Out of the fundamental principle of our government and institutions, the principle that the country is a nation of States, there comes the recognition that our literature, with all its humanity and its provinciality, is a national literature made up of the contributions of the individual States. This explanation of our American literature lies at the basis of our whole democratic civilization. Lastly, I have one recommendation to make to this Association and to the people of North Carolina. It is to no Brahmin caste of scholars, to no occupants of the ivory tower of literary seclusion, that I would make this recommendation. I appeal to the communal consciousness of a people—a people who, individually and collectively, need to be in-spired with a deep sense of historic tradition and the passion of a great faith in the destiny of our commonwealth. I desire to see spread be-fore our people the entire pageant of our historic creativeness—as I have seen great pageants of the history of Oxford University and of the development of the martial power of the British Empire, now so terribly taxed upon the battlefields of Europe. Pageantry has been defined as poetry for the masses. We deeply need to see created in North Carolina, through the common efforts of our leading citizens, a fine art for the people. The elemental instinct for democratic art in our midst needs to be educated, developed, refined, by means of popular pageantry, into a mighty agency for civilization. I recommend that, during the coming year, historic episodes of State and national interest be presented by common effort in communities throughout the State. May I suggest, among others, for Wilmington the revolt against the Stamp Act; for Edenton, the Ladies' Tea Party; for New Bern, the Settlement of the Palatines; for Winston-Salem, the founding of the Academy; for Charlotte, the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence; for Salisbury, incidents from the careers of Daniel Boone and the pioneers; for Greensboro, the Battle of Guilford Court House. Next year, during Community-service Week, all of these episodes which State Literary and Historical Association. 25 have been locally presented and perhaps others should then be linked together in a great State Historical Pageant here in Raleigh, the capital of the commonwealth—arranged in chronological order and designed to give a poetic and romantic picture of the historic evolution of the life of a people. Through this happy wedding of art and history may be brought home to our consciousness a profoundly moving realiza-tion of a glorious past and a quickening of our desires and hopes and labors for an even more glorious future. In conclusion, let me remind you that we celebrate here tonight the fifteenth anniversary of the founding of the State Literary and His-torical Association of North Carolina. In an address delivered at the University of North Carolina exactly seventy-five years ago, the elo-quent Hugh McQueen used these prophetic words: "No association of practical service to the interests of Literature and Science now exists in the State of North Carolina ; no public-spirited Society, which might serve to hedge in by its active and beneficent care the sensitive and fragrant flowers of genius which spring up within our borders ; which might serve to incite matured intelligence to active operation for the public good, which might stimulate youthful talent to essay the strength of its own pinions; which might preserve from oblivion many interest-ing facts and productions which are occasionally exhibited in the inter-course and operations of life, and which might disseminate extensively among the people, such literary documents and productions as would renovate the aspect of letters in this department of the Union, and convert our present dreary surface into a Literary Arcadia." Sixty years after these striking words were uttered, there was founded here this remarkable Association which has already fulfilled many of the functions so sedulously set forth by the cultured McQueen. If it has not, as yet, wholly succeeded in converting our present dreary surface into a Literary Arcadia, certainly it has helped to arouse the cultural consciousness of the State as it has never been aroused before in our history. And let us hope that through the stimulation and encourage-ment of the fine arts, the influence which emanates so effectively from this already distinguished Association, we may look in the future for the growth of a national and international spirit of culture which shall enable us the more effectively to live and work in the noblest strivings of the nation and of humanity. 26 Fifteenth Annual Session Some Argentine Ideas By Hon. R. S. Naon, Argentine Ambassador to the United States. I know of no occasion where it would be more timely for me to speak on my country than on this, so kindly tendered to me by your associa-tion, and there is no subject I consider more appropriate for reaffirming our characteristic as a people of ideals than that which I have chosen for my address to you today: "Some Argentine Ideas." It is not my aim to treat this subject from the standpoint of a doc-trinarian in constitutional law, but rather to present to you as clearly and comprehensively as time and circumstances will permit, the senti-ments, the principles and the ideas which underlie the formation and development of the political entity called "The Argentine Republic." These sentiments, these principles and these ideas have continued to be maintained and have inspired and assured our progress through all the vicissitudes .of our organic life. They were the permanent aspira-tion of the Argentine people until they became crystallized into the pre-cepts of our wise constitution, into the system of legislation which rules the regular life of the Republic, into the characteristics of our social life and of our civic activity, and, finally, into the action of profound liberalism which has always distinguished our international political conduct. The Argentine citizen lives his life under the domination of a senti-ment of national pride and self-esteem which he cannot overcome and which some might consider and have already considered as a manifesta-tion of hypertrophy of personality. I beg of you to excuse this weak-ness, if you note it in me, when I say that I entertain the hope that when I conclude my brief exposition you will find justification for the aspiration which every Argentine citizen entertains when he believes as a national conviction that it is our manifest destiny to make of the country, by the endeavor of her sons and the moral cooperation of man-kind, a democracy of the highest social and political distinction. The Argentine Constitution was the product of hardships extending over a long period and it has, therefore, consecrated all the social ideals which agitated the Argentine spirit from the moment the idea of our political emancipation was born. We cannot begin the development of the subject without first taking up the preamble of that Constitution. It dominates and embraces, giving utterance thereto with eloquent simplicity, all those hardships which have not yet disappeared in spite of our achievements and which State Literary and Historical Association". 27 maintain in the national spirit the eager desire to realize the aspirations which have not yet been fulfilled, or to improve to the utmost what are already a part of our national qualities. This preamble represents the most authentic expression of our aspira-tions to form an organic social entity, and makes of our Constitution rather than a body of more or less strict rules of conduct, a body of principles, an enunciation of political ideals. Its elasticity and, there-fore, its capacity of evolution is so great as to enable it to satisfy all the social tendencies which appear to have been imposed by mankind upon the political organization of modern nations. All the exigencies of good government, all the necessities of a wise and fruitful social administra-tion, are to be found there directing the organic national life with the irresistible force always encountered in principles for peoples who live of, by and for them. All the impositions of the social moment and all the demands of the spirit of the times find there also a possibility of adaptation to those principles applied to the development of the activi-ties of a people with sufficient moral and intellectual capacity to under-stand them, to interpret them and to practice them. We have already lived for seventy years under the guidance of our Constitution and have formed in its observance our political habits, and have inspired in the spirit of its provisions the achievement of our civic ideals. But the long and arduous road traveled has served solely to strengthen it and cause it to continue to be as at the beginning, with the same in-tensity, the highest and most perfect source of our patriotism, as well as the instrument for the adequate working out of all