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MORNING SESSION.
Second Day, Friday, May 15, 1891.
Mr. Bonner:
The Congress will now come
to order. We will be led in prayer by the Rev. Dr. Witherspoon, of
Louisville.
Dr. Witherspoon:
Almighty God, our heavenly
Father, we humbly invoke Thy blessing upon this Congress as it gathers
together in its second day's session. We give Thee thanks for the good
rest of the night, for its refreshing sleep, and for this beautiful
morning. We beseech Thee, most merciful Father, give us the grace of Thy
Holy Spirit to guide us in all our deliberations, in all our thoughts, in
all our words. Deliver us, we beseech Thee, from all evil; inspire us with
a love for those great principles of Church and State which were formed by
the men whose memories are brought before us now. We worship reverently
before Thee, and invoke Thy blessing upon us; upon the distinguished
speakers who are to guide our thoughts to-day, that their thoughts may be
guided by Thee; upon all the officers of this association, and the
associations that are connected with it; and so bless and prosper the
objects for which this association has been formed, that it may be a power
for great spiritual good throughout all our land and throughout all the
world, and the glory shall be to Thy great name through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Mr. Bonner:
We are now to have the
pleasure of listening to an address on "The Influence of the Scotch-Irish
Among the Nations," by Rev. Thomas Murphy, of Philadelphia, who has made a
special study of the Scotch-Irish.
(For Dr. Murphy's address,
see Part II., page 123.)
Mr. Bonner:
By special request, the
band will play a Scotch-Irish march which was composed specially for this
occasion.
Band plays.
Mr. Bonner:
Mr. Montgomery, our
Vice-president for California, has brought with him a paper—"Scotch-Irish
Pioneers of California"—and has requested the Rev. Dr. Macintosh to read
the paper for him, and I think you will be satisfied in a few minutes that
he has made no mistake in the selection of a reader.
Dr. Macintosh:
Mr. President, Ladies, and
Gentlemen: This is a paper prepared by a gentleman in San Francisco, Mr.
Masterson, who desired himself to be present with the Congress and to
present his own paper; but being in active railroading, was prevented from
attending. He sent it forward, and by the action of the Executive
Committee it has been placed in my hands to present to the Congress.
Yesterday we arranged that we would close our meeting sharply this morning
in order that we might have our business meeting immediately on the
adjournment of the Congress. I shall, therefore, be compelled to read this
paper in the way of a selection, but will try to present it, as far as
possible, in its own continuity. I think it is right, sir, to make this
statement in justice to the gentleman who has prepared the paper.
(For Mr. Masterson's
address, See Part II., page 139.)
Dr. Macintosh:
I would remind the
audience, and through them the general public, that the evening meeting is
held at the Polytechnic Hall, the place where the meeting was held last
night. We meet at 8 o'clock this evening. The addresses will be delivered
by Judge 0. P. Temple, of Knoxville, Tenn. His subject will be, "The
Scotch-Irish of East Tennessee; " and then one by a gentleman, who has
already distinguished himself on the platform of our Scotch-Irish Society,
both at its first meeting in Columbia and its meeting last year in
Pittsburg. I refer to my esteemed friend and brother, Dr. D. C. Kelley, of
Tennessee, who will speak on Andrew Jackson. And then this evening we are
to have presented to us a solid phalanx of Scotch-Irish men and women. The
beauty and strength of Georgia will come before us this evening in three
of their own selected representatives. Our Executive Committee thought it
was but right that, instead of exercising our right of selection, saying
to them, "Gentlemen, we would like to hear from this and that and the
other member of your delegation," we should say to them: "Will you behind
enough to select your own representative speakers, and we shall be glad to
hear them;" and they have made the selection of three, who come before us
on behalf of the Mayor and City Council of Atlanta, Ga. Col. A. J.
