POLK

James K. Polk will be remembered for the war that he did not fight as much as for the war he made against Mexico. The prominent issues presented in the famous Presidential campaign between Polk and Clay were the Texas and Oregon questions. Clay, who had always been a compromise man, occupied a compromise position in the campaign. He was in favor of the acquisition of Texas, provided it could be done without a war with Mexico, but probably a majority of his party did not go even that far. On the other hand Polk was strongly in favor of the immediate annexation of Texas and of the acquisition of the whole of Oregon up to 54° 40" north latitude, and was in favor of war in both cases, if necessary to accomplish these results. It will be remembered that one of the campaign slogans was "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight." The result of such a campaign was 170 electoral votes for Polk and only 105 for Clay.

Polk in his inaugural address commended the late action of Congress in relation to Texas, providing for the introduction of the Republic into the Federal Union as a separate State, and strongly asserted the title of the United States to the whole of Oregon, regardless of the claim of Great Britain, and intimated his intention to maintain it by force if necessary. Texas was promptly admitted into the Union, which resulted in the breaking off of diplomatic relations between this Republic and the Republic of Mexico, Mexico having never recognized the independence of Texas, and still claiming that territory as belonging to her dominion. The Mexican War followed, which was prosecuted not only to defend and maintain the status of Texas, but even to a war of conquest. The war was pushed until the flag of the United States floated over the Mexican capital, and the immense territory from New Mexico to Oregon west of the Mississippi River, excluding the Louisiana purchase acquired by Jefferson, was taken as a war indemnity by the peace of Guadaloupe Hidalgo.

Thus while Polk, as a result of the war, was acquiring most valuable and important territory in the South and Southwest, and in this respect going even further than his campaign promises and pledges, yet he was pursuing an entirely different, just the opposite course in fact, with reference to the other important question of the memorable campaign which won him the Presidency, with reference to Oregon and the Northwest. President Polk unfortunately surrendered and compromised away the rights and contention of the United States. All of Oregon north of the forty-ninth degree of north latitude was quietly and peaceably surrendered.

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If the public had not had its attention so sharply drawn to the great acquisitions in the South and Southwest, as a result of the Mexican War, Polk and his administration would have met overwhelming condemnation for the surrender of the Northwest.

So President Polk will be remembered not only for the war that he did fight and the great and valuable territory acquired as a result of it, but will each year, as time goes on, be remembered more and more for the war that he did not fight and the territory he did not acquire, or rather fight to hold.

Even at this day it is hard to tell whether or not future generations will fully justify Mr. Polk as a man who did the true, wise, and great thing in perpetrating the war with Mexico and afterward pushing it to a war of conquest. At the same time it seems clear that future generations will blame Mr. Polk more and more for his needless surrender of the Oregon territory between the forty-ninth degree and fifty-four forty. Polk will also be remembered as a Jeffersonian Democrat. In his mode of life he was plain; in his dealings and speech, straightforward and honest. In his convictions he was strong and preferred rather to stand for the right as he saw it than to curry popular favor as a trimmer. He stood for a strict construction of the Constitution and held that great compact in the utmost reverence. He was a friend and follower of Jackson, and his career resembles that of the great Democrat in many ways. An honest man and of humble parentage, he arose from obscurity to the highest station in the gift of the American people. Like Jackson he stood unalterably opposed to the National Bank which monopolists of his day were trying to fasten on the American people. As chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the House, and later as Speaker of the same body, and as Governor of the State of Tennessee, his course calls for little adverse comment, and for general commendation.

However historians and posterity may differ about his course as President with reference to the two great questions before him for solution, no man will question that Polk believed he was right in the course that he pursued, and ever and anon the immortal words of the great Kentuckian, whom Polk defeated for the Presidency, will recur to the impartial student of history: "I would rather be right than be President."

Marow Buitie

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The

SARAH CHILDRESS, of Tennessee, when nineteen years old married James Knox Polk, a member of the Legislature of that State. next year he was elected to Congress, continuing fourteen sessions in Washington, and Mrs. Polk held a high social position there owing to her courteous manners, dignity and many accomplishments. When she returned to Washington as the wife of the President, having no children, she devoted herself exclusively to her duties in that position. At her weekly receptions the custom of serving refreshments to guests was abolished. As she was a strict Presbyterian, dancing also was forbidden; nevertheless, she was very popular. She was a handsome woman of the Spanish type, dressed with refined and elegant taste, and was noted as a conversationalist, beside realizing keenly the obligations of her station. She survived her husband over forty years, living at "Polk Place," Nashville, the home they had hoped to share in old age.

James K. Polk

JAMES KNOX POLK was born in Mecklenburg County, N. C., November 2, 1795. He was a son of Samuel Polk, a farmer, whose father, Ezekiel, and his brother, Colonel Thomas Polk, one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, were sons of Robert Polk (or Pollock), who was born in Ireland and emigrated to America. His mother was Jane, daughter of James Knox, a resident of Iredell County, N. C., and a captain in the War of the Revolution. His father removed to Tennessee in the autumn of 1806, and settled in the valley of Duck River, a tributary of the Tennessee, in a section that was erected the following year into the county of Maury; he died in 1827. James was brought up on the farm; was inclined to study, and was fond of reading He was sent to school, and had succeeded in mastering the English branches when ill health compelled his removal. Was then placed with a merchant, but, having a strong dislike to commercial pursuits, soon returned home, and in July, 1813, was given in charge of a private tutor. In 1815 entered the sophomore class at the University of North Carolina. As a student he was correct, punctual, and industrious. At his graduation in 1818 he was officially acknowledged to be the best scholar in both the classics and mathematics, and delivered the Latin salutatory. In 1847 the university conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. In 1819 he entered the law office of Felix Grundy, then at the head of the Tennessee bar. While pursuing his legal studies he attracted the attention of Andrew Jackson, and an intimacy was thus begun between the two men. In 1820 Mr. Polk was admitted to the bar, and established himself at Columbia, the county seat of Maury County. He attained immediate success, his career at the bar only ending with his election to the governorship of Tennessee in 1839. Brought up as a Jeffersonian and early taking an interest in politics, he was frequently heard in public as an exponent of the views of his party. His style of oratory was so popular that his services soon came to be in great demand, and he was not long in earning the title of the "Napoleon of the Stump." His first public employment was that of principal clerk of the senate of the State of Tennessee. In 1823 was elected a member of that body. In January, 1824, he married Sarah,

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