problems affecting our political life. It might also be said that for an Argentine does not exist the moral possibility of applying his activity as a citizen in the life of the nation, without bearing in mind the idea of the Constitution and of its prin-ciples, which impose themselves on his understanding and on his will as the beginning and as the end of his action. By this I mean to say that as a matter of fact the first sentiment of an Argentine, the highest expression of his patriotism, is respect for the Constitution, a respect which is almost fanatical and which forms in his mind the notion of a wrong when its principles are violated. This notion, when extended to all citizens, produces as a result a national civic morality in the masses which prompts them to make any personal sacrifice for the moral prestige of the country. This sentiment is so predominant that even in the course of our international life has it spontaneously appeared. It also produces a constant demand of the people upon the government, and becomes a permanent control of public 28 Fifteenth Annual Session opinion upon all public officials as well as upon the action and conduct of their statesmen. Hence it has become a characteristic, even more, a need, of the Argentine "Public Man" to sound the very depths of the-national conscience in order to adjust to its dictates his directing con-duct in public life. It is for this reason that the Argentine "Public Man" is, wherever he may be exercising his activities and in spite of the physical distance which separates him from his country, an instrument of his people for the realization of the organic aspirations which dominate them and is an interpreter of their capacities and collective desires. His individual personality does not exist. His personal aspirations are submerged in his devotion to his country. His obsession is to reflect the national per-sonality which he feels in himself as a citizen and as a public official. Hence, also this other sentiment which dominates the "Public Man" as a necessity of his life, namely, forgetfulness of self, which our great "Public Men" have practiced to the utmost, seeking to make them-selves worthy of harboring the only absorbing passion of which their moral conscience is capable, the pride of recognizing in themselves a genuine Argentine incarnation. Both sentiments, that of collective Argentinism which characterizes our masses and that which distinguishes and determines the life and action of our "Public Man" have been embraced in the Constitution, and especially in its preamble, in the recognition of the fact of a "na-tional entity," an "Argentine people," and the necessity of the "Public Man" to interpret that people, and to fulfill its precepts in creating for that purpose the idea of political representation. The preamble of our Constitution begins with the following words which are full of meaning to one acquainted with the historical development of our Republic : ""We the representatives of the people of the Argentine nation," that is to say, "We who are vested with authority emanating from the only sover-eign entity constituted by the 'People' of the Nation.' " Observe, gen-tlemen, the preexisting notion of a "Nation" ; the notion and the senti-ment of an "Argentine people"; the notion and the sentiment of a col-lective entity with an organic life which manifests itself through that other personal entity "We," that is to say, the "Public Man," an in-stitution created in our democracy as a consequence and as an organ of the representative system, and whose dignity and importance and whose authority are based on that other entity, the sovereign entity "People"—the "Public Man" who devotes himself without reservation to the service and the glory of the "People." The touchstone which we have had in order to bring to ourselves the realization of the virtues of our Constitution has always been that State Literaky and Historical Association. 29 drafted by the great framers of your Constitution of 1787, and when-ever we wish to show clearly in the analysis of ours this idea of a pre-existing "National Personality/' we place beside those opening words of our preamble the words of the preamble of the American Constitu-tion : "We, the people of the United States." Note the difference. In both is present the collective idea : the existence of a people ; but in one of them the "Public Man"—"We the representatives"—acts, discharging the representation of the "People" who have previously at a constituent convention designated them to organize the forms of the government which was to rule thereafter the organic life of a "Nation" which had been in existence ever since independence had been attained. In the other, the people of the States are those who act, they them-selves framing the Constitution inasmuch as its force is subject to their approval, and the "People" not of an existing "Nation," but of sov-ereign States which sought to establish a closer union. The former or-ganize a "Nation" which had already existed through the organ of their "Public Men," vested originally with the "national sentiment" which inspires them, in their patriotic labor, with the recollection of glories and hardships experienced during the period of forty years of "national" sacrifices. The latter, the plenipotentiaries of autonomous entities, seek a constitution not inspired by a "national" sentiment, which did not exist, but to form a "union" later to be converted, not-withstanding any local sentiment, into a "national" entity by the strengthening of the "more perfect union" which the sanction of the Constitution assured. Both Constitutions conformed to the political necessities of each people, and the words of the two preambles reflect the diversity of those necessities : "We, the representatives of the people of the Argentine nation," and "We, the people of the United States" ; and both at the same time that they express two different political sentiments, also ex-press two constitutional ideas which are likewise different. The Argentine Constitution expresses in the words quoted the senti-ment of the "Nationality" which has always maintained in all minds, even during periods of internal dissension, the constitutional idea of national unity. On the other hand the American Constitution expresses in the words quoted, not the sentiment of a "nationality," but the senti-ment of the locality, the sentiment of the local state which was at the same time the constitutional idea on which its federalism was based. And so two federal republics like that of the United States and that of Argentina show their different origin, one evolving by the union of its different entities toward "national consolidation," and the other evolv- 30 Fifteenth Annual Session ing toward the organization of the local governments, in order to satisfy the regional exigencies of the constitutional idea of "national unity." The political sociologist will find another essential sentiment which has always constituted one of the most fundamental and characteristic principles of our national organization. I refer to a profound liberalism which has always been reflected and has become a constitutional idea and an Argentine principle of legislation. It has also prompted, aside from the manifestations of internal organic life, the broad and generous Argentine international policy closely observed even at times and under circumstances which tended little to the preservation of a disinterested and altruistic policy. This sentiment is expressed in the same preamble when in setting forth the purposes of the representatives of the people in enacting the Constitution, it says : "To constitute the national union, guarantee jus-tice, assure internal peace, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and assure the benefits of liberty for ourselves, for our posterity and for all men of the world who wish to live on Argentine soil." This was without doubt a clear expression of the social tendencies of our revolution of independence which established from the first moment, together with the abolition of slavery, the principle of political equality of all men born in our territory, that of equality of civil rights for all inhabitants, whether natives or foreigners. There is no constitution which establishes as a fundamental principle that humanitarian ten-dency for the entire system of legislation more broadly than the Argen-tine Constitution. The exercise of the activity of a man and his . liberty when the achievement of his own welfare and aspirations is involved, is limited only by the exercise of the activities and the liberty of others without any distinction other than that emanating from the difference in their personal capacities. This humanitarian sentiment has always prevailed in our tendencies, in our customs and in our laws. At the same time that it recognizes and practices that all men are created equal, it makes of the consideration and respect arising from this equality a sentiment of human fraternity, which in turn gives rise to that real social and political democracy that makes all also equal in benefiting by oppor-tunities in proportion to the capacities and virtues of each, and likewise the country as a whole as the result of the free and fertile activities of those individual capacities and of those virtues. Such is the nature and character of the Argentine democracy, of that Argentine democracy which is not only a principle of our internal politi-cal organization, but also an inborn sentiment in our life as an inter- State Literary and Historical Association. 