"Did anybody ever hear of any
great thing or great man coming
out of Bladen County?" was the
thoughtless question asked 25 years
ago by an uninformed resident of
a new rich city in North Carolina.
It created somewhat of a sensa-
tion, almost as much as the big Bi-
Centennial celebration of Bladen
county held at Elizabethtown last
week. The gentleman had permit-
ted his contemplation of history to
rest too much upon the new indus-
trial day which produced new cap-
tains of industry whose wealth and
distinction tended to obscure the
lights of ancient days. Soon the un-
fortunate gentleman was deluged
with information whach convinced
him that he had "over or under-
spoke himself." He was given the
history fo the great men in peace
and war which Bladen county had
furnished to the state and country,
headed by Gen. James J. McKay, a
distinguished son of Bladen county,
who was chariman of the Ways and
Means Committee in 1844, in a time
when that position carried leadership
and distinction, as it always does in
every congress.
At the close of that Congress Mr.
McKay issued an address to the peo-
ple of the United States, explaining
the schedules and giving reasons for
the changes from those carried in
the tariff of 1842. On that address
the Democrats carried the country,
elected a majority of the House, a
Democratic President came into
power, and the next Congress en-
acted a tariff law on the McKay
lines, known as the Walker tariff
because Robert J. Walker, who en-
forced its provisions, was at that
time Secretary of the Treasury. It
was the best tariff act ever drafted
in the United States. General Mc-
Kay was chairman of the committee
that secured its passage. The rates
were low and had no taint of pro-
tection to private interests. It was
so satisfactory that Mr. Blaine said
no party made any serious attempt
to change it until the War Between
the States. It is interesting to note
that it was this model Democratic
tariff which Senator William H.
Haywood declined to support. Rath-
er than vote against the policy of
his party he resigned his seat in
the United Stated Senate. The Sen-
ate passed the McKay-Walker tariff
by one majority. Senator Haywood
was bitterly assailed but later, when
it was seen that he acted on con-
scientious conviction, the criticism
ceased. He resigned knowing his
action would not affect the fate of
the bill the McKay committee had
drafted.
The list of Bladen county celeb-
rities printed then included other
men who won fame in church and
state. By the time the uninformed
gentleman had learned a little of
Bladen county history, he threw up
his hands, apologized for his lack
of knowledge, and promised never
to speak again of North Carolina
counties to their discredit and his
discomfiture. If that gentleman and
others unfamiliar with the history
of that modest and patriotic county
had been at Elizabethtown on Fri-
day they would have learned that
not only was Bladen a county worthy
to be honored, but that in fact it
had a somewhat similar distinction
to Virginia as the mother of Presi-
dents in that it is "the mother of
counties."
Correspondent Upchurch's story of
the Bladen Bi-Centennial in yester-
day's News and Observer discloses
that it claims parenthood to no less
than 55 of North Carolina's 100
counties. If all the children and
grandchildren of that bouncing fam-
ily had been present Bladen's hos-
pitality--generous and inexhaustible
--would have been almost strained.
Friday's celebration was worthy of
"the mother of counties."--Raleigh
News and Observer.
Reprinted in:
THE BLADEN JOURNAL
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