Mc-Bride, who has the invitation to present, will speak, and will make it
clear and forcible. Then, on the part of the Ministers' Union and the
Young Men's Christian Society, Col. G. W. Adair will speak; and as the
representative of the Confederate Veterans, the Hon. W. L. Calhoun will
address us as part of the evening's proceedings.
Mr. Bonner:
Mr. Bruce, the Secretary of
the Local Committee, has a few remarks to make.
Mr. Bruce:
Ladies and Gentleman: The
question has been asked very frequently of our State Society, as to
whether or not ladies were admitted as members. I believe that last year
at Pittsburg the National Society, or the Scotch-Irish Society of America,
determined to admit ladies to its membership. We have had nothing upon
that subject in our Constitution or By-laws of the State Society until
to-day, but it gives me great pleasure to announce that at a meeting held
this morning it was determined that ladies should be admitted as members.
Any lady of Scotch-Irish blood, and over 18 years of age, is eligible as a
member of the Scotch-Irish Society of Kentucky, provided, of course, that
she be now a resident of Kentucky.
Mr. Bonner:
The Congress is now
adjourned until this evening at 8 o'clock at Polytechnic Hall. A business
meeting of the enrolled members of the Society, however, will meet in this
hall immediately after the general audience has dispersed.
Business Meeting.
Mr. Bonner:
Gentlemen, we will now come
to order; the first business before us is the report of the Committee on
Nominations.
Col. Echols:
Mr. President and Gentleman
of the Congress: The committee appointed by the President to nominate
suitable persons for office for the ensuing year met and have performed
their duty. It is rather a delicate one, and one we have given
considerable consideration, in order that no injustice might be done
individually, and yet that the best good of the Society might be advanced,
and it is now my pleasure that I give you and put in nomination the
following persons for the following offices for the ensuing year:
President, Robert Bonner, of New York City; Vice-president General, Rev.
J. S. Macintosh, D.D., of Philadelphia, Pa.; First Vice-president at
Large, Col. T. T. Wright, of Nashville, Tenn.; Second Vice-president at
Large, Rev. J. H. Bryson, D.D., of Alabama; Secretary, A. C. Floyd, of
Columbia, Tenn.; Treasurer, Lucius Frierson, of Columbia, Tenn.;
Vice-presidents of States and Territories: New Hampshire, Hon. James W.
Patterson, Concord; Massachusetts, Prof. A. L. Perry, Williamstown;
Connecticut, Hon. D. S. Calhoun, Hartford; New York, Rev. John Hall, D.D.,
New York City; Eastern Pennsylvania, Col. A. K. McClure, Philadelphia,
Pa.; Western Pennsylvania, J. King McLanahan, Hollidays-burg, Pa.; New
Jersey, Mr. Thomas N. McCarter, Newark; Ohio, Mr. W. H. Hunter,
Steubenville; Indiana, Mr. William Scott, Indianapolis; Illinois, Judge
John M. Scott, Bloomington; California, Mr. Alexander Montgomery, San
Francisco; Iowa, Hon. P. M. Cassady, Des Moines; Virginia, Hon. William
Wirt Henry, Richmond; North Carolina, Hon. S. B. Alexander, Charlotte;
Georgia, Col. G. W. Adair, Atlanta; Mississippi, Rt. Rev. Hugh Miller
Thompson, Jackson; Louisiana, Hon. William Preston Johnston, New Orleans;
Tennessee) Mr. A. G. Adams, Nashville; Kentucky, Dr. Hervey McDowell,
Cynthiana; Ontario, Canada, Hon. A. T. Wood, Hamilton; for Canada at
Large, Rev. Stuart Acheson, Toronto; West Virginia, James Archer, of
Prosper County (P. O. Steubenville, Ohio).
I beg of you gentlemen to
take these nominations into consideration, and if you can suggest changes
for the good of the Society, of course the Nominating Committee will not
deem it at all encroaching upon their rights; but from all the light
before us we thought it best to nominate . these, and I now move that we
go into the election of the office of President for the ensuing year.
Dr. MacIntosh:
I do now move that Mr.