31 national entity, a sentiment which instills in us a feeling of absolute equality in our relations with all the nations of the world, and, conse-quently, the consciousness of our duties in the work of civilization and human progress. It is for this that in the same manner that the principle of democracy is the foundation of our political organization, the sentiment of inter-national democracy is the foundation of our international policy. This principle is so closely associated with our personal activity as citizens and our international activities as a sovereign people, that even a casual observer could easily note it even in the most inconsequential mani-festations of our individual or collective life. The sentiment of political equality and of social equality of an Argentine citizen in his relations with others is like the sentiment of international equality of the Argen-tine Republic, a sentiment which does not admit either of neglect or indifference, not to speak of ignorance thereof. It is a sentiment under permanent tension, an aggressive sentiment whose powerful dynamic force characterizes and defines the entire movement and development of our system of legislation and all the pride of our national character which is as intense as our respect for the rights of other peoples and the generosity and altruism characteristic of our foreign policy. This sentiment is responsible, furthermore, for the spirit of optimism which characterizes our people, instilling in them the firm conviction that there is nothing which cannot be overcome by our efforts, that there is no ideal which cannot be attained by our will. This principle of our activity as citizens was expressed, long before the enactment of our Constitution, by our greatest political sociologist, the author of the "Socialistic Dogma of the Revolution of May," in these words, which before their enunciation were an instinct of the civic action of every Argentine, and afterwards a gospel, the feeling for and observance of which constantly grew : "Men have no real value in politics except as artisans for the production or realization of social ideas. We do not conceive any progress for the country except under the condition that the initiative in thought and social action be taken by the best and most capable; and by the best and most capable we understand those who represent the purest virtues and the highest in-telligence." Together with these instincts of moral eminence which characterize the permanent ideal of an Argentine as a citizen, there springs the pro-found knowledge of our national greatness which has also been an in-born patrimony of our thought and was expressed with the same candid conviction when we came to independent life, or when we were succeed-ing in the struggle for national organization, or at the present moment 32 Fifteenth Annual Session when we feel a personality already vested with attributes of all kinds to act in the front rank with the most advanced in the struggle of civili-zation. In brief, I might affirm that the essential idea, the basic idea of our political life, the principal Argentine constitutional idea, is "Democ-racy." Democracy founded on an unshaken conviction of equality and civic fraternity and of equality and international fraternity, and de-veloped upon a representative system of government which at the same time that it recognizes the superior existence of a "People" with aspira-tions and a "National" consciousness, form also a basic element, the Argentine "Public Man," representing all the moral ideas of that "People," developing his directive action as an interpreter of the popu-lar conscience and exigencies, the visionary of a glory which only the patriot and the democrat can feel, the glory of achieving a name, no matter how modest, in the history of the progress of his country. This essential idea rests likewise on the basis of a preexisting col-lective instinct, the instinct of nationality, but stimulated by the neces-sity of individual realization which animates our constitutive elements determining the conscience of the citizen, and by the necessity of par-tial collective realization, which led to denning, more and more, after our independence, the life of the local entity of our Argentine provinces. The sentiment of local autonomy which underlay the internal struggle for its recognition and which after becoming defined and strengthened during 40 years of efforts and untold hardships, was recognized by the framers of our fundamental charter, was as a matter of fact the origin of this other constitutional idea—Argentine federalism—which was affirmed as the principle on which our politico-administrative organi-zation was to be based. This other Argentine constitutional idea was adopted not as the result of a capricious and theoretical speculation, but as the result of a popular sentiment which had overcome all pre-vious efforts at organization that had failed to recognize it. There can be no democracy where ignorance reigns, ignorance not being compatible with the morality and the ideals which are essential elements of democracy. Nor can there be a democracy, or at least it cannot produce the organic political activity indispensable in the stimu-lation of national life, when civic indifference prevails, diverting the citizen from his interest in public affairs or keeping him from the polls where the powers of the government are organized and the scope of its action fixed as called for by the national interest. Hence, two more constitutional ideas : compulsory primary education and the compulsory vote. They have not been in fact literally prescribed by the fundamental State Literary and Historical Association. 33 charter, but they have been imposed by it in principle, and fully regu-lated and defined by special legislation. Compulsory primary education seeks to equalize as far as possible the mental capacity of our citizens in order to place them in such posi-tion that the civic life of the country may not be turned over to the blind passion of more or less self-interested bosses, but may develop rather as a consequence of a direct consideration of the problems con-cerning the life of the nation by the average mental capacity of the masses. By the adoption of the compulsory vote it has been sought to remove the dangers of civic atony. Among us compulsory common education has always prepared our citizens for the struggle of life, giving them the means of obtaining a more or less broad understanding of the gen-eral notions essential in modern society to efficient action. The com-pulsory vote is impressing upon them the need of familiarizing them-selves with the principles which personify national "Public Men," with the exigencies of the policy and administration of the country. In this way they are able to influence the action of those "Public Men," com-pelling them, either to define their principles by discussion in the elec-toral campaigns, or to apply them in official positions, and enabling them to control the action and correct the errors of the government by an intelligent and patriotic opposition. These principles are supplemented : compulsory education, by the re-moval of every religious influence from the public primary school, thus leaving the work of forming and developing a religious sentiment to the family and home ; the compulsory vote, by providing for a secret ballot in order to avoid the corruption which might result from weakness of character in the voter. Our Constitution has recognized to such a degree the impossibility of attaining our democracy except upon the basis of the mental prepara-tion of the citizen, that it has provided in one of its provisions relating to the political existence of the "Federal States," the requirement that their local constitutions assure administration of justice, municipal gov-ernment and primary instruction therein as a condition precedent to guaranteeing them the enjoyment and the exercise of their institutions. All these antecedents are the result of a sentiment of fruitful liberal-ism which has always controlled the development of our organic life. It has injected into every constituent or legislative act a principle of activity and progress so intense in its nature that more than once it has brought us to the point of considering respect for the administrative or political traditions as contrary to the interests of the nation. It might also be asserted that the only tradition which persists in the 3 34 Fifteenth Annual Session Argentine mind as a force of permanent inspiration, and which cannot be overcome, is the tradition of the glories and ideals of the revolution and of the principles which gave them birth. Perhaps an explanation of this peculiar circumstance may also be found in the fact that that revolution put an end to the non-political existence of the people and to a public administration organized upon the principle of the absolute power of kings. The revolution created a new state of affairs which did not find in that previous situation a single base for expansion. Tradition, therefore, instead of constituting for us the starting point for subsequent progress, signified rather a nega-tion of the principles of the revolution which was based on liberty and equality of men and of peoples, that is to say, upon the new principle of the revolutionary democracy, which, as our great sociologist says : "Leveling all conditions, it tells us that there are no other differences than those established by the law for the government of society; that the magistrate, outside of the place he discharges his functions, is merged with other citizens; that the priest, the soldier, the lawyer, the merchant, the artisan, the rich and the poor are all alike; that the lowest of the masses is a man equal in rights to others and carries im-pressed on his forehead the dignity of his origin; that only probity, work, talent and genius produce superiority; that one engaged in the smallest industry, if he have capacity and virtues, is no less than the priest, the lawyer or any other who devotes his faculties to some other occupation; and, in brief, that in a democratic society the only ones worthy, wise and virtuous and entitled to consideration are those who contribute with their natural efforts to the welfare and prosperity of the country." We had been living for three centuries under the dead weight of an almost religious respect for tradition and of the infallible authority which the old political doctrines imposed; while the moment called for the application of the forces which have gone to make up the strength of democracy as a political principle. They called for a continuous action of reform, for the exercise of all the mental and physical activi-ties of man, because, as a matter of fact, movement in every aspect of social life is the essence and the reason of democracy. Hence, there-fore, this sentiment of profound liberalism which has always character-ized our organic life, a sentiment which spontaneously exerts its influ-ence throughout our social activity. It finds its reflection not only in our internal legislation wherein are established all the broadest doc-trines which human thought has evolved in the matter of individual rights, but also in its strengthening of the principles of liberty and equality. State Literary and Historical Association. 35 A consequence of this essential principle is found in the fact that Argentine life develops and has always developed looking about and to the future, rather than back to the past, and in the midst of the strug-gle which leads to triumph, rather than to the consideration of what has already been attained. The individual rights corresponding to the Argentine liberalism con-stitute in reality the patrimony of every citizen, and a democratic or-ganization like ours could not but adopt them in the broadest form and assure their exercise with the integrity necessary to produce the favorable social effects which spring from free and salutary individual action. It is for this reason that the principle which establishes the political equality of all citizens and the civil equality of all inhabitants, as well as the guarantees thereof, has found scrupulous expression in our fundamental laws and regulations. This idea has been incorporated as a principle in the Argentine Con-stitution. It prescribes that all inhabitants of the nation enjoy the following rights subject to the laws which govern their exercise, namely : To work and engage in any lawful occupation; to navigate and engage in commerce ; to petition the authorities ; to enter, sojourn in, pass through and leave the territory ; to publish their ideas through the press without previous censorship; to use and enjoy their property; to asso-ciate for useful ends ; freely to profess their religion ; to teach and to learn ; and as a guarantee of the exercise of these rights the same Con-stitution has proscribed all prerogatives based on blood or birth as well as the existence of special privileges or titles of nobility, and has pro-claimed equality as the basis of taxation and public charges ; it has pro-claimed the inviolability of property; it has guaranteed to the author and inventor the exclusive ownership of his work, invention or discovery for a reasonable time commensurate with the general interests; it has proscribed forever from the Argentine penal system the confiscation of property; it has established that no armed body can make requisitions nor demand aid of any kind; it has established that no inhabitant of the nation can be punished without previous trial in pursuance with a law antedating the act for which he is tried, nor be tried by special com-missions, nor be removed from the jurisdiction of the judges designated to try him by a law antedating the act, nor be compelled to testify against himself, nor be arrested except on the written order of a com-petent authority. It has proclaimed the inviolability of the defense in court of persons and rights, as well as the inviolability of domicile and of correspondence and private papers; it has abolished forever the penalty of death for political causes, and as to its penal institutions it has recorded as a constitutional principle the idea that the jails of the 36 Fifteenth Annual Session nation must be sanitary and clean and be used for the custody of and not for punishing the unfortunate inmates thereof, holding the judge who authorizes them responsible for any measures which, under the pre-text of caution, tend to mortify them beyond the requirements of such custody. And, finally, it has assured the absolute moral independence of all its inhabitants, guaranteeing the principle that the private acts of men which in no wise offend order or public morals, nor prejudice third persons, are reserved solely to God and exempt from the authority of magistrates. Beside the principle of equality of rights and as a correlative thereof, it has always been an Argentine idea that every citizen bears the re-sponsibility of the national defense, and, therefore, that it is his duty to take up arms in its behalf. This constitutional idea has been guar-anteed by the enactment of laws which establish the principle of com-pulsory military service for the organization of the national army and navy, constituting, in conjunction with the principles of compulsory primary education and compulsory universal suffrage, the three corner-stones upon which the entire structure of Argentine democracy rests, that is to say, the mental and moral vigor, together with the civic ca-pacity and the defensive strength which constitute combined the guar-anty of the organization, the practice and the maintenance of demo-cratic institutions. I have already said that another of the great Argentine ideas, consti-tutional in fact because it has its existence in the ground-work of our national system as well as in the mind itself of the Argentine people, is that which springs from the humanitarianism peculiar thereto. It strengthens and develops to the utmost the sentiment of our national personality, and recognizes and respects as well the principle of the sov-ereign equality of other nations, practicing, not for the sake of con-venience which never determined the action of privileged organisms, but on account of the moral necessity which dominates our life, the principle of international democracy which has at every moment of our history inspired our foreign policy. This principle has not been only recognized by its enunciation in the preamble of the Constitution, when it assures the benefits of liberty to all men of the world who desire to inhabit Argentine soil, as well as to ourselves as to our posterity. It has also inspired the Argentine policy respecting the foreigner, whether manifested either in the enactment of positive law, in international relations, or in the negotiation of treaties and conventions. The Constitution and the laws have declared the principle that foreigners enjoy in the territory of the nation all the civil rights of a citizen; it has likewise recognized the principle that State Literary and Historical Association. 