Bonner vacate in favor of Dr. Hall, of New York, that the motion may be
put before the Society.
Seconded and carried.
Dr. Hall:
It is a great honor for me,
even for a minute, to occupy this honorable and conspicuous place. I have
to put the motion to you. Those of you in favor of Mr. Bonner for
President "for the ensuing year signify it by saying " Aye."
Carried unanimously.
Mr. Bonner:
I thank you, gentlemen, for
this renewed expression of your confidence, and I will endeavor to perform
the duties of the office to the best of my ability.
Col. Echols:
The next office is
Vice-president General, and I move you, sir, that we proceed to vote upon
the name of the Rev. Dr. Macintosh, of Philadelphia, Pa., as
Vice-president General.
Rev. Dr. Parke:
I move that the names as
presented by the Nominating Committee be adopted.
Col. Echols:
I only made it one at a
time, so that if any member of the Society differed from the Nominating
Committee he could speak.
Mr. Parke's motion carried
unanimously.
Dr. Macintosh:
The next business is the
presentation of the report on the part of the Auditing Committee. I beg
leave to submit the following report: "We have gone over the accounts of
the Treasurer and compared them with the payments received and with
vouchers for disbursements, and find them carefully kept, and correct. The
balance on hand is $31.55.
"George Macloskie,
" J. Ross Todd."
Dr. MacIntosh:
I move that this report be
accepted and adopted.
Mr. Bonner:
All in favor of the motion
signify by saying "Aye;" contrary, "No."
Carried unanimously.
Dr. MacIntosh:
The next matter to bring
before the business meeting is the report of the meeting of the Executive
Committee had in conference with a number of gentlemen who were anxious to
aid us to enlarge and strengthen the Society; and I think we are prepared
to take what, in my own personal judgment, is a great step forward. "We
prepared, as the outcome of our meeting and conference, a notice of
motion. I might say that the great desire and effort was: "How can we best
promote the interests of this Society?" I may, without any breach of
confidence, say that for this form of motion we are indebted very much to
our good friend Col. Livingston.
Whereas, our Constitution,
Article 9, provides for the alteration or amendment or repeal of the
Constitution or By-laws; therefore, notice is hereby given that at the
next annual Congress amendments and alterations to the present
Constitution will be presented for the purpose of constituting this
Society upon a representative basis, with jurisdiction over local
organizations and for other purposes.
I now submit as our report
that notice of motion lie over until the next Congress, and then to be
taken up and discussed.
Seconded and carried.
Dr. MacIntosh:
There is one point that I
think it is right to state to the members of the business meeting, that no
provision has been made for the deficiency that is now existing, and I
think something ought to be done before the Congress separates to have
this thing cleared out of the way, that when we come next year we may have
no deficiency to deal with when we take up this notice of motion.
Nominally, there is a balance on hand; but actually, and as a business
proposition, there is a deficiency, and I do not want to deal with nominal
balances, as has been the trouble with some of the banking institutions in
Philadelphia, but I want to deal with responsible assets. The deficiency
is about $600.
Dr. Hall:
The gentlemen will excuse
me for giving expression to the following. We might take a little pains to
put in the hands of our friends these reports. The expense of the books
would not cost much, and I am quite sure that there are many gentlemen
over the country, friends and acquaintances, into whose hands, if we were
to put these reports, the result would be an increase of our membership,
and the increase of sympathy for us in the work we have in hand. Now I am
conscious I could have done a great deal more in the matter than I have
done, and as a start I shall undertake to get one hundred of those dollars
before our next meeting.
Mr. Parke:
I inquired yesterday what
provision was in our Constitution for the raising of money, and that
question was not answered, except by the reading of some matter; a
suggestion something like Dr. Hall's, as now made, was made by Dr.
MacIntosh, that these expenses might be met by increasing our membership,
and in the sale of books. Now it strikes me there ought to be some way to
get at this thing. You have got to have money, and money raised in some
systematic way. Scotch-Irish Churches do not depend on picnics and fairs
for their support; if they do, why they are very soon in trouble, and I
had supposed that we would have some suggestion in connection with this
report in regard to this matter.