37 the navigation of the inland waters of the nation is open to all flags; it has prescribed the obligation of the federal government to cement its relations of peace and commerce with foreign powers by treaties con-forming to the principles of onr public law; and, finally, it has thrown open the doors of all our moral and material activities to the foreigner without further restrictions than those called for for the exigencies of our social preservation, in establishing as an obligation of the federal government the promotion of European immigration and in forbidding it to adopt any measure tending to restrict, limit or encumber with any tax whatsoever the entrance into Argentine territory of foreigners who come with the purpose of tilling the soil, improving industries or in-troducing and teaching the arts and sciences. It is unnecessary to tell you that an evidence of the faithful applica-tion of these principles is shown by the hundreds of thousands of men who annually come from all civilized nations to our shores to establish their homes among us and to take advantage of the opportunities of-fered by our natural wealth and our laws to men of good will. This liberalism, which has always been an essential factor in the development of our organic life and has always determined our legis-lation and our policy, has not found expression solely in the precepts of our Constitution or in the provisions of our laws. It also characterizes each period of our diplomatic history in so eloquent and so efficient a form that it constitutes one of the most certain elements of judgment for the study of the tendencies and characteristics of the Argentine people. This history shows that the Argentine people is an organically pacifist people, a people which as an element of civilization and of progress has the powerful intuition that only with the prevalence of peace and good will among men, and peace and good will among nations, is it possible for their ideals and aims to be maintained. Resort to arms has never attracted their predilections, and if they have more than once been compelled to accept it as an inexorable and inevitable necessity, they have not done so either to seek a benefit or to procure an advantage, because they have never conceived any benefit or advantage which could spring from the misfortune or from the pros-tration which war entails. It is only the unavoidable exigencies of the national dignity or the integrity of our institutions which could compel it to accept the calamities and consequences of a war. But war itself has served to reaffirm how intense and deep is our liberalism. Another manifestation of our liberalism may be found in the propa-ganda which our country has been conducting for international arbitra-tion as a means of settling disputes between nations, adopting a formula which is at the present time the highest perfection of that system. One 38 Fifteenth Annual Session of the most illustrious statesmen of my country thus had occasion in 1880, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, to affirm that arbitration had al-ways been a noble and constant aim of our people, and that "the Argen-tine government can show its adherence for a long time to that prin-ciple which wisely considers both the interests of justice and the altru-istic requirements of humanity." In fact, since 1856, when the Argen-tine Republic concluded with Chile her first arbitration treaty for the settlement of boundary questions pending at that time and such others as might thereafter arise, our efforts to bind ourselves with all other countries of the world through compulsory arbitration, have not ceased for a single day. I cherish the belief—perhaps in my pride as an Argentine—that it is the recognition of the moral conscience of my country, rather than her enormous economic vitality that now and always has won for her the esteem and respect of the civilized world. Gentlemen, I must now conclude, but not without taking this oppor-tunity to thank you for the honor you have bestowed upon me in in-viting me to address you, and to express the admiration we feel for the illustrious founders of the American Union. From them our heroes got the most profound political inspiration. They became for us an example and a model of republican virtues and democratic ideals, and the Constitution they framed guided in great measure the glorious ex-pansion of our forces in this strenuous march towards the highest pos-sible culminations, a fatiguing but steady march but to which we are forced by the record of our past, the vigorous achievements of our present, and the energy of our aspirations for the future. State Literary and Historical Association. 39 CONFERENCE ON COUNTY HISTORY Opening Remarks By President Archibald Henderson. Ladies and Gentlemen: I welcome you here today most heartily. I feel that we are assembled to consider what I regard as the most vital and immediate problem in historical investigation now confronting our people. No people can form a just estimate of their own history, or feel legitimate pride in it, until they know what that history is. And I venture the assertion that no comprehensive or complete history of North Carolina up to any given point in time will ever be written until the contributions of the individual units, whose integrated life have constituted that history, are studied and bodied forth with completeness and detail. The county is the unit of the State; the history of the county must furnish the nucleus for the history of the State. There are three phases in the study of the county history which should, I think, be considered today. First and foremost, we must endeavor to arouse historic interest in every county of the State, and further the efforts of local investigators and local historical organizations to secure, while there is yet time, or at least to locate and catalogue, such material of historic interest as may be in private hands—diaries, letters, papers, documents, manuscripts, etc. I would point to my own native county of Rowan which has re-organized the Rowan County Historical Society; its quarters will be in the great new community center, the historic courthouse, now handsomely remodeled. An elaborate history of the county is now pre-paring; and it is probable that a new and greatly enlarged edition of Rumple's "Rowan" will also be published in the near future. The second problem is the task of the examination and calendaring of the public records in every county in the State. For this purpose legislative appropriations, running over a series of years, will be re-quired to cover the cost of a trained historical expert. Such an his-torical expert would examine every record book and every bundle of manuscripts in every county courthouse, make a card catalogue of all materials which deserve to be catalogued, and eventually collate all such card catalogues in publishing a full calendar of all the county records in the State. A duty no less important than that of cataloguing materials would be the preparation of a report on the way in which the records are kept, and a recommendation of some uniform method for 40 Fifteenth Annual Session indexing the records and keeping them on file in such a way as to be easy of access to historical students. The third problem is the very pressing and vital problem : What type of county history do we really want here in North Carolina ? The most scientific and exhaustive history of any county I have seen, of the modern type, is the "History of Lake County, Illinois/' by Prof. John J. Halsey, of Lake Forest University, whose people, by the way, lived in Chowan for more than a century until his grandfather moved away from Edenton in 1806. I have brought this county history, a quarto volume, here with me; its length, 872 pages, will show you how much may be said—and how well it may be said—about a county. My own feel-ing is that our new county histories should be brief, concise, yet com-prehensive in scope. On February 10, 1857, Governor Swain sent out a circular letter in which he said : "To attain uniformity in the series of county histories—perhaps a better plan cannot be suggested than to make 'Wheeler's Sketches of North Carolina' available to the purpose." Today the effort should be made to get away from the old type of genea-logical, political and martial county history, with its glorification of family, its accentuation of the military record, and its dreary catalogue of officials with corresponding dates of service. What is needed today, I would venture to suggest, is a new type of county history, which tells in brief, concise and readable form the story of the life of the people— industrial, racial, social, economic, institutional; one which ruthlessly omits umbrageous family trees, and reduces the political and martial phases of county history to the true scale of proportion in the picture. I would suggest that a board of editors, with authority to act, should be appointed by this body, whose function it shall be to stimulate the writing of histories in every county in the State, and to furnish a model guide for a county history. State Literary and Historical Association. 41 A New Type of County History By William K. Boyd, Ph.D., Peofessor of History in Trinity College, County history has a twofold interest. One is purely local, the con-cern of a family in its genealogy, of a raconteur in notable events of the neighborhood, and of citizens in the political, social, and intellectual antecedents of their environment. The other interest of the subject is derived from its relation to state or region, the way in which it may illustrate and visualize the evolution of that unit of which the county is only a digit. The first of these interests has dominated the writing of county history from the days of Wheeler to the present,1 yet I feel safe in saying that even from the purely local point of view, in no in-stance has the history of any county been exhaustively treated. The second phase of county history, its integration in the life of a section or of a state, is more difficult to comprehend and to portray. It has not been done, with the exception of a few incomplete contributions. Believing that a combination of the two interests, the local and the state or regional, is possible, I take the liberty of saying a few words concerning the content of a county history written with such a purpose, some of the sources which are available, and some ways in which such kind of investigation may be encouraged. I. Mr. Nash has well said that Orange County in its genesis was "with-out form and void." 2 Consequently the first task of a county historian is to describe the resources of the county, its geological formation, soils, fauna and flora, minerals, and drainage, pointing out the influence of these earthy factors on the life of the inhabitants. A most helpful guide to the information for such a chapter is Laney and Wood's Bibli-ography of North Carolina Geology, Mineralogy and Geography.3 This opening chapter should be followed by a discussion of the origin of the county, with full particulars of the causes and process by which it was chartered. At the very inception of the county its integration with general political history begins; recollect, for instance, the con-troversy in colonial days between the Governor and the Assembly con-cerning the right of incorporation, the significance of an expanding frontier, and the sectional controversy of the east and the west. These have been powerful factors in the organization of our counties; unfor-iWheeler: Historical Sketches of North Carolina (Philadelphia, 1851). 2Nash: History of Orange County, Part I (N. C. Booklet, X, No. 2). 3Bulletin of the North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey (Raleigh, 1909). 42 Fifteenth Anistuae Session tunately the information about their relation to the incorporation of specific counties is hidden away in the colonial records, the legislative journals, and the manuscript archives of the State. Logically there should follow an account of the early inhabitants, the Indians and the whites. The early settlements should be analyzed, showing the racial origins and the influence of racial traits upon later history. Nor should the matter of genealogy be neglected, for it is of far greater than local importance. I dare say that every person in North Carolina who is in any way identified with local history has re-ceived many letters of inquiry from people in other states who are anxious to trace their North Carolina ancestry. Most of these in-quiries are in vain, because the gentle art of genealogy is almost un-known among us. Therefore the county historian should give an ex-tended list of the early settlers, let us say down to the year 1815, when the migration to the southwest and the northwest was well under way. The significance of such a genealogical survey is realized when we recall that in the early days of Georgia and Alabama the first political cleavage was not so much over political principles as the rivalry of the elements of their population, notably between the North Carolinians and the Virginians in Georgia. The local historians of the southwestern states tell us in just what regions the Carolinians and the Virginians settled; but who can say which sections of North Carolina furnished most of the immigrants? True, Iredell County gave to the far west a Kit Carson, to Tennessee Hugh L. White, while from Mecklenburg and Wake went James K. Polk and Andrew Johnson to Tennessee. Alabama is indebted to Sampson for William R. King, to Mecklenburg for Israel Pickens, to Robeson for John Murphy, to Stokes for Gabriel Moore. Georgia acquired John Clarke from Wake, Jared Irwin from Mecklenburg, and William Robinson from Halifax. But which coun-ties, rather which section of the State, furnished most of the supporters of Governor Clarke in his memorable campaigns against Troup and the Virginians living in Georgia? Moreover, why did so many North Carolinians leave the State of their nativity? What was the effect of this migration on progress and leadership at home? Somewhere and somehow our county records should tell ; yet the only investigation of this phase of the history of a single county, so far as I know, has been made by a resident of Alabama.4 There are other possibilities in the analysis of population that have not been realized. For instance, one of the leading pacifists of the country has recently declared that in the Civil War the best physical and mental types of manhood in the South were lost, that the hard task of industrial and intellectual recuperation was left to a generation far 4Mamiscript by Hon. Thomas M. Owen, Montgomery, Ala. State Literary and Historical Association. 43 inferior in quality to that which was living in 1860. The facts on which he bases this conclusion are derived from a study of two counties in Virginia and one in Georgia. 5 I wonder if a conscientious county historian in North Carolina, unbiased by pacifist ideals, would come to a similar conclusion? From the population it is natural to turn to some of the forces that shape the life of a community. The one most slightly treated in the average county history is religion. Perhaps the historian is unduly impressed with denominational jealousies and theological controversies, and deems reticence on the matter of church history the only way to be optimistic. However, he should not fail to realize that religion in its origin is closely related to the social instinct, the desire of mankind for companionship. It is therefore not accidental that in the settle-ment of this country the church existed long before the day of the schoolhouse, the lodge, the Farmers Union, or the modern club. More-over, the rules of the churches reflect the attitude of the community on such matters as marriage between members of different denomina-tions, traffic in slaves, Masonry, dress, and amusements. Therefore the church records of the county should be diligently sought and ex-amined. They will reveal standards of conduct and thought that have passed away, and will suggest many traits of mind and character of the early inhabitants. Moreover, some of the significant movements in the history of religion in the South began in North Carolina, such as the first educational movement, the first periodical, and the first camp meet-ing among the Methodists. James O'Kelly, the earliest champion of individualism in religion in the South, was born and died in Chatham County. The rise of the Missionary Baptists is of more than state or county significance, while the leaven of Calvinism did much to estab-lish academies and colleges. Who can tell to what extent county history might add to our knowledge of these forces, important in the history of Christianity in the South as well as the State? Economic conditions have also been a powerful factor in shaping the life of a people. North Carolina has always been notable for the va-riety of its industrial activities, the absence of any solidarity of eco-nomic interests, and a resulting lack of unity in political sentiment. Yet economic development has received slight account in our county histories; in none of them have all the available sources been used. I therefore take the liberty of making the following suggestions for the treatment of the economic development of a county. There were four stages in the economic evolution of a pioneer com-munity, represented by four types of inhabitants : the hunter or trapper, the hog ranger, the farmer, and the miller and manufacturer. If pos- 5Jordan: War's Aftermath. 