Mr. Bonner:
The trouble is simply to
bridge over the deficiency which now exists.
Capt. Briggs:
Is not the money necessary
to bridge us over about $1,500?
Dr. MacIntosh:
The question put to me was
the present debt; now I will answer that definitely. I was asked the
question distinctly: "What is to be done with the existing debt?" Now I
said the existing debt was $600, but if I am asked what will be the
probable deficiency for next year, if we have nothing more than we have
had this year, do you want that answer?
The Congress:
Yes.
Dr. MacIntosh:
The debt as it exists is
about $600, but if we do not get in more money next year than this year,
and make the same outlay (and that does not meet the necessities of the
case), our deficiency next year will be about $1,600, but I never like to
mix things up.
Mr. Bonner:
Dr. Hall has stated that he
would be responsible for $100; there are three friends of mine that I wish
to make life members. That will be $300 more, making $400. Now, if we have
some other gentlemen here that would like to become life members, or that
would be responsible for new members, that would bridge it over until next
year.
Capt. Briggs:
What I want to know is how
to get rid of that deficiency of $600? Your proposition and Dr. Hall's
reduces it to $200. Our Kentucky Society have added over 50 members, and
we will see that each one of those members gets a book, even if our
Treasurer of the Local Society has to pay you for it. What else do they
pay you from our State Society, any thing except for the publication?
Mr. Floyd:
No, sir.
Capt. Briggs:
I will say furthermore that
our State Society will take 100 volumes. That will leave only $100.
Mr. McIlhenny, of
Philadelphia:
I will take 50 books.
Rev. Mr. Acheson:
There is one point in
regard to the first volumes. I have brought one membership from Canada,
Dr. Wookman, and if there are still some volumes left he would like to
have them as well as the present book.
Mr. Floyd:
Anticipating that many of
the members would like something of the kind Mr. Acheson has suggested, I
have ordered sent me here, and they are now at my quarters at the
Louisville Hotel, 100 copies of the first volume, and 150 copies of the
second volume, and I will supply either of those volumes and take orders
for the succeeding volume, which will contain the proceedings of this
Congress. My assistant has already disposed of some, and if you do not
find me when you want them, you can order them from him and have them
delivered here, or give him your orders and have them delivered to you
after you return home, whichever you like.
There being no further
business before it, the Society then adjourned. Immediately afterward the
National Council met.
Meeting of the Council.
President Bonner presiding.
Rev. Dr. Mcintosh:
There has been placed in my
hands the following list to act as the Executive Committee of the Society
during the year that now opens: Col. John W. Echols, Pittsburg, Pa.; Rev.
Dr. John W. Dinsmore, Bloomington, Ill.; Prof. George Macloskie,
Princeton, N. J.; Mr. W. H. Hunter, Atlanta, Ga.; Mr. Helm Bruce,
Louisville, Ky.; Dr. Robert Pillow, Columbia, Tenn.; Col. William
Johnston, Charlotte, N. C.; together with the officers, who are ex officio
members. Now I want to say that Mr. Montgomery, with the interest in the
Society that always marks him, thinks he ought not to hold two offices;
and being Vice-president for California, it is his desire to have on the
Executive Committee some one in his place, and, therefore, Mr. W. H.
Hunter, of Atlanta, Ga., is proposed to fill the vacancy that is created ;
and Mr. T. T. Wright, being advanced to the position of First
Vice-president at large, desires to have his name withdrawn from the
Executive Committee, and, in the vacancy thus made, it is proposed to
place our Local Secretary, Mr. Helm Bruce, of Louisville; then the
committee would stand as I have read it, together with the officers of the
Society, to be the Executive Committee for the ensuing year, and I move
accordingly.
Seconded and carried
unanimously.
Motion to adjourn carried. |