44 Fifteenth Annual Session sible the course of these stages of development in the history of the county should be traced. Here written records are apt to fail but land-marks often tell the story. The old trails may show the course of the retiring trapper, the names hog run, horse pocosin, etc., the grazing ground of the herdsman, while land grants and deeds indicate the advent of the farmer. Visualization of these processes in the settlement of our country is always helpful to those interested in state or national history ; it also adds color and value to the narrative for those interested in purely local affairs. Much more detailed information may be had and is desirable con-cerning the last stages of industrial development, the agricultural and manufacturing. From the angle of state and national, as well as purely local affairs, studies of the following topics would be of in-estimable value: the average size of farms in various epochs of the county's history, the number of slaves and the nature of white tenancy prior to 1860, the products and the method of marketing them, and the agricultural changes since 1865. Likewise the rise of manufactures should be traced from the grist and lumber mills to the modern factory. The whole subject of economic history, county by county, is full of possibilities, for the economists and the sociologists are more and more deserting their theories for the study of industrial transformations in small communities or units. Yet in none of our county histories can there be found an analysis of the ante-bellum plantation system or docu-ments illustrating plantation life. In fact, the only documents illus-trative of agricultural conditions in the South prior to 1860 and the only study of the agricultural transformation since 1865 have been pub-lished by students of general or of state history residing beyond the confines of North Carolina. 6 The topics thus outlined do not by any means cover the field of county history but they do illustrate the blending of state or regional and local interests. However, they must be treated cross-sectionally, for the history of a county must follow the grand divisions of national his-tory, the Colonial, the Eevolutionary, the Federal, the Civil War, the Reconstruction and the contemporary periods. To make more concrete and definite my conception of county investigation, I take the liberty of outlining in detail one cross-section, the period of Reconstruction. The history of the county from 1865 to 1876 should discuss the follow-ing subjects : I. Economic Conditions. A. Loss of men and property during the war, based on censuses of 1860, 1870, 1880 and local sources; shifting of population. 6Phillips: Plantation and Frontier, Vols. I and II of Documentary History of American Indus-trial Society. Brooks: The Agrarian Revolution in Georgia, 1865-1912 (University of Wisconsin). State Literary and Historical Association. 45 B. Break up of the plantation system, as shown by the census and local records, the rise of white and colored tenancy, the resulting change in products, debts and mortgages, and if possible the influ-ence of the Freedmen's Bureau and the legislation of 1866 on labor. C. The rise of manufactures to 1880; pointing out the nature of manufactures in 1860, 1870, 1880, the new industries, influence of foreign capital if any; the rise of new towns; the number, sex and wages of the employees. D. Transportation: The railways in 1860, 1870, 1880; if any in-crease, the method by which attained. E. White and negro population, 1860, 1870, 1880. II. The Churches During Reconstruction. A. The number, denomination, and membership in 1860. B. Membership during the war and during Reconstruction; changes in customs. C. Separation of the races; rise of the negro church. III. Educational Development. A. Public and private schools in 1860. B. Appropriation for schools during the war ; fate of the iacademies ; collapse of the ante-bellum school system. C. The revival of the public school. D. Academies since the war. E. Rise of the negro school, public and private. IV. County Government. A. The Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions from the opening of the war until its abolition in 1868. B. Special governing boards, if any. C. Rise of the modern form of county government under the Con-stitution of 1868. D. The advent of city charters. E. State courts and military courts during Reconstruction. V. Secret Organizations. A. Background ; the Ereedmen's Bureau ; military government ; eco-nomic and social changes. B. The Red Strings and the war societies. C. The Union League. D. The Ku Klux. E. Operations of the societies; methods, political activities; riots or outrages ; investigations ; decadence. 46 Fifteenth Annual Session VI. Political Development. A. Party alignment in 1860 and 1861. B. Political activity during the war; legislative, gubernatorial and Confederate elections. C. The Convention of 1865, the gubernatorial and legislative elec-tions of 1865. D. Parties and elections of 1867. E. The county in the Convention of 1868. P. Politics, 1868-1876. VII. Sketches of Leadeks in Politics and Industry. This outline for the Reconstruction period of county history is more than experimental and tentative. It has been used with good results at the University of Mississippi and at Trinity College in this State. 7 The possibilities of county history in other periods might be sketched, as, for instance, in that profound industrial and social transformation since 1876. However, as this chapter borders on the domain of that newest and most fascinating of the social sciences, Rural Economics and Sociology, I refrain, and pass on to the next division of my remarks, the question of bibliography for county history. II. The principal sources may be classified as manuscript and printed. Each group deserves some consideration. A. Manuscript. I. The county archives, consisting of the proceedings of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions and its successor, the board of county commissioners ; the deeds in the register's office ; the wills filed by the clerk ; the tax lists on the sheriff's books, etc. These have been compared by Mr. ISTash to the dry bones in the incomparable vision of Ezekiel, which the "historian's enlightened but restrained imagination" may clothe "with sinews and flesh and life." They are of inestimable value to the genealogist and the biographer ; they also indicate the section of a county first settled, the intellectual and economic character of the settlers, the course of roads, the construction of bridges and mills, litigation, and the growth of wealth, the truth or falsity of traditions, and numerous facts unexpected and undreamed of by the searcher after truth. How little have they been used ! A gentleman actively engaged in county in-vestigation ventures the assertion that "not in an old county of the State has every record been perused from its establishment to 1850." One of the paramount needs is a manual of methodology for county archives 7See Publications of the Mississippi State Historical Society, Vols. XI, XII; Papers of the Trinity College Historical Society, Series X. State Literacy and Historical Association. 47 which will give a summary of the kind of material that one may ex-pect to find in each class of archives, the best manner of taking notes and making cross-references, and the relation of the archives of the county to those of the county or counties from which it was formed, and other pertinent matters. II. The legislative, executive and judicial archives, the manuscript records in Kaleigh in the' offices of the Governor, the executive officers and the Supreme Court,—a vast array of petitions, rejected bills, official communications, letters, account books, military rosters and court records, which have never been classified or indexed. Some day, let us hope, the State will realize their value and have them arranged and calendared. Until then every investigator, whether of county or general state history, must fish in troubled waters. III. Records of churches, institutions, and societies. These are of course of miscellaneous character and vary from county to county. A search must be made for them. Let me illustrate the danger of over-looking them. Several years ago the history of a county was written in which there were a few remarks about its anti-slavery sentiment. Un-known to the writer there existed in that county the minutes of one of the most remarkable anti-slavery organizations in the entire South, containing enough material to make a chapter in themselves. But they were unknown to the author, and that chapter in the county's history remained to be written. IV. Private correspondence; diaries, account books, plantation records, etc. How often are these destroyed. A few years ago the per-sonal effects of one of the contractors who helped to build an important railway in IsTorth Carolina were sold by his executors. A fine chest of drawers was bought; the purchaser, finding it full of papers and let-ters, emptied the contents on the ground and burned them. Who can tell the loss thus sustained to the history of Rowan County? B. Printed Sources. I. Laws of North Carolina, sessional. These contain a vast amount of information that has never been thoroughly explored. For example, in the private acts can be found the licenses to build roads and bridges, the charters of academies, manufacturing companies and Masonic lodges, provisions for local government, taxation, patrols and care of the poor, the foundation of libraries, the holding of courts, and numer-ous other matters which interpret life in the past. A complete file of the laws is rare, hardly to be found except in our larger libraries. Moreover there is no general index to them. Some patriotic citizen with an antiquarian taste could place all local historians under a lasting 48 Fifteenth Annual Session debt of gratitude by publishing a calendar of the material for county history in the public and private laws. II. The Public Documents of North Carolina are also a Yast store-house of information, the publication of which was begun in 1836. They contain the reports of the State Treasurer and Comptroller, mes-sages of the Governors, reports of railway and plank road companies, and of committees. In the Comptroller's reports can be found the amount of taxes paid by each county, in 1854 the value of lands county by county, in 1856 and after the amount of local taxes, and in 1863 the first valuation of slave property. The appropriations for public schools and the condition of the banks are also given in the Comptroller's Re-ports. A complete check list of the contents of the public documents relating to counties is, I think, impossible ; but there is a valuable help to their use in Bowker's "State Publications." III. The Journals of the Legislature are also important, for in them can be traced the attitude of the county's representatives on such im-portant measures as railroad bills, public appropriations, resolutions concerning State's rights and slavery, personal liberty and constitutional questions during the war, as well as purely local matters. The same may be said for the journals of constitutional conventions. IV. Records of church bodies, churches, lodges, commercial organi-zations and societies of various kinds. V. Publications of the United States Government, notably the Census, the "War of the Rebellion Records, the Ku Klux Report, the Report of the Reconstruction Committee, and the reports of the en-gineers, which contain a vast amount of information relating to eco-nomic, social, military and political history. VI. Newspapers. A file of a county newspaper, when available, bears to the historian the same relation that a rich vein does to the miner of gold. Unfortunately files are rare, there being few in the State Library prior to 1880. I wish that some librarian with an anti-quarian interest would make a check list of the North Carolina news-papers in the libraries of the State, of educational institutions, and of in-dividuals, and also those in the great collections of the North and West. Let me add that some of the national papers in the old days contain valuable information regarding local affairs in North Carolina, notably Niles' Register. III. Finally, how can the cause of county history be aided? Let us re-member, first of all, that the historical, like the literary impulse, cannot be grown by hothouse methods ; it obeys no law, and like the wind, it blows where it listeth. I will go further and assert that history is a State Literary and Historical Association. 49 branch of literature, one of the arts as much as poetry and fiction. It has, however, this distinction, that while it is an art in its purpose, its method is scientific. Herein lies the opportunity of an organization like the State Literary and Historical Society to be of service; it may furnish an outline and guide for gathering and organizing material; in other words, we can formulate a method for county history work, which, we may hope, will attract now and then the genius of the literary artist. I therefore suggest that this Society appoint a com-mittee to prepare a guide for the study and writing of county history in North Carolina. Such a work, when made accessible to classes in American history, literary clubs, libraries and individuals, may, in the providence of the muses, bring results in more numerous and more comprehensive county histories. In one other way can this organiza-tion be of service. It can give, each year, right of way in its program to studies in county history. Such a policy will assure recognition for investigators of county history; it will also give a permanent and solid value to the society's publications. 50 Fifteenth Annual Session The Vital Study of a County By E. C. Branson, Peofessoe of Rueal Economics and Sociology in the Uniyeesity of Noeth Carolina. In prefatory way, I desire to congratulate the State Literary and Historical Society upon the rare vision and wisdom of its plan to as-semble, interpret, and preserve in worthful, literary form the history of North Carolina, county by county. The consciousness of well characterized group-personality is strong in North Carolinians ; so strong that it is strange and astonishing to people in New England, Minnesota, Illinois and other States where our annual Carolina Day and Community-service Week have so greatly challenged attention and comment. It is less strange in California, Kansas, Kentucky or Virginia, where a similar pride in the home State has always been an informing force in individual and civic development. Love of State is not a childish, trivial something; it is an indispensable factor in the building of character. Denmark is a conspicuous modern instance of local patriotism as a national asset. The thing that most impresses a visitor in the Danish Folkschulen is not the agriculture or the home economics, but the local folk-lore, the home-bred myth, song, and story, the chronicles of Danish heroism, patriotism and achievement that fill the teaching of literature and history to overflowing. Denmark is recited and sung in every class every day. Her agricul-ture is wonderful, but her blazing national consciousness goes further toward explaining her rise into greatness in the last half century. Dan-ish patriotism is not narrowly parochial and provincial. It is intense, but it is broadly intelligent. The Carolina Day exercises in our schools impress visitors from other States in quite the same way. "I am sorry to say there is nothing like this in my home State," said a New Englander in North Carolina on the fourth of last December. Be it said to the honor of North Carolina, there never was a time when a North Carolinian could be a gentleman and be ignorant of the history of his mother State. Familiar, loving acquaintance with the home county and the home State is a necessary foundation for effective citizenship. THE REAEWAED LOOK. The vital study of a county is the study of what is vital in a county. It is a study of the big, main things, the causal, significant, conse- State Literary and Historical Association. 51 quential things in community life. Things that are trivial and super-ficial, incidental and inconsequential have small place in such a study. If so be they indicate the characteristic mood, humor or temper of a people, they have a very large place in an interpretative study; but not otherwise. First of all, it ought to begin with the rearward look. What the county was day before yesterday is related to what it will be day after tomorrow. What lasts on and on in any community grows straight out of the nature of human nature in that community. An understanding of the economic, social, and civic life of a county or a country calls for acquaintance with the historical background; with origins, resources, advantages, obstacles, occupations and indus-tries, racial strains, noteworthy events and achievements, localities and memorials, with community-building leaders, with notable, noble per-sonages and their contributions to the industrial or spiritual wealth of the county. The field under survey ought not to be cluttered up with trifles light as air, however interesting or appealing to family pride. A county history now on my desk well illustrates what a county his-tory ought not to be. It is big and bulky, exhaustive and exhausting. It is descriptive merely. It is crowded with trivialties that signify nothing; with names and places, items and details that were not worth recording. They confuse one's sense of values. They lead into no con-clusions large or small. It is occasionally interesting and charming. It is full of things curious, fantastic, and bizarre; but hardly worth one's while for instruction or inspiration. It is, I may say, one of the many histories of the New England Berkshires. THE round-about and the forward look. But the vital study of a county also calls for the round-about and the forward look. It is a homespun study of community forces, agen-cies and influences, tendencies, drifts and movements that have made the history we study today and that fatefully are making the history our children will be studying tomorrow. It is examining the economic and social forces that operate in the small, familiar area of the home county. They are forces that have something like the steady, fateful pull and power of gravitation or any other natural law. They are creating opportunities or obstacles. They are making or marring community life. They need to be definitely known and to be harnessed for beneficent uses, as we harness electricity for traction, light and warmth. It means a study of community resources and their development; of populations and occupati |
OCLC number | 7799749 |